No Time to Die (2021) review

 

Since 1962, six actors have officially portrayed author Ian Fleming’s suave secret agent James Bond AKA 007 in Eon Productions’ long-running franchise of films based on Fleming’s work, with each of them bringing their own unique spin to the title role. Up until this year, however, arguably the one thing that most of them had in common was that, unfortunately, their tenures in the role didn’t exactly end on a good note as their final films tended to be some of the franchise’s worst-received installments, sometimes for reasons that extend beyond the film’s quality. Sean Connery, for example, may have been the first and quite arguably most iconic James Bond, but his run ended in a rather bizarre way where he temporarily left the franchise after 1967’s You Only Live Twice, returned for 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever, then left again, and then proceeded to star in an unofficial Bond film, 1983’s Never Say Never Again, which was just a remake of his fourth Bond film, 1964’s Thunderball. During Connery’s temporary hiatus, George Lazenby took up the role, and while 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is often seen as one of the franchise’s best films, Lazenby infamously stepped away from the role after just a single film on the advice of his agent. Thus, Roger Moore ended up becoming the first ‘proper’ successor to Connery and notably appeared in a franchise-record 7 films. However, many felt that he had stayed in the role for too long to the point where, by the time that he had starred in 1985’s A View to a Kill at the age of 57, he was older than lead Bond Girl Tanya Roberts’ mother.

After Moore’s departure, Timothy Dalton was cast; like Lazenby, his tenure was another notoriously short one although, in his defense, this was mainly because the series ended up in some major legal issues after only his second film, 1989’s Licence to Kill. After that, Pierce Brosnan helped revive the franchise in the mid-’90s, with his final film, Die Another Day, notably being released in 2002, which coincided with the series’ 40^th anniversary… it also ended up being one of its worst-received outings. Thus, we now cut to Daniel Craig, the man who successfully managed to defy his biggest critics who heavily crucified his casting in 2005 because they felt that he didn’t fit the character’s long-standing image as it was both described in the books and portrayed by his five predecessors. And yet, once his first film, 2006’s Casino Royale, hit theaters, he quickly became a fan-favorite amongst critics and audiences as the series effectively rebooted itself, eschewing many of its campier elements to be more in line with the grounded spy thrillers of recent years such as the Jason Bourne franchise. In the years since, Craig has arguably maintained one of the most consistent runs of any of the Bond leads to date. Sure, his first four films were an even mix of critically-acclaimed outings (Casino Royale and 2012’s Skyfall) and incredibly polarizing affairs (2008’s Quantum of Solace and 2015’s Spectre), but overall, Craig has managed to muster a strongly positive reputation amongst Bond fans. However, by the time that Spectre was released, it was unclear if Craig was going to return for another film, especially after an infamous comment that he had made during an interview where he noted that he’d rather “slash his wrists” than do another one. Granted, he did later admit that this was simply a poor way of responding to the question in the immediate wake of Spectre’s production, but nevertheless, it did cause a bit of a scandal. Ultimately, though, Craig confirmed that he would return for one more film which, as you’ll see, ended up going through quite a lot.

After it was confirmed that Skyfall and Spectre director Sam Mendes would not return to direct a third Bond film, it was announced that visionary director Danny Boyle was tapped to direct Eon’s 25^th official Bond film with a screenplay that he had co-written with his longtime collaborator John Hodge. Had this gone through, Boyle would’ve quite arguably been the most prominent director to ever be attached to the franchise given Eon’s tendency to not rely on big-name directors, having notably turned down the likes of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson in the past. Unfortunately, Boyle ended up dropping out of the project in August 2018 due to creative differences over his and Hodge’s script. Luckily for Eon, the search for a new director didn’t end up taking too long as they ultimately hired Cary Joji Fukunaga. Over the past few years, Fukunaga has made quite a name for himself as a director thanks to his work on the likes of the 2015 Netflix film Beasts of No Nation and the first season of HBO’s True Detective. With his hiring, Fukunaga notably became the first American-born director to helm a Bond film as well as the first to also have a writing credit on the film, which he shares with series regulars Neal Purvis and Robert Wade and, by Daniel Craig’s own request, Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge. And apart from an ankle injury that Craig sustained during filming, everything seemed to be going well for what would eventually be titled No Time to Die as the film was primed for an April 2020 domestic release… and then the COVID-19 pandemic happened.

With theaters closing around the world due to the impact of the pandemic, MGM and Eon promptly decided to push No Time to Die’s release date back, effectively making it the first film that had to bow to the pressure of a COVID-forced delay. And sure enough, other big-name blockbusters like F9, Black Widow, and Wonder Woman 1984 were forced to move back to a later date as well. As for No Time to Die, it was clear that this was for the best to ensure a strong financial performance at the worldwide box office as it was estimated that the film would’ve lost about $300 million had it stayed in its April 2020 slot. First poised for a November 2020 release, it was then pushed back again to April 2021, a full year after its initially planned release, when it was clear that theaters wouldn’t be back in full operation by that time. But when the new year rolled around, it was pushed back again to October 2021; thankfully, though, that release date was officially locked in back in August, and thus, more than one and a half years after it was originally set to hit theaters, the grand finale to Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond is finally here. Obviously, this one’s been a long time coming, but thanks to Cary Joji Fukunaga’s brilliant direction and its many moments of powerful emotional poignancy, No Time to Die achieves a genuine first in franchise history by giving its lead actor the send-off that he damn well deserves.

In the wake of MI6’s successful capture of Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), the leader of the sinister criminal organization known as Spectre, James Bond AKA Agent 007 (Daniel Craig) has begun to settle down with his lover, psychiatrist Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux). However, their peaceful lives are tragically upended when a run-in with Spectre agents leaves Bond to believe that Madeleine has betrayed him, thus resulting in him abandoning her and retiring from MI6. Five years later, Bond is approached by his old friend, CIA agent Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), who requests his help in locating a kidnapped scientist, Valdo Obruchev (David Dencik). Bond soon discovers that Obruchev has been working with MI6 on an advanced nanobot bioweapon known as ‘Project Heracles’ that can eliminate any target by coding itself to their DNA. This immediately compels Bond to return to active duty, where he finds himself reuniting with his old MI6 associates (MI6 head Gareth Mallory AKA M (Ralph Fiennes), his secretary Eve Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), chief of staff Bill Tanner (Rory Kinnear), and Quartermaster Q (Ben Whishaw)) while also meeting his successor as 007, Nomi (Lashana Lynch). Eventually, Bond comes face to face with the true perpetrator behind Obruchev’s kidnapping, terrorist Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek), who happens to have a notable connection to Madeleine due to a previous encounter with her when she was younger. Thus, Bond finds himself having to reunite with Madeleine for the first time in years as he and MI6 work to stop Safin before he can unleash ‘Project Heracles’ upon the world and cause the deaths of millions.

As of 2021, No Time to Die is, officially, the longest film of the franchise with a near 3-hour runtime of 163 minutes. Admittedly, there are a few instances where you do feel the brunt of that hefty run-time, like when the film reaches its finale and it’s clear that there’s at least a half-hour left to go. Still, that doesn’t mean that the film is a slog or anything as the main plot is solidly engaging as far as premises from this franchise are concerned. And just like how Daniel Craig’s previous odd-numbered Bond films did a great job of recontextualizing the Bond franchise for the times in which they were released, No Time to Die wholly succeeds at being another attempt at modernizing James Bond. In this instance, being that this was the first Bond film released in the wake of the #MeToo movement, it goes above and beyond to combat the series’ long-standing habit of objectifying its female characters, mainly by giving them some of the most significant roles that any ‘Bond Girl’ has ever had in these films. And while I know that there are some old-school fans out there who are viciously decrying this film for being ‘too woke’, this is all just very much in line with how Daniel Craig’s Bond films have been handled. It has also helped to give them some of the most emotional narrative moments in the history of the franchise, and sure enough, No Time to Die is arguably the most emotionally driven Bond film to date, which is a fitting development seeing how it does, indeed, serve as the end of an era.

Given how many actors have portrayed James Bond over the years, there’s been plenty of debate over the question of which of Eon’s 6 official leads is the ‘best’ of the bunch. And while many Bond fans usually tend to give Sean Connery that honor due to him being the first and most iconic Bond, it could be argued that Daniel Craig has managed to legitimately challenge Connery’s spot for that vaunted position. Regardless of the quality of his films, Craig has arguably been the best ‘acted’ James Bond as each of his five Bond films has done a great job of highlighting his deeply raw and emotionally vulnerable take on Bond, with his more recent outings also allowing him the opportunity to flex his comedic talents via Bond’s trademark quips. And as I noted earlier, No Time to Die pairs him with some of the franchise’s best female leads which, of course, all starts with a returning Léa Seydoux in a significantly improved turn as Madeleine Swann. Madeleine’s role (and, for that matter, Seydoux’s performance) in Spectre was one of the more polarizing aspects of what was quite frankly the franchise’s most polarizing installment in recent memory, with several critics and fans feeling that her chemistry with Craig was mediocre and that the romantic relationship between Bond and Madeleine wasn’t exactly developed properly. It’s a much different story here as Seydoux’s chemistry with Craig is much stronger and their relationship is far more pivotal to the plot, thus making it a nice bookend to Craig’s tenure as Bond as it matches up nicely with a lot of the big narrative beats that defined Bond’s similarly strong yet ultimately tragic relationship with Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale.

