Moana

Year: 2016
Genre: Animated Musical
Stars: Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Rachel House, Temuera Morrison, Jemaine Clement, Nicole Scherzinger, Alan Tudyk, Oscar Kightley, Louise Bush
Directed: Ron Clements, John Musker, Don Hall, Chris Williams
Production: Disney Animated Studios

Disney's newest incarnation of the Disney Princess brand, comes chalked full of Disney whimsy, high-quality Disney grade animation, all set to memorable Disney songs and time-tested Disney formula. Did I mention Moana is a Disney movie? The thing about Disney though is you can't argue with its results. They know what their doing and even when they prove the most craven to make a buck, we still absolutely love them for it. I love them!

All hail our overlords!

And I also love Moana, an original story based on ancient Polynesian legends and folklore. The movie tells the tale of a youthful chieftan's daughter (Cravalho) who goes on a glorious adventure; aided by an unwilling Demigod named Maui (Johnson). Seems before the time of humans, Maui stole an artifact from the God, Te Fiti and after losing it in glorious battle, the islands of the South Pacific are cursed. A millenia later, the curse has spread to Moana's island where she and her village squabble over what to do. Her father, an isolationist-type simply wants to grow coconut groves on another part of the island. Moana on the other hand believes the legends of Maui and his magical fishhook, and casts off to return the artifact to Te Fiti.

We no longer need no man!

As with quite a few films marking Disney's ought-10 renaissance, Moana liberally tailors itself to a well-worn formula with a 21st century twist that would seem aggressive, if not for the fact that the film is a Disney cartoon. In Moana's case, our protagonist is a strong independent woman who goes on a perilous adventure with an animal sidekick but she doesn't fall in love or find herself needing to be rescued. This is despite that fact that she is wayfinding with literally the only guy on the open ocean for thousands of miles and the man is a muscular, heroic Demigod.

The difference here however is nearly nothing she does is a result of, nor contrary to, the limitations of traditional gender roles. She is (of course) forbidden to venture beyond the reef of her island by her father, but not because she's a dainty, pretty thing that needs to be protected. No, it's because no one is allowed outside the reef. Maui, at first finds her useless but not because of her gender but rather because she's a product of generations of Polynesians who never sailed before. Finally when she proves herself capable of everything we need a hero in this story to be, none of it feels like a fissure in the fabric of a society. The gender politics of Moana are a big deal precisely because none of it is a big deal.

This in addition to being a well researched, respectable, if Disney-fied travelogue on Polynesian culture puts this flick above the mark as far as decent family-oriented fare. The music, while not as memorable as Frozen (2015), still has an undeniable crackle. Think Lin-Manuel Miranda's "In the Heights" soundtrack partially sung in Tokelauan and you get an idea on how textured, fun and witty the songs can be.

Moana is fun, Moana is scrappy, Moana is...well, Moana, for all it's pleasures is still guided by the exact same hero's journey story structures that have defined animated movies for well over a generation. Does that make the film bad; of course not. But when it gets painfully obvious the film is filling for time, the obvious structure prevents the film from truly being great.

Final Grade: B

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Year: 2016
Genre: Fantasy
Directed: David Yates
Stars: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Colin Farrell, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, Alison Sudol, Jon Voight, Ron Perlman, Josh Cowdery, Ronan Raftery, Carmen Ejogo, Johnny Depp
Production: Warner Bros.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them started as a charming if verbose act of whimsy on the part of "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling. The fictitious textbook was first featured in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" before years of grassroots Harry Potter fervor made the wordy title optimal merchandising fodder. Now the title has morphed into a narrative film about the wizard who wrote the book. A film whose title should have been "Fanciful Magic and Can We Find It?"

My guess is...nope.

We first meet our author Newt Scamander (Redmayne) on a ship, sailing into New York harbor. He carries with him at all times, a brown briefcase that hides an entire zoo of magical creatures, one of which he plans to release in the great frontier of Arizona. Before he can even leave New York City however, Newt's creatures are inadvertently let loose upon the muggle community of America and the wizarding world struggling to keep themselves secret. It is then up to Newt and his new American friends, magic bureaucracy functionary Tina (Waterston) and bumbling No-Maj (non-wizard) Jacob Kowalski (Fogler) to find them before they're used as scapegoats for something far more sinister.

Gee, I wonder who the bad guy is...

