MISSION: IMPOSIBLE - ROGUE NATION

GRADE: A

Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris 
and Alec Baldwin
Story by Drew Pearce and Christopher McQuarrie
Screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie
Rated PG-13 (violence, profanity, brief partial nudity)

Yeah. We know. You don't like Tom Cruise because he's . . . Well, because he's Tom Cruise. But the fact remains that however much that may be true, it still doesn't change the fact that he's Tom Cruise.

In other words, forget about his personal life; as an action star and as a producer, the guy really delivers. Cruise is the modern day Erroll Flynn, and in an age when it's a novelty to even have stunt men doing action instead of just using C.G.I., it is a huge breath of fresh air to see a movie where the star isn't putting on a mask and quite literally becoming a cartoon.  The Mission: Impossible series continues to make us grateful on some level that Cruise is crazy, because as Ethan Hunt, he pushes himself beyond limits that today's breed of action stars wouldn't even dare to approach, and he's been doing it for nearly 20 years.

This time around, Ethan is tracking a mysterious organization known only as "The Syndicate," and it's pretty much the deadliest and most secret covert organization in existence. So covert, in fact,

that many people in the intelligence community question its existence, including the CIA's director, Alan Hunley (played by Alec Baldwin), who goes before a Senate sub-committee arguing that despite the eventual defeat of the viliains in the last film, the collateral damage was simply too high, and that the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) is an outdated and out of control entity that has no place in the modern, transparent world of international relations, and needs to be dissolved into the Central Intelligence Agency. Despite the protestations of William Brandt (Jeremy Renner), Hunley gets his way, and Brandt is told that it is time for Ethan Hunt to come in from the cold.

It goes without saying that Ethan, whose status changes from America's most trusted agent to public enemy number one so often that, if he did have a Facebook profile, it would read "Ethan Hunt is 'In A Relationship' with 'United States Government' and 'It's Complicated,'" fails to comply and heads out to bring down the Syndicate on his own. It also goes without saying that Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and, thank the maker, Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) are included in anything that Ethan does on his own. And of course, it really goes without saying that somewhere along the line, a beautiful woman is thrown into the mix (this time played by Rebecca Ferguson.).

The third film in the franchise to be produced through J.J. Abrahms' Bad Robot production company, Rogue Nation doesn't provide as many laughs as Ghost Protocol or the wonderful character moments and human drama that Mission: Impossible III gave us, but it does succeed at serving up one element that those two films failed to deliver: namely, a plot. An actual, coherent plot that plays out from beginning to end, makes sense and which you, the viewer, could actually explain as long as you were paying attention. Writer/Director Christopher McQuarrie fills the movie with twists and turns, some of which are genuinely unexpected, reminding us that he is, after all, the writer of The Usual Suspects. McQuarrie seems to have replaced Robert Towne as Cruise's go to writer, this being their fourth collaboration after two genuinely great films that unfortunately failed to find audiences, Valkyrie and Edge of Tomorrow, and Jack Reacher, which unfortunately sounds like a device that an amputee uses to pleasure himself, but was nowhere near that interesting. But McQuarrie really shines as a director here showing a knack for creative staging and creating a moody, almost film noir atmosphere.

Cruise the action hero is without a current peer in this kind of film. His agile physicality allows him to leap and climb around in ways most actions stars can't even convincingly do with special effects, and his charismatic presence and genuine acting talent complete the package.  Though most of the supporting cats isn't given a lot to do, relative newcomer rebecca Ferguson makes quite an impression as her character, ilsa Faust, proves to be an equal to Ethan every step of the way.  We kept waiting for her to turn into the hellpess female who needs to be saved or swoons over Ethan's charms, but thankfully those moments never came, and most of the best fight scenes belong to her.

