Review: 'Angel Has Fallen', The Franchise Gets Back On Its Feet In A Big Way

I must admit to having a soft spot for the 'Has Fallen' movies. They are ridiculously absurd, knuckle-headed action movies with a generic tough-guy lead, basically the kind of flicks I grew up on and I get a ping of nostalgia every time. The first one, Olympus Has Fallen, had the misfortune of coming out around the same time as carbon copy White House Down, with both turning out pretty good. The second, London Has Fallen, is average in every way other than Gerard Butler's unwavering commitment to the role of indestructible Secret Service dude Mike Banning. And now the franchise comes to an end (???) with Angel Has Fallen, which is not only the best movie in the series, it's only marginally as unbelievable as the others. I kinda want these movies to continue. Is that crazy?

Before you ask, no, this movie doesn't take place in the fictional town of "Angel".  The title refers to the codename given to the head of Secret Service, a role Banning is offered just in time for President Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman, who keeps on comin' back for more) to be the target of an assassination attempt via enough armed drones to put Spider-Man: Far from Home to shame. Banning, being the loyal and patriotic guy that he is, sacrifices himself to get the Prez to safety, only to wake up from unconsciousness handcuffed to a hospital bed and accused of attempting to kill the man he just saved. How does that happen? Because law enforcement, in this case the FBI (led by a very bored-looking Jada Pinkett Smith) must be portrayed as dumbasses always one step behind.  It's standard.

Of course, it isn't long before Banning breaks free of his bonds and turns fugitive, willing to kill anything in his path to clear his name. Meanwhile, you can spot the bad guys a mile away by the mere presence of perennial villains Danny Huston, as one of Banning's ex-military buddies now a failed business owner, and Tim Blake Nelson as the scheming Vice President who takes aggressive advantage of the President being out-of-action. The movie isn't the least bit subtle, nor is the casting. You don't bring those guys in other than to be who we know they're going to be.

But then, these movies aren't known for being particularly complex. Banning is an aging gladiator who has only one way of handling any situation, and that's to kill it or beat it into submission. However, Angel Has Fallen scores some points by acknowledging this fact about Banning and building a story around it. Banning is feeling the effects of saving the world a couple of times in the last few years. He's got insomnia, headaches, blurry vision, and a bad back. He's popping pills every five minutes just to stay upright. It gets so bad while on the run that he turns to his wacko survivalist father Clay Banning, played by Nick Nolte (!!!), just to lay low for a while. Not that there are many lulls in the film, but the moment Nolte shows up, looking like he's been crossbred with a grizzly bear and Mark Boone Junior, it goes off the grid crazy in the best way possible. Clay is a total nut and his presence lightens up the tone considerably, especially when you see the joy he has in taking out a squad of mercenaries who carelessly step into his fiery killzone.  Both of these guys need some serious therapy for PTSD, and thankfully, the movie's writers don't make it seem like the wimpy thing to do in asking for help. 

Behind the camera is Ric Roman Waugh, a director who has proven a steady hand in better-than-expected crime movies such as Felon, Snitch, and Shot Caller. He's not the flashiest filmmaker but he's a damn sight better than the last guy and knows how to put together action sequences that are exciting and make sense.  You're not going to find many surprises here, and sometimes that's perfectly okay. At this point, you have to know what you're in for. Angel Has Fallen is a lot like its star, which is why Butler is so right for it. It's not going to win any style points, and the rough exterior is a big part of the charm, but if you just want to watch a flag-waving guy with serious anger issues save the country from terrorists, Angel Has Fallen's  got you covered.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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Review: 'Brian Banks', Mediocre Drama Fumbles Inspiring True Story And Aldis Hodge's All-Pro Performance

The timing was always curious for the inspirational drama Brian Banks, about the standout high school football player whose clear path to the NFL was derailed by a false rape allegation. At the height of the #MeToo era to present a film that highlights a claim that proved to be a complete lie is problematic, and certainly detrimental to any long-term hopes of box office success. Along with a melodramatic, quasi-spiritual narrative, mediocre production values, and a surprising lack of energy given the material, Brian Banks already has a lot going against it. In its favor is Banks' story of perseverance in the face overwhelming injustice, and an all-pro performance by Aldis Hodge that should have everybody talking.

Hodge, an actor best known for roles in Straight Outta Compton and Hidden Figures, gives a deeply soulful performance as a young man who has seen his entire future snatched away. A linebacker with a nose for the football, Banks was a sought-after prospect coming out of high school, ultimately committing to play for USC and legendary coach Pete Carroll. Banks' tough upbringing in Long Beach is largely skipped over but when he says "Football made me feel free" in cheesy voiceover, we know what he's talking about.

