My Spy With My Little Eye… A Cute, Simple Family Comedy

            

Here we go with yet another movie review from the direct to streaming and this one promises to be interesting given it’s track record of delays.  What do you get when you combine a former wrestler turned actor and combine them with a cute little girl to teach them the art of being big hearted?  The answer is a lot of familiar movies that Disney made famous back in the early 2000s.  Rather than the Rock though, our former insane alien warrior Drax is ready to step up to the plate in hopes of making a splash in the world of kids entertainment.  Yet after so many delays, can this movie make the impression it wants, or will it drop into a mess of mediocre that the world of cinema teases today?  Robbie K here with his take on the new Amazon original entitled:  

Movie:  My Spy (2020)

Director:

 Peter Segal

Writers:

 Erich Hoeber, Jon Hoeber

Stars:

 Dave Bautista, Chloe Coleman, Parisa Fitz-Henley 

LIKES: 

Decent Pace

Cute

Kristen Schaal is Fantastic

Some adult humor

Some Well-timed humor

The Dog

DISLIKES: 

Predictable

Much Of the Movie already ruined by trailers

Comedy is Forced 

The Relationships are Simplistic

Familiar Tropes

Character Development Lacking

Suspense Scenes are mediocre

Lacks Balance

SUMMARY: 

            A movie with a track record of delays like this did not bode well, but surprisingly there were some shining moments that I particularly enjoyed of the movie.  For one thing, the comedy/action movie has a decent pace, moving fast enough to get to the meat of the movie, but managing to take the time to get a bit of development in.  Primarily in the cute factor, My Spy is all about captivating the audience of family and pulling on those strings once more.  It’s heartwarming tales will hit close to home for those looking for the healing power of friendship and love.  This motif is broken up by a few attempts at a suspenseful spy film, some action, and darker moments, but primarily this film is all about being a comedic mess for an adolescent/preteen crowd.  Some of this humor is super well timed and executed, Bautista’s stoic awkwardness holding that special place that Drax made famous in Guardians that this director capitalized on.  These moments are often more mature than you would anticipate in a family film, but they work to help mix up some of the generational pokes this film thrives in.  Kristen Schaal in particular is the one who brought a lot of my laugh, her clumsiness meeting writing that holds a lot of references to other films holding a special place for me.  Of course the dog that makes an appearance gets recognition too, not only his well-trained moves, but also in how cute the little guy is… that’s about it he does not really hold much to the story like I think they wanted.  

            The problem for the film though is, these moments are few and far in between for me, stuck in a sea of forced, simplistic jabs that seem to be the go to these day in sacrifice of many things.  For one thing, the story is very predictable part due to the simplistic tale that this genre takes after, and part due to the over advertising that this film took advantage of many times.  As such, many of the jokes and much of the movie is stuck in this limbo and unable to escape into new territory that it so desperately needed.  With my memory and the number of times I have seen the trailers, it meant I knew much of what was going to happen.  As such, rather than thinking up new avenues and developing a deeper story, My Spy’s directive was to again find as much time to shove comedy and cuteness in, much of which was a little excessive for me.  The bullying/blackmailing sassiness of Sophie got stale, while Bautista’s reaction did not change much… at all. And much like the comedy, much of the relationship dynamic is simple, a shallow one-dimensional development that tried to take flight, but then got lost into more comedy to try and distract us from the lacking parts of the movie.  If the comedy was not working, the movie was happy to go back into the familiar tropes of the kid with adult genre.  While entertaining, and again sweet, the sweetness of the movie with lacking character just makes it a bit boring for me and craving something more that I felt this movie had.  In regards to the thriller aspect, the suspense scenes are mediocre at best, small diversions from the comedy to include some sideline characters and help “develop” the bad guy to be, somewhat of a threat.  Yet again, the point of including a spy story would suggest a crime or big threat for our protagonists to face, but again nothing in this film.  And the verdict again… is that the balance of the movie is lost to the common trends of entertainment.  It’s not that it’s bad, but the movie could have held a lot more potential given the cast it brought. 

