Movie Review: Transformers: Age of Extinction (3D)

Sticks to the traditional “Transformers” film recipe, adds an all-new cast, and for better or worse, ends up with the same product. Despite the almost three-hour running time and mediocre plot and characters, the movie doesn’t really drag as much as you would expect. Strong performances by new cast members Mark Wahlberg (who still seems to have his “Pain and Gain” muscles), Kelsey Grammer and Stanley Tucci help make the non-action scenes entertaining. However, Nicola Peltz doesn’t do much more than look pretty in short-shorts and yell for her dad, while Jack Reynor has zero charisma. The returning Peter Cullen again voices Optimus Prime, bringing an underrated performance that keeps the Autobot leader sounding like the wise and compassionate character that he needs to be. By this point, Bumblebee’s speaking via audio clips has completely lost its charm and seems corny, and the remaining transformers are just caricatures that barely become interesting. The silliness from the previous films seems toned-down a bit, and the most comedic character is barely in the film. The action is all over the place, with the end become a giant CGI-mess of explosions and giant robots (and giant dinosaur robots), although there’s some really cool action beats. The finale also ran into the problem of not having a clearly defined main villain. Is it the evil humans, the new Transformers or the ones just hinted at? I didn’t even realize that I was watching the final battle until the smoke cleared and the credits were ready to roll. As usual, the 3D added nothing to the film.

**1/2 out of *****

Movie Review: 22 Jump Street

Pretty entertaining, but a bit repetitive. The overall plot and concept of this movie is pretty much the same as the first “Jump Street” film. In fact, there is a recurring joke in the film about the repeated storylines. The movie itself come very close to breaking the third wall on multiple occasions, and borders on feeling like a parody film, such as “Scary Movie.” Luckily, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum still have great chemistry together and the dumb jock/dork combination provides plenty of humor. The friction between the two is another rehash from the first film, although this time the joke is to portray their relationship as if they were two bickering lovers, which is funny at points but gets old after a while. While Ice Cube gets a bigger role here and has some fun with it, a few characters seem to just exist to make different versions of the same joke, over and over again. Overall, the jokes are hit and miss, but there are some hugely funny moments. The end credits feature a pretty funny montage that goes on for a bit, but has just enough twists to keep it interesting.

*** out of *****

Movie Review: Edge of Tomorrow (3D)

Good concept, solid acting and good execution, but the film doesn’t quite deliver in the end. The time-travel element is the heart of the movie, but there are plenty of holes in it. As long as you can ignore these and just enjoy the story, this isn’t much of an issue. Tom Cruise is still an engaging lead, playing both the military PR man and the warrior he becomes convincingly. Emily Blunt’s character is fine in the action scenes, but her overly mysterious nature makes it difficult to get too into her. The fellow soldiers we meet early in the film have potential to be somewhat interesting, but they get shuffled to the background early on and have little impact on the story. The alien creatures have a unique design, but they rarely stand still long enough to admire it. Generally, they move so fast that they’re just a blur, looking a bit like the squid-like robots from “The Matrix” if they were on speed. The time-loop has potential to get tedious, but they show just enough to advance the story or inject some well-placed humor. There is a point where Cruise’s character has an epiphany, but it’s downplayed too much and never really feels like the turning point it was meant to be. The end of the film is a bit muddled, and the ending is a cop-out that is telegraphed pretty clearly. (Not to mention that it creates one of the bigger plot holes in the film.) The 3D was actually not too bad, less than a distraction then I expected.

**1/2 out of *****