Suicide Squad

        I so wanted to like the “Suicide Squad’, DC’s attempt to shake up a superhero genre they haven’t mastered yet.  DC films are already much darker than Marvel’s, so I’m not sure how introducing a little known (to the general public at least) ragtag group of anti-heroes is going to be a game changer or make the DC universe any darker.  What the Warner Bros execs were hoping is to replicate the magic of Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and they don’t even come close.  They even thought putting in a cool retro soundtrack would cover a shoddy story and it wouldn’t be noticed.  That right there is the problem DC is having.  They are trying to copy Marvel’s success formula, from the shared universe to even types of movie storyline arcs.  They aren’t being original and are coming up with pale replicated product that is obviously being made by people who don’t truly understand the superhero genre.

This film is such a hot mess, I don’t even know where to start.  Maybe the good?  So, I love the concept of ‘The Suicide Squad’ even if I never liked the comic.  Similar to Lee Marvin’s ‘The Dirty Dozen’, but with superheroes.  The Government, represented by U.S. Intelligence agent Amanda Waller (Viola Davis in top form), fears they are defenseless in a world where people like Superman exist.  She proposes taking the meta-humans they currently have in prison and forcing them to work on behalf of the government in exchange for clemency.  The catch is that the missions are so dangerous it will almost assuredly mean their deaths. Waller recruits Special Forces soldier Rick Flagg (Joel Kinnaman) as the Unit commander. Waller uses various means of control over each, but the traditional ‘explosive-injected-into-the-neck’ is the most immediate.  The film spends the first 40 minutes reviewing each person’s history and profile arriving at us caring or investing in none of them.  Investment in characters has to be the basis or no movie will work.

Actually, I enjoyed Will Smith as Deadshot, but at the end of the day it is Will Smith being Will Smith. Nothing wrong with that (Robert Downey Jr made Ironman a household name doing that), but the character is nothing without him.  Of course, all the buzz is about Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and Jared Leto as the Joker.  Not only did this seem to be a case of overacting for both of them, it seemed artificial and forced.  I hate comparing performances, but the Joker has set a high standard in previous films incarnations with Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger (he even won an Oscar for his portrayal).  This isn’t even in the same class. I would compare this closer to Jim Carrey’s performance as the Riddler in ‘Batman Forever’; exaggerated and cartoony.  All the rest; Diablo, Killer Croc, and Captain Boomerang were generic and uninteresting.  Everyone had a hard luck story, but again it seemed so forced and wedged in, I rolled my eyes more than sympathized.  

The villainess is a nigh-omnipotent ancient being named The Enchantress (played oddly by Victoria Secret’s model Cara Delevingne) who resurrects her nigh-omnipotent brother (not sure if they ever mentioned his name) to do something…take over the world? Destroy the world?  That part of the plan is never spelled out clearly.  They build one of those machines that makes a hole above the city where everything starts sucking towards it.  Again, not sure what that is supposed to accomplish.  The decision is made to send the Suicide Squad in which really didn’t make any sense either because they had no plan other than just introduce them all and send them in to stop whatever was going on.  Since you need fight scenes, they fight weird cannon fodder mystical creatures created just for the express purpose to have fights.  They seem tough, but very few people get hurt while the creatures blow up constantly.

This film was so riddled with plot holes my head spun.  It never tried to be its’ own film rather just try to exploit other movie’s successes.  I guess my biggest issue is that the Suicide Squad was assembled to be a force to take on the likes of Superman, but none of them really had any powers that were formidable.  Harley Quinn basically walked around with a baseball bat saying and doing crazy things.  How did she even survive the first fight?  Captain Boomerang basically just had…metal boomerangs (Superman must be quaking in his cape)???  The Joker was barely in this despite what the previews would have you believe, so I’m not sure why there were so many stories about Jared Leto’s off camera method acting techniques or why he would take it so far with such limited screen time.  

‘Suicide Squad’ is probably the biggest misstep in an already shaky start to the DC universe franchise Warner Bros is trying to create.  I think they should start with trying to stop be Marvel and find their own voice and style.  I will say I have bias as I was always a Marvel fan growing up, but I really do want DC to succeed.  There is room enough for both Marvel and DC.  The difference is that Marvel movies are made by people who understand what makes super hero special in the hearts of the audience whereas the DC execs don’t understand the magic of super heroes and are just trying to use someone else’s formula for success.