While it is unfortunate that Renner is literally not given a single action scene, his impeccable sense of comic timing is a big plus, and he and Baldwin play very well off each other, and it's kind of nice to see Pegg getting some more serious moments. Rhames is clearly just happy to be in the film at all after being relegated to a cameo in the previous installment, but he's a welcome presence, and Sean Harris makes for a creepy, if not terribly nuanced villain.

The bottom line: if you're genuinely not a fan of the franchise, this isn't likely to win you over, but in a ridiculously C.G.I. heavy summer, this movie isn't just welcome, it was genuinely needed, and we really hope it's a big enough hit to warrant at least one more mission before Cruise and Hunt ride off into the sunset together, having truly done the impossible.

Reviewed by Patrick Gibbs and Paul Gibbs

PIXELS

GRADE: D 
Starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan, Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad, Brian Cox, Ashley Benson, Jane Krakowski
Story by Tim Herlihy
Screenplay by Tim Herlihy and Timothy Dowling
Directed by Chris Columbus 
Rated PG-13 (mild profanity, vulgarity, innuendo and video game violence) 

 Reviewed by Patrick Gibbs and Paul Gibbs


Anyone going into a movie about classic video games brought to life in the real world starring Adam Sandler and produced by his production company, Happy Madison, is likely either expecting something truly terrible or holding out hopes that it will defy the odds and that director Chris Columbus, whose career averages out to more misses than hits but has made some slick, entertaining films, will deliver a guilty pleasure summer blockbuster than is silly but fun.

Pixels is ultimately neither as good or as bad as in could be delivering some enjoyable sequences but making a steady stream of bad decisions (when it's not being too lazy to make decisions at all.). The movie obviously wants to be a modern Ghostbusters, and the premise genuinely lent itself to a film that flirts with that potential but falls short and pales in comparison. But being a Happy Madison Production, it doesn't even reach the point of deserving the comparison.

In 1982,  young Sam Brenner is competing in the world video games championships, with his best  friend Will Cooper by his side, and the two meet and makes friends with an extremely nerdy kid named Ludlow Lamansoff. Brenner makes it to the last round, but is ultimately defeated by the cocky but diminutive reigning champion Eddie Plant, AKA "The Fireblaster." As the event begins, the MC, (Dan Aykroyd) announces that footage of the event will be included in a time capsule that NASA is launching  into space, containing images and footage of Earth life and culture.

Flash forward to present day, and Brenner (Adam Sandler) is working a dead end job installing and repairing electronics, while his best friend the loser fat kid Will (Kevin James) is, of course, President of the United States (with literally no explanation as to how or why.). In fact, the only vague clue we get to anything regarding his political career is that he must be a Democrat, because he is seen being ridiculed on FOX News (he is ridiculed by the whole nation because he is viewed as an ineffectual oaf who makes a fool of himself, but realistically he would only be portrayed that way by FOX if he was a Democrat.).
  

The President's leadership is put to the test when aliens, who discovered the video-feeds of classic arcade games, but misinterpreted them as a declaration of war, attack the Earth using the games as models for their various assaults. Naturally, the Commander-In-Chief enlists the aid of of his friend the former almost champion to figure out how to fight this invasion, and before long, Ludlow (Josh Gad, best known as the voice of Olaf in Frozen) is assisting, and they even enlist the aid of Brenner's former nemesis, The Fireblaster (Peter Dinklage), who is serving time in prison for computer hacking.

On the bright side, all of the classics, from Pac-Man to Donkey Kong, are brought to life. On the down side, everything else is completely lifeless. The movie is filled with plot holes that make Terminator: Genysis look coherent, and in tone it resembles Cannonball Run moreso than Ghostbusters, with Sandler enlisting his friends and various Hollywood stars in what is often quite literally more a party than a movie, as "The President of Queens" throws a giant party after every victory and Brian Cox as a surly General seems ready to scream "Animal HOOOOOUSE!" and pound his fist on something constantly.

