SOUL

Voices of:  Jamie Foxx     Tina Fey     Daveed Diggs     Angela Bassett     Phylicia Rashad

     This is a Pixar movie renowned for its colorful history of bringing movies to children (e.g., the Toy Story series, Finding Nemo, Inside Out, Up, Coco, The Incredibles, Monsters Inc.).  In Soul, it is up to its reputation in superb animation and graphics, characterization, and music (Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross).  Whether or not children will grasp the intended principles planted in the script is yet to be seen. It has a “smell the roses while you may” quality to it that adults will clearly get, and its treatment of death will be meaningful to them as well.  Perhaps children will be entertained primarily by the imaginative animation, design, and effects…and watching Joe’s ungainly navigation and the spunky cat, 22.  

     The story is that Joe (Foxx), a middle school band teacher is gifted in his work, but aspiring to be a jazz musician, much against the advice of his mother (Rashad).  When he gets talked into an audition with the Half Note combo led by Dorothea (Bassett), he nails it and forgets about teaching.  In fact, he is so excited he’s not careful where he’s going and steps into a manhole, losing consciousness.  

     The writers Pete Docter (director as well), Mike Jones, and Kemp Powers have invented a “holding” place for Joe to go while he awaits his final destiny.  He freaks out when he realizes where he’s going and runs backwards trying to escape.  Where he ends up is a place populated by little amorphous beings yet to be born, one of which is the misfit 22, who has never found that spark that will light up her life.  Somehow during this time, a mistake is made in assignments, and Joe gets assigned to be a mentor to 22.  After bickering with one another, they find a loophole in the system and manage to get themselves transported back to earth, where Joe hopes to rejoin the combo and be a jazz musician.  But after they land, he is in a hospital bed with a cat the nurses have given him as therapy.  In another accident of fate, 22 the cat ends up in Joe’s body and he in hers, but despite everything, they manage to escape the hospital and head toward the Half Note.

     There are plenty of adventures along the way and the insights they each gain about life will be passed on to the viewers in story-like fashion.  Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey as Joe and 22 make up a funny, entertaining duo, and they are finely backed up by Angela Bassett, Phylicia Rashad, and Daveed Diggs.  The music is remarkable in that Jon Batiste (TV’s “The Late Show”) weaves in his elegant jazz into Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s original score, resulting in an innovative combination.  

     This is one of the few animated pictures that might need subsequent viewings to grasp a complex script and fully appreciate the score.

 

Another Pixar success in a long stream of captivating animated productions.

 

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

BUMBLEBEE

Hailee Steinfeld     John Cena     Jason Drucker     

Voices of:  Dylan O’Brien     Justin Theroux     Angela Bassett

            Bumblebee is a lovable transformer that may convince you that robots have emotions after all.  This is not so far-fetched; a podcast of “This American Life” verifies that robots can come up with adages that the human mind can perceive as wise (Podcast #663, “How I Read it”).  Of course it’s a bit of a stretch to take that to emotional sensitivities, but…

            A prequel to the Transformermovies that started on TV in 1986 and appeared in movie theaters every few years thereafter (2007, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2017), Bumblebee(O’Brien) has been sent to earth by Optimus Prime, Chief of the Autobots, to set up operations to defeat the Decepticons, which are out to destroy earth.  

            Meanwhile on earth, Charlie Watson (Steinfeld), a teenage girl grieving over the death of her father is sustaining her memory of him by continuing to work on cars, their favorite activity together.  She has become sullen and self-preoccupied, but cheekily asks her mother for a car for her upcoming birthday.  Her mother doesn’t take this seriously, but Charlie has been looking in her friend Hank’s junkyard and spies a yellow VW Beetle.   She cagily bargains for it, and Hank lets her have it, giving his employee a wink that says, “if she thinks she can make that work…” good luck to her.

            Charlie doesn’t realize it, but this little car is one in which Bumblebee is hiding from the Decepticons.  When he first transforms himself from a car into the giant robot Bumblebee in her garage, she’s a bit intimidated, but her fascination and curiosity makes her pause, reflect, then want to make friends with him.  

            Most of the action thereafter will be battles with the formidable Decepticons Dropkick (Theroux) and Shatter (Bassett), mixed in with the not-very-helpful U.S. Sector 7 interventions led by Agent Burns (Cena).  