I give this film ** stars

Suicide Squad

Star Trek Beyond

      I approach ‘Star Trek Beyond with mixed feelings.  I have stated before that while I am incredibly grateful that JJ Abrams was able to breathe new life into a franchise that has been around all my life, I still think the reboot lost some of the meaning of what Star Trek is supposed to be about.  Growing up, there were Star Wars fans and there were Star Trek fans.  There was some overlap of fandom by the über geeks, but for the most part, everyone staked out their camps and reveled in their respective franchises.  Star Wars was for the adventurous space swashbuckling crowd whereas Star Trek appealed to the explorers.  Start Trek was an exercise in philosophical and political analysis of the human race through science fiction.  It showed us what our full potential could become.  In other words, there was more nuance and the stories stimulated more intellectual curiosity than its’ Star Wars counter part.  The JJ Abrams reboot embraced the action side, but still dragged us diehard loyalists into 21st century thrill based filmmaking. When it was announce that Justin Lin would take over as Director of the 3rd outing in Star Trek Beyond, visions of Fast and Furious mocked my nightmares (The action film Justin Lin is most famous for).  

While my fears were not completely unfounded, Star Trek beyond turns out to be a fun film even though it drifts further away from its’ source vision.  The action is fast and furious (that phrasing was intentional), but the characters we know and love provide us an exciting space romp that is worth the price of admission.  This time around it puts us smack dab in the middle of the 5 year mission from the original TV show.  Deep space isolation is affecting everyone and the Enterprise docks at the Federation’s newest and most advanced Starbase for some R&R and reflection.  I will say that Justin Lin’s vision of space travel and immense future constructions are awe inspiring. I tip the hat when deserved.  Chris Pine returns as Captain James T Kirk and gives us a portrayal of a man who questions his purpose.  Very different than the Kirk we know and a welcome look deeper into the psyche of the legend.  

Each of the crew’s lives are more deeply explored on the space station, but not gratuitously, just glimpses. A fun and gratifying tribute to the original Sulu, George Takei, where it is revealed that the character is gay as well.  We get glimpses of Sulu's family life which we would not have been able to see during the 1960’s.  We see Spock (Zachary Quinto) attempt to come to grips with the death of the older version of himself.  Surprisingly poignant for something that could have been handled ham-fistedly.  Of course, in an action movie, calm is just the respite before the storm and what a hurricane it is.  The crew of the Enterprise is devastated by the attack of a hostile force and the survivors are stranded on a savage and hostile planet. One can tell that Simon Pegg had a hand in writing this film as his character ‘Scotty’ has a larger role than normal.  No worries, Pegg’s comic relief is always welcome and he is always the clutch player who usually saves the day anyway.

Idris Elba is unrecognizable as the malevolent lead villain Krall.  Other than destruction of everything, his intentions are not clear at first.  All we know is that he is the bad guy and he has to be stopped.  I feel an actor as gifted as Elba was wasted playing such a generic villain, but still he gave it his all which you have to respect. And as always, there has to be the hot alien chick who kicks butt.  This time played by Sofia Boutella as the resourceful Jaylah. And since Simon Pegg wrote the script, most of the chemistry scenes are between Scotty and her.

In no way do I want to take away from the visual beauty of this film.  Half the battle in making quality science fiction is the aesthetics.  That being said, I felt the film overly relied on our baser action genre tendencies using cliches and cliffhangers as opposed to developing the mind boundary expanders Star Trek  was created to be.  Hey, I understand as much as anyone that one must modernize and change with the times, but my love of the original series is so strong that my nostalgia was left unsatiated.  Justin Lin tried to make up for it with several call backs to the original series, especially one scene that inserted the picture of the original crew into the storyline, but the end result was still more action than substance.  

If you are a Trekkie, go see it.  Have fun and be thankful that another generation is enjoying characters that have been around for 50 years.  Happy Anniversary Star Trek.  Here’s hoping you have 50 more.

