New ‘Furious’ film resorts to same formula
“Furious 7” has a nonsensical plot and dull dialogue, but it speeds past these road bumps that might otherwise sideline any other film with a familiar mix of levity and the care it shows for its fallen cast member. James Wan directs the latest entry in the “Fast and Furious”...
‘Marigold’ sequel delightfully simple
Film underwhelmingly mixes talented cast with stuffy plot As the title suggests, “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” doesn’t portray anything new or particularly interesting, but the film’s geriatric cast is charming and delightful. The sequel to “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” picks up right where the 2011 film left...
Weak cyber crime action movie features lackluster performance
“Blackhat” fails to make hacking watchable for audiences “Blackhat,” starring Chris Hemsworth, is a plodding crime drama about hacking, with clumsy dialogue and boring characters. Michael Mann’s “Blackhat” opens with a Chinese nuclear plant explosion caused by a cyberattack. Minutes later, a villainous entity manipulates the stock exchange to collect...
Dull script weakens WWII story
“Unbroken” tells the unbelievable true story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic long distance runner who was captured by Japanese troops during World War II after his plane was shot down, in a surprisingly lackluster fashion. Adapted from the biography by Laura Hillenbrand of Louis Zamperini (Jack O’Connell), “Unbroken” is the...
‘Dumb’ doesn’t live up to original lowbrow classic
The sequel to the Farrelly brothers’ classic comedy “Dumb and Dumber” is an almost carbon copy of the original film. However, “Dumb and Dumber To” isn’t as iconic, and the jokes haven’t aged as well as Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels have. In this movie, Harry (Jeff Daniels) and Lloyd...
‘Ouija’ underwhelms with unoriginality
With uninspired scares and lackluster directing by Stiles White, “Ouija” is a completely forgettable foray into the horror-film genre. Hasbro is taking a similar approach to 2012’s “Battleship” by force feeding viewers another movie about a board game, this time about one where friends spell out answers on a wooden...
Found-footage ploy ruins film
Horror film features one-note characters trekking through Parisian catacombs While it’s a good commercial for the Paris catacombs, “As Above/So Below” is ultimately another unimpressive foray in the found-footage horror genre. Scarlett, played by Perdita Weeks, is essentially Lara Croft, the famous female treasure hunter. On top of owning two...
Creative twists engage viewers
Moss, Duplass keep “The One I Love” real A romantic comedy disguised as a dramatic indie film in science fiction wrapping, the genre-crossing Sundance hit, “The One I Love” is a well executed two-hander. Sophie (Elisabeth Moss) and Ethan (Mark Duplass) are in couples therapy. The somewhat newlywed couple is...
Star performance keeps James Brown biopic afloat
James Brown, the godfather of soul, gets the biopic treatment in “Get On Up.” It won’t disappoint. The film goes against the classic biopic structure by hopscotching around Brown’s life. For example, the film opens with five minutes of a drug-addled Brown wildly wielding a shotgun during an insurance seminar,...
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Drama wastes interesting premise
“True Story,” based on Michael Finkel’s memoir of the same name, fails to be as interesting as the true story. Finkel’s stories were on multiple covers of The New York Times until it was revealed a piece he wrote on modern slavery in Africa was partially fictionalized with the use...