Daddy Mojo at the Movies | Page 6 of 28

Toy Story 4 is a grace under pressure classic for this generation

If the pressure exerted upon Toy Story 4 could be reproduced and sold in the form of a mineral it would be the largest and most valuable diamond ever….until the next Toy Story in 2028.Rare is the movie franchise that can produce a string of highly enjoyable, commercially successful and critically successful film past the third one. Think of a franchise that’s had more than three films in a row that have knocked it out of the park. While the series has maintained or kept going on, like Harry Potter, a film within the MCU or James Bond, there have been peaks and valleys that mar any series. Toy Story 4 bucks the trend and is pure cinematic joy. It’s neither too sentimental, sappy or nostalgic; rather, it acknowledges the history that it brings to the screen gleefully embraces it and then runs in a new direction.

What is that?, was almost certainly the thought when you first saw Forky. Toy Story 4 presents the home made toy that every kid has and establishes itself in the pantheon of classic toys we’ve all had. I still have a toy that I made as a child. It’s a crude block of clay with four stumps that barely resemble legs, a slightly bigger clump that might be its head and an odd twig of clay for a tail. This was no classic toy, but for a season of my childhood it held rank over G.I. Joe and the simple box of red, white and blue LEGO blocks that were in my closet.

What Toy Story 4 does so well is letting audiences think that they know what the film will be about, but then faking them out with plot shifts and pacing. Everything that you’ve seen in the trailer does happen, but not in the logical order that your mind thinks that it will be.

Running in tandem to the excellent script is the addition of some key new characters that really add to the film. Duke Caboom, Bunny, Ducky and Forky add to the movie in such a way the we don’t really miss Buzz and Woody when they aren’t on screen. Then, when either of them does come back on screen they manage to propel the movie even more forward, not that it was ever at a standstill.

Toy Story 4 goes from great, to good, to excellent and beyond. It’s filled with so much joy and happiness that audiences won’t want it to end. Our 9 year-old has seen dozens, perhaps 100+ movies and I have never heard him laugh as consistently as he did in Toy Story 4. There was one particular sequence that stars Bunny and Ducky that will have the entire theater howling with laughter.

The screening we attended of Toy Story was made up of about 65% adults and 35% children. This is one of those films where the older attendees are ones who attended one of the previous Toy Story films as a child. Like a child’s version of James Bond, this is a franchise that can exist for generations. Similar to a child’s fascination of the refrigerator light and if it stays on when the door is shut, they wonder and want to imagine a world where their toys come to life.

From a marketing perspective Toy Story 4 is meta and easy to buy into. There are Duke Caboom toys that look exactly like the Evil Kenevil toys I had as a kid. There’s a Little Bo Peep cane that’s a much of an action saber as a sheep wrangler. This is a story that has managed to make a cowboy cool again and does it with charm. Moreover, it does it while maintaining a G rating. This is a G rated film that anyone will love and audiences can only hope that Disney takes another nine year of craft before another one comes out. Then, our high school senior will probably see Toy Story 5 and enjoy it as much as he did Toy Story 4.

Win tickets to the #Atlanta sneak preview of #ToyStory4

Toy Story 4 is easily one of the most anticipated films of 2019. Forky is just the character that’s needed right now. It’s true to the way that kids play. Any parent or child will attest to the fact that there is always one homemade toy that manages to work its way into the inner circle of the toy coven. The sneak preview of Toy Story 4 is happening Tuesday, June 18. If you want to win a pair of passes to this movie event and be one of the first ones (outside of Disney brass or Hollywood) to see it, here’s what you need to do.

How to enter: Leave a comment in the blog post letting us know what your favorite toy was growing up. We have 15 pairs of tickets to give away to this sneak preview.

You can also RT this:

Win tickets to the #Atlanta sneak preview of #ToyStory4 – https://t.co/tk3KfkEuef pic.twitter.com/HFZBKNaJFl
— Daddy Mojo (@Daddymojo) June 7, 2019

This sneak preview of Toy Story 4 is in Atlanta on Tuesday, June 18 at Atlantic Station. We’ll email the winners with complete details so that you’ll be able to plan accordingly. This giveaway will end on June 14 at 9PM. Important: this giveaway is for passes to the sneak preview. You’ll need to arrive early in order to secure your seat as everybody and their brother wants to see Toy Story 4. This showing will be 100% full.