Taken from a chockablock collection of 85 creatures, J.K. Rowling (who wrote the screenplay) turns in an extended universe that is just as thick a muggle textbook. Within a half-hour, the audience is inundated with intricate plot mechanics that clunk and veer wildly from one whimsical set piece to another; flying by the seat of our pants until we're finally given time to breathe. We're then treated to a thicket of intrigue largely plotted with due seriousness by No-Maj zealots Mary Lou Barebone (Morton), her brood of adopted children, and their tenuous connection to Magical Congress brass Auror Graves (Farrell).

Newt's zany exploits fit these staid, sullen moments about as comfortably as a Hogwarts freshman at a Game of Thrones (2011-Present) season finale. You're never quite sure where the film wants to go, and it seems to take an arrogant delight in setting up plot point after meticulous plot point. But could we please settle on a mood or stakes that don't change with the weather?

Admit it, you forgot this character's name.

With a reported 5 more films to follow, Eddie Redmayne's Newt are some pretty scrawny shoulders to cloak a franchise on. In any other movie, Redmayne's uncanny ability to develop pigeon-toed introverts into characters we aspire to be would have been greatly appreciated. Unfortunately Fantastic Beasts crams the Magizoologist into an overloaded story that can't decide if it loves itself more for being unnecessarily convoluted or weaving in trough-loads of fan service. What is clear is character is largely secondary; a message made painfully clear when we finally learn why everyone in the American magic community seems to be pissed at Tina for some reason.

Which isn't saying much.

If any non-beast character leaves this movie with their head held high it's Dan Fogler's Jacob. He's pretty much around to take all the magic in and be told things everyone but he and the audience should already know. Yet when the movie abandons this ploy for a late, second-act romance between him and Tina's bewitching sister Queenie (Sudol), he rightfully takes his place as the Ron Weasley of this re-purposed franchise.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them may just be the first movie ever based on a charity campaign. 80% of the cover price of the original book went to poor children the world over through Comic Relief. Yet despite good intentions, Fantastic Beasts the movie winds up feeling more like a charity case. Who knows perhaps the companion book "Quidditch Through the Ages" will bring the magic back on the big screen. For now we'll just have to settle for this swaggering and splashy fiasco.

Final Grade: D

The Edge of Seventeen

Year: 2016
Genre: Comedy
Directed: Kelly Fremon Craig
Stars: Hailee Steinfeld, Haley Lu Richardson, Blake Jenner, Kyra Sedgwick, Woody Harrelson, Hayden Szeto, Alexander Calvert, Eric Keenleyside, Nesta Cooper, Daniel Bacon, Lina Renna, Ava Grace Cooper, Christian Michael Cooper
Production: Gracie Films

For those who enjoyed the brittle humor of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015), swooned over the youthful spirit of Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) and thought to themselves; "can we get shades of John Hughes up in here?" Boy is there a movie out there for you. Written and directed by first timer Kelly Fremon Craig, The Edge of Seventeen is one of those rare movies that works as a gentle, general audience-pleaser and a laser focused dialogue, calling out the gawky, shoe-gazing teenager in all of us. There are typical teenage movies, then there are movies like The Edge of Seventeen.

"There are two types of people in this world..." remarks Hailee Steinfeld's rancorous beginning narration. "Those who seem to have it easy, and those who hope those people die in a fire." The assumed "other" person in her discourse is her brother Darian (Jenner), who is first introduced a young boy, running out of the family car to glob onto his group of popular friends. By the time Darian is in high school, he looks like he should be on the cover of an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog. Nadine (Steinfeld) on the other hand is terrifyingly hyper-aware of herself - immured by her various faults to the point of drowning. Yet since early childhood Nadine has had one faithful ally: her best friend Krista (Richardson). "She appeared like an angel," continues Nadine in voice over - seemingly unaware that Krista and Darian are doomed to start a perky high school romance that sends Nadine's world crashing downward.

While one could talk for ages about Fremon Craig's uncannily confident direction, and the wistful autumn time cinematography of DP Doug Emmett, the success of The Edge of Seventeen rests almost entirely on the shoulders of Hailee Steinfeld. To that end Steinfeld proves not just stellar but invaluable. Her role requires a lot out of her. As a solipsistic and morose teenager she has to be a bully, a misanthrope and an impatient, neurotic browbeater convincingly seeing the apocalyptic in the trivial. All that and she has to be likable too! Thankfully Steinfeld doesn't merely rely on clever dialogue and the audience's shared feeling of embarrassment to carry her through. Her expressive body language, flawless delivery and disarming lack of pretense keeps you invested and rooting for her all the way through.