            Hailee Steinfeld as Charlie continues her fine record of performances in True Grit and The Edge of Seventeen, showing a spunky, searching teenager trying to sort out her life and understand the world she lives in.  As her newfound friend/neighbor Memo, Lendeborg lights up the screen with his initially smitten character who gamely goes along with whatever comes up, eventually respecting the strange girl next door.  Playing Charlie’s younger brother, Jason Drucker, captures your attention with his realistic portrayal of a kid who looks up to his older sister, but has ambivalent feelings about her.  

            I think this is a worthy addition to the Transformers franchise for those who like this kind of fantasy.  And the addition of a mechanically minded girl who becomes a hero especially pleases me.

A worthy addition to the Transformers franchise.

Grade:  B                                 By Donna R. Copeland

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT

Tom Cruise     Henry Cavill     Ving Rhames     Simon Pegg     Rebecca Ferguson

Sean Harris     Angela Bassett     Vanessa Kirby     Michelle Monaghan     Alec Baldwin

     Apparent impossibilities is a running theme in Mission Impossible movies, and this one just about maxes out on them: Careening car chases on busy city streets, a glass and wall smashing brawl in a brilliantly lit men’s room leaving blood everywhere, reverberating near-miss gun shots (although many make their mark, of course), shifting identities (friends turn out to be foes and vice versa—who’s to trust?), multiple players with agendas of their own, complex nuclear bomb dismantlement, and literal cliff hangers make this an exciting, nail-biter of a story.

     Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is given the assignment of sabotaging a plutonium deal that is likely to end up as a nuclear weapon in the wrong hands.  He smarts at CIA head Erica Sloan’s (Bassett) last-minute instruction that one of her agents, Walker (Cavill), accompany him on the mission. Hunt gets a sample of Walker’s rashness and ineptness early on in the mission, and it takes all his patience to stomach him, especially when he seems not to have any inkling that Hunt has rescued him early on in a dive out of an airplane at high altitude.

     Never mind.  They get right to the business of identifying the parties involved in the plutonium trade, which is more complicated than they imagined.  They will encounter men with ideals to change the world order [Dr. Nils Debruuk (Kristopher Joner) and Solomon Lane (Harrison)]; British Ilsa Faust (Ferguson), perhaps of MI6 and well known to Hunt, who is mystified when she appears on the scene; and periodic reappearances of Sloan and Hunley (Baldwin).  In the process, accusations and proofs of loyalty abound.  

     Cruise is up to the role as always in his rendition of the Hunt persona and in his continuing bravery in doing as many of his own stunts as possible.  (He suffered an ankle injury during the filming.)  But the number of times he is hanging onto a ledge gets to be almost humorous.  It’s hard to see Henry Cavill (of Superman fame) play the role of thoughtless agent and possibly something worse, a bit of miscasting, since he is not always able to achieve the sinister threat of such a character.  Rhames and Pegg not only contribute fine supporting performances as Hunt’s loyal team; they finely and convincingly execute welcome comedic lines when the going gets tense.  Other supporting actors (Ferguson, Harris, Bassett, Kirby, Baldwin, and Monaghan) perform admirably in their roles, although scenes between Hunt and Monaghan’s character are unnecessary and way too saccharine.

     There are so many chases and characters to follow in this breakneck-paced action movie, the viewer can easily lose track, but the main thrusts come through, and you can count on getting the main points by the end.  Sprinkled in here and there are clever little motifs that bring chuckles (for example:  In tense moments a character will ask, “How…?”  The reply:  “I’ll figure it out.”)  At any rate, director Christopher McQuarrie (Mission Impossible:  Rogue Nation) seems to have maintained the series’ good reputation, and perhaps may even have improved on it.  

Be prepared for hair-raising ride—literal and metaphorical--in this action thriller.

Grade:  A-                                    By Donna R. Copeland

BLACK PANTHER

Chadwick Boseman     Lupita Nyong’o     Angela Bassett     Letitia Wright     Danai Gurira    

Michael B. Jordan     Andy Serkis     Sterling K. Brown     Martin Freeman     Daniel Kaluuya

     Talk about a rising star; writer/director Ryan Coogler has made big splashes in just a few years with his award-nominated and winning Fruitvale Station (2013) and Creed (2015), and now stands to earn much high praise for Black Panther.  He is lauded for delivering productions with all of the elements of notable films—entertainment, fantasy, emotionality, and meaning while weaving in topical issues of race, gender, and government.

    All of those qualities emerge in Black Panther, a mythologically-informed story about destiny, rightful heirship, sibling rivalry, and legacy.  But current politically sensitive issues are present as well, such as state protectionism vs. participation in world affairs, treason vs. loyalty, and methods for achieving power/respect in the world.

