Herbie the Love Bug - Series Retrospective

We’ve got a special anniversary retrospective today on Rhode Island Movie Corner as the first entry in today’s series recently celebrated its 50^th anniversary a few months back. What franchise am I referring to, you ask? Why none other than the lesser-known Disney franchise about a delightful little white Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own. That’s right, folks, today we’re looking at the series of films that Disney produced over the course of a few decades that starred the character of Herbie, the Love Bug AKA #53. Now, this is a franchise that I have a decent bit of history with, though not in the way that you may think. I was never really that familiar with the franchise until 2005 (and that’s even after considering the one time when I went to Disney World with my family in 2002 where we stayed at the All-Star Movies Resort, which has a full section dedicated to Herbie), when it returned to theaters for the first time in nearly three decades with Herbie: Fully Loaded. After watching that film, I then proceeded to rent all the other Herbie films (save for the 1997 made-for-TV ‘remake’) from Blockbuster… and yes, I suddenly felt quite old while writing this sentence. Granted, prior to this retrospective, it’s been quite a long time since I’ve seen any of the Herbie the Love Bug films (late 2005/early 2006, to be exact). But given my current work situation at Walt Disney World and the timeliness of the first film’s 50^th anniversary, I figured that it would be fun to look at the five theatrical films, one made-for-TV film, and short-lived TV series from 1982 that make up this classic Disney franchise. With that said, put on your seatbelts and get ready for one wild ride as we honor one of cinema’s most legendary vehicles with a look at the Herbie the Love Bug films.

THE LOVE BUG (1968)

The original Love Bug was very much a classic Disney production. It featured Disney regulars like Dean Jones and David Tomlinson, was directed by company mainstay Robert Stevenson (who also directed Mary Poppins… need I say more?) and was reportedly one of the last major live-action Disney films approved by Walt himself. Sure enough, while there are some aspects of the film that are clearly a product of their time, The Love Bug is still a delightfully wacky comedy about down-on-his-luck race car driver Jim Douglas (Jones) and all the hi-jinx that ensues when he becomes the new owner of a seemingly sentient Volkswagen Beetle named Herbie. The film boasts some impressive racing sequences for the time, highlighted by a highly entertaining finale race known as ‘the El Dorado’ that’s full of hilarious moments; everything from the main antagonist getting stuck inside Herbie to him mistaking a bear for his assistant. And these racing sequences are only strengthened further by its excellent cast of leads. Jones and Michele Lee, who plays Douglas’ love interest Carole Bennett, have excellent chemistry with each other while the one and only Buddy Hackett provides plenty of great humor and charm as Jim’s best friend and mechanic Tennessee Steinmetz. Ultimately, though, the biggest standout of the film is Mr. Banks himself, David Tomlinson, who is delightfully over-the-top as the pompous antagonist Peter Thorndyke. And while the film is certainly full of great humor, it still treats the concept of a ‘living car’ seriously, never going too over-the-top with Herbie’s actions. Because of this, it’s easy to see why The Love Bug is such a beloved entry in Disney’s prestigious library of classics. It’s practically the very definition of a ‘feel-good’ film.

Rating: 5/5!

HERBIE RIDES AGAIN (1974)

While none of the original cast from The Love Bug returned to reprise their roles in the sequel, Herbie Rides Again, director Robert Stevenson returned to helm it and several aspects of the plot maintain that this is a follow-up to the original (even though these films do tend to differ quite a bit in terms of maintaining continuity). This time, we follow a lawyer named Willoughby Whitfield who ends up working with Herbie, Tennessee’s aunt (his current owner), and her neighbor Nicole to save Tennessee and Jim’s old firehouse apartment from being demolished by his greedy uncle, real estate developer Alonzo Hawk. This results in the plot moving away from focusing on racing like in the first film in favor of a more traditional ‘save the neighborhood’ plot, with the only major racing sequence being a montage/flashback of scenes from The Love Bug. In other words, Herbie films either end up being a ‘racing comedy’ or a ‘car comedy’ and Herbie Rides Again falls into the latter category. However, there are still plenty of great instances of Herbie’s fun shenanigans to go around, and while a lot of moments in this film are far more ludicrous compared to the first (e.g. a scene where Herbie rides up the side of the Golden Gate Bridge), it’s still a delightful comedic romp. The lead trio of Helen Hayes (‘Grandma’ Steinmetz), Stefanie Powers (Nicole), and Ken Berry (Willoughby) are all terrific and prove to just as much of a likable bunch as Jim, Carole, and Tennessee from the first film. But just like the first film, the biggest standout is the villain, Alonzo Hawk, who happens to be a notable recurring villain of live-action Disney films, having also appeared in 1961’s The Absent-Minded Professor and its 1963 sequel, Son of Flubber. Like David Tomlinson in the previous film, Keenan Wynn is delightfully over-the-top, and some of the best humorous moments in the film are all the scenes in which Herbie messes with him, including a delightfully surreal dream sequence involving flying Herbies and man-eating Herbies (don’t ask…). All in all, Herbie Rides Again is a very enjoyable follow-up to The Love Bug. Obviously, I wouldn’t say that it’s ‘as good’ as its predecessor, but with a brisk 88-minute run-time, it’s a charming family flick.

Rating: 4/5

Before we continue, I just want to comment on the odd choice that was made in designing the artwork that was used for the front cover of the film’s home video releases, which depict Herbie as having blue human-like eyes. Herbie, of course, never has eyes like this in the original four films, and even when they did give him ‘eyes’ in Herbie: Fully Loaded, they were formed by his headlights. This is the only film where this design is used for its home video release apart from the original four films’ box set release from 2004. I only bring this up because it is so damn weird (and kind of creepy, to be honest) looking back at it now.