To my recollection only Alicia Silverstone's performance in Clueless (1995) can really compare. As Nadine, Steinfeld colors and shapes the entire movie, bridging cliches and obligatory story elements with pure, unadulterated, sometimes painful truths. And yes there are a lot of obligatory story elements which thankfully aren't inserted ironically in a post-modern ploy to appeal to the masses.

Looking at you, Easy A (2010)

The laughs here are actually earned and because the quiet, bittersweet moments are actually given room to breathe, the rollicking, hilarious moments are good enough to be remembered for decades.

Sharp, witty and respectfully grounded in the emotional epicenter of teenage life, The Edge of Seventeen is simultaneously one of the funniest movies this year and one of the most honest. The script, despite treading on familiar paths, has a lot to offer as far as hilarious quotes and painfully awkward situations. Yet thanks to the brilliant work of Hailee Steinfeld and the deft support by veteran actors Kyra Sedgwick and Woody Harrelson, the film gracefully crystallizes into something a little bolder, truer and more authentic.


Final Grade: B+

Hacksaw Ridge

Year: 2016
Genre: War Drama
Directed: Mel Gibson
Stars: Andrew Garfield, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths, Teresa Palmer, Nathaniel Buzolic, Milo Gibson, Roman Guerriero, Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington, Ben O'Toole, Goran D. Kleut, Luke Pegler, Richard Pyros, Darcy Bryce
Production: Cross Creek Pictures

Hacksaw Ridge is at once a pre-modernist throwback to the valor-filled WWII epics of the 50's and early-60's and a restatement of a sentiment that has never really gone away. While many of today's war films offer "war is hell" chaos and fervor with an underlying tinge of anti-war proselytizing, Hacksaw Ridge dares to be different. Underneath Private Doss's importunity to remain a conscientious objector serving his country, and underneath Mel Gibson's at times comically caricatured brief of real events, lies some startlingly effective messaging. War maybe hell, but someone's gotta do it.

Sleep tight America.

The film follows our humble and entrenched hero Desmond Doss (Garfield) whose medical services in the Battle of Okinawa saved 75 men during a month long campaign. While he never carried a gun (he was a pacifist and Seventh-Day Evangelist), Doss's perseverance under heavy enemy fire, won him the Medal of Honor, an honor no other conscientious objector had received at the point in U.S. history.

When we first meet Doss he's but a small child (Bryce), playing in the rugged backwoods of Virginia with his brother (Guerriero). The camera lovingly floats across amber waves of grain and fluttering sunlight much like the first scenes of Braveheart (1995). It's clear that despite being absent behind the camera for 10 years and having a flurry of personal struggles, Gibson's keen eye has, if anything grown sharper. Indeed there are plenty of other echos of Mel Gibson's other directorial efforts including Man With a Face's (1993) sincerity, Apocalypto's (2006) carefully cadenced intensity and a sado-masochistic glimpse into the heart of pain and suffering that has The Passion (2004) written all over it. Make no mistake Doss's baptism by fire during the invasion of Okinawa is among the most viscerally violent recreations of war ever committed to film; certainly up there with Saving Private Ryan's (1998) Normandy invasion. Those prone to nausea or suffering from PTSD may need to sit this one out.

If there is a sour note in this flick, it certainly isn't the film's ability to find glory in war. Again, most films of this breed, especially since the early 70's have replaced chest-pounding jingoism with anti-war sentiments ranging from the ethereal (Thin Red Line (1998)) to the mockish (MASH (1970)). Thanks in part to the inscrutability of our hero and the fact that WWII has always been considered "the good war" i.e. where idealism came first, Hacksaw Ridge had me and everyone in the theater agog with patriotic fervor. It of course helped that the enemy; a faceless mass of uniformly angry Japanese soldiers are so relentless on the ridge that seeing Doss apply morphine needles under heavy fire almost makes you forget we're supposed to be on offense.

Everyone meet your new Gunnery Sergeant!