As for the film’s other Bond girls (a term that, full disclosure, isn’t exactly a fitting way of describing these characters nowadays), despite some initial fears of her potentially being underutilized, Lashana Lynch’s Nomi is properly established as Bond’s equal as his successor for the position of 007. It also helps that Lynch has a terrific back-and-forth camaraderie with Craig whenever they’re on-screen together. And while she only appears in a single sequence in this nearly three-hour film, Ana de Armas is, as has been the case with a lot of her recent work, a major standout as Bond’s CIA ally Paloma. Then, of course, you have all the Bond franchise’s regulars, from Bond’s MI6 allies (Ralph Fiennes’ dry-witted M, Ben Whishaw’s lovably dorky Q, Naomie Harris’ spunky Moneypenny, etc.) to Jeffrey Wright’s first appearance as Felix Leiter since Quantum of Solace. Finally, we come to the latest main antagonist of the Bond series, Rami Malek’s Safin, whose role in the story has been one of the more polarizing elements of the film. From what I can tell, this is mainly because some feel that he isn’t in it that much which, admittedly, has sort of been a recent trend with Bond villains as both Javier Bardem’s Silva and even Christoph Waltz’s Blofeld had rather limited screentime in Skyfall and Spectre, respectively. For what it’s worth, though, Malek does succeed in making Safin a legitimately sinister antagonist, especially thanks to the appropriately oft-kilter vibe that Malek gives him.

For the longest time, none of the actors who have played James Bond have ever had a great final film… with No Time to Die, Daniel Craig officially breaks that curse. Aside from just being another great example of this franchise’s penchant for top-notch action set-pieces and thrilling globe-trotting adventures, No Time to Die also does a beautiful job of maintaining one of the strongest elements of the Craig-era Bond films, their strong sense of emotional poignancy. While this era of the franchise may have started with James Bond being subjected to all the character beats that made him… well, James Bond, this Bond has also undergone a noticeable evolution for a character who was once described by Judi Dench’s M (albeit back in the Brosnan era, but the point still stands) as a “sexist, misogynist dinosaur” and a “relic of the Cold War”. In other words, regardless of how much it will inevitably piss off longtime fans of the franchise, No Time to Die effectively updates its main protagonist for the current cinematic landscape, thus resulting in a James Bond that no longer beds every single woman that he comes across but is still very much the coolest guy in the room. And since the Craig era was the first time in franchise history where subsequent follow-ups were true direct sequels, this allows No Time to Die the chance to effectively tie up any loose ends from the previous four films which, as a result, gives Daniel Craig’s Bond the best kind of send-off that any cinematic protagonist could possibly get.

Rating: 5/5!

Disney Retrospective - The Medfield College Anthology

(Today’s retrospective is dedicated to Disney Legend Tommy Kirk (1941-2021), who starred in numerous hit projects for Disney including 1957’s Old Yeller, where he directly participated in one of cinema’s most devastating sequences, and 1959’s The Shaggy Dog, in which he played the young inventor who transformed into the titular character. He also appeared in two of the films that we’ll be covering today, where he played the son of one of Disney’s most notable recurring antagonists of the ’60s. Rest in Peace, Mr. Kirk.) 

Today’s Disney Retrospective is going to be a little different than most of the ones that I’ve done so far since I’m not necessarily focusing on a single franchise. Instead, we’ll be looking at a bunch of films that share one thing in common, their setting. In the ’60s and ’70s, several live-action Disney films were set at the fictional Medfield College, which was named after a town in Massachusetts where several friends of Walt Disney lived. Many historians have noted that Walt visited them frequently and often used to land one of his planes on their property on a private airstrip that is partially still around today. So then, what films will we be looking at today if I’m not doing a single franchise? Well, there are two main series of Disney films that took place at Medfield College. The first of them follows the exploits of a well-meaning but forgetful science professor who creates an incredibly rubbery substance that he calls ‘Flubber’. There were two films made in the ’60s about this character and the original film would end up getting remade in the ’90s, resulting in a film that I’m sure many folks of my generation are decently familiar with. The other series of films is a trilogy (plus a 1995 made-for-TV remake of the first film) that centered around a student at Medfield named Dexter Riley, notably played by Kurt Russell, who tries to help keep the college from falling into financial ruin via various inventions that end up affecting him in unique ways. In fact, every single film that we’re about to discuss in today’s retrospective consists of a plot where the main characters try to help the college get out of debt, so I apologize in advance if it seems like I’m starting to repeat myself at times. Thus, without further ado, it’s time to head back to school, Disney style, as we look at the seven Disney films that were set at Medfield College. This is the Medfield College Anthology.

Also, just a quick disclaimer before we begin. While the following 7 titles were the only Disney films that were specifically set at Medfield College, another Disney film, 1976’s The Shaggy D.A., is set in the town of Medfield, which means that it’s technically set in the same location. However, since that film doesn’t feature the college at any point, I won’t be looking at it today.

ACT 1 – THE FLUBBER SAGA

THE ABSENT-MINDED PROFESSOR (1961)

We begin today’s retrospective with one of Disney’s earliest live-action hits, The Absent-Minded Professor, which was based on a 1942 short story titled A Situation of Gravity by Samuel W. Taylor as well as being partially inspired by Hubert Alyea, a chemistry professor at Princeton University who was known for his explosive (figuratively AND literally) science demonstrations. It was one of many classic live-action Disney films directed by Robert Stevenson, whose work with the company includes the likes of 1968’s The Love Bug and, of course, the one and only Mary Poppins. With a pedigree like that, it shouldn’t come as that big of a surprise that this film is another well-made family-friendly Disney comedy that features plenty of entertaining sequences that fully capitalize on the concept of a miraculous rubber substance that can defy gravity, such as the famous scene where the main protagonist, Professor Ned Brainard, uses it to help Medfield’s struggling basketball team. Fred MacMurray headlines the film nicely as Professor Brainard as does Nancy Olson as Brainard’s fiancé Betsy Carlisle, who he, unfortunately, keeps forgetting to get married to. This is also notably the first appearance of a recurring Disney villain, Keenan Wynn’s greedy land developer Alonzo Hawk, who would go on to appear in this film’s sequel and the previously reviewed Herbie sequel, Herbie Rides Again. In short, despite the usual ‘dated politics’ that are often seen in an older film like this and the fact that it gets a bit meandering near the end despite a modest 97-minute runtime, The Absent-Minded Professor is another indisputable classic of Disney’s early forays into live-action films.

Rating: 4/5

SON OF FLUBBER (1963)

Thanks to the success of the original Absent-Minded Professor, a sequel was announced not long after its release, thus making it one of the first major Disney films to get a sequel. Really, though, the fact that this occurred at all is quite fascinating given that this was back when Walt Disney was still alive. As anyone well-versed in Disney history will surely point out, Walt wasn’t too keen on the idea of sequels, famously quoting that “you can’t top pigs with pigs” in response to the idea of doing follow-ups to the studio’s iconic Three Little Pigs short. And to be fair to Walt’s stance on the matter, Son of Flubber does often come off as one of those sequels that, for the most part, simply rehashes a lot of the same beats as its predecessor. You’ve got Professor Brainard’s various experiments and the wacky antics that ensue, a scene where he pranks his romantic rival with said experiments and a major sporting event where Medfield’s group of underdogs use them to beat their physically superior rivals from Rutland (only here it’s during a football game instead of a basketball game). There are also a few plotlines that are very much in line with what some sequels end up falling victim to by undoing elements of the previous film’s happy ending, such as a love triangle subplot involving an old flame of Professor Brainard’s that ultimately goes nowhere. But for what it’s worth, Son of Flubber still manages to be another enjoyable comedic romp thanks in large part to the return of all the major cast and crew members from the first film, from director Robert Stevenson to stars Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson, Keenan Wynn, and Tommy Kirk. Thus, while it’s very much a sequel that’s not as good as its predecessor, there’s still just enough of all the things that made The Absent-Minded Professor an enduring staple of Disney’s live-action catalog to make this a worthwhile watch.

