Movie Review - Lightyear

Director: Angus MacLane
Genre: Science Fiction/ Animation/ Family/ Adventure/ Action
Runtime: 100 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Chris Evans, Keke Palmer, Taika Waititi, James Brolin, Peter Sohn, Dale Soules, Uzo, Aduba, Bill Hader,
 
Description: While spending years attempting to return home, marooned Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans) encounters an army of ruthless robots commanded by Zurg (James Brolin) who are attempting to steal his fuel source.

Review: In 1995, audiences were introduced to “Toy Story”, in which lead roles were played by toy cowboy Woody and toy astronaut Buzz Lightyear. It was the beginning of a four-part series that concluded in 2019. Or so it seemed. This year, Buzz gets to appear in “Lightyear”. But not as a toy or puppet. According to the opening titles, “Lightyear” is the film that inspired the creation of toy Buzz Lightyear. In other words, this is a movie in the world of “Toy Story”, a movie within a movie.

In the distant future, Buzz is a respected Space Ranger who, together with comrade Alisha Hawthorne, crashes on a planet. The only way to escape is by using a crystal that can take the ship to hyper-speed. Daredevil Buzz is crazy enough to try it, but encounters a problem. Every time he wants to reach hyper=speed, he travels four years through time. At least, his surroundings age four years. He doesn’t. with each escape attempt, time literally slips through his fingers.

Certainly don’t try to fathom the contrived time-travel story; it’s mainly designed to put pressure on Buzz’s stubbornness. He wants nothing more than to escape from this planet, but he pays a high price for it. Losing four years each time is quite something. Alisha gets older, meets her life partner, has a son, a grandchild… Life just goes on. When will buzz realize that sometimes letting go is the best option?

Noe of it has to get super-serious, either, and fortunately “Lightyear” offers the necessary humor. There’s a robot who makes map-reading mistakes, Buzz’s vanity is a rewarding source of jokes, and then there’s robot cat Sox who acts as Buzz’s mental coach. Let’s also not forget that there are plenty of reference to “Toy Story”(like the evil Zurg, “to infinity and beyond” and the quote at the beginning of the movie “there’s seems to be no sign of intelligent life anywhere”, which I happen to use on a daily basis).

“Lightyear” doesn’t possess the brilliance of its four predecessors and neatly ticks off the boxes of what a Pixar title should meet. Still, it’s a delightful film that I really enjoyed.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Movie Review - Thor: Love & Thunder

Director: Taika Waititi
Genre: Science Fiction/ Action/ Adventure
Runtime: 119 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Taika Waititi, Jaimie Alexander, Russell Crowe, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff
 
Description: Thor (Chris Hemsworth) enlists the help of Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) to fight Gorr (Christian Bale) the God Butcher, who intends to make the gods extinct.

Review: A viking from space who uses his magic hammer to cross the universe on a rainbow road. An absurd fact that director Taika Waititi fortunately knows how to deal with. He continues the direction he took with “Thor: Ragnarok” and proves that Thor is justifiably the first Marvel original Avengers character to add a fourth film to his resume. “Thor”Love & Thunder” is a comic film of cosmic proportions.

The last time we saw Thor was in “Avengers: Endgame”, in which his body suffered a lot from eating too much. He is back in shape and ready for a new adventure. He is fights together with the Guardians of the Galaxy, but Thor feels he is lacking a piece of meaning. We follow the story of his journey to self-development, in which, in addition to thunder, love is central.

Which brings us to Jane, whom we last saw in “Thor: The Dark World”. And she herself gets to experience what it’s like to be a superhero. I was skeptic about this part at first, but I thought they handled this well and the reasoning behind her being worthy enough to pick up Mjolnir.

The way Chris Hemsworth gives color to his character certainly deserves praise. And with Taika Waititi’s great direction and the humorous and action-packed story make for an entertaining movie.

I do still think “Thor: Ragnarok” was better, but nonetheless Waititi did a great job with the fourth Thor movie, which I will definitely be rewatching.

