Category Archives: Film

Movie review: ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’ respectable end to movie mutant saga

June 5, 2019 Tim Lammers Leave a comment

“X-Men: Dark Phoenix” (PG-13)

The “X-Men” saga – at least in this iteration – is finally coming to an end with “X-Men: Dark Phoenix,” an exciting and satisfying conclusion to the Marvel movie mutant series that began in 2000 with Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and Halle Berry, and introduced the world to the talents of an Australian actor named Hugh Jackman.

Since that time, the “X-Men” have assembled for six movies (not including three featuring Wolverine/Logan and two for Deadpool), the last being pitiful “X-Men: Apocalypse” in 2016. Thankfully the deck has been reshuffled for the finale to feature the comic book’s acclaimed “Dark Phoenix” saga, which benefits by the rising popularity by “Game of Thrones” star Sophie Turner in the title role.

Interview Flashback: Hugh Jackman talks ‘Days of Future Past’

“Dark Phoenix” begins in 1975, where after a tragedy involving her family, a young Jean Grey (Summer Fontana) is taken into Dr. Charles Xavier’s (James McAvoy) School for the Gifted, where he teaches the telepathic mutant to harness her powers. Fast-forwarding to 1992, the adult Jean (Turner), along with fellow mutants Beast (Nicolas Hoult), Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and Quicksilver (Evan Peters), are recruited by the U.S. government to save the astronauts of a NASA space shuttle, which is in distress, spinning in space and ready to explode any minute.

AUDIO: Tim reviews “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” with Tom Barnard on
“The KQ Morning Show” on KQRS-FM.

The dangerous mission works, but in an attempt of rescuing the shuttle captain, Grey absorbs what seems to be a solar flare, which gives her powers far beyond what she can control. Tragically, the instability in her mutation leads to a tragic death that fractures the X-Men: some of which including Magneto want to kill her, while Professor X and Jean’s boyfriend, Cyclops, want to save and possibly cure her. Standing in everybody’s way, though, is an alien race lead by the malevolent Vuk (Jessica Chastain), who seek the Dark Phoenix’s powers to impose rule over the planet.

“Dark Phoenix” is a reboot within a reboot story of sorts for the “X-Men” movie universe, following the critical and fan lambasting of the plot in “X-Men: The Last Stand,” where Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) was resurrected after sacrificing herself to save her fellow X-Men in “X2: X-Men United.” The plot misfire was rectified somewhat, though, with the time-traveling plot of 2014’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” which allowed for director and writer Simon Kinberg (replacing excommunicated “X-Men” helmer Bryan Singer) an opportunity to bring justice to the comic book fan-favorite storyline.

To that end, fans should be satisfied with “Dark Phoenix,” even though a few parts – especially at the beginning and the end of the film — echo too closely the beginning and the ending of “The Last Stand.” Of course, the big benefit now is the right use of the always evolving world of visual effects, which is done in ways familiar in some instances, and refreshing and new in others.

What makes the film worthwhile is the cast, including Turner, McAvoy, Fassbender, Holt and Chastain in the key roles. While she receives top-billing, Lawrence’s appearance is reduced to a supporting turn here, while Sheridan, Shipp and McPhee appear in more functional roles. Underused again – like he has been from the very beginning – is Peters’ always entertaining Quicksilver, who essentially disappears after two large action showcases. But while the leads have a lot of presence, the film still needed someone with the charisma of Jackman to anchor it, an attribute the actor instantly brought to franchise as a relative newcomer in 2000.

“X-Men: Dark Phoenix” is a vast improvement over 2016’s “X-Men: Apocalypse,” a dreadful disappointment coming off of the blistering success of “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” which is arguably one of the best in the “X-Men” film series involving nearly all of the major X-Men characters past and present. “Days of Future Past” served as a solid, passing-of-the-torch film from the legacy cast to the prequel cast established in 2011’s “X-Men: First Class” (McAvoy, Fassbender, Lawrence and Hoult), and was the last to feature Jackman, Stewart and McKellen in meaningful roles (apart from Jackman’s powerful “Logan.”). The bloated and tedious “Apocalypse,” quite simply, couldn’t live up to hype and left a promising revival hanging in the balance.

“Dark Phoenix” thankfully restores the “X-Men” saga to its former glory, recapturing the tone of the previous, great “X-Men” films, which traditionally have been far more serious than their Marvel Cinematic Universe counterparts. While the MCU films have largely been about publicly-accepted superheroes saving the world, the “X-Men” films have keyed in on how the mutants with superpowers have been societal outcasts, a theme that is examined once again after the “X-Men” fall out of the public’s good graces after the space shuttle crew rescue.