HERBIE GOES TO MONTE CARLO (1977)

After being absent for Herbie Rides Again, Dean Jones returned to the role of Jim Douglas for the third film, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, now joined by Don Knotts as his new mechanic Wheely. And as the title suggests, this film sees Herbie and the two traveling overseas to partake in the Trans-France race from France to Monte Carlo. Along the way, the trio deal with a pair of thieves who are after a valuable diamond that they stashed in Herbie and the Love Bug even falls in love with a Lancia owned by one of Douglas’ fellow racers. Unlike the previous two films, this film was directed by Vincent McEveety, another regular from Disney who, at the time, was admittedly known for directing some of the studio’s most negatively-received live-action films (e.g. 1971’s The Million Dollar Duck, which was one of only three films that Gene Siskel walked out on; Roger Ebert wasn’t too keen on it either). But as for his first foray with Herbie, he manages to deliver another enjoyable sequel that’s more in line tonally with the original. In other words, this one doesn’t have any major surreal moments (at least when compared to Herbie Rides Again) while still maintaining the franchise’s great sense of humor. It’s also focused more on racing like the original, resulting in some more solid racing sequences that utilize the plot’s European setting to great effect. Dean Jones is likable once again as Jim Douglas while Don Knotts proves to be a worthy successor to Buddy Hackett as Douglas’ new mechanic friend. Other notable members of the supporting cast include Julie Sommars as Diane Darcy, the previously mentioned Lancia driver who often keeps Jim and Wheely on their toes while not quite grasping the idea of Herbie and her car falling in love, and Roy Kinnear and Bernard Fox as the bumbling thieving duo who are after the diamond in Herbie’s fuel tank. Because of all this, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo is another satisfying follow-up to the titular character’s first cinematic outing, finding a nice mix between the entertaining racing action of The Love Bug and the madcap humor of Herbie Rides Again to produce another classic Herbie adventure.

Rating: 4/5

HERBIE GOES BANANAS (1980)

McEveety returned to direct the next Herbie film, Herbie Goes Bananas, which followed the same route as Herbie Goes Again by being more of a comedic ‘car adventure’ than a racing film. This time around, Herbie is sent to Central America where he is taken by Jim Douglas’ nephew Pete (Stephen Burns) and ends up going on a crazy trip across the region with a young pickpocket named Paco (Joaquin Garay III). However, this also ended up being Herbie’s last big-screen adventure for several years and is often considered to be the weakest entry of the original quadrilogy… and yeah, it kind of is. Herbie is barely in it for the first third and the plot is a bit of a mess, constantly moving around a bunch of subplots ranging from Pete and his friend D.J. (Charles Martin Smith) trying to get a sponsor for their race by suckering up to a flirtatious aunt and her niece to a trio of gangsters looking to find gold. Still, that’s not to say that the film doesn’t have its standout moments when Herbie is used properly, culminating in a scene where the little car partakes in a bullfight and another where he pursues the gangsters as they try to escape via airplane. Like Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, this film does benefit from some nice cinematography that does a solid job of highlighting its international setting, in this case, Central America. And while far from being the series’ best main characters, the main leads are a likable bunch with an ensemble cast that notably features Mel Brooks regulars Cloris Leachman and Harvey Korman. Plus, the friendship that forms between Herbie and Paco (who calls Herbie ‘Ocho’ because of his number 53 insignia and ‘five and three are eight… everyone knows that!”) is genuinely sweet… even with that goofy musical montage midway through. In short, in a lot of ways, it’s easy to see why Herbie Goes Bananas is far from being Herbie’s best cinematic outing and why it also kept the franchise grounded for a few years. And yet, maybe it’s just my nostalgic ties to this franchise talking for me, but I’ll admit that I still like this film. Overall, I’d say that it’s a generally harmless family flick (though, with that said, I won’t argue against anyone who says that this one relies on a bit too many South American stereotypes) that has just enough Herbie in it (though not as much as the other films in the series) to satisfy longtime fans.

Rating: 3/5

HERBIE, THE LOVE BUG (TV SERIES – 1982)

Taking a brief detour from the film series for a moment, we have what is probably the most unique facet of the Love Bug franchise, Herbie the Love Bug (AKA Herbie the Matchmaker), a short-lived TV series that aired on CBS in 1982. And I do mean ‘short-lived’ because this show was ultimately canceled after just five episodes as a mid-season replacement series. As such, there’s not that much to talk about here given that this was just five episodes of a show that’s now been off the air for decades. Still, it is a major part of this franchise, so I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least address it… even though I’ll admit that I never even knew about it until after I started doing this retrospective. The series saw Dean Jones return as Jim Douglas, now retired from racing, as he tries to run a driving school despite various financial difficulties. During this time, he also falls in love with a woman named Susan (Patricia Harty), whom he and Herbie rescue from a bank robbery, despite various attempts made by her ex-fiancé Randy (Larry Linville) to break them up. This is mainly by trying to exploit Jim’s past as a driver, as racing was the reason why Susan broke up with her previous husband. Other characters included Jim’s business partner Bo (Richard Paul) and Susan’s three kids; her rebellious daughter Julie (Claudia Wells AKA the OG Jennifer from Back to the Future) and her impressionable sons Robbie (Douglas Emerson) and Matthew (Nicky Katt). Two episodes were directed by Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo and Herbie Goes Bananas director Vincent McEveety while another two were directed by Bill Bixby AKA David Banner from the iconic Incredible Hulk TV series.

Simply put, this show delivers quite a good dosage of Herbie action to satisfy fans of the franchise. The transition from the big screen to the small screen does not result in the titular beetle losing any of his trademark charms. However, there are quite a few moments in this show where Herbie’s actions often get him and Jim into trouble rather than getting them out of it as usual (e.g. their driving school gets closed because Herbie messes with Randy during an inspection or the whole plot of Episode 5 where Herbie’s anger at Jim and Susan deciding to get a new family car ends up getting him impounded). Overall, the show runs more like Herbie Rides Again and Herbie Goes Bananas, focusing more on the comedic misadventures that Herbie and Jim get into rather than them racing (though with that said, the racing sequences in this show, specifically in Episode 3, are quite good). Dean Jones is charismatic as always in the role of Jim while also having some nice chemistry with Patricia Harty, and everyone else in the cast is generally solid as well. In short, we’ll never know if this would’ve been able to last as a full series instead of just five episodes. While Episode 4 does conclude with Jim and Susan getting married, Episode 5 isn’t necessarily a ‘finale’ type episode. But for what its worth, Herbie the Love Bug is another worthy addition to this classic franchise. Sadly, though, unlike the feature films, this series has not seen an official release on home video. For the record, all five episodes are currently available on YouTube, though those eager to check them out should know in advance that the video/audio isn’t that great given that they were recorded off the TV.

