masonfisk

Currently in theaters is the latest from the Mouse House & the MCU. Essentially it's the story where the Four (Pedro Pascal, Oscar nominee Vanessa Kirby, The Bear's Ebon-Moss Bachrach & Stranger Things' Joseph Quinn) meets Galactus (Ralph Ineson). It's an alternate Earth & presumably the 1960's (the decade where the characters were created) & the team is the toast of the town who have been in action for a few years so when Ineson's herald (played by Julia Garner in a gender swap from her male counterpart intro'd in the comic but ironically is playing his beloved) comes a-calling on her cosmic surfboard stating Ineson is on his way to consume the planet so make peace w/whatever God you hold dear before he arrives. W/a few weeks before this occurs a plot gun is put on Pascal to come up w/a plan (which he does w/a meet first effort to head off Ineson via spaceship which doesn't go well coupled w/Kirby giving birth on the return trip) before a master plan to transpo Ineson using a constructed portal gets underway when his giant steps shake the city. Good but not great w/anyone who knows the story (I read the comic storyline & watched the animated version of the tale from the 60's cartoon) will sit there & check the boxes plotwise as the story ticks down (something people who know 1984's Dune or have read the books felt about the recent reboots) which also gets undone a bit since Pixar's The Incredibles (essentially a Fantastic Four pastiche) got the retro look under its belt before this live action cousin landed.

Jet Li stars in this Shaw Brothers film from 1986. Li is a monk who's diligently studying his craft only causing a fuss on occasion (he secretly kills a snake, cooks it & stuffs the meat into his brothers' hot buns to eat) but when he hears the new ruler, who killed his family, is about to have a lavish, public gala as a celebration, he jumps (backflips?) at the chance to get his revenge even disguising himself as the head of a ceremonial parade animal. What he doesn't count on is a couple of freedom fighters, a man & a woman, have gotten the same idea & also attack. They fail & in the ensuing melee they scurry into the wilderness donning guises as they stay afoul of soldiers to hopefully get another chance at vengeance (which they do on an imperial barge) at film's end. Great to see an early Li performance as directed by Lau Kar-Leung who uses Li's physical dexterity & speed to great effect w/the gorgeous vistas of the countryside & even the Forbidden City to bolster the production value. A little too much hilarity mars an otherwise solid actioner but if that's your cup of tea, sip it.

The seventh film in the series still playing in theaters. Using 1993, the year the first film came out, as a point in history, we're 32 years into a planet where dinosaurs have been commonplace (the ones north of the equator have died off due to the lack of rich oxygen missing in our quadrant w/what dinos remaining existing in areas replete in O2) which sets up our tale where a corporate type, Rupert Friend, needs 3 samples from dinos which may spur medical breakthroughs. Friend secures Oscar nominee Scarlet Johannson's services (she's a professional go-getter) who corrals a small group to travel via boat, captained by Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, to head to an island where the initial dino experiments occurred. Also along for the mayhem is a travelling family, led by Lincoln Lawyer's Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, who gets caught up after some beasts upend their boat leaving both parties to achieve their goals while the dinos have their own say about it. Vastly improving over the last 2 entries, which felt like CGI showcases w/stories draped over them, you have a strong director, Gareth Edwards (Rogue One/Monsters) working w/returning scripter David Koepp (who penned the first 2 Parks), leaving the film to move & click away like it should keeping the basic ingredients in place for this adventure to be as successful as it is which begs the question for the eventual follow-up, what's next?