Star Trek Beyond

Score:  ***1/2 out of ***** (B-)

Directed by Justin Lin
Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Idris Elba, et. al.
Running time: 122 minutes
PG-13

Long Story Short:  The third installment of the rebooted Star Trek franchise sees Kirk and Spock thrust into perhaps their most dangerous - and action-packed - adventure yet.  The crew is still awesome, though none get to shine quite as they should and some are altogether ignored.  There's too much action in this one, even if some of it is pretty well done.  Recommended if you're looking only for adrenaline backed by fun characters; otherwise, proceed with caution.


After years on the frontier of known space, the crew of the Enterprise is weary and in need of rejuvenation as the ship comes to port at a gigantic new space station.  Captain Kirk (Pine) feels adrift in his Starfleet career, and explores other options while at the station.  Commander Spock also looks in other directions, for other reasons, particularly when he learns of the death of someone close to him.  The rest and rethinking process is interrupted, however, when a strange alien ship stops at the station in distress.  Its sole inhabitant begs Starfleet for help, as the rest of her crew is stranded in a nearby nebula.  Kirk takes the Enterprise and its crew back out into space to assist, but finds the mission more complicated and dangerous than expected.

Much of the Enterprise crew becomes captured by a hostile, vampire-like alien.  In addition to saving them, Kirk and a few of his free crew must prevent the enemy from obtaining and using a weapon with catastrophic potential - a weapon that the Enterprise itself has unwittingly put within the enemy's reach...

The whole crew of the Enterprise - the crew of the franchise rebooted in 2009 - returns, along with some new and intriguing faces.  Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto take on the spotlight once again as Kirk and Spock, and prove as adept and entertaining as ever - and even more comfortable in their iconic roles.  Although their contrasting personalities - Kirk's passion and loyalty versus Spock's reason and calm - are no longer at the forefront, they still provide nice variety for the film's tone.  Among the supporting cast/crew, Simon Pegg's Scotty and Karl Urban's Bones get the biggest parts and do quite well with them.  Perhaps the most humorous members of the crew, Scotty's ingenuity and Bones's abrasive care play key parts in the story.  Others, like Zoe Saldana's Uhura and John Cho's Sulu, find little to do.  Sofia Boutella is featured as an alien ally named Jaylah, a charismatic loner who has a nice combination of ignorance of Federation/Star Trek custom and gritty know-how.  The villain is played by Idris Elba, who seems to be getting used to the dark side - and he's darn good at it.  His intimidating presence and ruthless efficiency make him a formidable foe for Kirk and co.

Star Trek Beyond inherits some considerable strengths from its predecessors, but it veers the franchise away from some of those albeit in a frequently entertaining adventure.  The cast itself has been the best part of this rebooted Star Trek series, with Pine and Quinto brilliantly taking on the Kirk and Spock roles as only the top of a very sharp collection of actors, from Pegg to Saldana.  They all have such energy, humor and vigor that they bring the occasional remoteness of the Trek universe back to humanity and keep it there.  The crew is all still there, but they are not given the chance to shine - as some just plain get back-burnered - and the focus, which should always be on them, strays too often.  Largely this lack of focus is due to too much action; director Justin Lin seems to have carried over a fondness for stunts from his experience with the Fast and Furious franchise.  Star Trek certainly has room for the incredible, but used more sparingly and tied closer to the story or themes rather than as pure spectacle.  There are some fun and/or tense sequences, certainly - like the lethality of a swarm of bee-like vessels in space - but it also veers into the absurd such as the "strategic" use of pop music.  There is a good bit of humor, but it too is a little cheapened by the lack of character and story focus and instead constant, eventually numbing motion.

***

Star Trek Beyond is an entertaining film, but it represents a step back for the franchise in its current form.  As a thrilling film in several ways, I left the film with a high opinion of it but the more I think back on it the lesser it seems.  While this may lose the attention of teens and others, Star Trek would be much better off by slowing down and going back to basics by really digging into its phenomenal characters.  There is rich potential for meaningful stories here, and from them much more tense and rewarding conflict and action can arise.  It doesn't always have to be (and shouldn't be) about the latest threat to the entire galaxy.  So ironically, Beyond might be best for specifically non-Trekkies, at least those who just want an exhilarating two hours with high production values.  Which is fine, too - but not what I was hoping for.  Still, live long and prosper, Trek!



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Ghostbusters

Score:  ***1/2 out of ***** (B)

Directed by Paul Feig
Starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones
Running time: 116 minutes
Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  The highly anticipated - both positively and negatively - Ghostbusters reboot has arrived, and while it is a considerable success it also doesn't reach the hopes I had for it.  The hugely hilarious and talented Wiig and McCarthy are fine in relatively straight roles, while SNL's Jones and McKinnon (and costar Hemsworth) shine.  An undemanding summer entertainment, yet an important one in proving the strength of women in (in this case, literally) historically men's roles, it's recommended for all.