The tumult on the battlefield, the bravery of Private Doss and the earnestness of the film's religiosity, goes a long way in covering the film's various faults. Unfortunately there are a few issues that remain encrusted in the tidal zones of the film's second act. I need not tell you what happens to Private Doss in basic training because, let's be honest, you've seen it all before. New recruits are dressed down and harassed into submission by their superior. A speech is made about a unit being as strong as its weakest member - and out come the socks full of pennies. Granted in this movie Vince Vaughn's patented motor-mouth delivery does raise some eyebrows but when compared to R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket (1987), Louis Gossett Jr. in An Officer in a Gentleman (1982), or heck even Tommy Lee Jones in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) he just doesn't hold a torch.

Even with a few holes in the bow, this ship not only floats but is heavily armed, stained with the sinew of battle and hungry for more. Mel Gibson was looking for a comeback and boy did he ever find one with the sincere and unabashed piousness of Private Doss's story of heroism. In the words of South Park (1997-Present) creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone "Say what you want about Mel Gibson but the son of a b***h knows story structure."

Final Grade: B+

Trolls

Year: 2016
Genre: Animated Musical
Directed: Walt Dohrn, Mike Mitchell
Stars: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Christine Baranski, Russell Brand, Gwen Stefani, John Cleese, James Corden, Jeffrey Tambor, Ron Funches, Kunal Nayyar, Quvenzhane Wallis
Production: DreamWorks Animation

I need to preface this review by saying upfront, this movie is pretty meh. It's certainly not as terrible as I'm about to make it; but much like driving past the front yard of that permanently chipper neighbor whose thinks their farts small like a bowl of cherries (you know the type), to be honest I really, really, REALLY wanted to punch this movie in the face.

For real though...

The Trolls are a displaced race of tiny, happy-go-lucky critters who spend most of their waking hours singing, dancing, hugging and scrap-booking. Their mortal enemy, the ogre-like Bergens live lives of permanent unhappiness - letting loose only once a year for Trollstace. The main dish for the town-over is (of course) Troll. At one point the Trolls lived at the mercy of the Bergens, within the hollow trunk of the Troll Tree in Bergentown. But thanks to a gutsy escape plan forged by King Peppy (Tambor), their current civilization hides in the forest where they can sing pop songs to their hearts content.

Feeling of every adult in the audience.

The events recounted above all take place before the start of the film, which are infectiously told by our main protagonist, the excessively cheerful Princess Poppy (Kendrick). Now twenty years later, the only thing the Trolls civilization have to worry about is the resident out-layer, Branch (Timberlake). Unlike the rest of the complacent Trolls, Branch remains fretful of the possibility of the Bergens coming back and as a result doesn't sing, dance or light up fireworks displays that wakes up the entire friggin' forest. Instead he quietly assembles resources for his underground bunker all while being chided by Poppy's friends. Needless to say, Branch was right, Trolls are taken, Poppy and Branch work together, in a story so cut and paste it'd arguably look better in a scrap-book.

The problem with Trolls is despite it's candy-coated exterior and infectious musical moments, there's simply too little of everything going on. The journey back to Bergentown is wrought with danger, just not enough of it to actually matter. Poppy's obsessive chirpiness is comically out of step with the world around her, but not enough for it to be an actual struggle. Branch droll grouchiness ricochets admirably between Poppy's positive can-do, but not enough where it becomes a real sticking point. The narrative then shoehorns a Cinderella subplot that appears like it's going in an interesting direction, but of course, there's not enough of it. You see where I'm going with this?

No, the fact that he turns blue doesn't f***king count!

Thus when the most obvious theme of the tale is summed up succinctly by Kendrick and Timberlake singing "Can't Stop the Feeling!" the entire enterprise feels like a sugar rush filled with so many empty calories. No important life lessons are learned or internalized by the audience, no plot reveals coax a fundamental change in our characters and not much is actually accomplished by the end. Arguably the only life that has been changed for the better is that of Bergen scullery maid Bridget (Deschanel) but her arc flies in the face of the film's botched moral, i.e. the idea that happiness is always inside you and all you need is someone to bring it out (and maybe a good tune to groove to too).

Never mind that happiness, like all emotions is fleeting. Pixar plumbed from this particular well last year with Inside Out (2015), creating a subtle, refreshingly layered take on the emotional spectrum. Trolls version of happiness on the other hand, is at best creaky and dogmatic and at worst, a cheap self-delusion of glitter farting banality. Over-played jukebox song covers, madcap bouncy castle physics and cotton candy tresses that can be whipped back and forth; it's all part of the act.

