LEGO MOVIE 2

Voices of:  Chris Pratt     Elizabeth Banks     Tiffany Haddish     Will Arnett 

Alison Brie     Channing Tatum     Maya Rudolph     Will Ferrell

     Following upon The Lego Movie (2014), this sequel continues the adventures of the “Master Builders” who started out as resistance fighters against Lord Business and his army of Micro Managers. Emmet (Pratt) and Wyldstyle (Banks) were heroic in the previous story and ended up as best friends in a happy town, Bricksburg, where everyone is special.  It should be noted that Wyldstyle (Lucy as she is now called), is more pessimistic and skeptical, in contrast to Emmet’s sunny outlook. Each would like for the other to change just a bit. 

     Their town now is a darker, chaotic--maybe cooler--Apocalypseburg that is changed significantly from the sunnier Bricksburg. Within the backdrop of an exciting confrontation between their city and some invaders coming in from outer space (who are wrecking everything faster than it can be rebuilt in a city of Master Builders), Emmet and Lucy become significantly changed for the better.  Emmet is both helped and hindered by making the acquaintance of Rex Dangervest (also Pratt, signifying polar opposite traits in the same person), who is brash and confident and easily counteracts Emmet’s diffidence. When Lucy gets kidnapped, Emmet enlists the help of Rex Dangervest in getting her back.  Their struggles increase insight for Emmet and Lucy; however, Rex’s issues are more complex.

     This sequel continues the psychological journeys of the characters that were begun in the first rendition.  And in this sense, the movie seems addressed more to the adult audience than to children.  For example, themes of and questions around romance, marriage, self-actualization, and détente between warring factions make the film more interesting for adults.  The production design and animation are so engaging (almost to the point of overpowering the characters and the story), children are likely to enjoy that aspect of the film; I just don’t know how much of the import of the story actually gets through to them. I suspect little of it.  The beginning scenes are so laden with special effects, it’s often hard to decipher what is going on, especially when the chorus sings, with lyrics that are hard to decipher.

     At any rate, there are exciting scenes showing colorful vignettes of the invaders led by Queen Wa’Nabi (Haddish) and the heroic efforts of the Apocalypseburg trio (Emmet, Rex, and Lucy) to protect themselves.  The invaders are clever in “brainwashing” others to join their ranks, including Batman (Arnett) who is seduced into wedding the queen, despite his fiercely avowed bat-chlerhood.   [The manipulative clichéd means by which Queen Wa’Nabi seduces him are some of the scenes I hope do pass over the heads of children.]  But there is a quick twist toward the end of the story that seems to discount the charge of brainwashing.

     Tiffany Haddish is clearly the star in this production, with her character’s chameleon-like presentation and witty dialog.  Haddish is perfectly cast, managing to be both outrageous and lovable.  Pratt and Banks also capture their roles in a way that makes them as believable as real people. Numerous cameos of the likes of Richard Ayoade, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Maya Rudolph, Will Ferrell, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Ralphe Fiennes, Will Forte, Will Arnett, and still others popping up throughout, do their part in increasing the entertainment value of Lego Movie 2.

The continuing adventures and personal development of Lego characters Emmet and Lucy/Wyldstyle.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS

Melissa McCarthy     Bill Barretta     Elizabeth Banks     Maya Rudolph     Joel McHale     Dorien Davies

     The title refers to a group from a failed sitcom called the “Happytime Gang” (puppets) who are getting killed off one by one.  Disgraced ex-cop/now private detective Phil Philips (Barretta) is assigned with his partner Detective Connie Edwards (McCarthy) to find the killer (just the first in a plot made up of nonsensical actions).  What follows is a series of charades in which Phil happens on the scene just before or after each tragedy, so that he always looks guilty, and is finally the one charged with the murders.

     It’s a long time, though, before the crimes get solved, and in the interim, the audience is “treated” (treated?) to all kinds of shenanigans, most involving Philips and Edwards insulting and fighting one another, alternating with pal-sy buddy cop intervals.  Discrimination is highlighted in puppets being disparaged by humans at every turn, but, unfortunately, the filmmakers fail to relate this to any meaningful observation of today’s world.

     The movie is based on the premise that audiences will just love foul language in almost every sentence and scene after scene of all kinds of sexual perversions. For those of us not reveling in such “humor”, however, it is a pain to sit through.  Cleverness is alien to the writers (Todd Berger and Dee Austin Robertson), and instead they insert vulgarities to get titters from the viewers.  An example:  “If I’m a-gonna get next to it, I’m a-gonna f… it”, spoken by Sandra White (Davies), who has come to Phil, asking for his help.  Of course, he succumbs to her “charms”, in still one more crude, vulgar sequence.  

     Melissa McCarthy, one of the main draws for the film, plays the same character she has played in almost every film she’s been in.  Elizabeth Banks is hardly seen in the film at all, and Maya Rudolph—drawing on the Saturday Night Live experience presumably—does come across as a character at least mildly funny.   (She is better than the script written for her.)  Bill Barretta as Phil Philips plays his role well, too, putting his signature on a detective’s narrative that engages and explains.

     There is not much else I can say about this film, which seems to be a failure from conception to execution.  Perhaps it makes a case for taking puppets more seriously, but as rendered, it doesn’t make the grade.  Directed by the son of Jim Henson (of Sesame Street fame), Brian, it sadly does not live up to the father’s accomplishments.

Unless you’re into adult porn with puppets, there is not much here to entertain.