Banks' upward trajectory is shot down by a rape accusation from fellow high school student Kinnesha Rice (Xosha Roquemore). He's quickly railroaded by a system that saddled him with the worst lawyer ever, tried him as an adult at the age of 17, and then slapped him with a 6-year prison sentence after a "No Contest" plea was supposed to avoid jail time. Most of this is seen in flashback as the bulk of the story takes place after he's been released. Now 22 years old, his status as a registered sex offended derails any hope of playing football anywhere, because he can't be near any schools or parks, and finding work is impossible. He can't even take his new female friend Karina (Melanie Liburd) out on a date.

Most of this is told through a minimum of context by director Tom Shadyac who, perhaps unsurprising given his own life-altering circumstances, prefers to focus on Banks' inner struggle to free his mind from captivity. His weeping mother (Sherri Shepard) frequently pops up to dispense random words of wisdom, but has little else to offer. However, she's nothing compared to the saintly presence of an uncredited Morgan Freeman (who played God for Shadyac in Bruce Almighty) as Banks' mentor inside of prison. While I admit Freeman's smile can light up a movie he still needs to do more than magically appear to convince me he's changed anybody's life.

A shaky legal drama emerges as Banks turns to attorney Justin Brooks (Greg Kinnear) and the California Innocence Project for help in retrying his case. A lot of bland legalese about the need for new evidence is breezed through, with Banks repeatedly looking for ways to get Justin's attention. While overlong, there are a couple of good exchanges, in particularly a tearful scene in which Banks, who has just got Kinnesha to stupidly admit guilt on tape in front of an investigator, finally manages to convince Justin that his case is worthy. Not because of the evidence, but because he is innocent and worthy of justice despite a legal system that makes it intentionally difficult to fight back. Hodge is terrific here, as he is throughout, and I kept wishing he had a better movie to show it off with.

The re-emergence of Kinnesha, if you know the real-life story, sounds too incredible to be true. Unfortunately, it isn't made to seem even remotely believable in the film, and instead looks like a cheap narrative shortcut. This is compounded by the simplistic portrayal of Kinnesha as the worst stereotype of a poor black woman; a trashy gold digger with a bunch of kids looking for her next baby daddy.  This depiction is especially problematic given the movie's timing. Doug Atchison's script isn't saying rape accusers shouldn't be believed, but this is where the lack of complexity becomes an issue. The women are all underserved badly in this film, while Banks is generically inspiring in a sports drama sort of way. Brian Banks should portray his story as unique because he is unique, even if the unfairness he faced sadly isn't.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

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'Angel Has Fallen' Trailer: Gerard Butler's Loyalty Is Put To The Test

After only two action-packed chapters, the Has Fallen franchise has run out of places to topple. Now the only thing Secret Service agent Mike Banning has to resurrect is his career, and naturally, if he fails it also means the end of the free world or something. Angel Has Fallen finds Gerard Butler back as Banning, who is framed for an assassination attempt on the President, played by a returning Morgan Freeman.

Behind the camera this time is Ric Roman Waugh, the director behind solid crime flicks such as Shot Caller, Felon, and Snitch. He's working on a much bigger canvas this time, as Banning's adventures usually lots of things blowing up around him. Like it or not, these movies have been very successful on a global level, and if this one does well there will be more until Butler finally calls it quits.

Butler and Freeman are joined by Piper Perabo, Danny Huston, Tim Blake Nelson, Jada Pinkett Smith, Lance Reddick, and Nick Nolte who plays Banning's survivalist father.

Angel Has Fallen hits theaters on August 23rd. Check out the trailer and new character posters below.

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'Angel Has Fallen' Trailer: Gerard Butler's Action Franchise Won't Stay Down

Say what you will about Gerard Butler's Olympus Has Fallen franchise, because that's what it is now, a franchise, but these movies make money. Between the original in 2013 and 2016's sequel London Has Fallen they've combined for over $370M, don't cost a ton of money, and have a cool title ready-made for sequels. You can do these things anywhere. Zimbabwe Has Fallen!! Albuquerque Has Fallen! Well, the third effort takes a slightly different route with Angel Has Fallen, which finds Butler's character engaging in more mind-numbing action, not in service to the USA, but to clear his own name.

Angel Has Fallen once again follows Secret Service agent Mike Banning, who is framed for an assassination attempt on the President. To prove his innocence, he'll have to get past the FBI in hopes of finding those truly responsible. Other than Butler, the only returning actor is Morgan Freeman as Alan Trumbull, who is moved up the ranks to become President. Jada Pinkett-Smith joins the cast as an FBI agent tracking Banning, Piper Perabo has replaced Radha Mitchell as Banning's wife. Other impressive additions include Nick Nolte, Lance Reddick, Tim Blake Nelson, and Danny Huston.

Taking over behind the camera is Ric Roman Waugh, who has done some impressive work in the past on films such as Snitch and Shot Caller.  It's easy to make fun of these movies but they've generally been decent, turn-your-brain-off action flicks and Waugh should at least be able to hit that standard if not surpass it.