Rating: 4/ 5

Movie Review - Free Guy

Director: Shawn Levy
Genre: Action/ Comedy/ Science Fiction/ Adventure
Runtime: 114 minutes
Year: 2021
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Lil Rey Howery, Joe Keery, Taika Waititi, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Aaron W. Reed, Britne Oldford, Camille Kostek, Mark Lainer

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2021 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 47: A SCIENCE FICTION MOVIE
 
Description: A bank teller (Ryan Reynolds) discovers that he’s actually an NPC inside a brutal, open world video game.

Review: Free City is a popular online videogame, in which bank teller Guy lives in a loop. He is a Non Playable Character (NPC) who finds out about who he actually is and tries to fight it.
The appeal for “Free Guy” lies primarily in the concept of the story. Every gamer has hit or beaten the insignificant citizen in games that look similar as the fictional Free City. The film tells the story from the perspective of this background character. Doesn’t immediately sound like a must-see, but Ryan Reynolds plays the lead role and  due to him “Free Guy” is the success that it is. His wonderful innocent charisma in this film is unbelievably entertaining. His performance is pure, hilarious and optimistic. This movie would never have worked as well as it did if Reynolds wasn’t in it.
Yet beyond the main character Guy, there is a while world of details. The story about the NPC who becomes self-aware is grounded in reality by the subplot that takes place in the real world. Jodie Comer plays Millie, a game programmer who along with her friend Keys has an interesting relationship and shares conflict with Keys’ boss Antwan, who has stolen a piece of code from them and put it into his own, now very successful, game. With Millie and Keys, it’s more about their creation, they see the beauty in it. This storyline gives a lot more weight to the plot, increases the tension and makes us care about the conflict.
“Free Guy” is full of pop-culture references, which I am a sucker for. And it has one quick, but very awesome cameo that I won’t spoil.
Even though the movie is almost 2 hours long, time flies by. The film has some hilarious moments, strong action sequences and the visual effects are very impressive. And this is one of the few movies out right now, that isn’t really based on anything.
I was pleasantly surprised with “Free Guy”, it was such a fun film.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

10s Movie Review - What We Do in the Shadows

Director: Taika Waititi, Jermaine Clement
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 86 minutes
Year: 2014
Starring: Taika Waititi, Jermain Clement, Jonathan Brugh, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Stuart Rutherford, Ben Fransham, Jackie van Beek, Elena Stejko, Jason Hoyte, Karen O’Leary, Mike Minoge, Chelsie Preston Crayford, Ian Harcourt, Ethel Robinson, Brad Harding, Isaac Heron, Yvette Parsons, Madeleine Sami, Aaron Jackson, Rhys Darby

Description: Viago (Taika Waititi), Deacon (Jonathan Brugh) and Vladislav (Jermaine Clement) are vampires who are finding that modern life has them struggling with the mundane – like paying rent, keeping up with the chore wheel, trying to get into nightclubs and overcoming flatmate conflicts.