The Secret Life of Pets 2 review

In an alternate universe Disney PIXAR hasn’t made it acceptable, nay, enviable for an animated feature to be accepted as high entertainment for the entire family. Back then times were simpler, toys were toys and not used as characters to make us ugly cry in movie theaters in front of our children who aren’t sure why we’re crying during a film about toys. In that universe, The Secret Life of Pets 2 is high craft and the sort of entertainment that kids and adults will equally enjoy. Alas, in this universe, The Secret Life of Pets 2 is the sort of kid-only entertainment that those in elementary school will enjoy to ridiculous levels.

Were it not for the presence of Rooster, voiced by Harrison Ford, as the cranky, old time dog who lives on the farm the film would’ve felt like a direct-to-DVD release. It’s not that Ford is entirely the Dwayne Johnson of this film. It’s that the character he portrays is a needed counter balance to the rest of the characters.

The Secret Life of Pets 2 is a hodgepodge of a movie that has three loosely connected plots that eventually come together. Older audiences or those that saw the first one will recognize the format and outlay of how the different ones are constructed and can already place how they’ll come together. At times the film felt like a series of sketches, more akin to a Saturday Night Live five-minute bit, than a feature length film and the three story vignette set up doesn’t help this vibe.

There is the dog trying to learn to be a cat. The dogs that are riding in the car. The humorous Captain Snowball kind of breaks free from this mini-story feeling, but only for a minute. It’s almost like they had the joke of something happening and then wrote the story around each bit. Also, ‘feature length film’, is a bit of a stretch for The Secret Life of Pets 2 as it only clocks in at one hour and twenty six minutes. We have a rule of thumb that if a movie can’t hang in there for 90 minutes and be entertaining then it’s not worth being made. To that end, this film utterly fails our test.

As disappointed as we were with the film, our kids, aged 9 and 7 did like it. They liked Captain Snowball, enjoyed the action sequences and laughed at the parts that they should’ve laughed at-that were all shown in one of the trailers that have been released.

Parents: it’s OK. You don’t have to enjoy every film that your children like. My parents sure didn’t like The Apple Dumpling Gang, but I did and that’s OK. However, the later didn’t cost $80 million to produce. And, The Apple Dumpling Gang has earned $37 million since its 1975 release. Let’s presume that it had a $3 million production cost (which is impossibly high) and that film still has yielded an amazing amount of return. The Secret Life of Pets 2 will not see that amount of return as a percentage or in actual profits, in 35 years.

It’s also worth noting that producers couldn’t have kept Louis C.K as the voice of Max due to the pressure that they would’ve faced. However, Patton Oswalt has a needier, more dependent characteristic about his performance that was immediately noticed by me and other adults. Louis C.K’s version was smarmy and lovable, where as Oswalt’s was more apt to whine and be annoying.

Some audience members will identify with the independence and lessons that are taught in the film. We saw them, but they were all encompassed by Rooster, who did so with fewer words and more humor. The Secret Life of Pets 2 is great for kids, but those over 12 will want to wait until they can stream it.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is the cheese we want and (kind of) need

Cheese and entertainment can be kindred spirits. When combined at the right percentages magical entertainment can be had. Summer has the potential for high quality cheese, or popcorn fare that manage to entertain audiences at some level for two hours. Godzilla: King of the Monsters manages to achieve levels of varying entertainment in the latest incarnation of one of Japan’s most famous exports.

What it gets right

It quickly establishes that these events happen after 2014’s 30^th anniversary film, with a pair of scientists who are either vengeful or concerned for humanities existence. They’ve developed a machine that might have the ability to speak to the monsters, but do they really know what their machine is telling them?

The two scientists are credible and not annoying, with the later being a major thing that some disaster/monster get wrong, much like the balance of cheese and entertainment.

If you want monsters you got em

When you see a Godzilla film you expect monsters and Godzilla: King of the Monsters gets the monster pacing down perfectly. After the requisite establishment of why the scientists are doing what they’re doing it’s all monsters all the time, until the humans get in the way.