Angel Has Fallen opens August 23rd.

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Morgan Freeman Joins 'The Hitman's Bodyguard' Sequel

Finally, we're getting the Samuel L. Jackson and Morgan Freeman we've too long been denied. Freeman is the latest addition to The Hitman's Bodyguard sequel, joining the returning Jackson, Ryan Reynolds, and Salma Hayek.

No word on Freeman's role, but we can assume he won't be voicing God or anything like that, although you might hear a lot of "Holy shit!!" considering the previous film's profanity-laced brand of humor. Once again penned by Tom O'Connor and directed by Patrick Hughes, the story takes heads to the Amalfi Coast for a new mission with Reynolds, Jackson, and Hayek's characters.

The previous title for the sequel was The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, and that may still be the case although it isn't mentioned in Deadline's report. If so, we may have an idea of the plot. Perhaps Freeman's character has targeted Hayek's character, necessitating the need for a bodyguard once again?

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Review: Disney's 'The Nutcracker And The Four Realms' Is More Functional Than Fantastical

Disney's The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is a sweet holiday confection, easy to consume but lacking anything of substance. A loose amalgamation of E.T.A. Hoffman's 19th-century story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, Alexandre Dumas' adapted vision and the classic Tchaikovsky ballet that has become a perennial Christmas favorite, the film comes across often like a poor man's Chronicles of Narnia. Its gorgeous production design, colorful characters, and dazzling costumes are a visual treat, but little about the story proves to be nearly as much of a gift.

A tame family-friendly adventure set in 1879 London, the story centers on Clara (Mackenzie Foy), the grieving middle child who along with her father (Matthew Macfadyen) are mourning the mother Marie's recent death. It's Christmas time and still unaccustomed to her absence, the season has lost all of its joy. The father robotically gives the children presents left behind by Marie, with Clara's being a golden Faberge egg with a special keyhole, but no key. A clever, inventive girl just like her mother, Clara sets out to find the key and open her gift, with the promise of answers to all of her life's problems. Turning to her mysterious godfather Drosselmeyer (Morgan Freeman, looking like Nick Fury's distant ancestor), she finds herself whisked away to the magical Four Realms.

The Four Realms turns out to be as creepy as Hoffman's original story, and if you got a thing about rodents it'll be the stuff of nightmares. Mice are everywhere; they're thieving little buggers and can merge into a giant creature made of thousands of little mice formed together like Voltron. It's disgusting. Clara soon make friends with a nutcracker soldier, Captain Philip Hoffman (Jayden Fowora-Knight), who along with saving her hide introduces her to the rulers of three realms, including the Sugar Plum Fairy (Keira Knightley). But the fourth ruler, Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren), has turned evil and seeks to destroy the other realms. Only Clara can stop her, and in the process hopefully find a way back home.

Disney should be commended for the diversity in casting. While Foy and Knightley aren't exactly prime examples, casting the charming Fowora-Knight as the nutcracker was a bold move and he turns out to be one of the film's most welcome characters. Sure, his complete lack of autonomy is annoying but he's both a nutcracker and a soldier, given to taking orders...of which Clara issues many.  In a clever We also get a command ballet performance by Misty Copeland, the country's first African-American prima ballerina, in a clever walkthrough of the Four Realms' backstory.  As ruler of the Flower Realm, Disney cast Mexican superstar Eugenio Derbez, with his gift for funny faces and odd voices coming in handy.

From a character standpoint this might be Disney's boldest break from tradition, outside of Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book. That only makes the predictable plot all the more disappointing. There simply isn't much meat on this story's bones. Clara will be very familiar to fans of other Disney heroines; headstrong, fed up with her domestic life, and that's about it. Foy is solid in the role, her Clara is sweet and confident, but also a little naïve. Knightley has the most fun as the Sugar Plum Fairy, although I suspect her ditzy performance, and this interpretation of the character, will be an acquired taste. When screenwriter Ashleigh Powell tries to tackle larger themes, such as grief and loss, the story simply buckles underneath the weight. It works far better as a straight arrow adventure yarn, and that's also when we get to see the most of Mirren, wielding a whip and leaping into battle against an army of tin soldiers.

The rare film approved by the DGA to have two unrelated directors given credit, Lasse Hallstrom (who left early due to scheduling) and Joe Johnston couldn't be more different stylistically. Johnston is a special effects dynamo while Hallstrom is known for quieter, all-ages fare; but to look at The Nutcracker and the Four Realms you can hardly see where one ends and the other begins.

Disney's latest live-action fairy tale may lack the spark of originality, but let's be honest that the goal here was to create a Christmas mainstay that can be popped into the Bluray player while the family opens gifts. On that level, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is entertaining enough to do the trick, and it will for a very long time to come.