The VERDICT:  

            My Spy had a lot of things going against it given the troublesome release, but I’ll say that the movie is indeed a cute adventure in testing the bonds of friendship and family that the world loves it.  The movie finds good home on streaming, where the humor, again warning a bit more adult than you expect, should entertain many and keep the movie going for those with short attention spans.  However, the weakness of the film comes with the fact that these tropes have distracted too much that the piece is a diluted, comedy that was boring, and a lack of adventure/suspense that this movie really need to break up things.  However, the movie is what it is and if you are looking for something to kill time and you can handle a little language and violence… you might laugh at the adventure to be had.  My scores for this film are: 

Action/Comedy/Family:  6.5

Movie Overall:  6.0 

Taking Flight To Realistic Portrayals

            The world is a scary place in this day and age, with all the threats and political fervor that comes with anything today.  Tonight’s review looks at the documentation of one such event, and the measures that people will go through to get out of the complicated situations they we often fall into.  A prime exclusive, tonight’s film comes with mixed reviews depending on what side of the spectrum you are looking at this movie from, but as always, I’ll do my best to approach this analytically to help you out.  Robbie K coming at you once more as I take a look at:  

Movie: 7005 (2020)

Director:

 Patrick Vollrath

Writers:

 Patrick Vollrath, Senad Halilbasic (co-writer) 

Stars:

 Omid Memar, Aylin Tezel, Carlo Kitzlinger 

LIKES: 

Decent Pacing 

Realistic Setting

Detailed Setting

Great Acting

DISLIKES:

Simplistic

Reliant on Captions To Get the full 

Sound Is Off Chaotic

Not Much In the Way of Character Development

SUMMARY

            While watching 7005 I found that the pacing was going to be interesting given how fast the credits were moving to the plane.  Cutting corners seemed to bring no sleepless nights for this group as they moved through this movie at a constantly fast pace to get you into the drama.  It works much in this film for it brings you into the film’s events as if you are actually living this experience with them.  That immersion factor is greatly appreciated for me in films like this for the suspense and drama actually build quite well with it.  The realistic setting does not hurt either in this drama and perhaps is the second strongest piece of this movie.  This film really goes through the motions of keeping the movie as lifelike as possible, from the flight prechecks we all go through on our flight preparations, to the psychological, tense conversations that a hostage situation like this can cause.  Don’t go in there expecting high fly shooting matches or intense fist fights in the narrow confines of the plane in this film.  Instead prepare yourself for witnessing a recreation of an event like this where the dialogue is not an award-winning playwright’s cathartic release, but instead mimicking day do day conversations and desperate pleas for help.  All of these moments are brought to life by good visual coordination, but it’s the acting that really hauls most of the quality of the film.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt is certainly the front man, dropping his romantic and over dramatic flair, for a much more contained role that shows off his talented portrayal of emotional control and methodic acting.  Omid Memar, the newcomer for me, gets his hands wet in emotional acting, helping play a role that holds both stereotype and stereotype defying components all in one.  He manages to keep most of his outbursts in check, and thanks to how emotionally charged the world is, the over the top moments actually worked to balance the character.  These two are certainly the cornerstones of the world, but all other actors in the film accomplished quality levels of acting as well.  

            As for the limitations of the movie, it actually starts in the format of the captions.  If you hate reading, then avoid the movie now for much of the film revolves around translations and reading quickly to get an idea of what is going on.  I don’t mind the captions, but moving as fast as they did sometimes left me having to rewind to see what was said.  Minor thing aside, the movie also has some sound flaws as well, the tapering voices sometimes a bit muffled for me, while other times all the screaming drowns out moments that could have been better designed with movie magic.  Okay, outside of those nitpicky things here are the two major limitations for me in regards to this movie unleashing its full potential.  The first is character development, or in this case lack of any character development.  I’ve been spoiled by the award-winning films, who break the cinematic grounds with characters that start off one way, and we learn more and more about them.  There are changes brought from the struggle to survive and the emotional reference connections they bring.  While I definitely feel for Tobias (the main character), I can’t say there was as much investment in the character due to the lack of development.  The other members of the crew and terrorist as well feel very flat, and without the movie magic it’s hard to really engage for me since I don’t have the political spark that others do.  It boils down to the fact that movie’s realism and simplistic story, while appreciative, are also the limitations for this film for me.  By getting so ingrained in the realism and having you live an event like this, they have thrown out some of the other components that make a movie, well a movie for me.  While the realistic components are awesome to see, I’ll say that a hundred times over, I still would have liked more movie magic balanced into this film and more inclusion of the other casts to truly get the rip roaring tory I think they wanted to tell.  

The VERDICT

            Amazon’s original film is certainly an experience that breaks from the current trends of the modern film making.  The flight of 7005 is definitely one of the more realistic dramas, paying attention to details, political idealism, and the tension of these situation to really craft that virtual experience of the horrors of the world.  Yet, it’s this straight shot focus of realism that also hurts the film for some, because you don’t get into the lives of the characters, and the players of this game are very shallow compared to other movies of this genre that have withstood the test of time.  Overall, it’s perfect for a streaming movie and should be watched by those who can handle more realistic movies and the blood curdling shock factor that comes with it.  However, the movie still has improvements to be the experience I think all audience members would like to partake in. 