 

Series Rating: 4/5

THE LOVE BUG (1997)

The Love Bug franchise stayed dormant for a few years after the cancellation of the titular TV series until 1997, when Herbie returned to the screen, albeit the small screen this time around, in a made-for-TV film that was a combination of a sequel and a remake. It was a sequel by way of it acknowledging the events of the 1968 film but was also basically a retelling of that film’s plot (a down-on-his-luck driver and his goofy best friend come across Herbie and race against a snobby foreign driver), hence the ‘remake’ designation. The film was also notable for being one of the first directorial efforts from Peyton Reed (he also directed a TV remake of another classic Disney film, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes), several years before he directed Ant-Man and this year’s Ant-Man and the Wasp. What follows is quite arguably the most serious installment of the franchise… which also means that this one is kind of lacking in terms of humor. Thankfully, it does make up for this somewhat by having some genuinely effective emotional moments. Specifically, there’s a scene where Herbie dies (yes, dies!) after getting attacked by his ‘evil twin’, a black Volkswagen Beetle named Horace. It’s all good, though, as Herbie does get brought back to life complete with a pitch-perfect cameo appearance by Dean Jones in what would ultimately be his final appearance as Jim Douglas. As for the rest of the cast, Bruce Campbell is, well, Bruce Campbell as main protagonist Hank Cooper, Kevin J. O’Connor and Alexandra Wentworth are both solid as Hank’s best friend Roddy and love interest Alex, respectively, and John Hannah is delightfully sinister as the main antagonist Simon Moore. In short, while the TV film ‘remake’ of The Love Bug is far from being the best entry in the series (it’s also not winning any awards for its dated 90’s CGI), it’s still a decent addition to the franchise.

Rating: 3.5/5

HERBIE: FULLY LOADED (2005)

And finally, we conclude with Herbie’s return to the big screen in 2005, Herbie: Fully Loaded. As I noted in the intro, this was the film that properly introduced me to Herbie and his franchise as it was the first entry in the series that I watched. Ignoring the events of the 1997 remake, the film focuses on Maggie Peyton (Lindsay Lohan), the daughter of a struggling race team owner who becomes Herbie’s new owner as the two work together to achieve her dream of becoming a professional NASCAR driver. But alas, upon this film’s release, it wasn’t a big hit with critics, and based on what I’ve seen online, it seems like fans of the Herbie franchise aren’t too fond of this one, either. The downward spiral that Lohan’s career went on immediately afterward may have also impacted the film in the long run. But I don’t know… again, maybe it’s my nostalgia talking here (even though I haven’t seen this film in years), but I think that Fully Loaded is still a decent entry in the series. There’s nothing really in this film that ‘betrays’ the essence of the franchise, and that even includes the controversial decision to give Herbie more expressive facial reactions. At the very least, it has all the classic Herbie moments that we know and love, from Herbie working as a ‘matchmaker’ for the main protagonist to Herbie messing with the main antagonist (in this case, a cocky NASCAR driver named Trip Murphy (Matt Dillon)) to the point where he’s practically driven insane. Plus, it utilizes Herbie a heck of a lot better than Herbie Goes Bananas. Now, granted, it could be argued that this film’s plot is quite predictable; it is sort of another general ‘redo’ of the plot of the original Love Bug. Ultimately, though, it still manages to hit just enough of the right notes as far as this franchise is concerned, and if anything, it shows that prior to her career going down the gutter, Lindsay Lohan was a genuinely charismatic female lead. Just look at films like Mean Girls or the remake of Disney’s The Parent Trap.

Rating: 4/5

And that concludes this retrospective on the five feature films, one made-for-TV film, and short-lived TV series starring one of the most beloved cars in the world of pop culture, Herbie the Love Bug. Thanks for following along and be sure to sound off in the comments below with your own personal memories of this classic Disney franchise.

Also, Rhode Island Movie Corner’s 5^th annual End of Summer Fan Vote has been extended through September 2^nd. To vote for your favorite film from the summer of 2018, just check out the link below…

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WR6SYQ6

The Meg (2018) review

We’ve seen plenty of films over the years that center around one of the most fearsome creatures on planet Earth, the shark. Of course, when you think ‘shark films’, the first one that comes to mind is Jaws, the 1975 adaptation of author Peter Benchley’s best-selling novel of the same name that revolutionized the blockbuster genre and effectively launched the career of the one and only Steven Spielberg. But there have been a few other shark-themed films that have come out since then, like 1999’s Deep Blue Sea and last year’s 47 Meters Down just to name a few. Granted, none of these films have really earned the same kind of critical or commercial success as Jaws (this even includes Jaws’ own trio of sequels, none of which Steven Spielberg was involved with), but that doesn’t mean that the concept has become outdated in any way. Just look at the continuing success of Discovery Channel’s annual Shark Week programming block. And thus, here we are with the latest entry in this long-running genre of film, The Meg, which has had quite the notable history when it comes to its production. First off, the film serves as an adaptation of Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror, which was published in 1997 by author Steve Alten and has since gone on to spawn six sequels. The year before, plans for a film adaptation were initiated but the project ended up in development hell for quite some time, shifting through multiple studios (including Disney, who first purchased the rights) before ending up at Warner Bros. After that, Eli Roth was slated to direct, but he ultimately backed out of the project, mainly due to creative conflicts with the studio over his plans to make it a bloody R-rated big-budget blockbuster. Ultimately, directing duties went to veteran filmmaker Jon Turteltaub (Cool Runnings, the National Treasure films), and what comes out of this is a gloriously cheesy popcorn flick that you’re either going to find stupidly awesome or just plain stupid.

Off the coast of China, scientists in a massive underwater research facility known as Mana One plan on sending a submersible down into the Mariana Trench, the deepest known point on the planet, when it appears that there may be some unexplored parts of the ocean that haven’t been discovered yet. However, the operation soon goes south when the submersible ends up getting attacked by a large creature, effectively trapping it and its crew on the ocean floor. To save them, Mana One crew member James ‘Mac’ Mackreides (Cliff Curtis) suggests that they recruit his old friend Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham), a former rescue diver who also happened to get caught up in a similar situation five years prior when a rescue operation was beset by a mysterious creature. Despite his hesitation to return to the sea after that previous rescue mission resulted in the deaths of two of his crewmates, Jonas ultimately agrees to help when he learns that his ex-wife Lori (Jessica McNamee) is one of the trapped crew members. But as Jonas embarks back down to the ocean depths, he and the crew of Mana One learn the identity of this mysterious creature, a megalodon shark. Long thought to be extinct, the largest shark on record manages to escape from the depths of the Mariana Trench, hellbent on devouring anything that crosses its path. Thus, this now puts pressure on Jonas and the rest of the Mana One crew, including financier Jack Morris (Rainn Wilson), scientist Minway Zhang (Winston Chao), and his daughter, oceanographer Suyin Zhang (Li Bingbing), to try and stop the creature before it can cause any further mayhem. 