Rating: 3/5

(Now, before we continue, I just want to note that there are technically two other Absent-Minded Professor films that served as pseudo-sequels to the original. These two made-for-TV films starred Harry Anderson of Night Court fame as Professor Henry Crawford, the late Professor Brainard’s successor as Medfield College’s chemistry professor who rediscovers Brainard’s lost formula for flubber. However, due to issues regarding the availability of these films, I won’t be covering either of them today. While the 1988 Absent-Minded Professor film can currently be found on YouTube, the same can’t be said for its 1989 follow-up, The Absent-Minded Professor: Trading Places. At the time of this retrospective’s publication, I cannot find it anywhere online, and to be perfectly blunt, I personally feel that attempting to find it would be too daunting of a process for the sole purpose of covering it here.)

FLUBBER (1997)

Just one year after he wrote and produced the live-action remake of 101 Dalmatians, John Hughes tackled a different Disney remake with the remake of The Absent-Minded Professor, Flubber. It was also notably the second time that he had collaborated with director Les Mayfield, who had previously helmed a different Hughes-penned remake, 1994’s Miracle on 34^th Street. Overall, Flubber is a lot like the 101 Dalmatians remake in that it generally maintains all the main story beats from the original; missed weddings, flying cars, a big basketball game, etc. Likewise, any changes that are made to Bill Walsh’s original script, outside of making this film’s version of Flubber a sentient substance, mostly come in the form of aesthetic differences that are in line with the remake’s more modern setting. For example, instead of a loyal canine companion, this film’s Professor Brainard is accompanied by a flying robot assistant named Weebo (notably voiced by The Little Mermaid herself, Jodi Benson). However, despite doing quite well at the box office, where it earned over $178 million worldwide ($93 million of that domestically), Flubber didn’t exactly do well with critics. And for the most part, this stems from something that I mentioned a few months ago when I reviewed the 101 Dalmatians remake in that this was during a time when John Hughes’ work underwent a considerably noticeable tonal shift. In other words, whereas Hughes had made his mark on the industry with his sharply written (and often edgy) comedies, his 90’s films were known more for their juvenile slapstick humor, and Flubber is undoubtedly a prime example of that with pratfalls and head smacks galore.

And yet, even with that in mind, I still find this to be an enjoyable watch. Now, full disclosure, I will fully admit that what I just said is largely stemming from the fact that this is an incredibly nostalgic film for me as I watched it repeatedly growing up (and before you ask, I also watched the original a couple times on VHS when I was younger). That said, though, I also recognize WHY this one didn’t fly well with everyone (no pun intended), such as the argument that Robin Williams may not have been the best choice for the lead role since Professor Brainard isn’t exactly the most likable protagonist. And yet, Williams still manages to find some opportunities to display his comedic talents and all-around earnest persona (even in a role like this that, to be fair, wasn’t that much different from its 1961 counterpart) because… well, he was just that good. Regardless of the quality of the films that he was in, Williams’ talent was always able to shine through and serves as a keen reminder of why he continues to be missed to this day. In short, if you’re willing to ignore some of the weird narrative updates that Hughes makes to this story (e.g. the subplot involving Weebo’s romantic feelings towards Brainard) and a couple instances of incredibly dated 90’s CGI, Flubber is a relatively harmless remake of The Absent-Minded Professor. The original is still the better film at the end of the day, but to be perfectly frank, I can’t bring myself to be too hard on what was very much a childhood favorite of mine.

Rating: 3.5/5

ACT 2 – THE DEXTER RILEY TRILOGY

THE COMPUTER WORE TENNIS SHOES (1969)

We now move on from the antics of Professor Brainard to the adventures of Medfield student Dexter Riley, originally played by Kurt Russell who, for those who are unaware, mainly got his start in the business as a prominent male lead for Disney in the ’60s and ’70s. As for the first installment of what is called the Dexter Riley trilogy, 1969’s The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, it very much establishes the key recurring beats that would define these three films. Each installment revolves around an incident in which Dexter gains incredible powers from the latest Medfield experiment as he works with Medfield’s bumbling Dean Higgins (Joe Flynn) to help win money for their financially struggling school while dealing with the threat of corrupt businessman A.J. Arno (Cesar Romero), who also wants to capitalize on Dexter’s newfound abilities. In this first film, an electric shock that Dexter sustains while working on Medfield’s newly acquired computer ends up turning him into a walking supercomputer, and while this ultimately results in a largely by-the-numbers plot, this is still a solidly entertaining family flick that’s fully bolstered by the series’ three main leads. Even in the early stages of his career, Kurt Russell successfully showcased the strongly charismatic screen presence that would end up defining him as an actor. Joe Flynn, meanwhile, provides solid comedic relief as Dean Higgins while Cesar Romero is enjoyably over the top as main antagonist A.J. Arno. As such, while it’s admittedly a rather average outing as far as Disney’s live-action filmography is concerned, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes does succeed in being a pleasantly easygoing crowd-pleaser.

Rating: 3.5/5

NOW YOU SEE HIM, NOW YOU DON’T (1972)

The lead trio of Kurt Russell, Joe Flynn, and Cesar Romero all returned for a follow-up in 1972, Now You See Him, Now You Don’t. The film also saw the return of the original’s director, Robert Butler, a veteran director of television who has notably helmed the pilot episodes of several classic shows such as Batman with Adam West (and, of course, Cesar Romero) and the original pilot for Star Trek that featured Jeffrey Hunter’s Christopher Pike rather than William Shatner’s James T. Kirk. In this film, Dexter and his friends come up with a special formula that can turn them invisible. This results in what is quite frankly the most entertaining premise of the entire trilogy, especially since this film does a better job than its predecessor did when it comes to capitalizing on the potential of its premise with plenty of fun invisibility-related set pieces such as the one where Dexter helps Dean Higgins win a game of golf. And while some of the film’s invisibility effects have obviously dated quite a bit, the whole film, in general, is better-paced and a lot more consistently humorous than the first film was. All this helps it to overcome another straightforward plot that, dare I say, kind of feels like it straight-up ignores the events of the previous film at times. In other words, there’s not a single mention of everything that Dexter went through in the first film, including the fact that A.J. Arno tried to have him killed (which, as you might have guessed, is not brought up at all once Arno makes his first appearance in the film after being released from prison). Still, for what is undoubtedly another one of those often forgotten live-action Disney films from the studio’s ‘darker days’ (especially seeing how it surprisingly isn’t on Disney+ at the time of this post’s publication unlike the other two films in the trilogy), Now You See Him, Now You Don’t is, against all odds, a superior sequel.

Rating: 4.5/5

THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD (1975)

The final installment of this trilogy, 1975’s The Strongest Man in the World, saw a notable change in direction. This time, directorial duties were handled by the brother of trilogy writer Joseph L. McEveety, Vincent McEveety, whose work we’ve previously discussed on this site via the Herbie the Love Bug retrospective that I did a few years ago as he had directed two of that franchise’s films and a few episodes of its short-lived TV series. Unfortunately, this is easily the weakest installment of this trilogy as it’s derailed by some questionable narrative and production decisions. It’s not outright terrible, per se, as there are a decent number of sequences that properly maintain the kind of wacky scientific antics that these films are known for. However, the film suffers considerably from some incredibly weak pacing, with some sequences dragging on for way longer than they need to be. Not only that, but the film has a surprisingly limited amount of screentime for Kurt Russell as Dexter, who’s literally absent for at least a third of the runtime. Instead, more time is spent with Dean Higgins, A.J. Arno and his right-hand-man Cookie, and new characters like Eve Arden and Phil Silvers as the owners of rival cereal companies, the former of whom teams up with Medfield to promote the super-strength formula that Dexter and his friends come up with. Now, granted, this may have had something to do with Kurt Russell beginning to transition into non-Disney projects at this point in his career, but nevertheless, the severe lack of his trademark charisma is quite noticeable. As such, the Dexter Riley trilogy ends up concluding on a mediocre note as The Strongest Man in the World is, unfortunately, a major dud that’s largely undone by a messy plot that, despite having just enough of its predecessors’ most recognizable elements, almost feels like it’s from another franchise.

Rating: 2/5

THE COMPUTER WORE TENNIS SHOES (1995 REMAKE)

Finally, we conclude today’s retrospective with the made-for-TV remake of The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, which first premiered on February 18^th, 1995 on ABC. This was one of four remakes of classic live-action Disney films that aired on the network during the 1994-95 season, with the other three being remakes of The Shaggy Dog, Escape to Witch Mountain, and Freaky Friday. It also notably served as the directorial debut of Ant-Man trilogy director Peyton Reed who, just two years later, would helm another made-for-TV old-school Disney ‘remake’ via The Love Bug with Bruce Campbell. But whereas Reed’s Love Bug was admittedly more of a sequel than a remake given the role that the series’ main protagonist Jim Douglas played in it, this new version of The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes is a more straight-forward remake that, like Flubber, doesn’t make a lot of noticeable changes to the original’s script. Outside of the usual modern aesthetic updates, the only major narrative differences include things like having its main antagonist be the resident genius from Medfield’s rival Hale University (who happens to be 12 years old, by the way…) instead of a corrupt businessman and a decently improved role for the film’s female lead and Dexter’s love interest Sarah Matthews. That latter difference is particularly notable seeing how, in the original trilogy with Kurt Russell, all three films paired his Dexter up with a different female lead who barely factored into the main plot.