The best moments in the film are the video game battles, and the Pac-Man one in particular is quite fun, But the performances range from passable to just annoying, with the only exceptions being Michelle Monaghan as a Military Tech specialist and unconvincing love interest for Sandler. Monaghan seems to be having fun and as such is fun to watch,  as is young Matt Lintz as her son.  s.  Surprisingly, the most annoying performances come from the best actors, such as Dinklage and Cox, and Sean Bean in a cameo, all chewing the scenery and being as over the top as possible, though in fairness to them it's clearly what the producer and director want from them. Sandler seems a little bored but is at least doing his sarcastic regular guy shtick, which is preferable to his "It's funny when I talk baby talk" shtick, and it's a fairly effective comic leading man turn. James is usual endearingly goofy blue collar every man high school dropout self, but what sense does that make when he's playing the President (and before you make the comparison, George W. Bush was not endearing). Gad is putting in a lot more effort, but much of the time his character is simply too obnoxious. The most likable major character is Qbert, the inconic video game character, who is awarded to our heroes as a "trophy" for one of their victories. Making Qbert the "Slimer" equivalent is easily the best choice made by the filmmakers, but unfortunately the character's ultimate fate manages to be one of the worst choices in a major movie in a long time.

At its best, Pixels has nostalgia appeal for those of us who remember the old Atari games from childhood, and its often a pleasant enough diversion. Even if more gags are missing than hitting, the number that are truly cringe-worthy is thankfully low (though QBert voiding his bladder in fear and a running gag involve Dinklage wanting to have a threesome with Martha Stewart and Serena Williams definitely count.).  But it's hard to give it too much credit for this when nothing about the story seems to hold together. Yes, this is a light comedy with a silly subject, and not meant to be taken seriously, but that doesn't excuse the laziness of the plotting. It's not asking too much to simply go two or three minutes without a head-scratching "Huh?" moment. Of course a film about aliens using video games to invade Earth isn't going to makes sense on a real world level, but this film makes no real effort to even make sense within its own goofy, fictional confines. Why does Monaghan's military character suddenly seem to know so much about video games? Oh, don't worry about it. If she's such a video game expert, why do they even need Sandler's character?  How do they not only plan for every possible video game the aliens could throw at them but have the complicated machinery in place in whatever city the aliens happen to choose with never more than a day's notice? Oh, don't worry about it. Why are they stopping over and over again to throw big parties that involve heavy drinking when they don't know when the next attack is coming? Oh, don't worry about? Seriously, who voted for Kevin James as President? At some point we have to worry about it because there's a new one of these logic lapses every five minutes or less.  Ghostbusters created a mythology that worked, and it was uproariously funny. Pixels doesn't reach either of these goals.

The majority of the blame lies with Sandler and his company for their hubris and continued refusal to try to make good movies, instead taking great pride in the idea that nobody does deliberately stupid and immature like they do, and that their core audience loves that. And they do, or at least did, but it's starting to wear thin even with that crowd, and for this movie they needed to reach for a wider demographic.

The fun of seeing these video games played out on a large scale may be enough to make Pixels worth watching for some audiences. That is fun, and sometimes how its done even comes close to being clever. But overall, it's a movie for 12 year-olds to see at the dollar theater on a Saturday as part of double feature, but is decidedly the lesser of the two (it doesn't matter what the other one is.).

SOUTHPAW

GRADE: B
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Forrest Whittaker, Rachel McAdams, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson and Oona Laurence
Written by Kurt Sutter
Directed by Antoine Fuqua
Rated R (violence, profanity)
Reviewed by Paul Gibbs and Patrick Gibbs

No genre is more bound by the rules of formula and convention than the sports movie, and the boxing movie may be the most of all. It's the perfect movie sport: there is a clear, singular protagonist literally fighting against an opponent. The rules are easy enough for anyone to follow, and the stakes and intensity are immediate and high.