What saves this film from truly being the worst is its soundtrack which for all it's auto-tuned glee can't help but worm into your ear and say there. The songs are folded in remarkably well into the story and rarely did it seem like the audience was waiting for the song to end for the plot to move forward. Some of the song choices (largely hits stolen from a wedding reception playlist) were blunt but since the prime demographic for this film are 5 and 6-year-olds, I can't exactly mark it down for that. I'm sure you'll have your personal favorite but mine was Zooey Deschanel's rendition of Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" which slyly tucked-in a few references to the music video.

This music video is hella weird!

Other than that however, Trolls is an easily disposable movie, with cut and paste characters and remarkably little to say. It seems to be in a rush to sell you something but given its frantic forced glee, I'd argue the only thing it'll successfully vend are more Troll dolls. A minor miracle considering, when you really think about it, its very existence undermines its point.

Consuming Trolls won't make you happy...consume Trolls instead!

Final Grade: C-

Moonlight

Year: 2016
Genre: Drama
Directed: Barry Jenkins
Stars: Naomie Harris, Trevante Rhodes, Andre Holland, Mahershala Ali, Ashton Sanders, Jharrel Jerome, Janelle Monae, Alex R. Hibbert, Jaden Piner, Patrick Decile, Herveline Moncion
Production: A24

The first thing that really strikes you about Moonlight is it's all so painfully personal. Perhaps it's the way our earthy, understated and un-glamorous characters are portrayed. Perhaps it's the work of director Barry Jenkins who thrusts us into the story with expressionistic tones and flourishes. Perhaps it's the way our protagonist's near catatonic state forces us to truly drink in his surroundings. I cannot attest if those who have never been to southern Florida will feel the same way, but for me I could actually smell the lightly perfumed ocean breeze and actually felt the sticky humidity that permeated every frame of this film. I felt it all.

Moonlight is equally divided into three distinct episodes though given it's intimacy they might as well be called movements. The first, entitled "Little" concerns the tortured existence of a 9-year-old boy (Hibbert) living in a rough neighborhood in Miami, Florida. He's bullied by his peers and emotionally abused by his mother Paula (Harris) who throughout the film slowly sinks into ruin with the help of crack cocaine. It is at this point in his life Little is introduced to Liberty City's preeminent drug dealer Juan (Ali) whom he first asks a defining question, "am I a f****t?"

"At some point you've got to decide for yourself who you gonna be. And let nobody make that decision." - Juan's words sit in the air throughout each movement like a cloud of mosquitoes over dense swamp. As time wears on Little becomes the invisible Chiron (Sanders) then the hard, drug-dealing Black (Rhodes), whose identity and sexual orientation is constantly being defined by the world around him. He speaks very little, choosing instead to silently judge as his mother morphs into a junkie and quietly rages as bullies abuse him. Eventually, after years of turmoil and paths taken in anger, Black finds his defining moments, pursuing and being pursued by schoolmate Kevin (Piner, Jerome and Holland).

There is so much to love about Moonlight including the way in which Barry Jenkins lovingly approaches both his themes and his subjects. Through effective use of color and the ever present sheen of the easterly sun and moon, the film glistens with entrancing beauty. There are echos of Terrence Malick and Lynne Ramsay in Moonlight with every extreme closeup a provocation to feel and absorb.

Each of our three actors does a tremendous job playing our protagonist with the same raw grace that defines and serves the visual mis en scene of the film. In-between each movement there is a sense that time has past. Things have happened but it is on the audience to infer what, through what is said, and more importantly by what is not. Moments of deep contemplation are not just airless voids but rather miniature mysteries all struggling to answer the central question; who is Chiron?

It is at this point the narrative stumbles slightly under the weight of its own socio-economic and political messaging. There are times when Chiron, with his 30-yard stare and ramshackle poverty, is impressed upon to be an empty vessel. The assumed hope is so his tale can be more superficially ubiquitous to the black, gay experience which by this point has only been calcified in film by Pariah (2011). But while Moonlight's larger social themes are enough to label it required viewing, one can't help but think its gambit for universality is a lost opportunity to make the film truly life-changing.