In the remake, Dexter Riley is played by Kirk Cameron, who does a solid job in the role overall even if his version of Dexter is arguably cockier than Kurt Russell’s Dexter was in the scenes from the original film where Dexter’s fame started to go to his head. Still, like with any of Lindsay Lohan’s star-making roles, a project like this shows that, despite Cameron’s current reputation, he was a genuinely talented young male lead. Here, he’s joined by 90’s comedy mainstay Larry Miller in a scene-stealing turn as the remake’s equivalent of Dean Higgins, Dean Valentine, and Dean Jones (who, of course, would then go on to reprise his role as Jim Douglas in The Love Bug two years later) as Hale’s Dean Carlson albeit in a relatively minor role compared to everyone else. As for the film itself, I’ll fully admit that there’s not much else for me to talk about as it’s very much your standard made-for-TV film. Despite a few overly campy moments and some plotlines that don’t really go anywhere such as a pair of government agents who think that Dexter’s been responsible for a recent string of high-profile government hacks, it’s an enjoyable little piece of 90’s nostalgia. Granted, I don’t recall ever watching this when I was younger (although I wouldn’t be surprised if I had) but I do believe that I would’ve enjoyed this as a kid just as much as I did with the likes of classic Disney Channel Original Movies from the ’90s and early 2000s like Halloweentown, The Luck of the Irish, and Smart House.

Rating: 3.5/5

And that concludes today’s retrospective on the 7 Disney films that were set at Medfield College. Thanks for following along and be sure to sound off in the comments below with any childhood memories that you have of these films.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) review

2018’s Venom is easily one of the most fascinating films to come out of the superhero genre in recent years, mainly due to its overall reception. The film was primarily intended to be a more faithful take on the titular fan-favorite Spider-Man villain turned anti-hero after his live-action debut in 2007’s Spider-Man 3 (where he was forced in by executive meddling against director Sam Raimi’s wishes) left most fans underwhelmed. It was also poised to be the start of a new superhero cinematic universe based around characters from the Spider-Man mythos without having to solely rely on Spider-Man himself, especially since the current incarnation of the character as played by Tom Holland was primarily operating within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, upon the original Venom’s release, it didn’t do so hot with critics, many of whom found it to be a tonal mess that was severely hindered by the lack of a proper connection to Spider-Man. And yet, it managed to fare a lot better with audiences, who notably latched on to the unique relationship between the film’s main characters; reporter Eddie Brock and the alien symbiote that he becomes bonded to, Venom. As a result, the film earned an impressive $856 million worldwide, allowing it to become the seventh highest-grossing film of that year.

Thus, a sequel was promptly announced not long after, and thanks to the first film’s mid-credit scene that introduced the character of serial killer Cletus Kassidy (as played by Woody Harrelson), it was confirmed that the sequel would focus on another fan-favorite Spider-Man antagonist, Carnage. Created by writer David Michelinie and artist Mark Bagley, Carnage first debuted in issue #361 of The Amazing Spider-Man in 1992 as the symbiotic ‘offspring’ of Venom. Like its parent, Carnage quickly became a popular new addition to Spider-Man’s rogue gallery and proved to be such a dangerous threat for the web-slinger that he was forced to team up with Venom to stop it on numerous occasions, including the famous 1993 story arc Maximum Carnage. As for the new film, subtitled Let There Be Carnage, a notable change in directors had to occur since Ruben Fleischer was busy working on the long-awaited follow-up to his 2009 film Zombieland, 2019’s Zombieland: Double Tap. Thus, directorial duties were taken up by none other than the widely proclaimed king of motion capture performance work, Andy Serkis. Yes, the man known for his critically acclaimed roles such as Gollum in Peter Jackson’s Middle-Earth films and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy has recently started to establish himself as a director, having previously helmed the Robin Cavendish biopic Breathe and his decidedly non-Disney esque Jungle Book adaptation, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle. And under his solid direction, Venom: Let There Be Carnage wholeheartedly embraces its predecessor’s most popular elements to deliver an all-around wackier sequel that may not win over the original’s biggest critics but, at the very least, is a lot more consistent from a tonal and visual perspective.

It has been about a little over a year since investigative journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) became the [somewhat unwilling] host of Venom (voiced by Hardy), an alien symbiote from a far-away planet. Since then, Eddie has struggled to keep his ‘new friend’ hidden from the rest of the world, especially given Venom’s unstoppable urge to eat people. As part of his efforts to revive his journalism career, Eddie takes on the assignment of interviewing imprisoned serial killer Cletus Kassidy (Woody Harrelson), who has mysteriously agreed to talk to him and nobody else. Through their talks with each other, Eddie (with the help of Venom) manages to figure out the location of the bodies of Kassidy’s many victims, thus resulting in Kassidy being handed an immediate death sentence. Before his execution, however, Kassidy ends up acquiring a sample of Venom during a heated confrontation with Eddie that allows him to survive his destined demise as he becomes the host of the red-colored symbiotic ‘offspring’ Carnage (voiced by Harrelson). After escaping from prison, Kassidy and Carnage promptly embark on a rampage across San Francisco as the former searches for the love of his life, Frances Barrison AKA Shriek (Naomie Harris), whom he was separated from at an early age when Frances was dragged off to the local mental asylum. Thus, Eddie and Venom quickly find themselves having to work around their growing differences so that they can stop their most dangerous adversary yet.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is very much a sequel that’s fully aware of what it was about its predecessor that made it so popular and uses that information as the primary influence behind its overall direction. In this instance, director Andy Serkis and his team clearly recognized that fans of the first Venom primarily dug the delightfully twisted dark humor that stemmed from the uniquely ‘odd couple’-style relationship between Eddie Brock and Venom. Because of this, Let There Be Carnage opts to be much more comedic-oriented than its predecessor which, by comparison, attempted to find a greater balance between its humorous moments and its primarily dramatic plot beats. And while your overall mileage may vary on how effective it is as a comedy, especially given some of the incredibly ludicrous lengths that it goes to when crafting the scenarios that Eddie and Venom end up in, this does ultimately result in a far more tonally consistent sequel. It also manages to one-up its predecessor from a visual perspective as Serkis goes all-in with some incredibly eye-catching gothic imagery that improves upon the first film’s knack for sterile laboratory environments. Despite all this, however, Let There Be Carnage still has the same narrative shortcomings of the first film; in other words, a very generic plot that trades out the previous film’s straight-forward ‘stop the evil businessman’ premise for an equally straight-forward ‘stop the murderous psychopath’ plot. Part of this may be due to the film having a short 97-minute runtime which, at this point, is practically an anomaly for the superhero genre. To be clear, though, it’s not like there’s anything inherently wrong about this film having a short run-time as it helps give it consistently smooth pacing that prevents it from dragging at any point; it’s just that, narratively, it also could’ve done a lot more with certain plot-threads.

Nevertheless, Let There Be Carnage’s biggest selling point continues to be the humorous interactions between its two main protagonists, and Tom Hardy truly deserves a lot of credit for how utterly committed he is to the dual role that he plays in these films. He very much succeeds in making Eddie Brock and Venom perfect foils for one another, with Eddie being the good-natured but rather pathetic straight man who must consistently put up with the antics of the incredibly overeager Venom who, let’s face it, gets all the best lines (“NO ONE LIKES YOU, DAN!”). Their dynamic relationship is then perfectly complemented by Woody Harrelson’s own dual role as Cletus Kassidy and his alien symbiote partner, Carnage. Sure, the minimal plotting ends up making Kassidy your routine psychopath (with Carnage itself nearly being a non-entity, narratively speaking), but Harrelson’s appropriately creepy performance makes him and Carnage a much stronger pair of antagonists than Carlton Drake and the alien symbiote Riot from the previous film. Speaking of antagonists, there’s also Naomie Harris in an equally standout role as Frances Barrison AKA Shriek, whose sonic scream abilities provide a uniquely complicated layer to her romantic relationship with Kassidy given that symbiotes like Venom and Carnage are notoriously weak to loud noises. Unfortunately, Harris ends up being a bit underused here, and the same can be said for a returning Michelle Williams and Reid Scott as Eddie’s ex-fiancé Anne Weying and her new fiancé Dan Lewis. Granted, they aren’t completely ignored here as they do help Eddie and Venom out like they did in the first film, but in Williams’ case specifically, it does feel like a noticeable step backward for these films’ main female lead.