Rocky set the standard for the modern boxing film, and then Raging Bull set the standard even higher. While tonal;y most films of the genre are owe more to Stallone and John G. Avildsen, if you watch the first two Rocky movies back to back you will see how much even Stallone owes to Martin Scorsese, as Rocky II's fight sequences are much more brutal and realistic, combing visual techniques, sound effects and bodily fluids to make the fight more intense and violent.  Director Antoine Fuqua, fresh off arguably the best film of his career with last summer's The Equalizer, is to some extent trying to make both movies here, which is to say that he's making a Rocky sequel formula redemption in the ring movie with R-Rated, Raging Bull grittiness and sensibilities, which can be an uneven mix at times. The movie bobs and weaves between the harshness of reality and the kind of silly moments that only happen in the movies (has a young, unestablished challenger EVER actually shown up to a press conference to goad the reigning champ into giving him a shot in real life?), but ultimately Fuqua and his cast do both well enough that the contrivances and lack of trying to be groundbreaking are largely forgivable.

Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Billy Hope, the Rocky/Raging Bull duality of the film: it's outrageous enough to rival Apollo Creed's death at the hands of Ivan Drago, but the gritty intensity of the sequence is palpable and involving. Soon, Billy's finances fall apart and his fitness as a parent is called into question, separating him from Leila. Billy goes to a down and out trainer named Tick Wills (Forrest Whittaker) to train to get back his title, become a better person and be reunited with Leila.

All of this is so formulaic that it's downright insulting to the audience's intelligence, yet the movie works because of Fuqua's strong direction and especially the uniformly strong performances from a great cast. Gyllenhaal and McAdams seem to struggle briefly with the sloppy diction of their Beverly Hoodbilly characters, but quickly settle inot and give the movie everything they've got and then some. For McAdams this gives a chance to show a versatility which has seemed to elude the talented actress in the past, and for Gyllenhaal it's a potent and multi-layered performance that drives the entire film. Whittaker gives the film a needed sense of soul, and young Oona Laurence feels so authentic in her emotions that it sometimes makes moments of the film hard to watch. Fuqua's direction also ranks among his most accomplished, both visually and dramatically. His career has been inconsistent but he seems to finally be settling into his own creative voice, and to knowing what exactly constitutes an Antoine Fuqua film.

In the end, how much you enjoy Southpaw will depend on your tolerance both for harsh content and cliched formula. The second cuts into the ability for some to enjoy it, and the first keeps it from being a great film. But for fans of quality acting, and those who can get sucked into the excitement of a formula boxing film, there is much to enjoy here.

MR. HOLMES

GRADE: A
Starring Ian McKellan, Laura Linney, Milo Parker, Hattie Morahan
Screenplay by Jeffrey Hatcher
Based on the Novel A Slight Trick of the Mind
by Mitch Cullin

Based on Characters 
Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Directed by Bill Condon
Rated PG (thematic elements, some disturbing images and incidental smoking)

Reviewed by Paul and Patrick Gibbs

Beginning with the 2009 Robert Downey,Jr and Jude Law film, and taken to the next level by the BBC TV series Sherlock (which made a star out of Benedict Cuberbatch) and its American counterpart Elementary, Sherlock Holmes is experiencing a definite popular resurgence. And since the character and most of his adventures are in the public domain, that means a continually increasing number of spin-offs and reimaginings. Mr. Holmes has two things to set it apart from all of the other recent versions: It has a low key, classically British style which evokes the original material to a degree far greater than any of the others, and it stars the incomparable Ian McKellan as Holmes.

The film (based on Mitch Cullin's 2005

novel) takes place in 1947, as a 93-year old Holmes lives out his remaining years in retirement in a small country home, keeping bees. Holmes has a live in housekeeper, Mrs. Munro (Laura Linney), who has a young son named Roger (Milo Parker). Roger is understandably fascinated to have access to an actual living legend, though his mother is far less enamored of the famous detective and is put off by his arrogant and aloof manner (which has not lessened with age). This creates a degree of friction between the bright young boy and his uneducated mother, who wants to leave Holmes employ. Meanwhile, Holmes himself enjoys Roger's company, and even allows the boy to read his work in progress: a memoir of his final case, a failure which lead him out of the profession. Due to the effects of age, Holmes' memory is beginning to fail, and most of the details of the case (which plays out in flashbacks) elude him.