We quickly get to see Rodan, Gidorah and the big lizard himself very quickly. There are some nice monster battle sequences and the audience that I saw the movie with responded in kind with cheers and claps when Godzilla initially appeared on screen and when he came to rally the troops on subsequent occasions.

The monsters, the cities that they demolish, swim through, set on fire or explode are well executed and make older Godzilla fans easily forget about the cheesy sets that became the hallmark of earlier films.

Bradley Whitford as Dr. Stanton, along with Thomas Middeletch as Sam Coleman were standout actors in their roles. They had enough depth to let us know why they were there, in addition to providing most of film’s lighter or humorous moments.

What it gets wrong

At times the balance of cheese to entertainment is perfect, while at other times it way off balance. Unfortunately most of those times are with Millie Bobby Brown, who is the daughter of said aforementioned scientists. Her part in the movie is weakly flushed out, yet is so heavily depended on for most of the dramatic shift point that it all but stops the film when she enters the screen. It’s not her fault and she’s built up lots of audience good will due to Stranger Things, but this is not the feature film breakthrough that she’s looking for.

The mythos of Godzilla knows who it’s trying to win over and what it’s trying to accomplish. Alas, in this new age of comedy/monster/science-fiction/Universe building film it’s gotten confusing. Is Godzilla an anti-hero of the nuclear age? A hero against people inadvertently helping the bad kaiju? The film tries to throw a curve ball into the mix with an ‘eco-terrorist’ who is set upon setting humanity back the blah, blah, shut up and let the monster fight. That is exactly what you’ll be thinking.

If I hear one more Skull Island reference…..

The first Skull Island (See also: King Kong) reference was cool. The second one was over. By the time the end credits rolled and we see cave images-and about 20 (no exaggeration here) more references to Kong, we get it. There will be a sequel and more monster universe building.

The Bottom Line

It’s mildly entertaining, but we wanted more. If the film had taken a chance and spent more time on the script then audiences would’ve thanked it more. The film also would’ve gotten more cash, earned more goodwill towards Godzilla vs. Kong and been able to push this universe forward. Instead, you’ve got a lukewarm film that will please audiences, but will require much more to push them towards this universe building scheme that they’ve planned.

Pokemon Detective Pikachu, go it’s great entertainment

I rolled my eyes when I saw that movies were being made based on video game characters. At its core, that shouldn’t really matter because all a good movie needs is a great character and video games have those in spades. Comic book movies were once relegated to the bin of low expectations also. Even James Bond films have the ‘every other Bond’ disclaimer attached to them as a way to inoculate them to critics and fan expectation. Video game movies though have truly been horrible. Looking at the list of video game films through 2019 and only a couple of them, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil and Silent Hill are worthy of mentioning as something that was close to memorable. Enter the potentially annoying, but highly cute squirrel like character from the world of Pokemon. And Pokemon Detective Pikachu has accomplished what dozens of other well known characters and franchises have failed to do.

Pokemon, detective Pikachu, pokemon detective Pikachu, ryan Reynolds, cgi,

Pokemon Detective Pikachu is a very good movie that will entertain people seeing Pikachu for the first time; as well as, those fans that go to the theatre with their Pokemon paraphernalia. To some it’s not news to say: this film is very good. Few studios make a bad movie on purpose; it’s just that, more often than not, the end result is less than what you hoped that it would be.

In the case of Pokemon Detective Pikachu we expected it to be bad and were incredibly pleased when it turns out to be very good. In the case of our 9 year old test market whom we saw the film with, it’s better than Shazam!-which he raved about for a couple of days. It’s even more remarkable because this kid is not a fan of Pokemon. He knows the basics, like Pikachu looks like a squirrel with a lightning bolt on his tail, but that’s it.

All I know about Pokemon is that our kids collected the cards for a season or two, never played the game and then stopped asking about it. If that’s you, then Pokemon Detective Pikachu has you covered. You don’t need to know anything about these sometimes cute, sometimes explosive animals that have live amongst us. It also establishes a world in which some Pokemon live in civilized society, while others prefer to be in the wild, which could be a key ingredient to a sequel.