Back in 2018, I gave the first Venom a decently positive 3.5/5 review, and overall, my thoughts on the film haven’t changed that much since then. While I’ll fully concede that it’s far from being one of the superhero genre’s best outings, the strong humor that spawned from the interactions between Eddie Brock and Venom helped the film overcome some of its biggest shortcomings such as a mediocre villain and its mixed attempts at balancing its humor with its serious moments. And while I’m about to give its sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the same exact rating, this is ultimately a case of a superior sequel. Unlike the first film, Let There Be Carnage doesn’t try to take itself too seriously and fully embraces all the wackiness that ensues from what is arguably the superhero genre’s most notorious odd couple. And thanks to solid direction from Andy Serkis, the film not only flows a lot better than its predecessor but also looks a lot better as well with some delightfully twisted gothic visuals that, speaking as someone who doesn’t read a lot of comics, feel very much appropriate for a story based around its titular symbiotes. All that said, though, this sequel does suffer from some of the same narrative issues that plagued its predecessor, and while it never overstays its welcome thanks to a shorter run-time, it still feels a bit rudimentary when compared to some of the other films from this genre. In short, Let There Be Carnage is just as much of an enjoyable popcorn flick as its predecessor was, and while Sony’s plans to develop their own cinematic universe a la the MCU have arguably yielded mixed results so far, I’ll admit that I’m still genuinely curious to see what comes next, especially given this film’s post-credit scene which, without spoiling anything, is a big one.

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Films of Summer 2021 - As Voted By You!

When I decided to relaunch Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Annual End of Summer Fan Poll after taking a year off due to everything related to the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ll admit that I wasn’t quite sure of the kind of reaction that it would get this time. And to be clear, I don’t mean this in any sort of negative way; instead, I’m simply referring to the fact that, because COVID is still technically an issue that we’re all dealing with, not everyone has been going to see new releases at the theater. This is the reason why I decided to apply one notable loophole for this year’s event in that I would willingly accept answers from those who saw a film at their home if said film was simultaneously released in theaters and on their studio’s coinciding streaming service such as Disney+ or HBO Max. However, even after a year away, y’all came through once again to give us another great year of polling here on Rhode Island Movie Corner, with 69 votes (*cue the obvious joke from the cheekier parts of the internet*) going to 20 different films. Thus, as always, I couldn’t be more thankful for all of you who participated in this year’s event and helped to spread it around online. With all that in mind, let’s not waste any more time, especially since, given the wide array of hit releases this summer, some of you may be surprised to learn how certain films fared in this year’s poll and, more importantly, which film ended up taking this year’s crown. And so, without further ado, Rhode Island Movie Corner proudly presents the films that you, the fans, voted for as your favorite releases from the summer of 2021.

THE FOLLOWING SEVEN FILMS EARNED ONE VOTE APIECE

THE BOSS BABY: FAMILY BUSINESS

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned in the 10+ years that I’ve gone through as an online film critic, it’s that the internet tends to make a big deal about certain films. On the one hand, you have films that the internet goes utterly gaga over such as Mad Max: Fury Road and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, even if there are a few times where it feels like all the praise that these films get becomes something of a major detriment to other films. But then there are films that, even if they’re not necessarily panned by critics, become a prime source of internet mockery, which is a scenario that undoubtedly applied to DreamWorks Animation’s 2017 release, The Boss Baby. Directed by Tom McGrath (director of the Madagascar trilogy and the voice of Skipper in those films) and loosely based on a 2010 book of the same name by author Marla Frazee, the film follows a young boy who learns that his new baby brother can not only talk but is also a secret agent working for an organization that ensures that babies are the most beloved things on the planet. Upon its release, the film did incredibly well at the box office, where it managed to gross over $528 million worldwide; heck, it even managed to unseat the $1 billion grossing live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast from the top of the domestic box-office as it was entering the third week of its release. As for critics, however, they were a bit more mixed on it as they felt that the film’s script wasn’t exactly up to par with its wacky animation. But again, like I said earlier, the bigger story here is that, based on what I’ve seen online, much of film fandom has been left utterly dumbfounded by this surreal throwback to animated films of the ’50s and ’60s, especially once it managed to get nominated for Best Animated Feature at that year’s Oscars.

Nevertheless, the film’s success allowed it to become the next big DreamWorks franchise as it was soon followed by a Netflix series, Back in Business, which, at the time of this post’s publication, has been running for at least four seasons. But now we have a proper theatrically released sequel, subtitled Family Business, which was simultaneously released in theaters and via Universal’s streaming service Peacock for users operating on its paid plans. Taking place three decades after the first film, the sequel once again focuses on main protagonist Tim Templeton (now voiced by James Marsden, who replaces Tobey Maguire as the voice of the adult Tim) and his brother Ted (once again voiced by Alec Baldwin), the OG Boss Baby, who have become distant as they’ve grown into adulthood. However, when they discover that Tim’s infant daughter Tina (voiced by Amy Sedaris) is the latest to join the ‘family business’ as a member of the organization Baby Corp, the two are transformed back into their younger selves to help her deal with a diabolical plot to rid the world of all parents. Like its predecessor, Boss Baby 2 garnered a largely mixed response from critics upon its release, with most viewing it as nothing special but, at the very least, finding it to be a largely harmless affair that would satisfy younger audiences. Thus, while I’m sure that there are still some parts of the internet that are utterly befuddled by the Boss Baby franchise’s existence, it’s clear that it’s been a big hit with its target audience, especially seeing how a third film has recently been confirmed to be in the works.   

THE FOREVER PURGE

For the past decade, Universal has had one of the most popular film franchises in recent years with The Purge. Created by veteran screenwriter James DeMonaco, the Purge films take place in a dystopian future where a corrupt government enacts an annual ‘national holiday’ that allows all forms of crime, especially murder, to be made legal for one night. What started with a relatively modest home invasion thriller from 2013 has since spawned numerous sequels that have collectively grossed over $500 million worldwide and a short-lived TV series on USA Network. And so far, every installment outside of the first film has received mixed reviews from critics who feel that they’re generally entertaining but are never quite able to live up to the potential of the series’ overall premise and the surprisingly timely themes that stem from them. That latter aspect was especially relevant for this year’s fifth installment, The Forever Purge, which focuses on a group of migrants who, fresh off their efforts to cross the Mexican border, find themselves hunted by white supremacists who operate outside of the Purge’s ‘one night a year’ rules. Given recent events, many have said that this is arguably the franchise’s most socially relevant installment to date, but just like its predecessors, critics were split on how successful it was in conveying those themes. Nevertheless, The Forever Purge managed to be another hit for the franchise; sure, its $77 million worldwide gross is a series low, but to be fair, this is a COVID-era release we’re talking about. And while it was originally touted as the series’ final installment, plans have been set into motion for another film that will notably see the return of series mainstay Frank Grillo as the badass protagonist of Anarchy and Election Year, Sgt. Leo Barnes.

OLD

M. Night Shyamalan’s latest directorial outing, Old, is very much in line with his usual tendency of doing projects with supernatural plots. Based on a 2010 graphic novel named Sandcastle by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters, the film follows a group of people who travel to a secluded beach in the tropics but discover that, for some reason, the beach is causing them all to age rapidly. This results in plenty of solidly directed sequences that perfectly illustrate the growing tension that develops amongst the main characters as they struggle to try and escape from the seemingly inescapable beach. At the same time, though, the film also serves as a prime example of how Shyamalan can be incredibly inconsistent as a director as the overall direction feels flat, especially when it comes to the script and performances of the cast despite featuring some incredibly talented stars like Gael Garcia Bernal and Thomasin McKenzie. Ultimately, though, the film’s biggest downfall is that it suffers from some incredibly sluggish pacing, which is rather ironic for a film that’s about people who are quickly getting older. Because of all this, Old, unfortunately, ends up being another one of Shyamalan’s directorial duds. While it’s by no means his worst film, it does inevitably highlight the fact that he’s a director who’s simultaneously experienced the highest of highs… and the lowest of lows.   

STILLWATER

Stillwater is the latest directorial effort from filmmaker Tom McCarthy, who’s had a very prestigious career in the industry. After several years working as an actor, McCarthy made his directorial debut in 2003 with The Station Agent, which promptly launched the career of Tyrion Lannister himself, Peter Dinklage. This has then led to McCarthy’s involvement with other critically acclaimed projects such as Pixar’s 2009 masterpiece Up, which he had a story credit on, and his 2015 film Spotlight, which not only netted him an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay but also the big one, Best Picture. As for his latest, Stillwater stars Matt Damon as an oil-rig worker from Oklahoma who travels to France to try and clear his daughter’s (Abigail Breslin) name when she’s convicted of killing her roommate. Many have noted that the film’s plot has a lot in common with the real-life scandal in which Amanda Knox was accused of murdering her roommate Meredith Kercher, a charge that she was eventually acquitted from. And admittedly, this has garnered some controversy as Knox has publicly criticized the film for how it fictionalizes her story. Despite this, however, the film was solidly well-received upon its release as critics felt that, despite some of its script-based shortcomings, it did its job at presenting its relevant themes and boasted a strong lead performance from Matt Damon.