Once best friends, Erin Gilbert (Wiig) and Abby Yates (McCarthy) have grown apart.  Yates still works on the pair's former hobby, investigating the paranormal, while Gilbert has moved on to more prestigious studies and a post at an Ivy League school.  Coming up for tenure, Gilbert is horrified when a man confronts her with a book she thought had disappeared long ago about her work with Yates on ghosts.  Gilbert confronts Yates, who has re-released the book, and agrees to go with her and her new assistant, Holtzmann (McKinnon), to look into a possible ghost sighting if Yates will stop publishing.  To the shock and delight of all three, they do find an apparition.  When their employers discover what they were up to, though, the three find themselves with little choice but to keep chasing their unlikely yet extraordinary dream careers.

Ghosts seem to keep popping up all over New York City, and the trio welcomes one of the witnesses, MTA worker Patty Tolan (Jones), onto the team.  Their organization, the "Department of the Metaphysical Examination", struggles not only to subdue the ghosts and figure out where they're coming from, but also to work with the skeptical authorities.

The Ghostbusters reboot has a good cast, but doesn't quite fulfill on screen the brilliant potential it has on paper.  The co-leads of the film are Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, two of the funniest comedians around.  Each is known for their eccentric and/or wild characters, but each has a fairly straight role here.  They are both solid, but considering the talent each brings to the table, I was disappointed that more thought and effort (from them and/or the writers) wasn't put into creating truly unique, creative and memorable characters.  Many aspects of their typical humor is on display, particularly the banter (more on this later).  It's actually the two less well-known Ghostbusters who bring the best stuff:  SNL cast members Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones.  McKinnon is unleashed here, and in a way she channels both of the stars:  Wiig's sheer creativity and McCarthy's daring dirtiness.  Leslie Jones actually tones it down a bit from her usual SNL performances, but is still the "streetwise" presence here.  Both McKinnon and Jones are hilarious, and quite comfortable in their roles.  The "fifth Beatle" here is Chris Hemsworth as the team's secretary.  He straddles the line of going over the top, but has some of the funniest parts in the whole movie and seems to have loved the role.  Finally, there are also appropriate cameos for the old cast, but I'll say no more about them.

Ghostbusters, with so many expectations both high (from fans of the new stars) to low (from fanatics and worse), turns out to be a quality but incongruently modest action comedy film.  To start, don't worry about whether you have or haven't seen the original: there are plenty of nods to it, but you won't miss any huge laughs, let alone plot points, if you haven't seen it.  The story is parallel in structure to the original; it has the same major features but has its own distinct texture beyond that. This similarity, unsurprising in many ways for a reboot, has the advantage of not treating its new stars - all female - any differently than the originals.  In not focusing on the gender swap, it does a great service to women in film, particularly those in the role of hero (similar to The Force Awakens' Rey).  The story also gets a boost from the 32 years' worth of technological advances.  The visuals manage to be both a lot of fun, retaining a slightly cartoonish feel, as well as immersive, fitting seamlessly into the live-action world.

While the new team of Ghostbusters was well-picked, it also required a little adjustment to both the major stars' typical performances, as well as to the tone of the film itself, in order for the reboot to be successful.  To a degree this happened, but a lot of (particularly comic) potential was left on the table.  The physical, gross-out humor - common to both the original film and (to a lesser degree) the stars' experiences - is among the most successful in the film.  But to make this Ghostbusters truly their own, Wiig and McCarthy needed to weave their comic and acting sensibilities into the quieter moments, and they were far less successful here.  I'm not sure if there was anxiousness, or even laziness in diverting too much from either the original film's or their own experiences, but instead of developing cool new characters, the big stars more or less play the straight ladies and banter with each other (still often funny, but limiting).  Frankly, in many recent comedies the main character isn't all that great - it's the supporting players (in this case, McKinnon, Jones and Hemsworth) who make me laugh out loud and stand out.  I'd been hoping that Wiig and McCarthy could change that here, but they didn't quite manage it.

