Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw doubles down on the silly stupidity that made its predecessors so memorable, while playing some of the franchise’s corniest and most groan worthy dramatic impulses for intentional laughs instead of the unintended sort.
Dwayne Johnson
The Chinese set (but predominantly filmed in British Columbia) action blockbuster Skyscraper wants to be an old school, high concept romp designed to blow audiences through the back of the theatre at every turn.
Out now on Blu-ray, reviewing four new releases: Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Pitch Perfect 3, and Justice League.
Much like the original film from 1995, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a likable enough, but instantly forgettable bit of blockbuster entertainment that’s fun in the moment and leaves no lasting impact other than good will towards a talented cast.
I quite like almost all of the other films in the meatheaded Fast and the Furious franchise, but it pains me to say that for the first time since the fourth entry in the series tried to take things in a new direction, the series eight installment, The Fate of the Furious, left me completely bored throughout much of its running time. It also left me baffled and more than a little upset that such a fun and goofy series about the “importance of family” and “living life a quarter mile at a time” would suddenly forget everything that made these likably silly bits of entertaining in the first place and instead doubles down on the kind of nasty disaster porn and sadism that’s more evocative of a Transformers film than a Fast and the Furious film.
Disney’s Moana sets sail on Blu-ray next Tuesday, March 7, and The GATE is giving away three copies to get fans inspired to sing and and dance along with Moana and Maui.
Full disclosure–I am a huge fan of the disaster epic genre and always have been, so when I saw early trailer footage for San Andreas I was a bit excited but it looked like the real deal. And it is.
New releases this week on Blu-ray and DVD: The Lion King debuts on Blu-ray for the first time; Neve Campbell stars in the horror sequel Scream 4; Vin Diesel and Paul Walker push the pedal to the metal one more time in Fast Five; plus a look at Beauty and the Beast: Diamond Edition and African Cats.
Opening in theatres this week: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster take driving to extremes in the action extravaganza Fast Five; a group of teenagers deal with the drama of their last high school dance in Prom; plus a look at the animated sequel, Hoodwinked Too: Hood vs. Evil.
Opening this week at a theatre near you: Christina Aguilera and Cher star in the musical, Burlesque; Disney debuts their latest animated comedy, Tangled, starring Mandy Moore; Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal fall for each other in Love and Other Drugs; and a look at Faster, starring Dwayne Johnson.