THE GREEN KNIGHT

Speaking of acclaimed directors, here we have the latest from director David Lowery, whose filmography has ranged from award-winning indie works such as 2013’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and 2017’s A Ghost Story to major studio outings like the 2016 remake of Disney’s 1977 cult classic, Pete’s Dragon. But before he tackles another major Disney live-action remake with his take on Peter Pan, titled Peter Pan & Wendy, this year gave us what is arguably his most ambitious project to date, a full-blown fantasy epic that adapts the Arthurian legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Just like its source material, the film follows Sir Gawain, the nephew of King Arthur, as he embarks on a quest to confront the mythical Green Knight. The film was originally set to make its debut at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival, which would’ve then been followed by a May 2020 theatrical release… before you-know-what effectively changed those plans. Surprisingly, though, this is one of those rare cases where the COVID-enforced delay ended up being helpful in the long run as it gave Lowery plenty of time to rework the film in post-production since he wasn’t exactly happy with its original cut. Sure enough, upon its release, the film proved to be another critically acclaimed hit for Lowery as critics praised it for its finely crafted modern spin on the legendary story that it was based on with strong themes, captivating visuals, and an excellent cast headlined by Dev Patel in the lead role of Gawain.

SNAKE EYES

The enduring legacy of the G.I. Joe franchise’s role in the pop-cultural zeitgeist practically speaks for itself. Not only has it been one of the most prominent franchises in the entire toy industry, but it also played a significant role in its evolution as it revolutionized the term ‘action figure’, thus helping Hasbro in the process of marketing the doll-like figures to young male audiences. Outside of the toys, the franchise has also seen a lot of success in other mediums, such as the classic animated series from the ’80s produced by Sunbow and Marvel. And in 2009, the franchise made its official live-action theatrical debut with G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, which was then followed by a sequel in 2013, G.I. Joe: Retaliation. While neither film was, admittedly, that big of a hit with critics (in other words, they fared about as well as the live-action adaptations of another popular Hasbro franchise, Transformers), they performed quite well at the box office, with both grossing over $300 million worldwide. For the longest time, though, there weren’t any major attempts to follow up on Retaliation outside of a long-rumored threequel named G.I. Joe: Ever Vigilant. But before that project could get off the ground, a different G.I. Joe film ended up pushing on through in the form of a spin-off centered on one of the franchise’s most popular characters, the mysterious ninja warrior known as ‘Snake Eyes’.

Under the direction of Robert Schwentke (Red, the last two Divergent films) and starring Crazy Rich Asians breakout star Henry Golding in the title role, Snake Eyes explores the origins of the titular hero, specifically focusing on his journey into being accepted as a member of the mythical Arashikage ninja clan. And overall, this part of the story is well-handled and decently engaging, especially when it comes to the relationship between Snake Eyes and the man who will become his greatest rival, Tommy Arashikage AKA Storm Shadow. But when it comes to the film’s efforts to tie its proceedings into the series’ primary conflict between G.I. Joe and Cobra, that’s where it starts to falter a bit as characters like Cobra operative The Baroness and G.I. Joe agent Scarlett feel incredibly extraneous within the context of the plot. But, of course, the biggest point of debate surrounding the film… is the fact that it doesn’t exactly have the best action sequences as frenetic editing and unsteady camerawork undermine the clearly dedicated efforts of the film’s stunt team. However, at the very least, Henry Golding does continue to prove himself as a naturally charismatic leading man in the title role. Thus, while it’s far from perfect, Snake Eyes is a decently entertaining attempt at relaunching the G.I. Joe film franchise, and while it was admittedly a major flop at the box-office, only grossing about $37 million worldwide on a massive $88-110 million budget, a sequel is reportedly in the works with Golding set to return.

ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN

We only had one major candidate pop up from the write-in section this year, but that doesn’t mean that the film in question isn’t noteworthy. For one thing, it’s the latest documentary from filmmaker Robert Neville, who scored big in 2018 with his Fred Rogers documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, which became the highest-grossing biographical documentary of all time (it also scored big here on RIMC’s annual poll, where it earned two votes in the 2018 event). As for his newest film, it tackles the life of one of the culinary industry’s most famous ‘bad boys’, Anthony Bourdain. Whether it’s thanks to his numerous bestselling books or the many years that he spent hosting TV shows such as Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on the Travel Channel, Bourdain was one of the industry’s most celebrated voices. Sadly, though, his story ended in tragedy as he committed suicide on June 8^th, 2018; as such, it’s completely understandable if this new film wasn’t the easiest of watches for Bourdain’s friends, family, and fans. Ultimately, though, it was well-received upon its release, with critics praising Neville’s work in delivering another emotional, insightful, and openly honest documentary that, above all, genuinely celebrated the life of its subject. However, there was some controversy following the film’s release when it was revealed that Neville had utilized artificial intelligence to reproduce Bourdain’s voice for some audio clips. While Neville insisted that this was only used to bring Bourdain’s distinctive voice to writings of his that he had never stated verbally, many questioned the ethical nature of this decision, especially since it wasn’t publicly disclosed until after the film’s release. Still, with over $5.2 million at the box office, it’s clear that Robert Neville continues to be one of the most prolific documentary filmmakers in the industry.

THESE NEXT THREE FILMS EARNED TWO VOTES EACH

JUNGLE CRUISE

Outside of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, there haven’t been a lot of attempts at producing film adaptations of iconic Disney rides. Prior to this year, the last major attempts were from back around the time that the first Pirates film came out with 2002’s The Country Bears and 2003’s The Haunted Mansion… and admittedly, both of those films were major critical duds. But now we have a film adaptation of the world-famous Jungle Cruise which, at the end of the day, clearly followed in Pirates’ footsteps when it comes to crafting a more expansive story around its source material’s simple premise of a riverboat cruise through the jungle led by a skipper known for their utterly corny puns. And just like the Pirates films, Jungle Cruise does a great job of maintaining that classic ‘old-school adventure film’ aesthetic and atmosphere even if the plot in general is rather standard as far as the genre is concerned. Still, the film benefits nicely from the excellent lead duo of Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, and fans of the ride will undoubtedly love all the neat little nods to it… although it is rather ironic how several of these references were recently taken out of the ride to address its most dated aspects (Trader Sam, native head-hunters, etc.). Ultimately, though, while I can’t exactly say that it’s the most standout adaptation of a classic Disney Parks ride, Jungle Cruise does succeed in being a good old-fashioned popcorn flick. Plus, given the recent announcements that a sequel is in the works, it’ll be genuinely interesting to see where this new Disney film franchise goes from here.

FREE GUY

One of the many things that I feel that these annual polls have proven is that, for the most part, you can never go wrong with a good crowd-pleaser, and for many people, one of the most surprisingly effective examples of that from this year’s summer slate was director Shawn Levy’s latest, Free Guy. A full-on love letter to gaming and one of this summer’s rare non-IP blockbusters, the film stars Ryan Reynolds as the titular Guy, a good-natured bank teller who discovers that he’s a non-player character (AKA an ‘NPC’) in a massively popular open-world video game. When he learns that the game is about to be shut down by its developer in favor of a sequel, he teams up with Millie (Jodie Comer), a programmer whose vital role in the game’s creation went uncredited, to save his world and friends from being destroyed. Whether it’s the multiple cameos made by popular gamers/streamers or some pitch-perfect representations of online gaming, Free Guy clearly made a considerable amount of effort to present a significantly accurate take on the industry. But above all, the best part about this film is that it has an incredibly good heart to its proceedings with an endearing cast of main protagonists and the very definition of a feel-good ending. Case in point, this is one of the rare instances where Ryan Reynolds’ trademark brand of crude and snarky humor isn’t as prevalent as it is in something like the Deadpool films, thus showcasing the genuinely great range that Reynolds has as a comedic talent. Not only that, but he’s backed by a fun supporting cast that includes the likes of Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, and a scene-stealing Taika Waititi. And so, because of all this, Free Guy is easily one of the best ‘feel-good’ films of the summer which, if you ask me, is always great to see, especially given how utterly chaotic things have been recently.