***

Ghostbusters is a solid summer entertainment, and I'm probably being a little too critical.  Like Keanu earlier this year, I simply have such high expectations based on the stars' talent that the failure of the movies around them to live up to them can be difficult for me to get past.  Here it's a bit different in that I do think that the stars themselves were part of the problem, or at least didn't live up to my expectations.  They still do very well, compared to just about anyone else.  It's like grading a Pixar movie that doesn't quite reach Up!, Toy Story or Inside Out level; because of their closest kin they seem a bit worse than they really are.  Expectations aside, this is a perfectly entertaining, well-made film, and I urge as many people to see it (in the theater) as possible.  The studios make films based on what has made money for them in the past, so in order to get more diverse (at least, nonwhite, nonmale) casts which can provide us all new stories and perspectives, we gotta show 'em the money.  Maybe then actors like Wiig and McCarthy can have the freedom to go outside the norm and unlock their full potential.  Who you gonna call?



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The Secret Life of Pets

Score:  **** out of ***** (A-)

Directed by Chris Renaud and Yarrow Cheney
Starring Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, et. al.
Running time: 90 minutes
Rated PG

Long Story Short:  The studio that brought us the Minions now brings an even more irresistible subject to the screen: pets.  Simple yet focused, The Secret Life of Pets will likely be the most entertaining film you'll see all year.  A great voice cast led by Louis C.K., Kevin Hart and Jenny Slate bring the amusing animals to life, and all you have to do is settle in for the ride.  Highly recommended.


A terrier named Max (Louis C.K.) lives a contented life with his human companion Katie (Kemper) in Manhattan.  He is heartbroken each day when she leaves him for work... but soon turns to his fellow "abandoned" pets in the same apartment building.  When Katie returns home one day with a rescue dog named Duke (Stonestreet), however, Max feels his life has been turned on its head.  The two compete for top pet status with Katie, and during a walk one day with a careless petsitter, they get lost in the scary alleys of New York.  Max and Duke are saved from a life in the pound by Snowball, a little bunny, but their savior quickly becomes their tormentor.  Meanwhile, Gidget (Slate), a Pomeranian who has gazed adoringly at Max from the apartment next door, realizes he is missing and assembles the neighborhood pets for a rescue mission.  These pampered pets must summon their collective grit and wit in order to save their pals.

Like many other recent animated films, The Secret Life of Pets is voiced by an all-star cast that adds significantly to the fun.  Hilarious comedian Louis C.K. takes a break from his subtle comedy show to take on the lead role that is about as unsubtle as you can get: a pet dog.  C.K. voices the eagerness of Max when Katie is around, but his more sober sarcasm comes out to great effect when he is hanging out with the other pets.  Max's nemesis in the film, the feral bunny Snowball, is voiced even more entertainingly by Kevin Hart.  I'm a fan of his live-action work, and he clearly got the green light here to just go for it and it works brilliantly: he bounces seamlessly from streetwise gangsta to unhinged maniac to class clown and back again.  The third of the most impressive roles, though she may not be listed at the top, is Jenny Slate's Gidget.  Employing the same fun, breaking high-pitched voice (is there a special word for this?) as in her Zootopia role, Slate turns Gidget into the film's unlikely yet fascinating heroine.  The other voice actors are fun, too, with particular shout-outs for Lake Bell as rotund kitty Chloe and Bobby Moynihan as a pug named Mel.

While not as involved as a Pixar film, The Secret Life of Pets is near flawless pure entertainment.  This film will not leave you with a lot to chew on when the lights come back on, nor powerful moments of emotion, but if it's fun you want, that's exactly what you'll get.  The overall story itself is quite simple, too, but it is filled with enough Pixar-level clever winks that it holds attention easily (or mine, anyway).  Where the film really shines is pretty obvious: its capture of the pet mindset - again, with Pixar-level detail and wit - and release of that into an animated world whose rules can be bent to put all of it into action.  The introduction is basically what you've seen in the trailers, which is a great idea: remind the audience why they came, the snapshots of pets on their own at home, laughing at those gags one more time before moving to the new stuff/main story.  From there, the story gives just enough color to the characters among the high jinks to ground the humor, give it more punch, and prevent older members of the audience from wandering attention.  The varied type of humor involved also helps, from slapstick to observational, and just a dash of the more self-aware, cultural reference stuff that can be fun but wore itself out years ago in similar films.  Finally, great editing keeps things moving along - but not too quickly - so that the pace never ebbs and it all wraps up right on time.

***

It's been a sensational year for animated films so far in 2016, and The Secret Life of Pets continues that trend.  I had high expectations going into this one, having enjoyed the trailer and loving pets in general.  It was a set up for disappointment, but in fact the film surpassed my expectations.  Secret Life has the same elements that many others - which failed - had as well: a talented cast, beautiful effects/visuals, and a great premise.  But unlike so many others, this film wisely keeps it simple and focused, not trying to play to every possible tangential market/trend out there.  For that I give the filmmakers - directors, writers, etc. - a lot of credit, and even the studio for (presumably) trusting in them.  Oh, and a final bit, like a Pixar film, Secret Life also has a short film before it: produced by the same company, it's an amusing sketch involving the Minions.  I highly recommend this to all, though fair warning to parents of young children: if you don't have any pets, you will likely face great pressure to get one.  But why resist?  Pick a dog or a cat (or both) from a rescue shelter, and you won't regret it.