Review: The mockumentary “What We Do in the Shadows” shows the life of a group of vampires, who live together in a house in Wellington. Downstairs in the basement lives Ptyr, with his eight thousand years the oldest and most monstrous vampire, who even  frightens his housemates. During the sunny hours, almost two hundred year old Deacon retreats to the smallest room, some sort of broom closet. Then there is the torturing Vladislav and very neat Viago. Together they try to make something of eternal life. But how do you do that when you have infinite time on your hands and suffer from the enormous generation gap?
“What We Do in the Shadows” is based on traditional vampire conventions. No super-attractive vampires or broad, muscular werewolves that we’ve admired a lot in recent years. The vampires in this mockumentary can simply turn into bats and are invisible in the mirror to their own hilarity. Precisely this approach ensures recognition with the horror lover.
It is clever that at the same time the creators have remained very close to reality and have clearly thought about it well. Because where people live together, irritations accumulate which inevitably lead to collision. Why would that be different for vampires? In addition, with the passage of time untold changes take place. If people already experience a generation gap, how is it when you amplify it thirty times? the jokes are therefore simplistic but brilliant.
Jermaine Clement and Taika Waititi have also had plenty of time to think about this. In 2000 they came up with their first sketch, which they tested six years later in a short film to see if the idea was good enough for a feature length film. However, it took another seven years before “What We Do in the Shadows” was finally made. Although they had the script, they deliberately didn’t share it with cast and crew. Because it was a mockumentary, the makers wanted to play as natural as possible, so they improvised a lot. Because Clement and Waititi themselves portray two of the leading roles, they were able to steer a bit bringing parts of the preconceived text into dialogue through their characters.
Although the interactions seem quite natural, the comic elements are sometimes bold. Like Viago’s uncomfortable smile, when he is clearly aware of the camera aimed at him. The film excels, however, because a lot of attention has also been paid to the supporting roles. All the characters are equally funny. Like Rhys Darby in the role of the nerdy werewolf pack leader and Jackie van Beek as Jackie who dreams of becoming a vampire and in order does all the dirty jobs for the groups of vampires. Refreshing to see that also the chemistry between all actors is right, regardless of the size of their roles.
“What We Do in the Shadows” is a very witty mockumentary about vampires that appeared just at the right time. Brilliant by relying on traditional conventions while remaining so close to reality. One of the funniest movies of the 2010s, for sure.

Rating: 5 / 5

Movie Review - Jojo Rabbit

Director: Taika Waititi
Genre: Comedy/ Drama
Runtime: 108 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Scarlett Johansson, Taika Waititi, Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson, Alfie Allen, Stephen Merchant, Archie Yates, Luke Brandon Field

Description: A young boy (Roman Griffin Davis) in Hitler’s (Taika Waititi) army finds out his mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in their home.

Review: “Jojo Rabbit” is a film about Jojo, a 10-year-old boy, at the end of WWII. A German boy. He doesn’t know better than that Hitler is ruling and joining the Hitler jugend is just as normal to him as joining the boy scouts. As many kids his age, Jojo has an imaginary friend. But this one is a little out of the ordinary: it’s Adolf Hitler himself.
The tone is set in the opening scene, where Jojo and imaginary Hitler are practicing his ‘Sieg Heil’ until he is finally convincing. At first you think it might be a dumb juvenile joke, but it’s far from that. The film has a satirical take and it’s brilliant.
Although the film is set during WWII, the tone is light hearted. It does star a 10-year-old boy. Scarlett Johansson plays his mother Rosie, a jolly woman who is focused on doing the right thing and tying Jojo’s shoes. Captain Klenzendorf is the leader of the Hitlerjugend and almost always too drunk to notice that shots are fired. And Jews, in Jojo’s imagination they are mythical creatures with horns and telepathic powers. He has an idea of what to do when he sees one, but it never came to that. Until he meets Elsa, the young woman Jojo’s mother is hiding in their house. Elsa is a smart and pretty teenage girl and she is also very friendly. Jojo doesn’t understand any of it anymore.
This extremely ingenious story, from the book by the Flemish New Zealand Christine Leunens, offers plenty of room for strong satire. Director (and portrayer of imaginary Hitler) Taika Waititi adds to this a sharp visual symbolism and subject matter. Even with the Wes Anderson-type shots and composition this movie never wants you to think that 1944’s Germany was a place without worries. Because the actual gruesome details of the war stay in the background, you still notice they are there. And even the protective world of a 10-year-old isn’t free of the monster that’s called war. We can laugh, we even have to some times, but people are still dying and you can’t deny or flee that.
This combination of playfulness and cruelty is what makes “Jojo Rabbit” so strong in the end. And if you can’t find the humor in a young kid that, while skipping around town, greets random strangers with a stretched arm, you’d better pass on this one. But I’ve never seen a jet black comedy that was so colorful. “Jojo Rabbit” will make you laugh and cry, whether it’s because of happiness or sadness. “Jojo Rabbit” is a fantastic film, a definite favorite for me.