CANDYMAN

For the past several years, Jordan Peele has been one of the most prominent creative voices in the horror genre, where he’s made a name for himself as a filmmaker known for making horror films with strong social commentary. As such, it makes perfect sense that he’d play a major role in reviving a classic horror franchise that’s similarly well-known for its significant social themes, Candyman. To be clear, though, the new Candyman is NOT a Jordan Peele directed feature as he’s only a writer/producer on it; instead, that honor goes to Nia DaCosta who, thanks to this film’s success at the box office, became the first Black female director to have a #1 stateside hit and is now hard at work on the upcoming Captain Marvel sequel. And given what we got from this film, it’s easy to see why she’s becoming a prominent player in the industry as this new Candyman fully showcases her directorial talents. Not only does she deliver some stunningly artistic horror sequences, but she also does a wonderful job of respecting the gothic atmosphere of the original Candyman film from 1992 while also finding great ways to update the story of one of the horror genre’s most famous ‘urban legend’ slashers for a new generation. Add in some strong performances from Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Teyonah Parris as well as the emotional weight of recent racial injustice-based tragedies that clearly impacted this film’s plot and you have one of the most well-directed and thoroughly engaging horror films in recent years.

FOUR FILMS EARNED THREE VOTES EACH

PAW PATROL: THE MOVIE

In 2013, Nickelodeon debuted the latest addition to its Nick Jr. lineup, PAW Patrol, which follows a young boy named Ryder and a team of talking dogs who work together as a search and rescue unit in their hometown of Adventure Bay. Calling this show a success… would be a massive understatement. To date, there have been over 190 episodes produced (with a ninth season on the way) as well as a highly successful toy line that helped establish the series’ creators, Spin Master, as a prominent player in the toy industry. And while the show has admittedly faced a bit of controversy in recent years over its ‘positive’ portrayal of the police in the wake of recent race-related incidents, that hasn’t completely stopped it from arguably being the current flagship series of the Nick Jr. programming block, following in the footsteps of classic Nick Jr. programs such as Blue’s Clues and Dora the Explorer. Anyway, now we have the series’ first feature film, which sees Ryder and the gang travel to the nearby Adventure City to deal with its corrupt mayor, their longtime rival Mayor Humdinger. Released simultaneously in theaters and on the Paramount+ streaming service, the film managed to do quite well at the box office, where it has earned over $103 million worldwide on a modest $26 million budget. And as for the critics, many of them have agreed that, at the end of the day, the film is practically guaranteed to be a hit with those who have made the series the massive success story that it is.

WRATH OF MAN

A remake of the 2004 French thriller Cash Truck, Wrath of Man notably sees director Guy Ritchie reunite with one of his most frequent collaborators, Jason Statham. Ritchie and Statham both made their feature-length debuts with the 1998 smash hit Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. The two of them then proceeded to team up again for 2000’s Snatch and 2005’s Revolver before both going on their separate ways career-wise. But now they’re back together again, with Statham starring as an armored truck driver whose mysterious past is called into play when he thwarts a bunch of robbers. With a solid $104 million run at the box office and mostly positive reviews from critics, who felt that Ritchie’s strong direction helped the film to overcome its bare-bones plot, Wrath of Man proved to be another recent success story for Guy Ritchie. As I noted in the 2017 edition of this poll, Ritchie’s directorial career has seen both its ups and downs as he’s been responsible for major hits such as the Sherlock Holmes duology… and devastating commercial flops like King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. And yet, now that he’s fresh off a $1 billion grossing live-action Disney remake with his take on Aladdin, it seems like Ritchie’s luck has been changing as of late, especially since his recent outings have allowed him the opportunity to return to his roots as a director of slick, hard-edged crime dramas. Case in point, Ritchie and Statham will be back at it again next year with the spy thriller Five Eyes.

HITMAN’S WIFE’S BODYGUARD

In 2017, director Patrick Hughes’ action-comedy The Hitman’s Bodyguard, starring Ryan Reynolds as a professional bodyguard named Michael Bryce who finds himself forced to protect the world’s most notorious hitman, Darius Kincaid (played by Samuel L. Jackson), became an unexpected smash hit at the box-office. Sure, some of this may have been due to it being a late August release, which has often been considered a ‘dead month’ as far as summer blockbusters are concerned, but to be fair, it was also only the third film that year to be in the #1 spot at the domestic box-office for three weeks in a row. If anything, it seems like the film managed to be a genuine hit with audiences, namely due to the dynamic comedic chemistry between two of the most prominent stars in the industry; thus, it’s easy to see why a sequel was announced the following year, which ultimately came out this year as Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard. As the title suggests, this film gives Darius Kincaid’s wife Sonia (played by Salma Hayek) a more prominent role as she drags a reluctant Michael out of his self-imposed vacation to help her and her husband stop Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Papadopoulos (Antonio Banderas) from launching a terrorist attack on Europe. Upon its release, the film admittedly didn’t do so well with critics, who felt that it was far too run-of-the-mill as an action-comedy, and it also didn’t do as well as its predecessor financially as it just missed out on matching its $70 million budget at the box-office. Still, seeing how this film managed to earn one more vote than its predecessor did in the 2017 edition of this poll, it’s safe to say that these two films clearly have their fans.

F9: THE FAST SAGA

While the Fast and Furious series has easily been one of the biggest film franchises of the past several decades… it’s also admittedly become a prime source of internet mockery, namely due to its unabashed efforts to continuously up the ante on its over-the-top action sequences with each subsequent installment. And yet, based on what I saw when I went to see F9 in IMAX (partially due to it featuring a preview of the next Jurassic World film), it’s clear to me that this series is still doing quite well with audiences as there were quite a lot of key moments in the film (namely, the return of series mainstay Sung Kang as fan-favorite Han Lue) that earned a considerable amount of applause from the crowd that I was with. To be perfectly blunt, I hadn’t seen that kind of audience reaction towards these films since 2013 when I saw Fast and Furious 6 with an incredibly enthusiastic afternoon matinee crowd. In other words, say what you will about these films and how ridiculous they can get, but overall, I do think that F9 was a pivotal return to form for the series and one that it desperately needed after some of the questionable narrative decisions that were made in 2017’s The Fate of the Furious. Much of this is thanks to the return of the series’ longest-tenured director, Justin Lin, whose strong direction helps to revitalize many of the elements that have made the franchise’s more recent outings so successful, especially the unmistakably tight-knit family dynamic that’s shared by the main protagonists. In short, yes, these films are incredibly goofy and consistently defy all sorts of logic with every new plot development… however, they’re also a lot of fun to watch for those exact same reasons. And seeing how Justin Lin is set to return for what is slated to be the last two installments of the series, I’d argue that the Fast and Furious franchise’s grand finale couldn’t be in better hands.

TIED FOR FIFTH PLACE, WITH FOUR VOTES EACH

IN THE HEIGHTS

It’s great to see that the film adaptation of In the Heights managed to do quite well in this year’s poll considering that, unfortunately, it didn’t do too hot at the box office, where it wasn’t able to make back its $55 million budget. There have been several theories as to why this happened, which range from it being a bit too obscure of a musical compared to something like Lin-Manuel Miranda’s other career-defining hit, Hamilton, to its simultaneous theatrical/HBO Max release. Heck, for all we know, the controversy that it wound up in when it was released where it was accused of lacking Afro-Latino actors could’ve potentially factored into its financial underperformance. Well, whatever the reason, I truly hope that this doesn’t end up defining the film’s legacy as it’s an effortlessly heartwarming watch. Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes’ love letter to the former’s old stomping grounds of Washington Heights is brilliantly translated to the big screen by director Jon M. Chu with top-notch musical numbers and a delightful cast headlined by Hamilton breakout star Anthony Ramos in the lead role that Miranda originated on Broadway. The themes that it celebrates are the very definition of universal (e.g. the strength of one’s community) and the main protagonists are so lovable that the story doesn’t even need to have any sort of antagonist. With all this in mind, this is one of those cases where, if you ask me, it’s practically impossible not to love what is easily one of the best musical adaptations to date.

THE SUICIDE SQUAD

Speaking of films that quite frankly didn’t deserve to underperform at the box office, some folks may have been a bit skeptical about the idea of doing another Suicide Squad film after the first attempted film adaptation in 2016 ended up being a considerably underwhelming disappointment despite all the hype leading up to its release. But when you watch The Suicide Squad, you’ll quickly understand why it was necessary as it once again highlights what happens when the DC Extended Universe isn’t trying so hard to be the antithesis of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whereas the first Suicide Squad film was hindered by the same kind of tonal and visual issues that plagued many of the early DCEU films, The Suicide Squad achieves a far more consistent mix of strong emotional moments and laugh-out-loud gags in what is easily a far more visually appealing film compared to its downright ugly looking predecessor. It also does a much better job of capitalizing on the concept of a squad of supervillains sent out on missions where they aren’t expected to survive as it isn’t afraid to kill off some of its main characters and fully embraces its R rating in a way that legitimately works for a film from this genre unlike something like the ‘Snyder Cut’ of Justice League. To put it simply, The Suicide Squad is another masterpiece from writer/director James Gunn who, just like with his Guardians of the Galaxy films for the MCU, wholly succeeds in making us care about a bunch of characters who aren’t necessarily heroic by giving them excellent bits of character development.