Rating: 3 out of 5

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Disney's 'The Nutcracker And The Four Realms' Trailer Promises A Luxurious Christmas Spectacle

It wouldn't be the holidays without a thousand different versions of The Nutcracker, but this year Disney hopes to create a new Christmas classic with their lavish adaptation The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.  The film is a rarity in that it is directed by both Lasse Hallstrom and Joe Johnston, the latter coming aboard to take over reshoots and post-production.  Under normal circumstances, recognizing two directors who aren't a team just doesn't happen, but Hallstrom  has been remarkably open to the idea, and we haven't heard a single word about there being conflicts during production. Quite the contrary, actually.

Starring Mackenzie Foy as a young princess swept away into the Land of Flowers, Land of Sweets, and Land of Snowflakes, she must enter the dangerous fourth realm to defeat the evil Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren) and her army of mice if she ever wants to get home. The film co-stars Morgan Freeman, Misty Copeland, Jack Whitehall, and Keira Knightley as the Sugar Plum Fairy.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms opens November 2nd.

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'The Nutcracker And The Four Realms' Trailer: Disney Brings The Holiday Classic To Life

Disney already has three $1B films under their belt in 2018 and we're only in August. The sheer number of potential blockbusters left to come before the year is through is stunning, and one the Mouse House is expecting a lot from is The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, which is primed to be the biggest films of the holiday season.

A new trailer for the fairy tale adaptation is here, a reworking of Tchaikovsky’s beloved classic, The Nutcracker. This looks like Disney doing what they do best, and it probably won't break too far from the formula established with Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, Beauty and the Beast, or any of Disney's other hit remakes. The action is a little more intense than you might expect from a Disney holiday film, which is a plus in my opinion, but that lame cover of No Doubt's "Just a Girl" has got to go.

Behind the camera are co-directors Lasse Hallstrom and Joe Johnston, with Mackenzie Foy, Keira Knightley, Misty Copeland, Morgan Freeman, and Helen Mirren leading the A-list cast. Here's the synopsis:

All Clara (Mackenzie Foy) wants is a key – a one-of-a-kind key that will unlock a box that holds a priceless gift. A golden thread, presented to her at godfather Drosselmeyer’s (Morgan Freeman) annual holiday party, leads her to the coveted key—which promptly disappears into a strange and mysterious parallel world. It’s there that Clara encounters a soldier named Phillip (Jayden Fowora-Knight), a gang of mice and the regents who preside over three Realms: Land of Snowflakes, Land of Flowers and Land of Sweets. Clara and Phillip must brave the ominous Fourth Realm, home to the tyrant Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren), to retrieve Clara’s key and hopefully return harmony to the unstable world. Starring Keira Knightley as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Disney’s new holiday feature film “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” is directed by Lasse Hallström and Joe Johnston, and inspired by E.T.A. Hoffmann’s classic tale.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms opens November 2nd.

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'The Nutcracker And The Four Realms' Trailer: Disney's Dark Twist On The Christmas Classic

Falling in line with Disney's run of mega-successful live-action fairy tales, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms has been pretty quiet for the mot part. That all changed just days ago when news quietly broke that Joe Johnston (Captain America: The First Avenger) was stepping in to replace director Lasse Hallstron on more than a month of reshoots, aided by writer Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) who would provide additional material. As I said at the time, if this were a DC Films project there would be endless thinkpieces on the film's eminent demise. But since it was Disney nobody blinked an eye.

The latest trailer certainly doesn't make it look like a disaster, but then I guess we'll have to wait and see how much of this stuff ends up in the final cut.  Mackenzie Foy stars as the young girl who ventures through the Land of Snowflakes, Land of Flowers, and Land of Sweets for an eventual encounter with the Sugar Plum Fairy, played by Keira Knightley in really big hair.  Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, and ballerina Misty Copeland join in on the adaptation of Tchaikovsky's play, which has become an annual holiday tradition.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms opens November 2nd 2018.

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Morgan Freeman To Play Colin Powell In Long-Developing Iraq War Drama

Well, I suppose this casting makes more sense than Tyler Perry as the Secretary of State, but in truth neither really works. THR reports Morgan Freeman will play Colin Powell in the long-developing biopic, Powell, about the lead-up to the Iraq War.

The film has been in the works for years, with Forest Whitaker set to take the role back in 2013. But the project never got off the ground, and now has been revived with Marshall director Reginald Hudlin behind the camera. Ed Whitworth's script is still in play, though, and it will focus on the case he made to the U.N. in support of George W. Bush's war in Iraq, based on the phony notion that Iraq was hiding weapons of mass destruction.  Of course, the evidence was soon discredited and it hurt Powell's sterling reputation. He's done his best to distance himself from the Bush Administration ever since.