Rating: 5 / 5

TV Show Review - The Mandalorian (Season 1)

Season: 1
Genre: Science Fiction/ Adventure/ Action
Number of episodes: 8
Year: 2019
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Carl Weathers, Gina Carano, Werner Herzog, Nick Nolte, Taika Waititi, Giancarlo Esposito

Description: The travels of a lone bounty hunter in the outer reaches of the galaxy, far from the authority of the New Republic.

Review: A ruthless bounty hunter who shoots, beats and punches himself through a treacherous universe. In "The Mandalorian", the Star Wars universe is introduced to the action, excitement and humor of a spaghetti western. The first episode of “The Mandalorian” alone raises the bar for the rest of the series and all the new Disney+ projects.
"The Mandalorian" takes place a few years after "Return Of The Jedi". After the second Death Star was blown up, and Darth Vader threw the emperor into a well (spoiler alert!), the Galactic Empire fell apart. Because of the victory of the rebels, people have regained their freedom, but have lost all their stability. Order is barely maintained and there is a deep economic crisis because the imperial currency has become worthless in one fell swoop. The new republic is still organizing itself and former members of the empire are working behind the scenes frantically to regain power. Golden times in short for criminals, smugglers and bounty hunters who don't ask too many questions.
"The Mandalorian" follows one of these shadowy figures and takes you into the messy underworld of the Star Wars universe. The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) is a silent bounty hunter who ruthlessly takes on defaulters and cheaters. The Mandalorian's career takes an unexpected turn when a wealthy client sends him to a remote desert planet on a vague, super-lucrative mission: delivering him The Child, whose importance isn’t known yet.
Lawlessness, the chance of a huge fortune, shootings, open plains and a collection of factotums that try to trump each other... Deep inside, "The Mandalorian" is actually an old-fashioned spaghetti western, with the Mandalorian as the legendary 'Man Without a Name'. The period between "Return Of The Jedi" and "The Force Awakens" is very noisy, and because everyone is busy with his own ass, the threat of shoot-outs and betrayal is constantly present. The action is also a bit rawer than we are used to from Star Wars, a few bandits are killed in a very inventive way, but fortunately it never gets really graphic.
Pedro Pascal gives the Mandalorian a self-assured, alert 'swagger' without becoming theatrical. Very well-done and very important, since the main character remains pertinently masked. How the makers got the idea to cast Werner Herzog in a Star Wars series; we don't know, but it's a masterly move. The bounty hunter's mysterious client knows a lot more than he's letting go, and despite his kindness, an uncanny threat emanates from him. An unrecognizable Nick Nolte plays an important supporting role as a strict alien who helps the Mandalorian on his way. Also worth mentioning are Gina Carano, as the badd-ass Cara Dune, who helps out the Mandalorian in his journey to protect the Child.
A characteristic of Star Wars is that the created worlds usually look as if they were actually being lived in. Showrunner Jon Favreau has paid extra attention to this, it seems. The universe is in crisis, so the world of The Mandalorian looks particularly worn out. Vehicles spit smoke, buildings are temporarily patched up and a few stray stormtroopers walk around in worn armour. In the first episode there are quite a few 'easter eggs' that make Star Wars fans smile, without getting annoying.
"The Mandalorian" of course has a smaller budget than the Star Wars films, but due to the clever use of camera angles and indoor locations, the series does not fall short in most scenes. Because it looks like a million dollars.
I also want to use this as an ode to the new fandom that was started: The Child, or as the fans call him, Baby Yoda. Without a doubt the best thing that TV brought us this year.
The new Star Wars series is a fresh new insight into the worlds of Star Wars, and "The Mandalorian" keeps all promises, because it’s what us Star Wars fan really deserved. With the series, Star Wars takes a welcome detour through the Wild West and I can hardly wait for the sequel!