To be perfectly frank, if you’ve seen the trailers for this film, then you’ll have a decently clear idea of what it’s going to be like. The Meg is a goofy blockbuster styled like a B-movie that’s light on the plot and character development but manages to be a decently entertaining shark flick once the titular shark starts doing its thing. However, I do want to emphasize the phrase ‘once the titular shark starts doing its thing’ because if there’s one major parallel that this film shares with Jaws, it’s that it does the same thing that Jaws did in that it takes a while before it properly reveals the shark. And simply put, this isn’t quite as successful as Jaws was when it comes to this aspect of the narrative. But like I said before, when the film does get into the whole plot of the main characters hunting the shark, it manages to overcome its slow start to produce some enjoyably over-the-top action sequences. A lot of what works in this film is also due to its solid ensemble cast, who work quite well together. Jason Statham is solid as always doing what he does best AKA being Jason Statham. He also has some nice chemistry with Li Bingbing, who thankfully isn’t just relegated to being Statham’s love interest. Granted, there are a few instances where she does get saved by him, but at the same time, she gets just as involved with hunting down the shark as he does. In fact, she’s quite arguably the biggest standout of the cast, which also includes reliable supporting players like Cliff Curtis and Rainn Wilson, the latter of whom basically carries over his Dwight Schrute persona from The Office as the primary comic relief.  

Quite a lot can be said about what this film could’ve been. Had Eli Roth stayed on to direct it, this probably would’ve been a no-holds-barred R-rated shark film with the budget of a studio tentpole. Heck, Jon Turteltaub has even admitted that some gorier sequences were shot before they had to be toned down to maintain a PG-13 rating. And unfortunately, it doesn’t seem likely that these scenes will see the light of day due to the necessity for extra VFX work on what would ultimately end up being nothing more than a bonus feature for the home video release. Still, even as a ‘toned down’ shark film, The Meg is, at the very least, decent popcorn entertainment. To be clear, there’s absolutely nothing Oscar-worthy about this film, but as an end of summer flick, it’s satisfying enough to overlook some of its issues. For starters, while it doesn’t start off on the best of notes, things do improve once it gets into exactly what it advertises; in other words, Jason Statham and crew vs. a giant shark. And really, Statham and the rest of the cast are quite arguably the best thing about this film due to their solid camaraderie. From the looks of it, they had a lot of fun making this film and it translates nicely to the final product. Thus, my thoughts on this film are ultimately not that far off from my thoughts on last year’s The Hitman’s Bodyguard, which was also an ‘end of summer’ blockbuster that proved to be solidly entertaining despite its overall simplicity. In other words, if you just want to see a film where Jason Statham takes on a giant shark, then The Meg will probably satisfy that urge.  

Rating: 3.5/5

And don’t forget to vote for your favorite film from this past summer by going to the link below to partake in Rhode Island Movie Corner’s 5^th annual End of Summer Fan Vote. Voting ends August 26^th.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/P2JHR8M   

RIMC's Annual End of Summer Fan Vote - 2018 Edition

As the summer season concludes, the time has come once again for one of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s biggest traditions. And this year marks a special occasion because this tradition will be half a decade old by the time that we’re done with it this year. Yes, folks, it’s time for the fifth annual installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s End of Summer fan poll, where I encourage you, the readers, to vote for your favorite films from the past few months of 2018. For those who are new to this site, here’s how it all works. I’ll be including a link below to a poll that I’ve set up on the website SurveyMonkey. Once there, you’ll be provided with a wide selection of films that came out this summer to choose your #1 favorite film from. And I do mean a ‘wide selection’ because I basically cover every major wide release that came out in theaters during the summer… though not ‘everything’, for the record. With that in mind, if your favorite film doesn’t happen to be amongst all these choices, don’t worry because there is a solution to this via a ‘write-in’ section at the very bottom of the page. Starting today, this poll will run for about two weeks and will conclude on August 26^th. After that, I will tally up all the votes and do one big post that covers every film that earned a vote. You can expect that post to be published sometime around the first few days of September. Will there be an undisputed front-runner like in 2015 or will this year’s poll end in a tie like it did in 2014 and 2016? The only way to find out is to vote, and I’m excited to see what you guys and gals pick for this year’s event.  

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/P2JHR8M

But before I go, I wanted to try something a little different by setting up something along the lines of a ‘Hall of Fame’ to honor all the past #1 picks in recognition of this year being the fifth anniversary of this poll. Thus, without further ado, I’m proud to present…

RHODE ISLAND MOVIE CORNER’S ‘END OF SUMMER’ FAN VOTE HALL OF FAME

2014

The first iteration of RIMC’s ‘End of Summer’ Fan Vote kicked things off with a stunning conclusion where not one, not two, but three films ended up earning the most votes with five apiece. And even more impressive was the fact that these were quite the variety of films. First, there was The Fault in Our Stars, an adaptation of author John Green’s best-selling novel of the same name starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort as a pair of cancer patients who fall in love after meeting at a support group. Upon release, the film was a big hit with critics, who touted it for its writing and the strong performances from Woodley and Elgort, and it grossed over $300 million worldwide. Next, there was the biggest comedy hit of the year, 22 Jump Street. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum returned to reprise their roles from 2012’s 21 Jump Street as officers Schmidt and Jenko, respectively, in a film that was regarded as one of the rare instances of a great comedy sequel that was quite arguably superior to its predecessor. Finally, there was Marvel Studios’ big summer hit of that year, Guardians of the Galaxy. Featuring a cast of characters who were once considered ‘c-list superheroes’, the Guardians have since gone onto become some of the most popular characters in Marvel’s wide repertoire of superheroes.