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Finding Dory

Score:  **** out of ***** (A-)

Directed by Andrew Stanton
Starring Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Hayden Rolence, Ed O'Neill
Running time: 97 minutes
Rated PG

Long Story Short:  Pixar turns to another sequel of one of their bigger hits in Finding Dory.  Focused, of course, on a different character this time, the film explores challenging themes both powerful for adults and relatable for children in a way that only Pixar can.  The adventure itself might be nothing new, but fresh, fun characters combine with the ambition and impact of the themes to make this a worthy viewing for all audiences.


Dory (DeGeneres) is a happy member of her ocean community, with friends such as Marlin (Brooks) and his son, Nemo (Rolence).  However, this cheery blue tang fish is also lonely in other ways, due to her lack of short-term memory and, relatedly, the mystery of her origin.  During a school lesson one day, Dory has flashbacks to bits of her childhood and she recalls her parents.  With just the smallest scraps of information to work with, she takes Marlin and Nemo along on a quest to find her original family.  Dory's focus propels the trio both into and out of danger in the open ocean before they manage to find the last place she saw her parents: a marine life reserve.

Dory soon finds herself separated from Marlin and Nemo but continues her search among the various areas of the reserve.  A mistrusting octopus (O'Neill) helps her along, in exchange for an item that will grant his most treasured wish.  Although the elder fish has doubts about Dory's chances of success, Marlin and Nemo still do everything they can to find her - and to help her discover the truth about her family.

Finding Dory features a lively cast of voice actors, both returning stars from Finding Nemo as well as newcomers.  Ellen DeGeneres's Dory takes the lead this time around, and both her character and voice acting provide a strong center for the film.  Dory is relentless in a sometimes tiresome yet gentle and endearing way, and she is brave yet often not mindful of risk.  Thus a balanced and intriguing hero, and DeGeneres conveys this all in a warm, deceptively simple performance.  Marlin and Nemo are essentially "along for the ride" and convey the audience's contrasting feelings about Dory: exasperation and worry, but also determination and caring.  Many of the new characters are quite interesting, starting with Ed O'Neill as Dory's helper Hank, an octopus.  He is a fairly typical crank-with-a-heart, but O'Neill is a great voice for that.  His Modern Family costar Ty Burrell joins him in a small part as a beluga whale and seemed to have great fun making echolocation howls.  Kaitlin Olson's friendly whale shark and Idris Elba's competitive sea lion round out the fun.

Finding Dory qualifies as a standard (therefore, successful) Pixar adventure, but it's the emotional theme that, even more than prior films, holds it all together.  Admittedly, I read this idea in another review before seeing the film, but Dory is a powerful Pixar representative of individuals with learning disabilities.  The film gives us flashbacks to Dory as a youngster raised by her parents, which bring on tears of bittersweet joy as easily as other Pixar films, by showing both the challenges and ultimately the love of those who may be different but are no less special.  When the action gets back to the main story, with Dory as an adult, it shows her as a unique individual with unique talents like each of her friends, rather than as someone with "problems" (which we all have) that need to be fixed.  It's not a completely new idea for this thoughtful company, but it extends Pixar's reach in this important yet too often (in the general culture) avoided area.  The adventure around this is fairly standard, but maybe that's a good thing so as to focus more on Dory and what her character represents.  That is, until things go a little nuts in the final act - but it's also a lot of fun, so it works out just fine.  As a last word, the short, unrelated animated feature that comes before every Pixar movie is quite fun, too (and also ocean-related).  The animation is stunning and adds that much more to the value of your ticket.

***

Not surprisingly, Finding Dory finds itself among the year's strongest films as Pixar films tend to do.  I wasn't sure I would see this in the theater since I don't remember Finding Nemo too well, but Dory stands by itself perfectly capably.  It's mildly disappointing to me when I hear Pixar is releasing a sequel - not because the originals aren't great, but because they're so good at generating yet more original ideas.  But the strong and important themes of Finding Dory make the character- and even story-based similarities to Nemo irrelevant.  I'm certain that audiences who have a more direct connection to Dory's themes in their own lives will discern this much more deeply and meaningfully than me, too.  No matter who you are, heed my broken-record advice:  Pixar makes the best quality films today, and Finding Dory keeps up those standards.



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