None of this works for me. First of all, Hudlin, who is best known for directing comedies like House Party (a classic, but not because of him), turned out to be exactly the wrong director for Marshall, which starred Chadwick Boseman as Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. He never got the tone right and shot the film like a two-hander comedy.  Nothing against Morgan Freeman but we have other African-American actors who can play powerful men of a certain age, don't we?

Maybe we don't. But at least this is another notch in Freeman's attempt to play every the entire U.S. government. He's been the President, the House Speaker, a U.S. senator, and usually stuff goes horribly wrong under his watch. Somebody ought to look into that.

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Watch Morgan Freeman vs. Tommy Lee Jones In The 'Just Getting Started' Trailer

Okay, the new trailer for comedy Just Getting Started is depressing to me on a few levels. First of all, it's written and directed by Ron Shelton, the guy behind some of my favorite sports movies: Bull Durham, White Men Can't Jump, Tin Cup, Play It To The Bone, and The Great White Hype. He hasn't done anything since 2003's Hollywood Homicide, though, and that was pretty terrible. Second, it looks like a film that underserves stars Morgan Freeman, Tommy Lee Jones, and Rene Russo. And third, it's the final screen performance of the late Glenne Headley, who died earlier this year.

In what looks like Grumpy Old Men in a senior citizens' home, the film pits Freeman vs. Jones as rivals in a retirement community where Russo is the prize. I feel like Freeman has settled into an unfortunate rut of playing characters whose defining trait is that they're old, and I hope this turns out to be different. Here's the synopsis:

From Ron Shelton, writer/director of Tin Cup and Bull Durham, comes the new comedy, Just Getting Started. Morgan Freeman stars as DUKE DIVER, the freewheeling manager of the luxury Palm Springs resort, the Villa Capri. DIVER may have a mysterious past, but he’s a pro at making sure that life for the high-spirited residents is one big, non-stop party. But the status quo is challenged when ex-military charmer LEO (Tommy Lee Jones) checks in, triggering a competition between Duke and Leo for the top spot of Alpha male, as well as for the affections of the newly-arrived SUZIE (Rene Russo). When Duke’s past suddenly catches up with him, the rivals put aside their differences and the two men reluctantly team up to stop whoever is trying to kill Duke, and also save the Villa Capri.

Just Getting Started opens December 8th.

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Review: 'Going In Style' Starring Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, & Alan Arkin

Coming off of two Academy Award nominations for Hidden Figures and following up the surprisingly effective St. Vincent, it seems like Theodore Melfi can do no wrong.  But maybe he needs to direct his own scripts for the magic to work, since Going In Style just doesn't.

There's not really anything seriously wrong with the story -- a cut-down remake of the 1979 version starring George Burns, Art Carney, and Lee Strasberg -- though like Melfi's other work it's built around a syrupy sentimentality that could easily be cloying in the wrong hands.  Which, in this case, belong to director Zach Braff, who doesn't have Melfi's magic touch for making this sort of sweetness palatable.

The setup is pretty much the same: Joe, Al, and Willie (Michael Caine, Alan Arkin, and Morgan Freeman this time around) are aging pensioners who decide to rob a bank.  In the original they were just isolated, abandoned, and bored, with nothing to do but collect social security and scrape by month to month.  But evidently that's not sympathetic enough, so this time they've jammed in Corporations Screwing Over the Little Guy, depriving them of their pensions.  So, seeming to crib from last year's Hell or High Water, they decide to rob the bank that's liquidating their assets.  Oh, and the same bank that's foreclosing on Joe's house after screwing him over with a subprime refinance.

For more sympathy: Joe lives with his daughter and granddaughter (Braff regular Joey King); Willie doesn't get to see his daughter and granddaughter very much, and is on the verge of kidney failure besides; and Al hates to make ends meet teaching saxophone lessons to kids with no talent.  Yeah, that last one doesn't exactly measure up, so they throw Ann-Margaret at him as a love interest.

Arkin is the only one of the three who comes close to the cranky, bitter streak that ran through the original threesome, as you might expect from every other role he's ever played.  The closest Freeman and Caine come is a certain impish sense of putting one over on the younger folks -- Joe's ex-son-in-law (Peter Serafinowicz), the FBI agent investigating the robbery (Matt Dillon) -- who underestimate just what these geezers can do.  The irony, of course, being that the filmmakers don't trust audiences to get on board with old guys who don't fit the stereotype of grandfatherly beneficence.  It even has them commit to donating everything above their expected future pension earnings to charity, so good-hearted they are.

It also falls short as a heist flick, which is sort of a shame from the star of the original Italian Job.  Again, it's hard to pick out anything specifically wrong, but there's nothing particularly right about it either.  The plan plays out in retrospect, explaining how things went right, but it leaves little chance to play with audience expectations and suggest that things might go truly wrong.  Of course, the original didn't either, but it didn't try to pretend it was a heist movie in the first place.  And even the one truly unfortunate turn in the original is blunted and sweetened here.