I give this film ** 1/2 stars

Star Trek Beyond

Ghostbusters

       “Meh”!  That’ll I can really say about the new all-female reboot of the ‘Ghostbusters’.  I am a big fan of all these comic actors individually, so I had high hopes of assembling all this talent, but was there really a crying demand to have a new ‘Ghostbusters’?  People forget that despite the fact that the original ‘Ghostbusters’ went on to be considered a classic, it was not a critics darling at the time and with good reason.  In addition, the media driven politically correct hype to make this endeavor a bigger deal than it was seemed forced.  The faux outrage of articles criticizing sexist trolls on the internet also seemed awkward and overblown.  I know the media doesn’t believe this, but does the mainstream public really have issues with women headlining films anymore?  I will say this is a solid paint-by-the-numbers comedy that has moments of mirth, but overall I walked away wondering why do a reboot if there is nothing new to say? In fact, some scenes and situations were lifted straight from the original one.  An all woman cast is not enough reason to redo the film.  In other words “Meh!’

Even the characters themselves can be connected to their original counterparts, with some acquiescence to each actor’s individual talents.  All four, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon have solid chemistry and the force of their talent causes more than a few smiles despite the script.  In my opinion, the only new element and actual standout of the film is Chris Hemsworth, playing the hunky albeit simple receptionist, Keith.  I didn’t know he had that type of comedic timing and you actually looked forward to whatever inanities stumbled out of his mouth in whatever scene he was in.  

So I would lay out a synopsis of the plot, but you’ve already seen it.  It’s the same as the first.  Increased poltergeist activity in New York causes three down on their luck scientists to come together joined by a street wise character to be the ‘every person’ balance.  Lots of CGI ghost interactions as the scientists-turned-blue-collar-ghost-exterminators face ridicule until the city elders actually need them to help on a ghost problem of apocalyptic proportions.  Been there, done that.  There was almost too many nods to the original film.  Slight nods are fun, but over doing it shows a lack of confidence in the film.  Each of the original remaining cast members, with the exception of Rick Moranes have cameos.  Even the original firehouse and numerous recognizable ghosts reappear.  Nostalgic smiles are nice, but not enough to make a film.

The good news is that the rebooted Ghostbusters wasn’t a mess.  It has enough smiles to make it a nice Saturday afternoon matinee with the kids.  These nostalgia reboots are more often than not hot messes (i.e. ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’), but this one was a solid enough film to be considered a summer tentpole (not that the competition this year was high).  It was obvious they were setting this up to have multiple sequels, but I guess we will just have to wait to see the box office returns.  Personally, I was not excited about this one, so getting me excited for a follow-up will be a challenge.  I know this review is short, but much like this film, I don’t have much to say.

I give this film ** stars

Ghostbusters trailer

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

         For those of you old enough to remember, ‘Spinal Tap’ was a cult hit in the 1980’s and was the first time I ever heard the term ‘mockumentary’.  That’s where a comedy is filmed in a documentary format, yet lampoons its’ subject matter.  ‘Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping’ is SNL alumni Adam Samberg’s modern take on the music scene today and a fine addition to the mockumentary genre.  He mirror’s ‘Spinal Tap’s’ format and wit, but in his own voice and with humor uniquely his.  I won’t say that this film will be a game changer the way ‘Spinal Tap’ was, but it was immensely enjoyable and cleverly insightful.  I went in with low expectations, yet thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The plot is something we have seen played out in real life many times.  When former boy band member, Conner4real’s (Adam Samberg) solo album tanks, his once high living life goes into a downward tailspin.  He is willing to do anything that it takes to regain his previous status except reunite with his former Twisty Boyz band.  Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer play Owen and Lawerence, Conner4real’s left behind band mates.  In real life there is a similar dynamic where the three are part of a SNL writing trio that brought us so many great digital shorts.  Where Adam Samberg is becoming a household name, these two are still relatively unknown.  It was fun to see the superimposition. 

The film is littered with SNL and musician cameos and characters.  Veteran utility player Tim Robbins plays their manager Harry.  He lives a good life, but still reminisces about his failed band, Tony!, Toné!, Toni! Tonee?.  In retrospect, he muses, the question mark after the last ‘Tonee’ was a mistake.  Sarah Silverman plays Conner’s publicist Paula, who explains that Conner4real is everywhere like oxygen, gravity, and clinical depression. The list goes on of former SNL alumni cameos, each contributing their clever takes on how they are part of Coneer4real’s posse. The interviews with real life musicians on how Conner4real influenced their music were hilarious as much for the seriousness in how they said it as for the inanity of what they said.  Much like Spinal Tap, even while we are laughing, we are also sympathizing with Conner4real as Adam does a good job instilling heart into Conner4real’s collapse from the spotlight.  