While the film is being billed as “the shocking end to the X-Men saga,” fans shouldn’t fret too much over not seeing their favorite film mutants again. Essentially what this means is that “Dark Phoenix” is the last film that was produced wholly under the 20^th Century Fox banner, which finally was absorbed by Disney in the spring. What it surely does mean is that either there will be new “X-Men” films cast by Disney and the MCU (good luck recasting Jackman’s Wolverine!), or at the very least, the introduction of select X-Men characters (who will likely be recast) to the new “Avengers” tales post-“Endgame.”

AUDIO: Tim reviews “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” and more with Jordana Green and guest host Joe Anderson on “Paul and Jordana” on WCCO-AM.

No matter what the case may be, at least “Dark Phoenix” did right by the franchise by completing its sprawling, 19-year-long tale in a meaningful sort of way. Sure, the franchise, never earned the gazillions of dollars the MCU did, but it rarely lost sight of good storytelling and created plenty of characters fans cared about. If anything, the first “X-Men” in 2000 kicked off a new wave of superhero films that burgeoned into the genre juggernaut that it is today. And talk about mutating … without “X-Men” and the clear appetite fans had for superhero fare, who knows were the genre would have gone had Fox didn’t take the initiative and risk to produce the film nearly 20 years ago. Dark as the themes in the series may be, they brought a whole new cinematic light to comic book movies.

Lammometer: 7.5 (out of 10)

Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.

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Film, Movie Reviews

Movie review: Elton John musical ‘Rocketman’ rises to the occasion

May 30, 2019 Tim Lammers Leave a comment

“Rocketman” (R)

All systems are go for “Rocketman,” a creatively staged look at the wondrous life and music career of rock legend Elton John. Naturally the film comes with a lot of pressure attached because of the blistering worldwide box office success of the “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but from the very beginning “Rocketman” lets you know that it’s talking a much different trajectory than the Queen/Freddie Mercury biopic.

Instead, while “Bohemian Rhapsody” is about the creation and live performances of the Queen’s music, “Rocketman” uses the music of Elton John and lyrics of Bernie Taupin to tell the story of singer-pianist’s (Taron Egerton) tumultuous upbringing and the inner demons that nearly destroyed his life until he became sober and found the personal life and love he so desperately longed for.

AUDIO: Hear Tim’s review of “Rocketman” with Tom Barnard on “The KQ Morning Show” on KQRS-FM.

As such, “Rocketman” is far from your standard music biopic. Obviously, it covers key moments in Elton’s life and career, but it is essentially presented as movie musical (which is already screaming for a Broadway adaptation) with fantasy elements woven throughout. Perhaps the best film to compare “Rocketman” to is director Julie Taymor’s ingenious 2007 movie musical “Across the Universe,” which created characters and a immersive love story based on the classic songs of The Beatles.

Here, the characters are all based on real people, naturally, who take turns with Egerton singing such Elton standards as “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting,” “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” and “Goodbye Yellowbrick Road” as the story unfolds from his early childhood as a musical prodigy throughout his career highs and personal lows, to his eventual recovery in the 1980s.

“Rocketman” continues the music/movie winning streak for director Dexter Fletcher, who rescued “Bohemian Rhapsody” from ruins after he was hired to finish the film after original helmer Bryan Singer was fired. Clearly “Bohemian Rhapsody” demonstrated that Fletcher had the goods when it comes to telling stories of classic rockers, and “Rocketman” gives him the creative freedom to play out the life of a legend on a much bigger stage. Smartly, Fletcher hired Egerton (of the “Kingsman” movies) after their work together on the under-appreciated sports biopic “Eddie the Eagle”; and the actor, whose singing voice is used throughout the film, impresses in a risky turn that could have turned out to be a disaster if the performances were at all underwhelming.

So does Egerton sound like Elton John? Yes and no. Elton’s voice is so unique that no actor could have truly matched it, but since “Rocketman” is essentially a movie musical, sounding close enough to singer suffices. Thanks to Taupin’s lyrics, Elton’s songs seem to have mini-movie plots of their own, where people like musician’s fans can play out the scenarios in their minds. As such, Egerton finds himself in the best of both worlds, being in the unique position to play the singer and act out his life in a fantastical way at the same time.

