INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE   1.5*****

           This is a sequel to the 1996 original 'Independence Day”,….. 20 years later. . Most of the original cast returns: Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Judd Hirsch, Robert Loggia, Brent Spiner and Vivica A. Fox. But since it has been 20 years, they are passing the franchise along to a  younger generation that includes actors:  Liam Hensworth, Maika Moore, Sela Ward and Wm Fichtner.  { FYI: Notably missing  is Will Smith and the rumor is Will wanted $50 million and they said NO !!} . As far as the plot goes it is very similar to the first., The alien technology recovered from the first victory 20 years earlier has been incorporated to improve earth’s defenses.. Also, earth has  bases on the moon, Mars and the moons of Saturn primarily to keep an eye out for any returning aliens. And, of course they do return, bigger and badder. Their mother ship lands on Earth and covers the entire Atlantic ocean !! And as before it seems like there is no hope for earth and extinction is inevitable.. But, maybe not ???????

In the original movie, which was made with a much smaller budget than this overblown mess, the effects seemed spectacular. This was due to the fact that at the time, they were primarily using practical special effects. Unfortunately this time round, there is an overuse of CGI. Some of it is admittedly excellent, but it is so lifeless, it just drains the film of any feeling.

The only actors in the film who gave good performances were Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman. For me, Jeff Goldblum stole the show. Even the with the terrible script that he had, he made it work. This kind of weird manic dialogue is his bread and butter.  

Independence Day: Resurgence is in essence a sequel made purely for the profit, without the sizzle and humor that made the first film so special. The main culprit is the really bad writing, an awful script, and this is partly explained by the fact that there were 9 different script and story writers.  The sequel is inferior to the original in most aspects.   The characters are one dimensional, the story is generic and clichéd, the dialogue is weak, the film is incredibly dumb, but admittedly the special effects are amazing. In the end if you like lots of  action and want a couple of hours where you can just shut your brain off, then this may be for you…. a “popcorn movie” pure and simple.

Clark

NOW YOU SEE ME 2    1.8****

          Picking up a year after last year's heist in “Now You See Me”, this sequel finds the 3 remaining members of The Four Horsemen–illusionist J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), hypnotist Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson) and street magician Jack Wilder (Dave Franco)–laying low and awaiting further instructions from The Eye, the secret society of magicians they've been recruited into. F.B.I. mole/ringleader Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) regroups them  to expose a corrupt businessman planning to launch a device that is claimed to be the "key to hacking every computer system on the planet." Meanwhile, tech mogul Walter Mabry (Daniel Radcliffe) wants the device for himself and bends the will of our rogue tricksters to pull off their toughest stunt yet in exchange for their freedom. Clueless as to his team's whereabouts, Dylan is left with no choice but to ask for the help of Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), a scheming magic debunker who was framed in the first film and who also happens to be plotting his revenge against the horsemen in ways they couldn't expect.

Lizzy Caplan replaces the beautiful Isla Fisher as the 4^th Horseman and the movie is all the more awkward for it. The twin role by Woody Harrelson is at times funny, but ultimately it has no pay off and seems like a useless subplot. Michael Caine reprises his role from the sequel and he seems to be tired and not enjoying himself at all. Daniel Radcliff is severely miscast in his role as the evil villain and comes across as Harry Potter acting like he was a megalomaniac. This role needed a serious creep factor and unfortunately Radcliff fails miserably.                    

Director Jon Chu mistakenly chooses to, showcase  the heists and chases rather  than the magic. Here, the magicians seem to have graduated from being Robin Hoods showering cash to their audiences (1^st film) to being corporate whistleblowers using their illusions for a greater purpose. The convoluted plot  involves more infiltration and theft than can be found in a Mission Impossible film, making the lack of real-life magic more glaring. This shift away from magic as the main theme hurts the film's credibility and betrays the mystery of the magic by using Hollywood special effects and CGI. That being said, there are two kinds of magic tricks here: tricks they don't try to explain and tricks they agonizingly try to explain and you wish they haven't.

Rated PG-13

Clark

                         THE LOBSTER  1***

   In the bizaar world of “The Lobster”, single people are not only ostracized, they are completely outlawed. Newly single people( whether just turning 21, widowed or divorced) have to find a partner within 45 days or they are turned into an animal of their choosing. The singles are sent to a luxury hotel for the mating opportunity. David (a fleshy Colin Farrell) has recently been dumped by his wife and has chosen to be turned into a Lobster if he is not successful. Accompanying him at the hotel is a dog, in fact it is his brother who was transformed into a dog. If he chooses not to conform and do the transformation at the end of the 45 days, he would have to go on the run and live as a loner in the wilderness. Normal society does not want loners.

The society and government of “The Lobster” pits  single people against couple people at opposite sides of a war. The runaway Loners are literally hunted down like wild animals and those who manage to survive  run guerrilla operations exposing the hypocrisy of the couple people and break couples up by releasing truth bombs that cannot be recovered from. Both sides of the social divide are run by tyrannical leaders, enforcing their world view with extreme acts of violence and humiliation for those who break the rules. Weird characters drift throughout, delivering their lines with a total  lack of awareness or emotion, strange rituals are performed to encourage  the singles to couple-up ( such as the hotel maid doing a grinding lap dance for male singles and elaborate pretentious ceremonies to honor a new couple) , and all the time the clock is ticking - find a partner, become a couple, within 45 days or be turned into an animal of your choice.

While it has an interesting concept in theory, the monotone dialogue, the sheer darkness and violence of the last half of the film, and the less than human performances throughout quickly drag this bazaar film down into a repulsive unpleasant place. And the ending is horrible. If this is supposed to be a satire of society, then Lord help us. Also, even really good satires do not always make good movies and this one misses the mark by a country mile.