2015

In 2015, there was simply no competition when it came to the most popular film in that year’s ‘End of Summer’ poll. While films like Trainwreck and Straight Outta Compton got quite a few votes, one film outdid them all with a whopping ten votes. Yes, it was one of the most critically acclaimed summer blockbusters of recent years, Mad Max: Fury Road. After three decades of dormancy, the Mad Max franchise figuratively and literally roared back to life with the fourth installment of writer/director George Miller’s post-apocalyptic action saga, and upon its release, film buffs gushed over it for basically being the antithesis of most recent summer blockbusters. Now as some of you might recall, I wasn’t too big on this film when it first came out, mostly just because I wasn’t too familiar with the Mad Max franchise going into it. Plus, I’ll admit that I may have been a bit peeved at it for a few months for overshadowing some of the other films that came out that summer (e.g. Tomorrowland). Thankfully, this changed when I did watch the previous films for the first time and then proceeded to re-watch Fury Road. Do I still think that it’s a bit overhyped? Yeah, but to be clear, that doesn’t mean that I dislike the film. It is a good film, and thus, was highly deserving of the six Oscars that it won at that year’s ceremony, including but not limited to Best Production Design, Best Editing, and Best Makeup/Hairstyling.  

2016

Despite all the articles that claimed that 2016 was one of the weaker summer blockbuster seasons in recent memory, there was quite an interesting tie for first place in RIMC’s 2016 poll between two films that earned nine votes each. One was a film that I’m sure most people expected to be there while the other was a film that quite honestly took me by surprise when it came to it earning the same number of votes. The expected winner was Captain America: Civil War, the thrilling start to Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that managed to outshine the polarizing comic storyline that it was based on by repurposing it into the MCU’s lore. Thus, it resulted in a film that boasted a far more emotionally-driven narrative compared to its source material that also featured some of the franchise’s best action sequences to date. The unexpected winner was Bad Moms, a raunchy R-rated comedy from the duo who wrote the original Hangover starring Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Kathryn Hahn as a trio of overworked moms who decide to take a break from the struggles of motherhood and just have fun. While I myself didn’t go see it, I had a feeling that it would end up being a big hit at the box-office, and sure enough, it was. It grossed over $183 million worldwide and spawned a holiday-themed sequel that came out the following year, A Bad Moms Christmas, which also did well financially.  

2017

The 2017 poll saw a decently close race between Warner Bros’ two biggest blockbuster hits of that summer. The overall winner with eight votes was Dunkirk, which was quite arguably writer/director Christopher Nolan’s most critically-acclaimed film in recent years. Whereas his past two outings, 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises and 2014’s Interstellar, both ended up being rather polarizing amongst critics and audiences, Dunkirk was touted as one of the most prominent Best Picture contenders of last year. And while it ultimately didn’t win the big one, it did end up winning three Oscars for Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman, the first genuinely successful installment of the DC Extended Universe, did give it some stiff competition as it ended up earning seven votes. Simply put, in a year that also gave us Logan, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Thor: Ragnarok, Wonder Woman still managed to stand out amongst its competition to play a major role in 2017 becoming one of the superhero film genre’s best years to date.

2018

TBD

Teen Titans Go to the Movies (2018) review

In 1964, Bob Haney and Bruno Premiani created the latest addition to DC’s long line of superhero teams, the Teen Titans. While the roster of characters has changed numerous times over the years, many members of the Titans have been known for being sidekicks of other DC heroes and are usually led by Batman’s most famous sidekick, Dick Grayson AKA Robin. And while the Titans have been a part of the comic landscape for years, folks of my generation primarily recognize them via the anime-inspired animated series Teen Titans, which ran for five seasons on Cartoon Network from 2003 to 2006. The show, which followed a Titans group consisting of Robin, alien princess Starfire, half-human/half-robot hybrid Cyborg, gothic psychic Raven, and animal shape-shifter Beast Boy, was lauded for its mature storytelling, layered characters, and vibrant animation. In 2013, nearly a decade after the original show’s arguably premature cancellation, a new ‘spin-off’ of the series debuted on Cartoon Network titled Teen Titans Go. While the show did feature the same cast of characters (along with the original voice cast) as its predecessor, Go took the concept in a more comedic direction. And while the show has been a hit with its target audience, fans of the original Teen Titans series have been highly critical of it due to its radically different take on the characters, which they feel is vastly inferior to that of the original series. Nevertheless, the show continues to be one of Cartoon Network’s most popular shows to the point where it has even outlived the original series with an episode count of over 200. Thus, this iteration of the Teen Titans has now been given the opportunity to grace the franchise’s first feature film (not counting the original series’ 2006 TV film Trouble in Tokyo), Teen Titans Go to the Movies. And to those who are still fiercely vehement about Teen Titans Go… well, you may be surprised to learn that this film is quite an entertaining flick.

Despite all their various crime-fighting adventures, the five members of the Teen Titans (Robin (voiced by Scott Menville), Beast Boy (voiced by Greg Cipes), Raven (voiced by Tara Strong), Cyborg (voiced by Khary Payton), and Starfire (voiced by Hynden Walch)) are constantly told by other superheroes that they aren’t taken that seriously due to their childish behavior. To prove that they’re worthy of being superheroes, Robin realizes that their best chances of accomplishing this are to get the one thing that every great superhero has, a film adaptation. Thus, the team heads directly to Hollywood to try and make it big in the film industry, where basically every major superhero has gotten their own film. Once there, though, they learn from famous superhero film director Jade Wilson (voiced by Kristen Bell) that it’s unlikely that anyone would watch a film about them. In response, the Titans try and find the other big thing that every great superhero has, an iconic arch-nemesis. And as luck would have it, they soon find a potential candidate for that position in the form of Slade (voiced by Will Arnett), a gun-wielding, sword-wielding mercenary who seems to be a lot like Deadpool despite his insistence that he came first. Regardless, the Titans vow to stop his dastardly plan to take over the world via mind control, hoping that it’ll prove to the rest of the world that they’re truly worthy of a feature film.     