Pariah (2011)

Still for every edge to appeal to all, there are half a dozen parts to the story that are glowingly and lovingly singular. Late in the film there is a reunion between Chiron and Kevin whose slow emotional simmer resembles a delicate dance laden with machismo and sweetness. Additionally the customs, attitudes and unique verbal drawl are enough to settle the film's audience into a certain place in time.

Moonlight is ultimately a sad but life-affirming film that's not only an important watch but a darn good one. There is a paralyzing, fascinating, beautiful truth to this film. One in which every audience member regardless of race or sexual orientation can walk out of the theater aware of.

Final Grade: B+

Arrival

Year: 2016
Genre: Sci-Fi
Directed: Denis Villeneuve
Stars: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Michael Stuhlbarg, Forest Whitaker, Sangita Patel, Mark O'Brien, Abigail Pniowsky, Tzi Ma, Jadyn Malone, Julia Scarlett Dan, Russell Yuen
Production: FilmNation Entertainment

A thought occurred to me while I was watching Arrival, the latest in a long tradition of alien-invasion films. While basking in the film's visual splendor and wrapping my head around it's multitude of character detail and narrative ebbs and flows a voice murmured; "this is why you go to the movies." How a movie of such unabashed intelligence and subtlety managed to get made today is beyond me, but for those in dire need to reaffirm their belief in unity and the angels of our better nature, look no further than Arrival. To put it bluntly, this movie is a marvel.

The film begins with twelve alien spacecrafts appearing as if out of thin air above various places around the globe. In response, the United States government dispatches a research team headed by Colonel Weber (Whitaker) and experts Louise Banks (Adams) and Ian Donnelly (Renner) to investigate one of the landing sights in rural Montana. The mission: find out what do they want? Why are they here?

Immediately we're brought into the head space of Louise Banks, a preeminent linguist, charged with communicating with the alien race. The creatures - always presented in a white fog and separated by glass, seem to lack verbal communication. What they do have is a written language which they scrawl across the glass in circular patterns for Louise to decipher and understand. "You approach language like a mathematician," says Ian in a moment of admiration. Indeed, she solves the various puzzles embedded in their language with considerable efficiency, all while shes being haunted by bitter personal memories and visions.

Throughout her illustrious career Amy Adams has always managed to find muted stoicism and fascinating truths in her characters. Starting as a bit of an opaque audience conduit, Louise slowly reveals herself as the keenest mind among her peers. She drinks it all in, every physics bending moment and every bureaucratic setback; considers her options and makes the wisest choice. All the while, we as the audience are right there with her, hanging onto every understated modulation of her voice, hoping that her reasoned arguments will win the day.

And she has a lot to go up against. As she struggles to learn the visitors' purpose, research teams across the globe argue among themselves, coaxing government and military brass closer towards war. Even members of her own unit begin to fear the worst when the creatures begin to use the word "weapon" in their parlance. At one point we're given a literal time-clock which may not be as white-knuckling as the border shootout in Sicario (2015), but nevertheless keeps us glued to our seats. A nearly impossible task when considering the film's plot is essentially "let's sit down and talk it out."

So you're telling me he "dissed" your spacecraft?

Arrival draws immediate comparisons to Contact (1997) and Interstellar (2014) which become all the more apparent when the third act reveal flips the narrative upside down. I dare not ruin the big plot twist lest to say unlike those other films, Arrival doesn't contort itself to appear smart. It simply is smart, trading in half-realized notions of physics into real questions about how we communicate and how that communication can wire our thinking. In so doing the film becomes a foolproof and unique sci-fi chamber piece that is simultaneously intimate and epic while leaving audiences with plenty to talk about afterward.

The answer is alway Love b***hes!

Much of that dichotomy is molded by director Denis Villeneuve whose discipline, attention to detail, symbolism and lighting can be best compared to David Fincher. While many directors may try to clutter the tale with eye-popping visuals, Villeneuve realizes that he can create a sense of grandeur with simple geometric shapes and color choice. Yet what sets Arrival apart from David Fincher films (or for that matter any of Villeneuve's other films) is its cautious optimism. If "cinema is a tool to explore our shadows," then Villeneuve seems to be saying underneath all that darkness there is still a sense of communion; a solace in knowing we all share in anger and grief as we do happiness and awe.

Arrival is a smart, cerebral, emotionally affecting and fascinating sci-fi film whose grandeur demands to be seen on the big screen. The acting across the board is fabulous with Amy Adams once again turning in a masterful performance worthy of recognition. The direction and the story are nearly flawless in their construction and execution. Not a single frame is wasted nor a single plot thread left un-sewn into this mind-melter of a movie. Watch it; then watch it twice.