The performances in “Rocketman” are spectacular all around. Egerton, like “Bohemian Rhapsody’s Rami Malek, is Oscar nomination-bound, as could be Jamie Bell, who brings heart to the film in the pivotal role of Bernie Taupin. Just as strong in their supporting turns are Richard Madden as Elton’s sleazy business manager/lover John Reid (who appeared much more sympathetic in his portrayal by Aiden Gillen in “Bohemian Rhapsody”) and Bryce Dallas Howard as Elton’s unpredictable mother, Sheila. Tate Donovan is also terrific in a small but memorable role as Doug Weston, the owner of LA’s Troubadour nightclub, which effectively launched Elton’s career in America in August 1970.

While “Bohemian Rhapsody” earned more than $900 million worldwide, critics largely criticized the film, claiming the PG-13 film went too light on Mercury’s raucous antics and bad behavior, and glossed over his life as a gay man and his eventual struggle with AIDS. Also criticized was how the film took liberties with the band’s musical timeline and the timing of Mercury’s AIDS diagnosis in order to fit the film’s narrative.

“Rocketman,” on the flip side, truly gives an R-rated look at Elton’s life warts and all, which was a deliberate decision on behalf of the singer (his husband, David Furnish, is one of the film’s producers), who wanted his story told as truthfully as possible. While critics will be hard-pressed to find fault with the frank presentation of Elton’s life, it will be interesting to see if they take issue with how screenwriter Lee Hall, like “Bohemian Rhapsody” scribe Anthony McCarten, loosely played with Elton’s musical timeline of big events in his life to again, help craft a sensible narrative. Honestly, people should have no gripes with either the Freddie or Elton film, especially considering how difficult to cram a storied artist’s life into 2 hours.

AUDIO: Hear Tim’s review of “Rocketman” with Paul Douglas and Jordana Green on “Paul and Jordan” on WCCO-AM.

For as much as “Rocketman” has going for it, the film has its share of flaws. First, the omission of “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” from the songs in the film seems like a missed opportunity, given how it chronicled such a dark chapter in Elton’s life. In addition, die hard fans of Elton’s music will likely be upset that his longtime band members don’t even get a mention.

After all, if Kiki Dee (in a glorious scene recreating the recording of “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”), why couldn’t guitarist Davey Johnstone, drummer Nigel Olsson and late bassist Dee Murray get a shout-out? The band members, after all, played key roles in the creation of Elton’s classic albums, so to be reduced to background players in the film is somewhat a slap in the face to their collective legacy. Thankfully, it’s a small dose of heartbreak in an otherwise glorious film.

Lammometer: 8 (out of 10)

Film, Movie Reviews

Movie review: Wishes mostly come true for live-action ‘Aladdin’

May 23, 2019 Tim Lammers Leave a comment

‘Aladdin’ (PG)

It’s a whole new world for Genie and company with “Aladdin,” Disney’s latest live-action adaptation of one of their animated classics. It’s a tall order considering the late Robin Williams’ legendary voice performance as Genie in the 1992 original, yet Will Smith ably steps up and makes the role his own, flanked by the equally capable Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott, who have a wonderful chemistry as Aladdin and Princess Jasmine. It’s far from a perfect world for this new troupe of players, but for what it is, “Aladdin” is entertaining enough to keep kids’ and adults’ toes tapping, smiling ear to ear and laughing for the duration of the film’s 2-hour, 8-minute runtime.

Disney’s new initiative of making live-action adaptations of their animated fare, which dates back to 2010’s “Alice in Wonderland,” have taken two different approaches. Some of the films have used the animated films’ plotlines as springboards to new stories (a la “Maleficent” and “Dumbo”), while others have kept the original framework of the animated material intact while expanding upon the story (“Cinderella,” “The Jungle Book” and “Beauty and the Beast”). “Aladdin” best fits in the latter category, although there are no doubt differences from the animated film will that will become increasingly apparent as the film rolls on.

Interview: A look back at animated “Aladdin” with Aladdin and Jasmine voice stars

Framed within a tale told by Genie to two young children, “Aladdin” begins in familiar territory where the street rat Aladdin on the streets of Agrabah befriends who he believes is the handmaiden to Princess Jasmine, but turns out to be the princess in disguise. Their attraction to each other is immediate, but it’s a union that’s never meant to be since Jasmine is bound by the kingdom’s laws to only marry a prince. Aladdin’s fortunes change, though, when he is ordered to recover a magic lamp that he soon discovers contains the all-powerful Genie, a shape-shifting blue being who can grant him three wishes — with the exception of creating love and bringing back the dead.