Similar to ‘Spinal Tap’, the film is a series of sketches pasted together to tell the story.  Some worked better than others, but the overall effort was a thoroughly enjoyable one.  One sees many fallen or soon to fall stars in Conner4real, but Adam seemed to be channeling Justin Beiber more than anyone else (maybe that’s just my bias).  It took me several scenes to recognize Justin Timberlake as Conner4real’s personal chef.  Ironic that Justin Timberlake seems to be one of the few former boy band alumni to emerge with a career intact. His part wasn’t that humorous, but the realization that it was him made it all the more enjoyable.

There are too many scenes to comment on. I could go on and on about Conner4real’s up coming rival Hunter (played by a hilarious Chris Redd) or describe the penis signing scene, which is one of the funniest moments in the film, but there is only so much space. Suffice it to say that this is a worthy successor to the ‘Spinal Tap’ tradition as well as a cautionary tale of fame altering what is important.  It is silly and extreme at times, but never loses its’ heart.  If you like Adam Samberg and his Digital Shorts on SNL, then you will love this film.  You don’t have to rush to the theater to see it, but definitely put it in your movie queue when it is released on DVD.  Great job to Adam Samberg, Judd Apatow, and team.

  I give this film *** stars

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

X-Men: Apocalypse

      ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ is here and it was not worth the wait.  The previous two movies in the ‘X-Men: First Class’ trilogy built so much positive momentum I had high hopes that the mojo would carry over into this film. This film, like in many comic book stories, fell victim in trying to outdo itself in spectacle.  The result was excessive style over substance and a whimpering last chapter to this story arc.  I’m not going to say this film was bad, just unfulfilling. When will directors and producers learn that just because you stuff more super heroes and special effects into a 2 hour period doesn’t mean you will make it better?  The success of ‘Captain America: Civil War’ is that it did not fall into this trap.  No matter how much ‘Civil War’ added, story and character came first.  We are introduced to so many new characters in ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’, yet we did not get to know any of them. We were re-introduced to previous characters from the original trilogy, but none of the chemistry was developed. Lots of special effects designed to make us  say ‘coooollll’ with mediocre at best CGI and a story line designed to glue together these endless fight scenes.

I think the most disappointing part of the film was the how they turned one of the X-Men’s greatest foes into a generic omnipotent villain who wants to destroy the world (still not exactly sure why). In fairness, Apocalypse (played by the normally phenomenal Oscar Issac) was always going to be a difficult character to bring to the screen.  He was a larger than life character in the pages of the comic book and it would be a challenge for any director to bring such omnipotence to the big screen.  Apocalypse, or En Sabah Nur, is a 5,000 year old Egyptian, believed to be the first mutant.  His ability to absorb other mutants powers over the millennia have transformed him into a god like creature.  When he is awoken from his millennia long slumber, his first assessment is that the world is run by the weak and must be ‘cleansed’.  In order to do so, he recruits what he considers four of the most powerful mutants on earth and he super charges their powers to be his henchmen.  The lineup consists of Magneto, a young Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Psylocke (Olivia Munn), and Angel (Ben Hardy).  This is where they lose a comic fan like me (and many others).  Magneto I can possibly see, even a case can be made for Storm, but Psylocke and Angel? Not exactly recruiting from the upper echelon.  This omnipotent being is recruiting beings he would probably consider in need of cleansing.

The main purpose of this film is to round out the trilogy and introduce the original movie X-Men as their younger selves so they can continue the franchise.  It felt like Jennifer Lawrence was just in it because they had her under contract.  She looked like she was just going through the motions and, in fact, rarely appeared in her supposed natural blue form (when you are a huge star, you don’t have to go through the hours of grueling make-up).  The highlight of the film for me was Micheal Fassbender’s Magneto.  Of course I’m biased as he is one of my favorite actors, but he delivered some of the most profound and poignant moments in the film.  Then of course there is Xavier (James McAvoy) where they were just looking for a story angle to transform him into the bald version all fans love.  Overall, I felt he was vastly underutilized. 