IN FOURTH PLACE, WITH FIVE VOTES

A QUIET PLACE – PART II

The highly anticipated follow-up to John Krasinski’s critically-acclaimed horror-thriller A Quiet Place was easily one of the most prominent ‘delayed releases’ that came into play because of COVID-19. To put this all into perspective, the film was only a few weeks away from its originally intended March 18^th release date last year when the situation with COVID was officially deemed a pandemic. And yet, when it was finally released this past May, a time when most theaters weren’t exactly back in full operation, it managed to be one of the most successful blockbusters of the COVID era. Its worldwide box-office gross of over $297 million isn’t that far off from its predecessor’s $350 million-plus haul and it also ended up being one of the rare cases of a sequel that managed to fare nearly as well as its predecessor did with critics, and in a lot of ways, it’s easy to see why. Outside of a few underdeveloped plot threads (e.g., the group of violent bandits that the main protagonists encounter at a marina), A Quiet Place Part II does a great job of expanding upon its post-apocalyptic world while still managing to balance all that with the strong emotional beats that gave the original a powerfully poignant narrative hook. Krasinski once again delivers some incredibly well-directed sequences of pure tension and the breakout star of the first film, Millicent Simmonds, shines even greater in the sequel, where she’s upgraded into being the main protagonist. Thus, while its script may not be as finely polished as its predecessor’s, A Quiet Place Part II is still very much a well-made horror film that showcases why strongly written characters can often be a major factor behind the genre’s greatest outings.

IN THIRD PLACE, WITH SEVEN VOTES

BLACK WIDOW

As I’ve noted in the past, MCU films always tend to do great in these annual polls of ours, which can best be summed up by Avengers: Endgame’s utter dominance of the competition in 2019. And while Marvel Studios’ sole summer release of 2021, Black Widow, didn’t end up taking the #1 spot in this year’s poll, it still did incredibly well for itself, which makes sense given that it was the first MCU theatrical release in nearly two years. Yes, like many of the other films that we’ve covered in today’s post, Black Widow was hit hard by the pandemic, which forced Marvel Studios to push back all their upcoming releases. Thankfully, the delay wasn’t a complete loss for them as they were able to kick-start Phase 4 on the best note possible with their line of well-received Disney+ shows such as WandaVision and Loki. But on July 9^th, the MCU made its triumphant return to the big screen with a film that was practically a decade in the making: the long-awaited solo outing for the MCU’s original lady Avenger, Natasha Romanoff AKA Black Widow. Sure, its simultaneous release in theaters and as a Premier Access release on Disney+ may’ve led to an intense [and currently ongoing] lawsuit from Scarlett Johansson that, spoilers, we won’t be addressing any further here today, but it still managed to pull in a thoroughly decent $378 million run at the box-office and, true to franchise form, was well-received by critics.

Sure enough, Black Widow is yet another MCU film that delivers on everything that the franchise is known for, from its top-notch action sequences to the instantly quotable bits of humor that never take away from the story’s big emotional moments. Case in point, given everything that the film delves into regarding Natasha’s history with the Black Widow program, Black Widow is easily one of the darkest and most emotionally driven installments of the MCU, thus paving the way for one of its most cathartic finales where she’s able to stop it once and for all. However, there are a few minor plot-related shortcomings here and there that, if you ask me, may have been a byproduct of the film’s extended development history. In other words, things like the less significant roles that the villains play in the story (including the film’s controversial take on fan-favorite antagonist Taskmaster, even though said interpretation makes sense for this story) make this Phase 4 post-Endgame release feel like it came from the time when the MCU was overseen by its overbearing Creative Committee. And yet, as was often the case with MCU films that didn’t exactly have a standout villain a la Thanos or Killmonger, this doesn’t end up hindering the film entirely thanks to all the other great things about it, especially the addition of Florence Pugh as Natasha’s ‘sister’ and fellow Black Widow, Yelena Belova. Simply put, Pugh is one of the best additions to the MCU’s legendary ensemble in recent years as she instantly proves to be a natural fit when it comes to her handling of the franchise’s trademark humor and emotional poignancy. And so, with all that in mind, it shouldn’t be that surprising to find that Black Widow is the latest success story for a franchise whose impact on the industry is so significant that, quite frankly, it could be argued that they’re practically incapable of making a ‘bad’ film at this point.

THIS YEAR’S RUNNER-UP, WITH EIGHT VOTES

SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY

A lot of you might find this to be the most surprising result of this year’s poll given this film’s overall reception, but from my perspective, this all makes a lot more sense than you’d think. Speaking from experience as a Team Member working at the Universal Orlando resort, I’ve seen guests of all ages wearing clothing from this film’s merchandise line on an almost daily basis even months after its release. Thus, if you ask me, this shows that, at the end of the day, the long-awaited follow-up to the 1996 smash hit Space Jam successfully managed to win over a considerably large audience… even if it ultimately fared just as well as its predecessor did with critics (in other words, not well). Now sure, just like the original, Space Jam: A New Legacy can often go to some incredibly ludicrous lengths with its narrative; in fact, it even manages to one-up the previous film in that regard with all the crossovers that it makes with various Warner Bros. properties, including ones that aren’t exactly geared towards its target audience. And yet, also like the original Space Jam, A New Legacy is a relatively harmless watch with fun visuals that also proves that LeBron James is a genuinely solid screen presence in the wake of his breakout performance in 2015’s Trainwreck. In short, A New Legacy is one of those films that I feel has gotten a bit too harsh of a bad rap from its biggest critics. Sure, it’s far from perfect but you could say the same thing about the original Space Jam, a film that is still fondly enjoyed by many of those who grew up with it (myself included). And despite all the flak that the new film has gotten from both critics and some surly fans of the original, it’s clear that it’s managed to live up to its New Legacy subtitle by being a massive hit with its target demographic.

AND FINALLY, WE COME TO THIS YEAR’S GRAND CHAMPION, WHICH DOUBLED SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY’S TOTAL WITH A WHOPPING 16 VOTES. THIS PLACES IT JUST THREE VOTES SHY OF AVENGERS: ENDGAME’S 19-VOTE RECORD THAT WAS SET IN 2019 BUT ALSO PUTS IT FOUR VOTES AHEAD OF THE 12-VOTE PERFORMANCE OF THE PREVIOUS RECORD-HOLDER, 2018’S BLACKkKLANSMAN. AND WHILE I USUALLY REFER TO THESE #1 FILMS AS THE KINGS OF OUR ANNUAL POLL… WELL, THIS YEAR WE HAD OUR FIRST QUEEN…

CRUELLA

In many ways, it’s easy to see why this unique new spin on one of Disney’s most iconic villainesses proved to be such a big hit with audiences. A stylish comedic crime thriller centered around a strong female lead (as portrayed by one of the most charismatic actresses in the business), Cruella opted to go the same route that 2014’s Maleficent went by crafting a more sympathetic take on its title character rather than maintaining her traditionally villainous portrayal from previous films and media. Sure, this probably didn’t go over too well with those who haven’t been keen on Disney’s recent line of live-action re-imaginings of their animated films, but thanks to strong direction from Craig Gillespie and a Grade-A performance from Emma Stone as Cruella, it all comes together incredibly well. For starters, this new version of Cruella ends up being a natural fit for the film’s setting of 1970’s London and the punk rock movement that defined a good chunk of that era as it gives her plenty of opportunities to be the rebel that she’s known for being, albeit as more of an anti-hero in this instance. Not only that, but it’s also a lot of fun to see her go toe-to-toe with the film’s actual main antagonist, the Baroness, who’s very much the equal of the villainous incarnations of Cruella and gleefully played by Emma Thompson. Add in an equally great supporting cast, incredible costume design, and a positively rocking soundtrack and you have a thoroughly engaging crowd-pleaser that was clearly a lot of fun to work on for everyone involved. And while its $233 million run at the box-office may not seem as noteworthy compared to some of the other films from this summer (most likely due to its simultaneous theatrical and Disney+ Premier Access release), I strongly believe that it still played a considerably huge role in helping theaters get back on track this summer.

And that concludes the 2021 installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Annual End of Summer Fan Poll. Once again, I want to express nothing but gratitude for everyone who helped to revitalize one of this site’s longest-standing traditions after we were sadly forced to cancel last year’s event. Case in point, whereas last year presented an unclear future for the theatergoing experience, this year has proven that it clearly isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.