And as if the whole corporate-greed angle weren't enough of an issue, there's another one lurking, complete with charity PSA tie-ins.  It's the perfect topping for a confection that anyone can gum down, no matter how toothless.

Rating: 2 out of 5

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Trailer For Zach Braff's Remake 'Going In Style' With Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, And Alan Arkin

If any director could use a change of pace it's Zach Braff. His two efforts behind the camera, Garden State and the critically-panned Wish I Was Here have been hammered for being everything people hate about indie movies.  So he's gone in an unexpected direction for his third movie by taking on a remake of the 1979 heist comedy, Going in Style, starring Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Alan Arkin. With those three at least this promises to be a little more fun than Braff's usual stuff.

Penned by Hidden Figures director Ted Melfi, the film centers on a trio of bored retirees who get the idea to rob some banks. Why? Being retired is expensive, ya'll. This is coming out at a time when anger towards financial institutions is running high, so I expect a strong reaction from audiences. Plus it's got that whole Grumpy Old Men thing going for it.

Going in Style opens April 7th 2017.

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Review: 'Ben-Hur' Starring Jack Huston, Toby Kebbell, And Morgan Freeman

Whenever anybody talks of Ben-Hur the first thing they recall is the chariot race. In William Wyler's 1959 Oscar-winning classic, Charlton Heston flew around that wide expanse of a track, captured in breath-taking 70mm at a time when spectacle like that truly felt like a spectacle. And clearly director Timur Bekmambetov, who previously-helmed Wanted and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, remembers that chariot scene quite well because it seems to be his main point of interest. Fortunately, the lack of emotional drama isn't enough to completely sink this modern update despite it lacking the prestige of prior versions, but at least it's not 3 1/2 hours long, thank God.  

Remaking Ben-Hur was always going to be a difficult proposition, even in today's climate when the most pitiful faith-based movies still find an audience. The most famous version won an astounding eleven Academy Awards, which you'd think would be a deterrent from anybody trying to redo it for any reason. That hasn't been the case by a long stretch. Bekmambetov's hiring signaled immediately this Ben-Hur wouldn't be concerned with Oscars aspirations; blockbuster entertainment geared towards the already-converted was its goal. And that audience will surely find this more palatable than they did Darren Aronofsky's supposedly left-leaning Noah, despite some contemporary changes to the material.

Beginning at the starting blocks of the big chariot race, former Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston) and his adoptive brother, the Roman warrior Messala (Toby Kebbell, good luck finding a blockbuster he isn't in), jaw at one another about vengeance and old grievances. They had been like actual brothers once, and the film flashes back to that innocent time. Ben-Hur comes from a wealthy family, born into privilege that he feels very comfortable in, while Messala is the grandson of a Roman traitor involved in Caesar's murder. As an orphan he was taken in and raised by Ben-Hur's family, although the mother (Ayelet Zurer) clearly plays favorites. Shamed by his given wealth and the constant shunning, Messala seeks individual power by joining the Roman legions on their global conquests. Meanwhile, Ben-Hur finds love, and begins to find a new faith in his seemingly random encounters with a certain charismatic and sexy carpenter, Jesus Christ (Rodrigo Santoro). 

This is a major change from the book but is closer to how the many adaptations have gone. Another change comes after Messala returns years later, a Roman commander who has fought and won many battles. He needs Ben-Hur's help squashing those who oppose Roman rule, but his brother offers little support. Rather than a falling roof tile it's an arrow shot at Pontius Pilate (Pilou Asbaek as the man who crucified Jesus) which triggers Messala's betrayal of Ben-Hur and his family. Tiles are boring, but an arrow fired by an agitator (Moises Arias) staying in Ben-Hur's home is a twist that makes his downfall more ironic. The once-wealthy prince is thrown in shackles to become a slave, while his family is hauled off to be killed.

Surpassing the chariot race as the centerpiece is the galley scene, a claustrophobic jaw-dropper of hot oil, flaming arrows, and watery death. The 3D is especially good here as projectiles wizz past the rows of battered slaves, including Ben-Hur, all stripped of their humanity and beaten into submission. It's here that Ben-Hur, after years in the galley (we see like 30 seconds of it) decides it's time to go home and get some payback. But first he has to survive. The carnage Bekmambetov unleashes is impressive and horrifying, but not dissimilar to the gruesomeness of his prior work. Let's not forget he's the guy who gave us Wanted, a movie that had "violence is freedom" as the basic core message.

Whether you're familiar with the Ben-Hur story or not the characters will feel that way, thanks to a no-frills screenplay by Oscar winner John Ridley and Keith R. Clarke. They breeze quickly through philosophical discussions on faith, freedom, and family, in order to get to the next impressive action sequence. That said, some of the quiet scenes have surprising strength as Ben-Hur wrestles with his desire for peace and need for payback. You can feel the pull within him as he tries to reconcile the man Messala is now with the one he used to share such a brotherly bond with. 