The biggest selling point of the Teen Titans Go film is that it ultimately serves as a huge satire of the superhero genre. Obviously, this puts it in line with the Deadpool films in terms of its overall execution, with the primary difference being that this superhero satire is geared towards younger audiences. But even with this in mind, Teen Titans Go to the Movies isn’t that far off from Deadpool when it comes to the overall quality of its sharp satire. Plus, this isn’t just a spoof of DC films, including everything from their apparent necessity to be dark to the infamous ‘Martha’ moment from Batman v Superman. There are also quite a few jabs at Marvel (e.g. a familiar cameo) as well as some self-aware shots at Teen Titans Go itself, specifically the fact that most people view the Titans as, to quote Superman (voiced by Nicolas Cage, who finally gets to play the character after previously being set to play him in the canceled Superman Lives), ‘goofsters’. And with that said, while there are a few instances where the film delves into some of the same sophomoric toilet humor from the TV series that its critics intensely despise, these moments are generally downplayed in favor of all the great satirical bits of humor. To top it all off, the animation is quite solid. While I’m aware that the ‘cartoony’ redesigns of the main characters compared to the original Titans series has been a contentious topic amongst its critics, it ends up working quite well on the big screen, resulting in a lot of bright, fast-paced action sequences.

Arguably one of the nicest things to come from the newer series was that the five voice actors who portrayed the Teen Titans in the original series (Scott Menville, Greg Cipes, Tara Strong, Khary Payton, and Hynden Walch) returned to reprise their respective roles, which isn’t always the case when an animated series like this gets rebooted. However, that doesn’t mean that this was entirely a good thing for many fans, because from what I’ve read, quite arguably the biggest complaint about Teen Titans Go from fans of the original show was its drastically different portrayals of the main characters. Specifically, many people feel that the newer renditions of the Titans are a lot more immature to the point where they can even be a bit unlikeable at times. Thankfully, though, as someone who hasn’t had a lot of experience with the TV show, it didn’t seem like this was as big of an issue in the film. Despite a few instances here and there where the characters tend to mock each other, you do get a nice sense of unity between them, allowing for some decent heartfelt moments. Meanwhile, this film also sees the return of a classic villain from the original Teen Titans series, Slade. In the original series, he was voiced by Hellboy himself, Ron Perlman, but in this new film, he’s voiced by LEGO Batman AKA Will Arnett (Jimmy Kimmel, meanwhile, portrays this franchise’s rendition of the Caped Crusader). And while I think it’s safe to say that quite a few people will ultimately prefer Perlman’s serious take on the character, Arnett (who’s also one of the film’s producers) does get quite a few great laughs as the self-aware mercenary, making this the second great animated superhero film role of his career.      

In conclusion, I want to make it clear that I do not have any major connection to the ongoing conflict surrounding the continued success of Teen Titans Go. For the record, I did watch the original Teen Titans show growing up; in fact, you could say that it was one of my first major introductions to the superhero genre in a time before the MCU was ever a thing. But at the same time, it’s been quite a few years since I’ve seen any of its episodes in full. As such, I also haven’t watched any full episodes of Teen Titans Go; at the time that I’m writing this, I’ve only watched a few clips of it online, and from what I’ve seen, the show honestly doesn’t look ‘that’ bad. And because of this, I found Teen Titans Go to the Movies to be a very entertaining animated flick. No, I’m not saying that it’s the best animated film or the best superhero film ever made, but it more than does its job of being a delightfully wacky satire of the superhero genre that isn’t afraid to pull a few punches at its own source material. Thus, for fans of the show, this will basically give them everything that they love about it. And dare I say it, this may even entertain some of its biggest haters because it does tone down some of the more ‘obnoxious’ aspects of the series. I mean, to be perfectly frank, it’s truly saying something when this film has fared far better with critics than 80% of the currently-released installments of the DC Extended Universe save for Wonder Woman. And if this film’s mid-credits scene means anything, the haters might want to see this film just to ensure that the one thing that it’s teasing ends up happening.

Rating: 4/5

Christopher Robin (2018) review

I’ve gone on record numerous times about how Winnie the Pooh played a major part in my childhood, and I know that I’m not the only one out there who will say that. Ever since Walt Disney acquired the film rights to author A.A. Milne’s classic book series about a lovable teddy bear named Pooh in 1961, Winnie the Pooh has been one of Disney’s longest-running franchises, delighting audiences young and old with its timeless morals and endearing characters. The three initial Winnie the Pooh featurettes that Disney and his team produced in the 60’s/70’s went on to become one of the studio’s official animated features, 1977’s The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. A spiritual sequel, simply titled Winnie the Pooh, was released in 2011 through there were also a few theatrical spin-offs from the early 2000’s like The Tigger Movie and Piglet’s Big Movie. On the small screen, Pooh has been a part of quite a few classic animated series like The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Welcome to Pooh Corner. And in Disney parks all over the world, Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood are the stars of their own attractions, primarily a dark ride inspired by their 1977 feature film debut. But now Pooh and company are back on the big screen in a new live-action adventure, Christopher Robin. While one could technically designate this film as the latest entry in Disney’s current line of live-action remakes of their classic animated films, it’s not really that kind of film. Instead, it’s a genuinely new spin on the franchise as it follows Pooh’s cherished human friend, the titular Christopher Robin, as he ends up reuniting with all his childhood friends who help him regain the imaginative spirit that he had lost after growing up. One thing that hasn’t been lost, though, is the iconic charm and sense of childhood innocence that has defined this franchise from the very beginning and is now represented beautifully in its first major foray into the realm of live-action films.

As a kid, Christopher Robin spent most of his days playing with his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood, including his best friend, a stuffed teddy bear ‘of very little brain’ named Winnie the Pooh (voiced by Jim Cummings). Eventually, though, Christopher Robin ends up leaving for boarding school, and despite promising Pooh that he’ll never forget him and the rest of the Hundred Acre gang, life soon forces Christopher to grow up faster than anticipated. Years later, Christopher (Ewan McGregor) works as the efficiency manager at a luggage company and is so consumed with work that he’s unable to spend quality time with his wife Evelyn (Hayley Atwell) and their daughter Madeline (Bronte Carmichael). This is further complicated when his boss, Giles Winslow Jr. (Mark Gatiss), forces him to come up with a method of cutting costs, which forces him to forego travel plans with his family to their summer cottage in Sussex. But then, out of the blue, Christopher soon finds himself reunited with his old pal Winnie the Pooh, who has somehow managed to appear in London. After learning that Pooh has come seeking his help in trying to find the rest of the Hundred Acre gang, who have all mysteriously vanished, Christopher tags along on the trip back to the Hundred Acre Wood. There, he soon manages to reunite with the rest of his old friends, including the hyperactive bouncer Tigger (also voiced by Jim Cummings), the timid but warm-hearted Piglet (voiced by Nick Mohammed), and the often-depressed donkey Eeyore (voiced by Brad Garrett) just to name a few. But when Christopher finds himself forced to return to London to meet his work deadline, Pooh and the gang embark on an adventure of their own to help their longtime friend and hopefully get him to once again find his sense of imagination that he had lost many years ago.