Like the third installment of most trilogies there is reflection on the previous in the form  of clip flashbacks. Combine that with some gratuitous cameos by other X-Men favorites and it was worth the price of admission, but not necessarily gratifying. Director Brian Singer tries to insert some self deprecating humor in one scene where a group of students see ‘The Revenge of the Jedi’ and note that the third movie in a trilogy is always the worse, but it comes off less funny and more irritatingly factual to a person who just plunked down $10 for a ticket would like to hear (not even counting popcorn and drink).  The new kid versions of the team are uninspiringly cast and never truly developed.  Spoiler Alert: The introduction of Jean Grey’s Phoenix powers come far too early in her career and should not have been introduced  this time around.

I can’t say I didn’t enjoy this film.  There were many things that kept me entertained. It’s just that the previous two films, plus the recent exceptional experiences of both Captain America and Deadpool,  set the bar so high that I can’t give this film a fair shot.  We have gotten to a point where we yawn at omnipotent villains because it always follows the same storyline: ‘no one can match the villain until all seems lost then someone manages to use a plot twist to defeat him’.  I’ve seen it and know when it will happen.  Predictability and formula is death in an action film. Still, go see this film just to round out the trilogy, but leave hoping that the next series of films in the franchise will learn something from Marvel Studios about how to make a super hero film.

I give this film ** stars

X-Men: Apocalypse

Captain America: Civil War

       The much anticipated ‘Captain America: Civil War’ has arrived and I am happy to jump on the bandwagon of everyone praising this movie.  A culmination of the 13 Marvel movies that have preceded it, yet setting a new bar and standing out on its’ own.  Marvel shows that it is not done exploring what is possible in “Super-hero” movies and delivering a true cinematic experience. As I watched this, it occurred to me where DC is failing to find its’ niche.  It seems obvious, but Marvel captures the most important and obvious aspect of any storytelling; that characters come first.  Marvel delivers us smart dialogue and characters in which we all become engaged and invested, despite or because of their all too human flaws.  ‘Captain America: Civil War’, despite being packed to the point of overflowing with superheroes, never forgets that the characters and their development comes first.  Despite all the heroes, old and new, in this film, not one is used gratuitously and each has their part that expands the story.  

The plot is basic, yet complexly layered at the same time.  When a UN terrorist attack, seemingly perpetrated by Cap’s friend Bucky: The Winter Soldier, kills scores of people, including King T’Chaka of the fictitious nation of Wakanda, it’s the straw that broke the camel’s proverbial back and the world governments demand accountability for all the destruction that seems to follow the Avengers.   The Secretary of State (William Hurt, reprising the role of Thaddeus Ross) offers a compromise:  The Sokovia Accords. This would move the Avengers from a private organization to having oversight and accountability from a U.N. panel.  Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr at his best), racked with guilt over his role in the devastation created by Ultron embraces accountability, whereas Steve Rogers (Chris Evans comfortably owning the role of Captain America), an individualist, and  distrustful of government bodies and their unpredictable agendas, chooses the side of freedom from oversight. Thus the philosophical lines are drawn with each viewpoint being correct and the heroes take sides according to their beliefs.  

Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely return as Captain America’s writers and their impressive ability is to create a conflict where both sides are justified.  Even if we choose a side, we fully understand and empathize with the other viewpoint.  What is further impressive is that a film that is overflowing with characters are all deftly handled and flow seamlessly into an overall narrative.  Even with all these characters, we are introduced to two new ones who will be part of the Phase 3 Marvel plan.  Chadwick Boseman makes an impressive debut as the royal Black Panther.  Regal and tortured by the death of his father, his performance makes us long for his solo movie to come quickly.  In addition, Tom Holland is introduced as the MCU’s new rebooted Spider-man.  His performance has almost been universally heralded as getting the character right.  Even these blatant seed plantings of future franchises don’t feel forced and they belong in the film as much as all the other characters.  

The choice of villain in this film is what impressed me most of all.  The ‘rapidly becoming my favorite actor’, Daniel Brühl introduces us to a smaller than life villain named Zemo.  He has little screen time and much of it we are trying to figure out what he is doing and what his motivations are.  Instead of going over the top with the movie villain, like many Super-hero movies, Zemo is low key and mysterious.  We know his actions are leading to something, but without knowing his motivations, we are left in confusion.  It isn’t until the third act that the full purpose of his actions are realized and we understand how truly devastating this reserved and somewhat sympathetic villain is.  Daniel Brühl delivers exactly what he is supposed to.