Huston doesn't command the screen like Heston did but he brings a sensitivity that makes him endearing and sympathetic. He's not a natural action hero, though, and that is never more apparent than during the chariot race when Kebbell really takes charge. Add to the list of strong performances by Kebbell in movies he's probably too good for, a list that includes Fantastic Four, Warcraft, Wrath of the Titans...and that's just the start. There's a welcome expansion of the female roles, giving Zurer and co-star Nazanin Boniadi the chance to bring a different kind of ferocity than their male counterparts. Santoro feels out of place as Jesus but then that whole parallel storyline, which ends with a smaller, less torturous Crucifixion than The Passion of the Christ, doesn't need to be there. Oh, and Morgan Freeman is here too, completely phoning it in as a rich African gambler (he's a sheik, but they never say it) who finds Ben-Hur, and trains him in chariot racing so he can humiliate Rome in the big arena. Freeman also voices the mostly pointless narration, because what would a Biblical remake like Ben-Hur be without the voice of God? 

Rating: 3 out of 5

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Jack Huston Takes The Reins In New 'Ben-Hur' Trailer

Of all the blockbuster trailers we've seen in the last few days, where does Ben-Hur chart on your radar? Probably somewhere near the bottom since there is absolutely zero buzz, even among the faith-based crowd, for this modern take on Lew Wallace's 19th-century novel. And the worst thing is that it comes out in a month so there isn't even much time to kick up some dust.

The latest trailer is more of what you've already seen: Jack Huston as the falsely-accused Ben-Hur who does battle, occasionally in a chariot, against his adopted brother played by Toby Kebbell who has never met a studio movie he can't fit into his schedule. Morgan Freeman, Rufus Sewell, Nazanin Boniadi, Ayelet Zurer, Pilou Asbaek, Rodrigo Santoro, Moises Arias, and Sofia Black D’Elia co-star with Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) giving the Biblical tale an epic spin.

Ben-Hur opens August 19th.

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New Trailer And Chariot Race Featurette For 'Ben-Hur' Starring Jack Huston

With faith-based movies Hollywood's newest cash cow, it was only a matter of time before somebody got around to remaking Ben-Hur. Was Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) the most likely guy to do it? Probably not, but if you're going to turn Lew Wallace's book into a massive summer blockbuster, he's as good of an option as any. However there doesn't seem to be a lot of buzz for chariot-racing epic, but that could always change with this latest trailer.

The latest trailer comes off a little desperate in trying to appeal to every conceivable audience beyond those looking for a summer spectacle. Jack Huston makes the unlikely lead in this story as Judah Ben-Hur, a prince who is accused of treason by his friend and adopted brother Messala(Toby Kebbell, who is in every movie this summer. I checked.), and is thrown into slavery. Separated from his family and the woman he loves, Ben-Hur spends years at sea, until he returns home seeking vengeance.

Morgan Freeman, Pilou Asbaek, Rodrigo Santoro, Nazanin Boniadi, Moises Arias, Ayelet Zurer, and Sofia Black D’Elia co-star, but it looks like the real star will be the chariot races, which understandably are being pushed as the centerpiece. Along with the trailer you can check out a featurette on how they staged the races to look as they do.

Ben-Hur hits theaters on August 19th.

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Review: 'Now You See Me 2' Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Daniel Radcliffe, And More

'Louis Leterrier's Now You See Me split critics, and I found myself on the short end with those who found it rather enjoyable.  Of course the combination of stage magic and a caper story was all but tailor-made to appeal to my tastes.  It may not have been the tightest plot around, but Leterrier delivered a romp that, like a carnival ride, kept going around even when any grounding in logic fell away.

But, as any ride must, it came to an end.  Given how heavily the first movie relied on its own momentum, even a fan like me was skeptical at the prospect of starting things up again for a sequel.  Indeed, Jem director Jon M. Chu struggles to recapture Leterrier's magic in Now You See Me 2, but the whole thing never quite gets back off the ground.

It's three years since the breakout spectacle of The Four Horsemen, and they're tired of living in the shadows, waiting for the mysterious magicians' guild The Eye to bring them further into the fold.  Danny Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) in particular feels like their secret sponsor FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) is slow-walking their next steps.  Merritt (Woody Harrelson) and Jack (Dave Franco) are getting antsy themselves; Jack even more so since he'd faked his own death and must still keep up the facade of, you know, not existing.  Henley even gave up entirely, thus explaining Isla Fisher's departure.

In her place we have Lula (Lizzy Caplan), who's been working the "underground" magic scene that specializes in gorier fare, all guillotines and ripping doves in half -- all an illusion, of course.  Dylan recruited her and decided she's now part of the group, but Danny doesn't like her.  It's never quite clear why, though, other than just ego and change-aversion on his part.  But it does echo the problems with the movie as a whole: swapping out pieces, coasting on past achievements, and expecting things to work as smoothly as they did before.