Some critics have been rather iffy on this film’s overall tone, specifically due to some of the more somber parts of the story. And while I will admit that some parts of this film do give off somewhat of a dreary vibe (e.g. when Pooh and Christopher Robin return to the Hundred Acre Wood, the place is completely engulfed in fog), that doesn’t mean that this carries over for the whole film. Simply put, when this film focuses on Pooh and his friends getting into all sorts of adventures both in the Hundred Acre Wood and out in the streets of London, it fully succeeds at being a delightfully whimsical time. The juxtaposition of these classic characters interacting with people and objects in the real world produces plenty of great comedic moments. Plus, the transition from animation to live-action did not result in these characters losing any of the lovable personality traits that have made them the childhood icons that they are. The CGI used to bring them to life is quite nice, especially when it comes to capturing their trademark ‘stuffed animal’ look. And, of course, being a Winnie the Pooh story, this film isn’t afraid to utilize some of the franchise’s most iconic bits of imagery or some of the classic tunes that came courtesy of the Sherman brothers (surviving brother Richard even returns to write some new songs). Ultimately, though, these primarily serve as complements to an emotionally poignant story that does a wonderful job when it comes to delving into the dangers of growing up too fast.

Headlining the film as the adult Christopher Robin, Ewan McGregor does a wonderful job working off his ‘animated’ co-stars while also working wonderfully with the character’s arc of regaining his childhood innocence even after going through all the perils of adulthood, allowing him to reclaim the special bonds that he has with both the Hundred Acre gang and his wife and daughter. On that note, admittedly Hayley Atwell doesn’t get as much to work with by comparison as his wife Evelyn (technically speaking, newcomer Bronte Carmichael gets more to do as their daughter Madeline), but she does have nice chemistry with McGregor. As for the voice cast bringing Pooh and friends to life, some may be a bit disappointed to learn that the film doesn’t necessarily focus on all of them. Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore get the most screen-time while others like Owl (voiced by Toby Jones), Rabbit (voiced by Peter Capaldi), and Kanga (voiced by Sophie Okonedo) are somewhat relegated to ‘cameo’ appearances. Still, all these voice actors do a nice job in their respective roles, especially given that some of them are newcomers to the franchise. And it’s all headlined, of course, by the one and only Jim Cummings returning to reprise his iconic roles of both Winnie the Pooh and Tigger; roles that, for the record, he has been doing for three decades at this point. For a while, though, it seemed like he was only going to voice Pooh with Chris O’Dowd being cast as Tigger. But after some underwhelming reactions from test screenings, O’Dowd willingly stepped down to let Cummings voice Tigger as well. And simply put, Cummings is still just as utterly delightful as ever when it comes to making these two some of the most beloved characters in all of pop culture.

Well, it should probably come as no surprise that I adored this film. I recognize that there’s probably quite a bit of bias in that statement given my deeply personal connection to this franchise, but Christopher Robin is genuinely quite the heartwarming affair. All in all, it more than fulfills its purpose of being a touching story that tugs at the heartstrings by being a parable about one man’s struggle to regain some of the humanity that he had lost in the transition from childhood to adulthood. It just so happens that this film is also a part of one of Disney’s most beloved franchises, Winnie the Pooh. Thus, for fans of the Winnie the Pooh franchise, this film gives them plenty of great new material with all the characters that they know and love. Yes, there are a few ‘dark’ moments in this film, but nothing worse than any of the ‘dark’ moments that we’ve seen from other facets of this franchise. And just like another recent film that saw classic characters undergo a change in design, 2015’s The Peanuts Movie, Pooh and his friends did not lose any of their charm and heart when they made the transition from animation to live-action CGI characters. In short, Christopher Robin is the very definition of a ‘feel-good’ film, and I think that many will agree that we certainly need more films like this in this current day and age. This one accomplishes that by celebrating some of the most beloved characters of all-time (and yes, I know that I’m directly quoting this film’s marketing campaign), effectively delighting both longtime fans and those who are being introduced to them for the very first time.

Rating: 5/5!

Mission Impossible - Fallout (2018) review

Over the years, we’ve seen quite a few franchises experience an unexpected resurgence, resulting in the truly rare occasions where their sequels end up being their greatest installments. This has certainly been the case with the Mission Impossible franchise, which has now been running for more than two decades. It all started, of course, with the original film adaptation of the hit TV series of the same name from the 60’s/70’s (plus a short-lived revival in the 80’s) that was released in 1996 starring Tom Cruise in the lead role of Ethan Hunt, an agent of the International Missions Force AKA the IMF. The film also served as Cruise’s official debut as a producer, as he had launched his own production company three years prior with his former casting agent Paula Wagner. Upon its release, the film was one of the highest-grossing films of the year, and this commercial success continued over the course of the series’ initial trilogy of films. The third entry of that trilogy, 2006’s Mission Impossible III, served as the directorial debut of a longtime writer/producer named J.J. Abrams, who then joined the franchise as one of its main producers alongside Cruise starting with the sequel, 2011’s Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol. And under the direction of Brad Bird in his live-action filmmaking debut, Ghost Protocol became the series’ most critically acclaimed and highest-grossing installment to date. Plus, it also helped to revitalize Cruise’s career after some of the, for lack of a better term, tumultuous incidents that he got involved in around the time of MI:3 (e.g. jumping on Oprah’s couch).