AUDIO: Tim reviews “Aladdin” with Tom Barnard on “The KQ Morning Show” on KQRS-FM.

Desperately in love with Jasmine, Aladdin asks Genie to make him a prince, but with the transformation the one-time thief with a good heart begins to lose a sense of who he really is, which clouds his judgment. Making matters worse is that the Sultan’s (Navid Negahban) right-hand man, Jafar (Marwan Kenzari) is onto Aladdin’s plans, and is looking to seize the lamp to fulfill his monstrous ambitions.

While the visuals in the film are no doubt spectacular (the Magic Carpet actually feels like it has a personality), the success of “Aladdin” truly hinges on the performances of Smith, Massoud and Scott, especially considering the huge shoes they are stepping in. Yes, their predecessors were animated characters, but there’s no question Williams in particular set bar so high that audiences simply must settle for the fact that it’s a performance that can’t be topped. Smith, who still has a magnetic presence after all these years, though, is engaging as Genie, and thanks to the aid of some whizbang visuals, he does his best to try to capture the magic brought to the table by Williams and his dizzying improvisational skills.

The only place Smith is really lacking is in the vocal department, as his performances of the classics “Friend Like Me” and “Prince Ali” sound more like sing-talking (not rapping, even that’s his forte), peppered by enough of Ritchie’s visual razzmatazz to distract you from his lack of singing skills.

Fortunately, Massoud and Scott are well up to the task (Scott, in fact, sings professionally), to make the magic carpet ride soar with a memorable version of “A Whole New World.” Massoud and Scott also get new tunes courtesy original composer Alan Menken (who brings “La La Land” Oscar winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul in for the lyrics), with Scott’s being the standout number with the anthem of independence “Speechless.” But as powerful as Scott is with the tune, it just feels too modern and doesn’t fit in with the original songs from the animated movie.

While director Guy Ritchie, who also wrote the second draft of the screenplay after scribe John August, gets an A for effort and the guts to take on such a daunting project, there’s no question “Aladdin” has its share of missteps. Perhaps the biggest is not bringing in an actor as charismatic as Smith to play the famed Disney villain Jafar (the relative unknown Kenzari got the daunting task) , simply because he can’t seem to muster enough presence to feel like a threatening villain. True, the film does take on a dark tone in its third act, but when all you give the bad guy is a set of glowing eyes and shimmering staff, it’s hard to feel like he’s the sort of villain who is looking to upend the world when he gets his hands on the magical lamp.

From a filmmaking standpoint, “Aladdin” seems to fit the bill, that is, unless you’re even vaguely familiar with Ritchie’s work. That’s because for a director who’s largely known for such stylish hits as “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” “Snatch” and the criminally underrated “Rocknrolla,” “Aladdin” may be the most non-Guy Ritchie feature the filmmaker has ever done.

True, there’s a lot of visual pizzazz throughout “Aladdin” (the film is at its best with such show-stopping numbers as “Friend Like Me,” “A Whole New World” and “Prince Ali”), but rarely does it feature the inventive camera work and edits Ritchie is known for. Non-fans of his work likely won’t care, but with only quick flashes of his signature style here and there, fans of Ritchie will be begging for much more of the filmmaker’s cinematic magic.

Lammometer: 7 (out of 10)

Film, Interviews

Interview flashback: Voices of Aladdin, Jasmine recall magic of animated ‘Aladdin,’ Williams

May 19, 2019 Tim Lammers Leave a comment

In celebration of the release of director Guy Ritchie’s live-action version of “Aladdin” this week starring Will Smith, Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott, here’s a look back at 2015 interview I did with the voice stars of 1992 Disney Animation classic for the Diamond Edition of the film on Blu-ray and DVD.

Without question, “Aladdin” voice stars Scott Weinger (Aladdin) and Linda Larkin (Princess Jasmine) are thrilled over how the 1992 classic Disney animated film continues to be discovered and held dear by new generations of viewers.

Still, Weinger told me in a recent phone conversation, some people have been harder to convince than others when it comes to explaining the cultural impact of the movie — a circumstance that fortunately changed at Disney’s D23 fan convention last summer.

“We did an ‘Aladdin’ event that thousands of people showed up for, which was so cool … I also got to take my kid around for rides at Disneyland and he got his first inkling that ‘Dad’s pretty cool,'” Weinger said, laughing. “I was like, ‘I’ve been telling you for the past six years that Dad’s kind of a big deal,’ but he never believed me.”