     T’Challa (Boseman) is the heir-apparent for the kingship (in the form of Black Panther) of Wakanda, a fictional country somewhere in Africa, notable for its natural resource metal of vibranium, which allows the country to develop uncommon technological achievements, while passing themselves off as a third world country (a protectionist endeavor).  Then the intrigue begins, when Wakandan prince N’Jobu (Brown) decides that Wakanda should share its knowledge to be of service to the rest of the world, which is further complicated by the surprise appearance of an American rival (Jordan) to the Wakanda throne who is accompanied by a notorious arms dealer (Serkis).   Battles ensue, which test the loyalty of some and throw T’Challa’s right to the throne in doubt.

     Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther exemplifies a strong leader from a distinct culture who eschews war and is committed to truth and right.  Michael B. Jordan exemplifies a worthy opponent who, brought up in the American way of thinking, is convinced that power/might is the only way to assure that “good” things happen.  I particularly loved the strong women surrounding the Black Panther, who represented loving, civic-minded mother (Bassett), technologically savvy sister Shura  (Wright), trusted secret service head Okoye (Gurira), and cagy spy and love interest Nakia (Nyong’o).  It’s so refreshing to see women in traditionally male roles, especially Nakia exerting a humanitarian voice and Shura a technology guru. 

     Boseman as the Black Panther effortlessly keeps real the fine lines between statesman, warrior and pacifist.  Michael B. Jordan chews up his role as the African American brought up in the U.S. with a historic heritage he doesn’t quite understand.  Daniel Kaluuya is ever subtle but strong in his role as W’Kabi, torn between two different regimes.  Andy Serkis—long overdue for an acting award—plays a deliciously evil arms dealer.  Martin Freeman of the Hobbit’s Bilgo Baggins fame is extraordinary as an American CIA agent (excellent casting!).  And, finally, Forest Whitaker ably plays the reverential priest Zuri who must swear in new kings of Wakanda.

     This is certainly a film that can be viewed numerous times for its complexities of plot and message and its performances by the principal players. 

Black male and female superheroes abound in this unusual action movie touching on race, destiny, thrones, and legacy, making an exciting addition to the action/fantasy genre.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

CHI-RAQ

Nick Cannon   Teyonah Parris   Wesley Snipes   Angela Bassett   Samuel L. Jackson   John Cusack   Jennifer Hudson

            Spike Lee’s latest production is a modern operetta with rap music.  (I was grateful for the subtitles in the opening number, “Pray 4 my City” by Nick Cannon.)  Chi-Raq is a rapper’s term signifying that with its high murder rate, Chicago is more of a death zone than Iraq.  With the story’s basis in Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, the black and brown women in Chicago deny their men sex until they give up their guns:  “No peace; no pussy.”  The movement swells, and after the involvement of city and national officials, word spreads, and soon the chant is heard in native tongues around the world.  Women state emphatically that “Saving lives is our job” and advocate peace for all.  The film gets even more idealistic by the end when suddenly Fortune 500 companies are creating jobs for black men (at higher than the minimum wage), poor people are getting loans from banks, and so on.

        I got a big kick out of Chi-Raq with its rap-opera quality, the basis of it being drawn from an ancient Greek play, and the suggestion that a movement for peace could spread around the world.  I particularly like the funeral service for a child killed by a stray bullet in which Father Corridan (Cusack) indicts politicians for bowing to the National Rifle Association’s pressure on them to defeat reasonable legislation on the sale of guns.  Corridan (based on a real person, Father Mike Pfleger, in Chicago) explains very well how the violence in the black community has developed (e.g., economic and social deprivation, disenfranchisement, and increased incarceration of black males for minor violations).  

         The cast is strong, beginning with Samuel L. Jackson’s narration, John Cusack as the white priest, Jennifer Hudson as Irene, one of the aggrieved mothers, and Angela Bassett as an older sister of Lysistrata with wise council.  Carrying the drama throughout are the main players, Nick Cannon and Wesley Snipes as leaders of rival gangs and Teyonah Parris (Lysistrata) as Chi-Raq’s (Cannon) girlfriend and leader of the movement calling for peace. 

      Chi-Raq is a serious film that points the finger at guns and gangs, but as well at government and society for disregarding the plight of the poor in our cities.  It places blight on our conscience, and Lee emphasizes the immediacy of these problems (constituting an emergency) that should receive as much attention as we pay to the disenfranchised in other countries.

Spike Lee indicts society’s role in Chicago’s designation as the murder capital of the U.S.

Grade:  B+                                    By Donna R. Copeland