Beauties, Beasts, Bond, and Jack Black: November Film Reviews

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Goosebumps, Rated PG

Movies based off of beloved novels are subject to be littered by formulaic story elements or wrongfully casted actors.  But for Goosebumps, the movie doesn’t disregard it’s highly celebrated source material.  Rather, it thrives off of every creature feature by author R.L Stine’s design, while still introducing a fresh and engaging adventure from the start.  The film follows three kids led by R.L Stine in their quest to capture every one of Stine’s released creations before their town is confined into an eternal Halloween nightmare.  Fans of the series are certain to take pleasure in references, cameos, and even a story structure that flows much in the style of the novels and television episodes; both of which exhibit quirky catastrophes taken on by generically named fourteen year olds.  Even if viewers aren’t familiar with Goosebumps, Jack Black’s eccentric performance is enough to earn credible laughs, nearly upstaging the monsters of R.L Stine’s universe themselves.  As an interesting side note, Black also voices the antagonistic talking mannequin named Slappy; another spotlight stealing menace.

 

Sicario, Rated R

An FBI agent joins forces fighting against drug cartels along the Mexican border by means too mysterious for her idealistic beliefs to tolerate; leaving her to question her faith in the men she surrounds herself by.  Sicario assembles a powerhouse cast that brings out ground breaking performances to date.  Emily Blunt carries a face that undergoes pain, frustration, and relief all in quick flashes; Josh Brolin drives in tone shifting scenes of elegant nuance; and Benicio del Toro, the silent phenomenon, does wonders with the few lines he’s given to create an iconic character.  But the complexity of such performances rely on the writing; a story rich with authenticity.  The scare factor too doesn’t rely on bullets or gore, but the utter truths exposed by the film.  Expect beautiful images of pink skylines that clash with shots of soldiers firing into dark catacombs.  Expect a story that leaves other films of the war on drugs genre looking silly and childish.  And overall, expect all idealism to be crushed by imagery that speaks louder than words.

 

Descendants, Rated G

The second generation of Disney villains, including the offspring of Maleficent, Cruella de Vil, and Jafar, are given a chance to redeem themselves at a prep school of princes and princesses in this Disney Channel original feature, Descendants.  The film boasts of its impressive production value, yet this shouldn’t distract viewers from the authentic performances given by an array of talented actors, largely due in fact to their reluctance to be real at times within the framework of a fairytale.  Kenny Ortega, the creator of High School Musical, directs this disney-fied story, not in a sense that it is chopped up by spectacle or cheesy dialogue, but that the story cleverly implements an identity-based allegory with this concept; that individuals can pursue their dreams no matter what their backstories suggest.  Even if the lesson is muddled by the flashy set pieces, dubstep-esque dance routines, and costume designs sure to appear in Disney stores, Descendants keeps one foot in the modern times and the other in Disney’s golden age to create a pleasant loss of 122 minutes for those able to tolerate at least an a capella rendition of ‘Be Our Guest’.

 

Spectre, Rated PG-13

The 24th addition to the James Bond franchise introduces the roguish spy on a hunt to expose the evils of a secret organization known as Spectre.  Unlike the success of it’s predecessor Skyfall, which explored inventive ways of invigorating a fifty-year old antiquity, Spectre retreats from such ambitious ventures and relies on references to carry on a plot that acts like a game of Candyland; one location to the next with a hovering establishing shot set in between.  It is the writing that does the movie a disgrace on behalf of a stellar cast and director Sam Mendes.  Even Palme d’Or awarded Léa Seydoux and two-time Oscar winning Christoph Waltz are confined to 007 stereotypes; a formulaic script depriving these actors of their talent.  There is much that Spectre falls flat on as well: less dazzling cinematography, strange music cues, and a few silly stunts. But before becoming hypercritical, the film will still delight die-hard fans and action thirsty fanatics alike, even if it is no Skyfall.