Four years later, the series returned with its fifth installment, Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation. Going off the ending tag from Ghost Protocol, the film’s plot took direct inspiration from the TV series by introducing one of its most recurring elements in the form of a terrorist organization known as the Syndicate. And keeping in line with the series’ habit of picking new directors for each new installment, Rogue Nation was directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who got his big break in the film industry by writing 1995’s The Usual Suspects, which earned him an Oscar for Best Screenplay. But in this case, he was most notable for being one of Tom Cruise’s most common collaborators, having worked together on films like Valkyrie, Edge of Tomorrow, and Jack Reacher (which he directed). And upon its release, the film continued the series’ recent hot streak with both critics and audiences to the point where the question of whether Ghost Protocol or Rogue Nation was the series’ best up to that point was quite the legitimate debate. But the biggest thing to come from Rogue Nation’s success was that McQuarrie ultimately ended up becoming the first director who was brought back to helm another Mission Impossible film. And thus, here we are now with the sixth installment of this premier action franchise, Mission Impossible – Fallout. With McQuarrie back behind the camera along with Cruise and the other returning cast members from past installments, things are certainly looking up for a series that has gotten better with each new film. Sure enough, Fallout may just be the series’ greatest outing to date thanks to its thrilling action set-pieces and McQuarrie’s phenomenal direction.

It has been two years since IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team successfully managed to capture Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), the ruthless leader of a rogue terrorist group known as ‘the Syndicate’. Since then, the surviving members of the Syndicate have formed a new faction known as ‘the Apostles’ led by a mysterious fundamentalist named John Lark. And to make matters worse, Ethan and his team end up botching a mission in Berlin, resulting in the Apostles acquiring three plutonium cores that they plan on using to further their plans to disrupt the current World Order. Thus, to prevent the devastating results of a potential nuclear attack, IMF secretary Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) sends Ethan to Paris to hunt down Lark, where he’s set to collect the cores from an arms dealer known as the ‘White Widow’ (Vanessa Kirby). And due to Ethan’s misstep in Berlin, he is also put under the watch of the CIA, specifically director Erica Sloane (Angela Bassett) and her top field agent August Walker (Henry Cavill), the latter of whom joins along on the mission to ensure that Ethan and his team can get the job done. But as the mission goes on, Ethan soon finds himself forced to go down quite a few dark roads, one of which even involves him having to assist the Apostles in breaking Solomon Lane out of custody. And if that wasn’t enough, Ethan’s actions soon lead to Walker beginning to suspect that he is really John Lark, putting more pressure on Ethan to figure out Lark’s identity.

With a subtitle like Fallout, one could only imagine how effective this film is in creating tension. While the series has always done a nice job when it comes to handling this aspect, it’s arguably at its finest here because of how truly high the stakes end up being. Sure enough, this is only strengthened further by the film’s amazing action sequences. Not only are they shot and edited perfectly, but they’re even more visually stunning when viewed in IMAX, continuing the franchise’s trend of utilizing the format to great effect ever since Brad Bird got the ball rolling with Ghost Protocol (sadly, I never got around to seeing Rogue Nation in IMAX). It all culminates in the film’s epic finale, which is quite arguably one of the most intense finales in recent cinematic history given the grand scale of the stunts involved (which, of course, are done practically by Tom Cruise himself, headlined this time by him piloting a helicopter by himself), and the consequences of what would happen if Ethan and his team fail. Simply put, arguably this film’s biggest strength is how finely tuned it is in almost every aspect of its production, resulting in what is truly a beast of an action film. And the same could be said for Rogue Nation as well, meaning that as far as Christopher McQuarrie’s contributions to this franchise are concerned, he’s given us some of the sharpest writing and most kinetic action set-pieces that we’ve ever seen from it. This also extends nicely to the film’s collection of layered characters.

As I’ve stated before, one of the reasons why Ghost Protocol was such a game-changer for the franchise was because it was the first entry in the series to truly capture one of the definitive aspects of its source material, its team dynamic. In other words, whereas the previous three films were directly focused on Ethan Hunt, Ghost Protocol was the first to ensure that his teammates were just as well-developed as he was. As such, the only thing that held Rogue Nation back was that it somewhat reversed course from this; granted, it’s not like there wasn’t any of it in the film to begin with, but it also kept half of the team away from the action for about half the runtime. With Fallout, though, I’m pleased to say that it goes about this more like Ghost Protocol. Sure, Ethan Hunt is still the main character as always (in fact, this film gives Tom Cruise some of the best bits of character development that he’s ever gotten from this franchise), but McQuarrie also does an excellent job of giving his teammates quality amounts of screen-time by comparison. Rebecca Ferguson shines once again as the enigmatic Ilsa Faust (AKA the series’ best female protagonist by far) while Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames once again provide reliable support as Benji Dunn and Luther Stickell, respectively. And as for the villains, Sean Harris continues to be intimidating as all hell as the soft-spoken madman Solomon Lane. Finally, with the newcomers to this franchise, the biggest standout of them all is easily Henry Cavill. Not only does Cavill prove to be just as dedicated as Cruise is when it comes to doing the action sequences, but Walker also ends up being quite the excellent foil to Ethan Hunt given their roles in the story.

When Rogue Nation came out, I was part of the crowd that still preferred Ghost Protocol even through the former was practically almost just as good by comparison. In other words, while Rogue Nation does feature a superior villain, Ghost Protocol was better at balancing its main characters. But as for Fallout, this time I’ll fully admit that I’m siding with the consensus this time when I say that this is the best installment yet of the Mission Impossible franchise. And for those keeping track, yes, we’re talking about the sixth installment of what is currently one of the longest-running film franchises in recent memory. Simply put, this is one of those franchises that has genuinely managed to improve itself with each new installment. With Rogue Nation, writer/director Christopher McQuarrie produced some of the series’ most dynamic action sequences to date, and with Fallout, he somehow manages to refine them even more. The result is a true action spectacle that once again highlights why Tom Cruise is one of the definitive stars of the film industry. Like in every other installment of this series, it’s really him doing all the big stunts, and this series doesn’t shy away from upping the scale of them with each new installment (and yes, that’s even after Rogue Nation literally had him hanging off the side of a plane). And through it all, Cruise is backed by a phenomenal supporting cast who benefit greatly from this film’s excellent handling of the series’ iconic team dynamic. In short, this is a must-see in theaters, especially if you’re able to see it on the biggest screens possible, IMAX. Simply put, this is up there with the likes of its predecessor Ghost Protocol (plus Rogue Nation, I’m sure…), The Walk, and many of Christopher Nolan’s recent films as one of the prime examples of why IMAX is truly one of the best ways to see a film in our current age of cinema.

Rating: 5/5!