McKellan's performance is obviously the selling point of the film, and he ranks among the finest actors ever to play the role. Some surprisingly effective make up both ages the actor and greatly increases his resemblance to the iconic consulting detective, and as an actor, he's at the top of his game, doing work which easily deserves an Oscar nomination. At the risk of sending an army of angry Cumberbatch fans after us, we'd have to call this our favorite of the recent portrayals. For one, there is an undeniable appeal and wonderful sense of tragedy to watching one of the greatest fictional minds of all time struggle with simple matters of memory and comprehension, and while the new found thoughtfulness and compassion displayed by the character will be off-putting to a section of Sherlockians, especially at a time when his narcissistic nature is so widely celebrated by fans (and perhaps all too revered as a lovable characteristic for so many of our pop culture characters), we found it to be a faithful rendition of the character, which simply delved into new aspects of his personality. You may not like seeing a Holmes who cares about more than his own ego, but we found it refreshing and believable, and it is important to note that we are never wrong.

This is a stage of Holmes' life we've never seen before, and it was perfectly convincing to us that as his intellect declined he'd turn to his emotions in new ways, and it is joyous to see that an introspective sense of compassion is portrayed not as a weakness, but a previously undiscovered strength. And while it's McKellan's show all the way, he's more than ably supported by Linney and Parker. Linney's affected accent takes some getting used to, but it's yet another great performance from one of our most underappreciated actresses. And for Parker to hold his own with these two is quite an accomplishment for a child actor. His work here is sensitive, assured and genuine.

Director Bill Condon puts the two parts of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn behind him and returns to a much more low key and respectable type of filmmaking. The pace may feel slow for some if they know the character from the stylish and often in your face Downey and Cumberbatch versions (which we love, by the way, don't misunderstand), but for us it evoked what we consider the definitive screen Holmes: the 1980s Granada Television series which starred Jeremy Brett. This was a large part of why the film had us so completely under its spell, transporting us back to being 11 year-olds sitting in front of the TV on Thursday night at 8pm watching Mystery on PBS. And for fans of the 1985 cult classic Young Sherlock Holmes, it's an absolute joy to see young Holmes himself, Nicholas Rowe, finally play the adult version of the famous detective (or at least an actor playing him) in a film viewed by McKellan's Holmes.

Fans of the new versions will need to remember that is old school Holmes, though in it's own way it is more bold and daring even than Sherlock, and as such, Sherlockian purists will need to remember this is a "what if?" and decidedly not canonical, authentic Doyle. But for those of us somewhere in between, Mr. Holmes is a true delight, and a welcome change of pace among the loud films of summer. This PG rated film contains little to nothing most would find offensive, but there are some very heavy and intense dramatic moments and themes.

ANT-MAN

GRADE: A
Starring Paul Rudd, Evan Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Canavale, Michael Pena and Michael Douglas 
Screenplay by Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish and Adam McKay and Paul Rudd
Directed by Peyton Reed

Rated PG-13 (violence, profanity, mild sexual references)

Reviewed by Paul and Patrick Gibbs

Ant-Man is the biggest question mark Marvel Studios has seen in quite some time. It's a character with low mainstream marquee value or recognition, the behind the scenes controversy over the departure of  writer/director Edgar Wright created bad publicity, and the fact that Avengers: Age of Ultron didn't receive quite the ecstatic reception expected (having to settle for a meager $455 million domestic and the number 8 spot on the all-time blockbuster list) have lead to questions of whether maybe the Marvel brand is starting to lose its luster, and whether perhaps superhero mania may be nearly played out. It remains to be seen whether this is true at the box office, but in terms of quality, Ant-Man surprises by not only being another solid entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but being a breath of fresh air just when the MCU really needs one, much in the same way that the original Thor and Guardians of the Galaxy managed to do so.