As I started with this review, ‘Captain America: Civil War’ shines because of its’ character development.  From the intense visceral conflict between Tony Stark and Captain America to the more light-hearted moments between The Vision and Scarlet Witch and even further to the comedic interactions of Ant-man and Spider-man, all seem to belong in this movie and we are invested in these characters and care what becomes of them because of it.   This film is a symphony of character interplay that transcends the super-hero genre to become a truly great movie.  I give a metaphorical standing ovation.  The Russo brothers, who directed this, have proven to be great directors capable of taking the most successful movie genre in history to an even higher level of depth and respect.  The Marvel machine is not even close to running out of steam.

Phase 3 of the Marvel universe is packed full of new heroes and personally, I cannot wait to see what Marvel has to offer. They have proven that they won’t just recycle storylines, rather attempt to just give us new and exciting journeys into these characters that I have known since my childhood.  I don’t think it’s a case of DC vs Marvel as I feel there is room for both, but Marvel is definitely setting the pace.  DC needs to find their own style, but they could also take some notes on how to make a movie that is more than just a super power showcase. Hats off to everyone involved at Marvel for giving us this cinematic work.

I give this film ***** stars 

Captain America: Civil War

Midnight Special

       ‘Midnight Special’ is one of these films that are flying under the radar during the off movie season and under the shadow of some of the bigger budget movies like ‘Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice”.  Truthfully, the only reason it came on my radar, because it has been generating some good critical buzz and I am a great admirer of Director Jeff Nichols.  I’m having a hard time pigeon-holing  this film into a particular genre. At its’ core it is a ‘father and son on the run’ film, but that is not enough to describe it.  It has elements of science fiction, horror, even to a lesser extent a family movie despite its’ ‘R’ rating. I could very well have seen the studios try to make this blockbuster in scope, but despite the high tension and deep bass music this is a quiet film.  The movie derives its’ purpose from the simplicity of it even though the context is immense.

The story starts with father and son Roy and Alton (Michael Shannon and Jaeden Leiberher respectively) escaping a Texas cult along with Roy’s State trooper childhood friend, Lucas.  We don’t know exactly why they are running at first, but we know that Alton is different.  After the Government raids the compound and starts interviewing the cult members about Alton, we realize how truly different Alton truly is.  Special Agent Sevier (‘Star Wars’ Adam Driver) leads the interview and is trying to find the answer as to why the compound leader Calvin Meyer’s (Sam Shepard) sermons contain coded government messages of the highest security.  Calvin’s answer is that Alton speaks to him in tongues and they’ve had to keep him locked away for everyone’s safety. That is locked away until Friday March 05, which is the cult’s Doomsday prophecy.

The majority of this movie is Roy, Lucas, and Alton on the run through the highways and motels of Texas.  We know that Alton is different, but he seems a normal kid in every respect even if he does seem wise beyond his years.  Normal that is, until vast amounts of light and energy manifest itself inside him.  Each episode leaves him weaker.  No matter what terror the Roy feels as his son seems to transform, his love and purpose is steadfast.  Alton knows he has to be somewhere precise on March 05 and Roy will let nothing stop him from getting there.  Even if he doesn’t know exactly where that is.

The crux of the movie revolves around how the adults adapt to know that something beyond human comprehension is manifesting itself in this boy.  Roy follows his purpose with the devotion of a cult follower that he is and no one does intensity better than Michael Shannon.  Lucas is more loyal to his childhood friend Roy than he is to the calling, but as he sees the powers that Alton begins to manifest, he begins to realize the necessity of the journey.  

The film is small and relatively quiet, which I often enjoy, but too much so for the scope of what this film was trying to capture.  It’s like ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ cloaked in a father and son on the run movie.  Jeff Nichols does an excellent job at creating a world of wonderment and fear, but overall there is a feeling that the payoff at the end was unsatisfying.  Where ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ left us breathless, this one left us with unresolved questions.  Not that I need everything tied up in a neat bow, but one needs to feel satisfied at the end and be glad that they went on this journey.  I was not.  I still respect the film and the film making skill of Jeff Nichols, but this film is one only a film enthusiast would appreciate.

I recommend this film, but only give it ** 1/2 stars

Midnight Express