The film works because of the CGI and Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds’ voices Pikachu in a calm, snarky manner that makes the character lovable and very easy to root for. The CGI in the film is fabulous. It makes you want to hug him, but ever so carefully so that you avoid the tail. The other Pokemon characters also have a texture and visual depth to them that makes it easy for you to believe that they’re real. The marketing for the film has been great also. Reynolds has been sharing sarcastic comments, previews and even ‘leaking’ the film online. Said ‘leak’ was actually an hour and forty two minutes of Pikachu dancing to 80’s type soundtrack music, utterly brilliant.

Pokemon Detective Pikachu is great for those who are 13 and younger. It’s rated PG and rewards elementary school movie goers with a fun time that balances action, sight gags and humor. There are some older jokes that are provided through Reynolds’ dialogue that make the film seque a bit older too. It won’t have mass appeal to where high school students will see it en masse, but will demo up to those middle school kids who want a fun time at the movies.

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part puts it all together for ages 7 and up

Everything is awesome. The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part is now available on Blu-Ray, DVD and digital. Think of the joy, happiness, creativity and feeling of accomplishment that you get from completing an advanced LEGO set. Now put those feeling into a LEGO movie, but throw in some LEGO: DUPLO bricks and you’ve got chaos coming together.

That is the basic premise behind The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part. It’s a gorgeous piece of animation that makes your mind tumble at the intricateness of how fun it would be to create any of these brick machines. For the Brickphiles….it’s only the opening and ending credits that are filmed using stop animation. The rest of the film is seamlessly made using CGI with beautiful, plastic bricks that look like you could build a Unikitty village. In other words, you won’t mind that it’s not ‘real’ LEGO bricks because they haven’t been real in any of the other movies and they were all ridiculously entertaining.

So LEGO Duplo invaders are here, laying waste to any new construction and preventing any repairs to existing structures that have been damaged. Emmett is back and as chipper as ever, but the landscape is different, a bit darker and filled with surly characters. The LEGO characters in the film are great and the film was really entertaining. We took our 7 and 9 year-old boys to the film and they loved every minute of it.

One thing that people have come to expect from a LEGO film is a great song. After all, everything is awesome and The LEGO Movie 2 delivers on a couple great songs that make you laugh and wish that top 40 radio would play it. For us, the best song was played during the credits. It was also a song about the end of the movie and the credits. To make things even better, it’s performed by Beck, featuring Robyn and The Lonely Island. Supercool has that trademark Beck sound with the whip smart lyrics that one expects from LEGO. When you see The LEGO Movie 2 be sure to stay around for the end credits.

As a film, it does have moments that you know are coming. While it doesn’t have the surprising elements that some of the earlier LEGO films have it’s still very entertaining and had both kids (and I) laughing out loud.

We were provided with a copy of The LEGO Movie 2: The Second One for review, all thoughts are our own

Avengers: Endgame sticks the landing

Go ahead and watch the trailers for Avengers: Endgame, they won’t give anything major away. It’s amazing for a huge movie to be so self-aware of itself, as well as, the movie genres that its overtly borrowing from. The minor characters or those not even in Avengers: Infinity War, rise up and establish huge sequences that are highly entertaining and actually answer questions. Avengers: Endgame acknowledges every aspect of the characters emotions in their previous MCU film’s and succeeds in the most Meta way possible.

Ant-Man is a major reason for this. It’s no spoiler to say that he’s in the film as he produces some of the biggest laughs from the trailer of him ringing the bell at the Avenger’s front gate. It’s Paul Rudd’s wry jokes, quick timing and fish out of water facial expressions that really assist things.

The pacing of Avengers: Endgame is amazing and not for the reasons you might think. It’s brilliantly paced, but it throws the entire formula and how MCU films are done on their head. Battle, loss, battle, loss, humor and then victory, take those ingredients, shake well and you’ve got a loose description of some average superhero films.

Time travel factors into Avengers: Endgame, but again, it’s not as obvious as you think. This is where Ant-Man and many other Avengers go Meta, full on Meta where they mock time travel films as being ridiculous. They do this at the same time while they’re making a film, about time travel that is possibly the best way that time travel has been dealt with in film.