Final Grade: A

Doctor Strange

Year: 2016

Genre: Superhero Film

Directed: Scott Derrickson

Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Mads Mikkelsen, Tilda Swinton, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt, Scott Adkins, Zara Phythian, Alaa Safi, Katrina Durden

Production: Marvel Studios

Doctor Strange is one of Marvel’s most visually impressive films featuring the strongest introduction to a new MCU character (other than maybe Ant-Man (2015)). As to be expected this movie has all the bells and whistles of your average Marvel movie: high stakes, interesting side characters, topnotch action-suspense and a rocksteady heroes journey that doesn’t skim too much on all the world-building detail. It certainly seems like a tall order to add on a multiverse travelling sorcerer into the same cinematic space as a boatload of advanced super-humans, mechanical amazements, and virtual Gods. Rest assured they make it work; putting just enough mind-bending, reality-altering mumbo-jumbo into the soup to keep this Marvel train chugging to its inevitable climax. Not that you could do a lot to stop it to be honest.

Doctor Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch) starts as a supremely talented but vain neurosurgeon whose use of his hands are tragically limited because of a serious car crash. Alone, frustrated and quickly running out of funds, Strange takes a trip to Nepal where rumor has it a secluded monastery may just have what he’s looking for. Meanwhile a powerful sorcerer named Kaecilius (Mikkelsen) and his disciples have stolen the pages of a mythic book that have the potential to end time, reality, basically the whole world as we know it.

Doctor Strange installs itself as yet another well-oiled carnival ride in a world filled with well-oiled carnival rides. Assuming this is a good thing, those familiar with the MCU and its eventual endgame will once again be rewarded with a layered milieu of competent cinematography, kinetic fight choreography and a familiar mix of light-hearted gags. Look out for Strange’s stylish and spunky levitation cloak as evidence of Marvel’s ability to get a laugh even in the direst of situations. Furthermore, as a Marvel property, Doctor Strange features not one, not two but five Academy Award nominated actors each giving the film enough gravitas to create its own event horizon. Cumberbatch in particular does a splendid job dressing up a character of incredible intelligence and ego who, let’s be honest he can do in his sleep by now. I’m not going to lie the possibility of him interlocking with the similarly pigheaded Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) is getting me giddy with anticipation.

Yet for those of us expecting a little more - perhaps a little something closer to the acid-trip psychedelia of the original comics the movie sorta-kinda doesn’t deliver. Don’t get me wrong, all the components are there: stunningly surreal images, eastern philosophical pseudo-intellectualism, alternate dimensions etc., yet nothing really sticks with you after the credits role. Every time we plunge into the deep end as far as visual splendor, we’re immediately shuffled through like a hurried tour through a black light painting exhibit. It’s a shame too because if the film dared to slow down, the daunting visual homages to MC Esher, Roger Dean, Storm Thorgerson, Rene Magritte and whoever did King Crimson’s album covers would have been properly internalized like Inception’s (2010) hallway fight scene.

Part of the problem is it feels a lot like the car is pulling the horse. Marvel Studios have found a malleable director in Scott Derrickson who up to this point has made moderately successful horror films and one particularly wrongheaded remake (cough cough Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) cough, cough). Derrickson manages to insert some flourishes of his own into the script as a co-writer but as a director he’s completely railroaded by the studio. It’s like he’s playing with borrowed toys and doesn’t want to scuff them up for the sake of maybe telling a better story.

Overall however, Doctor Strange is a taut action movie that delivers exactly what you’d expect and then some. Far from being completely safe, the film features some incredible action set-pieces including a show-stopping battle sequence while a city is being destroyed in reverse. That in itself, along with Strange’s first encounter with the supernatural is worth the price of admission. Marvel has ushered in their expansive universe into a new age where magic can exist with science without someone from the Thor movies explaining it away as science that’s “just more advanced”. At this point it’s hard to say if an audience member can just come in from the cold and watch Doctor Strange without knowing a little something about the rest of Marvel’s hero gallery. But at this point it’s hard to find anyone not familiar with the franchise. Plus since they made what could have been a hall of funhouse mirrors into yet another roller coaster, if you’re not already sold on Marvel, once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.

Final Grade: B-