You can’t help but wonder how in the world the likes of Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, John C. Riley and the rest of the cast would agree to lend their talents to such a dismal film.

Some may call this a dark comedy, however, you probably won't laugh at all. Others may call this a master piece of satire. However,  I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts that the vast majority who endure this film will probably walk out calling it something completely different… such as horrible, a complete waste of time, or just plain garbage or stupid .

DO NOT go to see this awful movie unless you have never experienced depression and want to try it out.

Rated R for sexual content including dialogue, and violence and cruelty.

Clark

PS: As I say, I go to see “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly… this time I saw the “Bad and the Ugly” !!!

    

LOOK WHO”S BACK  (Original German title: ER IST WIEDER DA)   3.3***

          Making fun of Hitler has had a long tradition, dating back to when Hitler was alive, and one of the greatest comedies of all time, Charlie Chaplin's “The Great Dictator”. As with “The Great Dictator”, “Look Who’s Back” manages to having a serious undertone beneath all the slapstick and humor. It, therefore, meets the prime criterion for a supreme comedy: one that is very funny to watch  but simultaneously deadly serious in its message to the point of being unnerving.

At the beginning of "Look Who's Back"  we see Hitler suddenly appear from a strange cloud in the exact spot where his burned body was discovered outside his underground bunker, this being seventy years after his 1945 death/suicide. A bold idea backed up by a smart and funny script. The resulting package is thought provoking, shocking and, at times, hilarious.

Initially seen as a laughable street performer, a foggy Herr Hitler walks Berlin's streets searching for the Führerbunker and wonders what happened to the thousand year Reich. He takes selfies with bemused tourists.

Hitler falls in with a hapless TV journalist who becomes his traveling companion on a cross-Germany trip to learn what's bugging people, and what they desire. They honestly tell him - believing he's an actor and not the real thing - about wages and education. Mostly, the people are vocal with strong hate for immigrants. Here, Muslims fill in for Jews who are barely mentioned.

Hitler discovers TV and wonders why this technological marvel broadcasts mostly cooking shows. He quickly becomes computer-literate.  In this regard, there is a very funny scene of Hitler and his secretary setting up his email account, but discovering that all of Hitler's preferred user names (including his own name) have already been taken and they have to settle for his name with numbers added.  Oliver Masucci ( as Hitler ) gives an excellent performance in the title role – understated in the proper moments, funny but nuanced.

Young adults latch onto him believing he's the joke du jour. Before you know it, Hitler's pronouncements have millions of social media hits.

He becomes a regular on a very popular TV show where his nationalistic speeches (more passionate and even tempered versus the wild-eyed rants of yore) strike a chord. Those  in our  contemporary society will find grains of truth in what this monster says.

This multifaceted film tackles a number of important issues: the permanence of racism, the danger of projecting darkness onto a manipulative figurehead (eerie in the Trump era), life in a dumbed-down world, lack of personal responsibility, and much more. It's also a history lesson presenting just how Hitler rose in the Thirties.

THIS is A GERMAN made FILM in GERMAN…so you have to read subtitles. BUT what a fascinating film with a very thought provoking story line.

You’ll have to search for it… I found it at NETFLIX.

Clark

         

ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS  3.0***

  This is a sequel to the 2010 “Alice in Wonderland".  It is a fun, delightful movie with absolutely gorgeous colors and imagery and a goofy time travel tale. Mia Wasikowska reprises her role as  Alice and does an even better  job here  as the curious and friendly girl  hoping to save her fantasy world from the trappings of time. Johnny Depp returns as the Mad Hatter and his costumes and makeup are even more  spectacular. The story centers around the Mad Hatter's desire to reconnect with his family who were believed burnt up by the Jabberwocky, a dragon ordered around by the Red Queen. Also returning  is Helen Bonham Carter as the big-headed Red Queen with a bad attitude and a pension for chopping off the heads of those whom she doesn’t like.. Anne Hathaway is back as the “good” White Queen. A new addition is Sacha Baron Cohen  as TIME and his costume, his robotic helpers and the clock features are dazzling.

In order to prevent a heartbreaking end to her friend, Hatter, she turns to Time himself  (Sacha Cohen) for help. Despite his warnings about Alice not being able to win a race against time, and not being able to change the past, she borrows the Chronosphere, a time device that allows her to return to the past but not in an easy way… very bumpy and haphazard, but fun. As Alice witnesses the hits and misses, the ups and downs of friends (and enemies) during their lives in the past, she discovers  how it prompted them to their position in the present, and from this she may learn how to solve not only the problem with the Hatter, but her own back in London – but only if she can win the race against the ticking Chronosphere. 

"Through the Looking Glass” once more grabs hold of you and delivers you into the trippy imagination of Wonderland in glorious detail. Brilliant colors, twisted towers, and distorted scenery are all present in spectacular detail that immerses you into that magical world.  

As for negatives, the second half of the film is not nearly as developed as the opening and it felt a bit rushed. The Red Queen's threats felt a bit shallow at times and she was nowhere near as menacing as in the first ( you miss her powerful beasts). Which brings me to the final weakness. It is missing some of the magic and wonder that Tim Burton brought us in the 1^st one and  this makes the film duller .We have a lot of great things in this movie, but something about it feels off from Alice's other adventures. “Through The Looking Glass’ is missing the oddness and zaniness  its predecessor had. And with the lack of threats from rampaging beasts and a truly tyrannical queen, the story was less suspenseful .   

I still recommend seeing it on the BIG theater screen because of the sheer beauty of the film.