The story begins in 1989, when scientist Hank Pym (played by a digitally de-aged Michael Douglas) angrily severs his ties to S.H.I.E.L.D., and especially to tech billionaire Howard Stark (played by a slightly aged John Slattery, who played Stark in the Iron Man 2 flashbacks). We then jump forward to the present day, when cat burglar Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is being released from prison and hoping to reconnect with his young daughter, Cassie. But it's hard out there for an ex-con, and Scott soon finds that his ex-wife (Judy Greer) and her new husband (Bobby Canavale) don't want him seeing his daughter until he's gotten an honest job and proven he's reformed. But Scott's record keeps disqualifying him from honest jobs. Soon, Scott crosses paths with now much older Hank Pym (played by the current version of Michael Douglas) and Pym's daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly), and is recruited to don the supersuit of Ant-Man, Pym's former superhero identity, who could shrink down to an almost microscopic size and communicate with ants.

Instead of being a large scale save the world spectacular, Ant-Man is, appropriately enough, smaller than the Marvel films that have come before it. It's also much lighter in tone, playing like a cross between a Ghostbusters or Men in Black style special effects comedy and an Ocean's Eleven style heist caper, and the approach works. But even more so than comedy, it's the sense of heart that makes it click, and while this may not sound like a good thing, at times Ant-Man has the tone of a feel good Christmas movie. Like Iron Man,  Thor and Captain America before it, Ant-Man has a distinct charm and identity of its own, which is rather surprising considering the mammoth universe in which it takes place. A lot of the credit goes to the cast, particularly Rudd, who has enough charm and presence to carry the film with ease, and Douglas, who adds a sense of dignity, class and weight to the proceedings. But the script is briskly paced and solidly entertaining (it's impossible to know how much of it comes from the legendary original Edgar Wright draft and how much is retooling by Marvel and new writers Rudd and Adam McKay), Peyton Reed's direction, while not as stylized as Wright's would have been, hits the mark.  Reed's largely generic previous filmography (Bring It On, Down With Love, Yes Man) didn't exactly get fans excited, but he ably paces the film and makes good choices with the effects and action (starting with a 1:85 aspect ratio, which allows the world around the shrunken Ant-Man to appear enormous, especially in 3D IMAX). While the villain is typically uninteresting for a Marvel heavy who isn't named Loki, and Evangeline Lily's presence is slightly problematic between her ridiculous hairdo and the mere fact that her presence causes unpleasant reminders that Real Steel is  still out there sonewhere, lurking in the shadows, and her sparring scenes with Rudd and his stuntmen, though executed with great energy, are not helped by the IMAX in that it is painfully obvious when she is tossing him around who is really doing most of the work. Still, she has strong moments and is an overall welcome element.  On the whole, this manages to be one of the better all around stories Marvel has told, and the movie takes the time to focus more on story and character than on razzle-dazzle, making the third act action set pieces all the more fun when they do arrive.

Ant-Man may not be the best film Marvel has ever made, but it stands alongside Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier as one of the highlights of Phase Two, and amazes by being arguably more satisfying than its more hyped summer sibling Age of Ultron. Even with with the extent to which Marvel's over saturation of film and television has left it hard to find a new entry to be inherently special or exciting, it manages to remind us that Marvel reached its level of popularity not simply by trading on big name properties, but by making films that are entertaining and accessible to fans and non-fans alike. There likely will come a day when Marvel feels like it's running on fumes and can't give us something that feels new anymore. but happily Ant-Man doesn't signal that day. It shows us the formula can be stretched to accommodate a movie that's a little different from what we're used to but still gives us what we want. and it shows a studio wise enough to know when that was needed. Ant-Man is another winner (and Marvel fans should take note that while the after the credits stinger will be lost on those few people on the audience that haven't kept up on the MCU, and does not involve Spider-Man, it's more than worth sticking around for and left us cheering.)