And just like the movie, things don't go as planned.  An attempt to disrupt a tech company's product launch, exposing it as a secret spy-on-everyone network, goes awry.  The four flee, but find their escape re-routed to Macau, where wealthy and secretive brat Walter Mabry (Daniel Radcliffe) demands they steal a magic computer chip to clear their names.  Meanwhile Dylan's FBI cover is blown, and he has to enlist the aid of his old rival Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) to help find the group himself.

There are two different approaches to misdirection: control and confusion.  For most of the first movie, Leterrier exercised a disciplined control over our attention, steering it so carefully that we wouldn't even notice that it was being directed.  And I use that word specifically; in any film what a director is actually directing is attention, and the best can do it so subtly that most audiences won't even notice that it's happening.  It was only towards the end, once he already had us hooked, that Leterrier switched to confusion.  Lights and colors and action swirl, keeping us off-balance and distracted from the mechanism of the trick.

Chu, on the other hand, starts out with a lot of balls in the air, and proceeds to add more.  So many moving parts makes the plot ungainly, and more difficult to control precisely.  The timing is off.  Feints are telegraphed.  Seams come loose.  An offhand line suggests a character knows more than they logically should at that point.  Is it a clue? no, just a sloppy point in the script.

It's not that films must be perfectly executed down to the smallest jot and tittle.  Cinematic nitpickery is the laziest form of criticism, but pulling off caper flicks like these takes fanatical attention to detail.  Leterrier had it, and even then it didn't work for half the critics.  Chu's timing is always just a little off, and while that wouldn't normally bring a movie down, it's enough to keep this one from taking off.

Rating: 2 out of 5

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Morgan Freeman And Tommy Lee Jones Join Action Comedy 'Villa Capri

I was just telling someone the other day how much I missed Ron Shelton movies. White Men Can't Jump, Tin Cup, Bull Durham, Play it to the Bone, Dark Blue, Blaze, and The Great White Hype were just a few of the great movies he was a part of. For a while it seemed like Shelton was making 90% of the movies coming out of Hollywood. He hasn't done anything of note in a few years as he's been busy planning a Bull Durham Broadway show, but now he's back behind the camera for a new film with Morgan Freeman and Tommy Lee Jones as headliners.

Shelton will direct Freeman and Jones in Villa Capri, an action comedy said to be in the vein of Midnight Run. Jones play an ex-FBI agent while Freeman is a former mob lawyer in the Witness Protection Program. The two must set aside their rivalry on the golf course to fend off a mob hit.

Yep, this sounds like a Shelton movie alright. Filming on Villa Capri begins this summer.

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Scott Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Laurence Fishburne Take 'The Last Full Measure'

Is Scott Eastwood the next big thing? There certainly does seem to be an effort to build the son of Clint into a superstar with roles in The Longest Ride, Suicide Squad, and Fast 8. Now he's set to headline a film that will see him teamed up with screen veterans Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, and Laurence Fishburne.

The Last Full Measure is written and directed by Todd Robinson (Phantom), and tells the true story of a cover-up investigation conducted by a Pentagon investigator. As he battles the political machine in Washington, he "reluctantly teams with veterans of Operation Abilene to convince Congress to award the Medal of Honor to a courageous Air Force medic, William Pitsenbarger, who sacrificed his life saving over 60 soldiers ambushed in one of the bloodiest battles in American history – the Vietnam War."

Sounds a lot like Courage Under Fire, and could be the kind of role that propels Eastwood into even greater roles. [Deadline]

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The Magic Returns In New Trailer For 'Now You See Me 2'

$350M may not sound like much when your average Marvel or DC film routinely hits $800M+, but when it's a modestly-sized original work like Now You See Me it's a pretty big deal. The film was a surprising smash a few years ago, and if you recall it was my most anticipated movie at the time based on the cool premise alone. While I had issues with the end result, there was never any doubt in my mind there would be a sequel, and so here we are with Now You See Me 2 and a brand new trailer that conjures up more magic.

Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Mark Ruffalo are back for more illusionist hijinks, with Lizzy Caplan, Jay Chou, Daniel Radcliffe, and Sanaa Lathan new additions to this second act. So what's the story this time? The Four Horsemen are blackmailed into stealing....something. Oh does it really matter? Expect plenty of disappearing acts, weather-altering gimmicks, sleights of hand, games of chance, and pretty much every trick in the book.

Jon M. Chu is taking over as director and he's already been confirmed to return for a third film. Lionsgate may be trying to build this into a lucrative, long-running franchise similar to Fast & Furious, but it will be a while before we know if it has those kinds of legs. Now You See Me 2 opens June 10th. Check out a new clip featuring Morgan Freeman, as well.

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