“Aladdin” makes its Diamond Edition debut as a Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD Combo Pack (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment) Tuesday. In addition to the film, the new release includes never-before-seen Genie (Robin Williams) outtakes, as wells as featurettes, deleted scenes, deleted songs and more.

While Weinger and Larkin are the speaking voices of Aladdin and Jasmine, the singing voices were provided by Broadway veterans Brad Kane and Lea Salonga. Larkin said in a separate phone conversation that she was amazed how Salonga matched her vocal style when recording the film’s Best Original Song Oscar winner, “A Whole New World.”

“I was actually surprised how smooth the transition was because I speaking going into the song and coming out of the song. It is so seamless that the filmmakers almost had me convinced that I sang it,” Larkin said, laughing. “I was like, ‘How did I do that? It was amazing!’ I’m joking, of course, but it was such an incredible match for my speaking voice. Lea’s such an incredible singer. I feel so lucky to have had her to be a part of that with me.”

For those new to the film, Aladdin is an Arabian street urchin who meets and falls in love with Princess Jasmine. Resigned to the fact that their dramatically different backgrounds will forever keep them apart, Aladdin’s fortunes change when he opens a magic lamp that contains a genie (Robin Williams) who will grant him three wishes — that is if the evil sorcerer Jafar (Jonathan Freeman) doesn’t get in their way.

Weinger and Larkin said their good fortunes continued far beyond the film, including opportunities to continue to voice Aladdin and Jasmine in subsequent film, TV and video game projects.

“It’s one of the luckiest things that ever happened to me and I’m so proud of it and fortunate,” Weinger said. “It was a pleasure happening when I was a kid to enjoy the initial success of the film in real-time as it was being introduced to the world, but I would have to say it’s even more fun now, now that it’s entered the pantheon of classic Disney movies.”

While Weinger’s voice is prominent in “Aladdin,” he’s far from taking any sizable credit for the film’s staying power.

“I have no ego about it. I have no illusions that I’m responsible for the success of the movie. That belongs to the magnitude of the people who worked on it, from the animators like Glenn Keane, Mark Henn and Eric Goldberg, and Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, who did the music — and of course, Robin Williams as the genie. For me, I just feel lucky to play a small role in this massive production.”

The Diamond Edition release of “Aladdin” is both joyous and bittersweet for Weinger and Larkin, given the loss of Williams in August 2014. Watching the film now gives it a whole new meaning, they said.

“My wife was saying as much as she enjoys watching it now, it’s hard not to burst into tears thinking he’s no longer with us,” Weinger said. “But at the same time, as sad as it is and as awful for everybody as it was to lose him, it was amazing to see my 6-year-old and his buddies at a screening of the movie last weekend rolling in the aisles. It was amazing to realize that even though he’s gone, he continues to touch people and make them laugh like that. It was incredible to see my kid coming home that day and saying lines from the genie in the movie.”

For Larkin, the actress not only connected with Williams on ‘Aladdin’ and subsequent projects, but also as a member of the theater community.

“We met on the movie and only had one day of recording together — Robin, Scott and I — and it was one of the most special days of my life,” Larkin said, humbly. “He was an incredible to work with, and it was exciting and inspiring. It was everything you’d imagine it would be. I would see Robin every five years. He’d either come up in my life in something we were doing for Disney, or, like in 2011, when he and my husband, Yul, were both doing plays on Broadway around the corner from each other. They were both nominated for Tony Awards, so they were seeing a lot of each other and knew of everything going on in my life because of it.”

It was also the year Larkin was named a Disney Legend, and Williams made sure that she knew how proud of her he was.

“I went to see Robin in his play during a matinee, and I went backstage afterward to see him in-between shows,” Larkin recalled. “He had a lot of time for me and it was really special because he congratulated me on the Legends award, made some jokes about it, of course, gave me a big hug like he always did, and called me ‘Princess.’ It was the last time I ever got to see him, and it’s a really precious memory for me.”

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Category Archives: Film

Movie review: ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’ respectable end to movie mutant saga

Movie review: Elton John musical ‘Rocketman’ rises to the occasion

Movie review: Wishes mostly come true for live-action ‘Aladdin’

Interview flashback: Voices of Aladdin, Jasmine recall magic of animated ‘Aladdin,’ Williams

Original Interviews, Reviews & More By Tim Lammers