Tim joined Tom Barnard and the crew on “The KQ Morning Show” on KQRS-FM Thursday to review the crime drama “21 Bridges.” Click to listen below. Then on Friday, Tim reviewed “21 Bridges” and “Jumanji: The Next Level” with Paul Douglas and Jordana Green on the “Paul and Jordana” show on WCCO-AM. The segments are brought to you by Michael Bryant and Bradshaw & Bryant.
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for “The KQ92 Morning Show” on KQRS-FM, “Paul and Jordana” on WCCO Radio, “It Matters with Kelly Cordes” on WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere, and reviews streaming programming on WCCO Radio’s “Paul and Jordana” as well. On TV, Tim has made hundreds of guest appearances on “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC).
With the “Fast & Furious” franchise seemingly in the rearview mirror, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jason Statham are off roaring to bigger and better things with “Hobbs & Shaw,” an outrageously entertaining spinoff movie featuring the friendly adversaries from the most recent chapters in the Vin Diesel film series.
“Hobbs & Shaw” gives the exact amount of time to Johnson’s Luke Hobbs and Statham’s Deckard Shaw to begin the film by inventively splitting the screen and their scenes in two, where they go about their morning routines, which wildly differ. Eventually, though, the lawman Hobbs’ and the reformed bad guy Shaw’s paths converge, as they’re both asked by their countries’ intelligence services to recover a programmable virus being carried by a lethal MI-6 agent. The stakes are raised when the MI-G agent turns out being Shaw’s estranged sister, Hattie (Vanessa Kirby), and her revelation that he had the virus – protected by capsules – injected into her bloodstream.
Making matters worse, a secret organization hell-bent on winnowing out the weaker of the human species on Earth sends the technologically enhanced super soldier Brixton (Idris Elba) to recover the virus, and Hobbs and Shaw quickly find out that there’s little they can do to stop him. That’s bad news if he gets his hands on the virus, since it will kill millions if it’s unleashed into the world.
AUDIO: Tim reviews “Hobbs and Shaw” with Tom Barnard on “The KQ Morning Show” on KQRS-FM. Segment brought to you by Michael Bryant and Bradshaw & Bryant.
Yes, “Hobbs and Shaw” is chockfull of the same over-the-top action and doomsday scenarios that turned the “Fast & Furious” movies into a multibillion franchise, but instead of being a big, loud and dumb movie franchise that’s lost its sense of humor with its last outing, “Hobbs & Shaw” captures perfectly the chemistry that was clearly evident between Johnson and Statham in the “The Fate of the Furious.” Plus, with “Deadpool 2” director David Leitch at the helm, the film finds a way to balance the excessive crash, boom, bang with several laugh-out-loud funny moments humor throughout, making “Hobbs & Shaw” big loud and smart, and even throwing in a bit of science fiction into the plot, to boot.
Even better, Leitch employed a couple brilliant big star cameos in the film to amp up the funny, even though the film, truthfully, already had enough star power with an impressive Kirby and charismatic Elba in sizable roles, and the always delightful Helen Mirren reprising her kick-ass role from “The Fate of the Furious” as the Shaw family matriarch.
Clearly the brightest stars in “Hobbs & Shaw,” though, are Johnson and Statham, who clearly having a ball throughout the movie (there were no reports of Johnson calling anybody in the film a “candyass,” err, Vin Diesel). Johnson is especially notable because it’s clear he’s in his element, a place he hasn’t been in the underwhelming action pictures “Rampage” and “Skyscraper.” It just goes to show that a performer, once again, is only as good as their script, and even more to their benefit, is a skilled filmmaker like Leitch and a buddy movie partner like Statham.
In comparison to any of the chapters in the franchise that launched it, because of the camaraderie of the cast and clockwork precision of Leitch and his crew of filmmakers, “Hobbs & Shaw” doesn’t even feel like a “Fast & Furious” film. That’s a good thing because honestly, the “Fast” films feel like they’ve become a game of one-upmanship between cast members, and the mandate has been put on the directors to come up with new and more ridiculous ways of topping the action of the film before it.
With “Hobbs & Shaw,” as Leitch has proven before – first as the co-director of “John Wick” and again on “Deadpool 2” – the goal of the movie is to make it as entertaining as possible without taking itself too seriously. And while we already know the characters (even though nothing is lost by not seeing the previous “Fast” movies), “Hobbs & Shaw” in an odd sort of way feels new, refreshing and fun – the way summer popcorn movies should be.
Lammometer: 9 (out of 10)
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for “The KQ92 Morning Show,” WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere. On TV, Tim has made hundreds of guest appearances on “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC).
Whether you’re a wrestling fan or not, you’ll want to dive into the ring for the new comedy drama “Fighting with My Family,” a wonderfully engaging true-life tale about how famed female wrestler Paige got her start in the WWE.
Florence Pugh stars as Saraya, an 18-year-old girl who along with her older brother, Zak (Jack Lowden) and their British working class parents, Ricky (Nick Frost) and Julia (Lena Heady), have been obsessed with professional wrestling their entire lives. Saraya and Zak are so polished in the sport, in fact, that a tape of their wrestling attracts the attention of a coach (Vince Vaughn) with the NXT, which trains potential wrestlers for a shot at the WWE.
But when only Saraya (who changes her name to Paige professionally) is signed by the NXT and jets off to training in Florida while Zak is left behind in the UK, the strained bond with her brother hampers the talented wrestler as she tries to prove herself worthy of the WWE.
Written and directed by Stephen Merchant and produced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – who is magnetic as he plays himself in supporting role – “Fighting with Your Family” has it all, from laughter to heartbreak to lots of wrestling action, and to top it off, an emotionally-charged ending that my very well find you cheering and tearing up at the same time.
Punctuated by footage of the real-life Paige and her family during end credits, “Fighting with My Family” is full of heart and easily one of the best films so far in 2019.
Lammometer: 9 (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.
It’s “Die Hard” meets “The Towering Inferno” in “Skyscraper,” a mindless summer popcorn action thriller that despite its obvious influences is very entertaining.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stars as Will Sawyer a former FBI hostage rescuer-turned-security adviser who is contracted to inspect the tallest skyscraper in the world, a 3,500-foot tower in Hong Kong. However, just as the state-of-the-art top half of the skyscraper is about to open to the public, terrorists set the 90th floor on fire, and since they’ve highjacked the security system and fire safety mechanism, the blaze is spreading upward. That’s a big concern to Sawyer, since his wife (Neve Campbell) and two kids are on the 98th floor.
AUDIO: Click above to listen to Tim’s review of “Skyscraper” with Tom Barnard on “The KQ Morning Show.”
The action scenes in “Skyscraper” are over-the-top ridiculous (in one scene he leaps from a construction crane to a broken window in the tower while 100 stories up), but who cares? The movie is intense, the special effects are spectacular (those with fear of heights might get queasy) and the always likable Johnson is exactly the sort of action hero needed for the role.
AUDIO: Click here to listen to Tim’s review of “Skyscraper” with Paul Douglas on WCCO-AM Radio (segment begins 8:30 in)
Sure, The Rock doesn’t measure up to the “King of Cool” himself, Steve McQueen, from “The Towering Inferno” nor does he have the snappy one-liners Bruce Willis made classic in “Die Hard” (Yippie Kay ki ya mother f … anyone?), but he certainly gets resourceful like Willis’ John McLean does by putting duct tape and other items (his prosthetic leg) to good use. All told, “Skyscraper,” is just a fun summer romp.
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.