Grade:  F                                    By Donna R. Copeland

PITCH PERFECT 2

Anna Kendrick   Rebel Wilson   Hailee Steinfeld   Brittany Snow   Elizabeth Banks

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Pitch Perfect 2 is “pitch perfect”, but the quality of the music and the catchy tunes make it entertaining and fun.  Certainly, the hundreds of spirited young girls in the audience tonight were highly approving judging by their frequent laughter and grooving with the songs.  It is a little too sweet and girly in places for my taste—almost embarrassingly so—but that didn’t keep me from enjoying it. 

      If you saw the first Pitch Perfect, this will be familiar to you in that an all-female a cappella singing group keeps winning prizes for their performances despite all the doubts of others.  The message is that if you have talent—despite public mistakes, have faith in yourself enough to flaunt it.  This “2” is a bit like The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is to the first one—more of the same, but still entertaining.

      The writers (Kay Cannon, screenplay; Mickey Rapkin, novel) and Director Elizabeth Banks make sincere attempts to address current issues and controversies about race, gender, and sexual orientation by making jokes about them, but they are more often misses than hits.  Their most successful ones are spoken by Flo (Chrissie Fit), a Latina who humorously points out tragedies and close calls in her life that were so much worse than the situations other characters are dithering about at the time.   When someone says, “Is anybody scared?”, her reply with perfect timing is, “Not me; I’ve already lived longer than I ever expected.”  Where the joke falls flat is a time when someone starts to say, “I was…” and the other person says, “Oh, I thought you were going to say you were gay.”

That brings me to another off-putting aspect of the script, which is that some characters (John, played by John Michael Higgins; and Keegan-Michael Key, Beca’s boss) are overly snarky and cruel, rather than funny and clever as I assume they were intended to be.  Both snarky and cruel can be funny, but not in this script.  John makes some shockingly sexist comments about the Bellas that are so stereotypical—but since they are still adhered to by some in our society, are no longer funny.  Beca’s boss humiliates an intern continuously, which is supposed to be funny, I guess, but isn’t.

      I also thought the initial “disaster” for which the Bellas are going to be severely chastised is over the top.  It’s a little creepy to play up the event—such as it is—as a sexual no-no and then linking it to the historical Marilyn Monroe birthday song for President Kennedy.  Poor taste, I think.

     To me, the best part of this production is listening to the a cappella groups sing, along with Anna Kendrick’s singing and performing.  Another of the funny parts of the script is her trying to be snarky, which never comes off as biting; it just sounds dorky because Beca has so little hostility.  I also greatly enjoyed the Snoop Dogg segments; Beca’s mashing up his song without his apparently noticing was priceless.

Many will find this pitch perfect.

Grade:  C+                                                By Donna R. Copeland

           

LOVE & MERCY

Elizabeth Banks     John Cusack     Paul Dano     Paul Giamatti

 

There is so much good to say about Love & Mercy—from the script (Michael A. Lerner, Oren Moverman), to the direction (Bill Pohlad), to the acting (above), to the music (Atticus Ross) and sound, to the cinematography (Robert D. Yeoman), and the editing (Dino Jonsäter).  It’s a tight production with excellence in every frame.  Normally, I dislike jumping around in time with a story—particularly a bio-pic; but it works here to increase the viewer’s sense of the turbulent inner world of Brian Wilson. 

      Director Bill Pohlad has primarily been involved in producing rather than directing, and when Love & Mercy first started, I was annoyed by the ambiguity of not knowing whether Brian Wilson was talking to himself or to someone else, and by the blank screens with only ambiguous sounds in the background.  Having seen the film, I now think it was a good strategy to heighten the suspense, and give the audience a chance to experience the disorientation and confusion that were so much a part of Wilson’s experience and the often turbulent lives of geniuses.  Also now, after having seen his film, I hope he continues to direct, using his considerable skill in composing quality works. 

      Their roles seem to be career highlights for Banks and Cusack. Banks lovingly portrays Melinda Ledbetter, letting her passion and common sense shine through.  Her eyes can convey so much one has the sense of seeing her soul inside.  Just as probably Brian did, we trust her to be true and genuinely interested in Brian for himself.  And I reveled in a beautiful blonde being characterized as assertive and wise along with her good looks.  AND, would that all our car salespersons had her winning personality and relaxed sell!  Although Dano and Cusack look nothing alike, each is able to get into Brian’s skin so securely, we eventually ignore the differences.  They are particularly good at showing the effects of pain, drugs, and creative inspirations, along with the obvious sincerity of Brian and his ability to see the larger picture, ignoring the doubts and taunts of those surrounding him throughout the early and middle years of his life.  At first I didn’t recognize Giamatti with his 60’s hairdo/hairpiece; but his voice revealed his identity to me.  He is probably one of the greatest character actors in the business.  Here, he is an exploitative, shyster insisting on complete control, a role similar to his attorney/wrestling coach Mike Flaherty in Win Win.  That character was redeemed to some extent, whereas Gene Landy suffered fitting consequences of his actions.

      Music, editing, and sound people achieved a good balance between the music and the drama, which is not always the case with this kind of film.  Here, there are fine musical highlights of Beach Boy songs, and still plenty of intimate, as well as highly dramatic material, which presumably can be credited to composer and soundtrack expert Atticus Ross (Gone Girl).  Cinematographer Robert D. Yeoman (a favorite of Wes Anderson) makes pictures that fit so well with the story and are so artistic many of the scenes are made even more memorable.

Mercy!  Go see this lovely film!

Grade:  A             By Donna R. Copeland