In Avengers: Infinity War left you feeling betrayed and bummed out, I feel you. Avengers: Endgame more than makes up for any ill feelings that it caused. I see why they played it the way they did, and doing so any other way would’ve cheapened the film, watered down the MCU and made it all disposable. It is also worth noting that the film balance lots of humor with the drama, all the while putting it in a nice bow with stones.

What we’re left with is a 10 year opus that spans more arcs than Lord of the Rings and encapsulates it all in a perfect manner. Granted, they will still make many MCU films, this is not their swan song. However, there is a victory lap feeling about Avengers: Endgame. It respects the fans, adds to the dramatic elements, answers questions that fans have wondered about and plants a couple new seeds to grow on.

If Avengers: Infinity War left you feeling betrayed and bummed out, I feel you. Avengers: Endgame more than makes up for any ill feelings that it caused. I see why they played it the way they did, and doing so any other way would’ve cheapened the film, watered down the MCU and made it all disposable. It is also worth noting that the film balance lots of humor with the drama, all the while putting it in a nice bow with stones.

Master Z, Ip Man Legacy succeeds as a film, not just a martial arts movie

I do love martial arts films. Even when they’re bad, they have entertainment potential for me. It’s some of those films, as well as, James Bond films that require them to be graded on a curve with a caveat. Master Z stems from the Ip Man films, which are entering their fourth incarnation, but have required the “good for a martial arts movie” caveat since the second one. Master Z has a title that belies its quality. This is a grade A martial arts movie that entertains martial arts fans, action movie audiences and might just convince casual movie goers to give these films a chance.

Master Z starts out with our titular character (played by Max Zhang) announcing that he’s giving up the fast-hands-for-hire game and going legit, but not before he’s challenged by an equally fast paced opponent. He’s done some bad things for good reasons, but now Cheung Tin Chi wants to go straight and narrow, spend some time with his son and avoid danger and the police. He opens up a grocery store, but danger, the growing crime scene and a drug underbelly can’t avoid the man who almost beat Ip Man.

Granted, I’m glossing over some of the plot details. Part of that is because martial arts fans know what to expect from these genre films. The other reason is that Master Z swims in some of these tropes, but it also splashes headlong against them.

The women are victims. Yes, there are some weak women in Master Z; but one of the baddest, strongest characters is a woman (the legendary Michelle Yeoh) and there is also a great scene where Liu Yan helps defend her friend against a gang of thugs.

Children as ploys are another tropes in films, not just martial arts films, and this is no exception. However, in Master Z it’s handled quite well and the audience is given just enough exposure to believe that he’s a father who loves his son, without it being child endangerment.

Yeoh is a pleasure to see on screen. She’s speaking her native tongue and crackles in every scene that she’s in. Max Zhang also does a great job balancing the drama of caring for his son, adapting the western nightlife of Bar Street and the eventual villains that make their way in.

There is some stunt casting in Master Z that might not pay off as well as you’d like. Tony Jaa is in the film, but it’s only for a couple sequences. Having said that, he’s still great to see and anytime he can be seen in a quality vehicle, even for a couple of minutes is welcome.

What ties all of this together is the action. The fight sequences are amazing and rarely let up. A great example of this is when I left the screen for: 30 to get a snack and came back in to a full on battle. It was that natural down time in martial arts films where the characters get together, talk about their family and then figure out what to do about the town bad guy. I took a snack break then, but it was a fake out from Master Z that just served up more action.

Master Z is directed by Yuen Woo-Ping, the legendary Hong Kong director who did the action choreography for The Matrix trilogy, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and more. From watching Master Z, even if you haven’t seen his other work, it’s obvious that there’s something different about this film. This is fun. It’s quickly paced, has some great humor and photography that makes you take notice. If you enjoy martial arts films you must put Master Z on your to-be-seen list. If you’re a casual action film fan this is one that you’ll want to check out.

The rating for Master Z is probably PG-13, and it’s a middle PG-13 rating. There are life and death elements, but they’re presented in ways that aren’t graphic. Ages 12 and up should be fine with everything here.