MINIONS

GRADE: C
Starring Pierre Coffin, Sandra Bullock, Michael Keaton, Jon Hamm, Allison Janney
Written by Bryan Lynch
Directed by Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin
Rated PG (mild rude humor)

Reviewed by Paul & Patrick Gibbs

Remember all of those TV sitcom spin-offs from the 1970s,  '80s '90s?  Remember how, most of the time our favorite sidekick characters that stole the show didn't really work when carrying the burden on their own?  That's how Minions feels. The alternately funny, lovable and annoying characters from Despicable Me are now called on to star in a film without Steve Carell's Gru, and while they still sometimes manage to be funny and lovable, they also have their irritating moments. There may be times when you find yourself thinking that this is how Star Wars Anthology: The Legend of Jar Jar Binks would play.

The plot offers a fairly amusing but not particularly necessary origin story for the Twinkie shaped heroes, who since the beginning of time have searched for someone to call their master. After several failures, the three most prominent Minions, Kevin, Stuart and Bob, set off to ave the tribe by finding someone "despicable" enough to lead them. Soon they become aware of an event called Villain Con, where diabolical flavor of the month Scarlet Overkill (voiced by Sandra Bullock) will make her public debut. Scarlet seems to be exactly what they're looking for, but if she were the first two Despicable Me movies would have turned out a lot different.

While the Minions are better suited to playing supporting rather lead roles and definitely have moments where they test your patients to an extreme, they're still the best part of the movie. At their best their both funny and lovable, and have an anarchic sensibility which evokes the Animaniacs or even the Marx Brothers. And in a few spots they even have a surprising amount of heart.  The real problem is, while some strong human characters are badly needed to balance things out (because you really do get sick of "bedo" and other gibberish words being the only dialogue you hear after a while), the human characters in this film are appallingly unfunny. This despite the talents of Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton and plenty of others. Every moment centering on the humans is a bit of a chore to sit through. And while there were plenty of laughs from the audience of children, there were also stretches where the seemed bored. Still, overall they will likely have fun, and if you're part of the crowd that unreservedly loves the little yellow goofballs, you'll probably will as well.

Minions suffers from comparison to the exquisite Inside Out, its main competition for the family audience.  But its core audience will likely have a good time, but the real mistake here is that any theater screening it should sell Twinkies at the concession stand. "I could go for a Twinkie" is likely to be the most frequently recurring thought. This is really a film for children or hardcore Minion fans. If you don't fall into either category you may be sporadically entertained, but you're likely to get bored. Like The Penguins of Madagascar, Minions demonstrates that the ability to steal scenes is a a very different thing from the ability to carry a movie.

TERMINATOR GENYSIS

GRADE: C+
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jai Courtney, Emilia Clarke, Jason Clarke, JK Simmons, Matthew Smith
Screenplay by Laeta Kalogridis & Patrick Lussier
Directed by Allan Taylor
Rated PG-13 (violence, profanity, sort of almost borderline nudity but you don't see anything)
Reviewed by Paul and Patrick Gibbs

Say what you will about story and dialogue issues in Jurassic World, that movie has overwhelmingly succeeded at  reinvigorating an old franchise and getting its fans excited. The reason it worked is less because of any brilliance to the new story than because it captures the authentic feel of the franchise. Above all this is because its director, Colin Trevorrow, approached it with a love of Spielberg's 1993 film that permeates through every frame and stirs the same feelings from the fans. By contrast, Terminator Genyisis is a sequel/reboot that feels dispassionate, playing like a business move rather than the result of any genuine love of the material or creative inspiration.

Largely ignoring Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and completely ignoring Terminator Salvation, Genysis begins with yet another portrayal of judgement day, the time in the not so distant future when the Skynet defense system wipes out civilization and begins a war between humans and machines. We see the story of resistance leader John Connor (now played by Jason Clarke rather than Nick Stahl or Christian Bale or Thomas Dekker or Edward Furlong or whoever) defeating Skynet, then the machines pulling the desperate ploy of sending the T-800 Terminator (now played by a CGI Arnold Shwarzenegger rather than an organic Arnold Shwarzenegger) back in time to kill Connor's mother Sarah before John Connor is born. As before, Connor sends his trusted lieutenant Kyle Reese (now played by big and buff Jai Courtney instead of thin and vaguely creepy Michael Biehn or skinny and dorky Anton Yelchin) back to protect Sarah and defeat the Terminator. But when Reese reaches 1984, he finds a different timeline from what he expected: Sarah (now played by Emilia Clarke instead of Linda Hamilton or Lena Headey and we're doing this deliberately to illustrate how convoluted this franchise has become, okay?) is a tough soldier, already aided by her own good good Terminator (now played by a post-gubenatorial Arnold Schwarzenegger).

To get too heavily into where the plot progresses from there would spoil the chief appeal of the new film, which is the twists and turns of how time line alteration has put variations on the original mythology. Sadly, this isn't nearly as much fun as the filmmakers want it to be. It's already been done much better in X-Men: Days of Future Past and the J.J. Abrams Star Trek films. Overall, that's what really hurts Terminator Genysis. There's nothing in this film that hasn't already been done, and done better. It's very hard to get excited about rejiggering the timeline for what ends up being a very minor variation on the franchise's oft-repeated "We have to destroy Skynet before it begins" gambit.  Director Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World) is a perfectly competent craftsman who handles the action scenes well enough, but neither he nor anyone else really brings a new vision to the franchise, and they also fail at breathing new life into the old one. For all the many faults of Terminator Salvation, it at least felt like a new movie that taking the franchise in a different direction. And for all the faults of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, it captured the spirit of the original James Cameron films better than Genyisis does.

As harsh as all of this criticism seems to be, the film is not without entertainment values. Again, the action is fairly fun, and the cast is adequate if not outstanding. The best performances come from Jason Clarke (while the character goes in not entirely successful directions, the early section of the film gives us our first truly effective look at Connor as the inspiring leader we've always been told he would become) and JK Simmons in a small supporting role. Emilia Clark is well cast, effective evoking Linda Hamilton (even if this version of the character is far weaker and less interesting than the T2 Sarah fans know and love), and while Jai Courtney still hasn't made the kind of leading man impact Hollywood seems to want him to, he makes more of an impression here than he did in A Good Day to Die Hard. It would be interesting to see how he would fare as leading man in a stronger film, but we suspect that this will be another box office disappointment which helps fizzle a franchise, Courtney may well develop a reputation as the Ted McGinley of 80's/90's action reboots.  While the Terminator remains Arnold Shwarzenegger's best performance (this is especially true in T2, still the best film in the series), here an excess of characters prevents him from getting the chance to shine, and some of the comic aspects are overplayed. While he remains a welcome presence, Arnold doesn't really get the chance to distinguish himself here. Finally, those excited to see Doctor Who star Matt Smith (inexplicably billed here as Matthew Smith) will be disappointed: his role amounts to very little screen time and not much to do, even if he does take what would be an important role in the Terminator mythology if the conceit worked half as well as intended.

Because we live in an age of interent and fan hyperbole, Terminator Genysis is all but guaranteed to draw hyperbolic hatred and be classified as some sort of war crime. It's not. It's just not a very good movie. It's a decent diversion, but ends up as more evidence that this franchise has been bled dry, and that if they ever hope to restore to anything approaching its former glory it will need a true creative visionary at the helm instead of the rotating series of directors for hire we've seen since James Cameron moved on to Pandora.  Paradoxically, you won't really understand the film if you haven't seen at least the first two entries, but you may be more likely to enjoy if the film isn't suffering by comparison.