My scores are: 

Drama/Thriller:  7.5

Movie Overall: 6.0 

Does This Direct Stream Fowl This Story Up? It All Depends On your angle

            Movies today seem to run into more trouble than I can ever remember.  With politics, reshoots, budgets, fan pressure, and who knows what else, the art of making movies continues to be twisted into the former shelf of what it once was.  With Covid 19 coming into the mix, the age of direct to streaming has opened up a new era of movie transformation and I shudder to think what the results will be given potential cuts to the film.  Ranting aside, tonight’s review is another direct to stream movie, and one with a lot of delay history on hand, as another book series is brought to life in hopes of making money.  Will it work or once more are we sunk?  Robbie K here ready to give you his thoughts as he reviews: 

Movie:  Artemis Fowl (2020)

Director:

 Kenneth Branagh

Writers:

 Conor McPherson (screenplay by), Hamish McColl (screenplay by)  | 1 more credit »

Stars:

 Ferdia Shaw, Lara McDonnell, Josh Gad 

LIKES: 

Judy Dench

Josh Gad

Some of the Comedy

The Cinematography

Build For Family 

The Music

The World Building 

DISLIKES: 

The Pace

The Forced Acting At Times

The Special Effects

The Cardboard Characters

How Quickly Resolved Things Are

The Political Correctness

Too Family Theme/Inconsistent

A Massive Set Up Movie Instead Of Its Own film

SUMMARY: 

            Never having read the books, I went in pretty fresh thinking this would be Harry Potter meeting Men In Black with a  bit of a family style added in.  I believe on many levels my assumption was right and fortunately there were some heavy hitters leading the way.  The stars for me were Dench and Gad, two actors who have their tricks for making the most of roles no matter how invested they are in the project.  Dench’s old school tactics and pot shots at age mix well with the “charm” of those she commands, a case of sensitive caring meeting dutiful officer entertaining to watch as she engaged with the new generation.  Gad on the other hand continues to play his bumbling oaf of a snowman in a different form as the tricky dwarf who lives above the law in more ways than one.  He seems to have fun with the role, and it’s that energy that seems perfect for the character they developed for him.  Gad acts as a focal point for the comedy, but Fowl’s band of “criminals” sometimes have some tact to them that had me laughing at times, be it a well time one liner or maybe a sarcastic comment from Dench’s character.  It’s all well themed and much like the rest of the movie has many “family themed elements” that I think Disney was going for in its countless troubles and directions with the film to which the target audience should love. 

            However, the strongest elements for this reviewer are the fact the more technical elements of the film that brought the world of fiction to life.  For one thing, the music is great, despite having an AC unit blaring, the cinema design for Artemis’ first journey is a splendid symphony of orchestral wonder that helps add excitement to the scenes at hand.  More toned-down moments are complemented by a wonderful homage to Irish tradition with pipes, flutes, and the magical moor like tones bringing that fairy tale charm associated with Irish culture. This only further gets complemented by beautiful settings to which the cinematography captures beautifully and I for one was impressed with what they displayed on screen.  As for the fantasy element, Disney continues to kick butt in this department as they always do.  Computer design created a very elaborate world to get lost in be it the cramped halls of the Fowl manor with its hidden secrets, or the world of the fairy that dwells below the earth where science fiction and magic turn into a hybridized world that is both mystical and new edge.  Add the costumes and character design into the mix, and you get that unique flare that Disney’s money can make… when used right of course.  I think many of your little ones will have some new trick or treat costumes this coming fall.  

            Yet where marketing and splendor succeed, the movie fails for me at other parts.  Like much of Disney’s new family themed movies, the pace seems off for a typical Disney film as Artemis’ journey sort of contorts to odd angles in an attempt to put everything into a journey to inspire every person under the sun.  It’s too fast for yours truly, giving many of the emotional moments a blunt edge that fails to tug at the heart strings it wants to pull so badly, the way Disney movies like to do.  It does not help that the characters they tried to create are poorly developed, many having any dimension effectively ripped from them to make paper thin pawns for kids to aspire to be like.  There are some redeeming qualities, I won’t lie about that, but in terms of characters as a whole Disney’s band is set for the adolescent minds instead of all families in general.  It may also suffer from the fact that the actors are also still coming into their forte on this film.  The young cast sort of has one or two dimensions and have not mastered the spectrum of acting that other actors have.  Throw in some of the performances feel forced or not involved enough leading to less character utilization and the selling of this movie becomes harder and harder for me to do. 

            Maybe the plot and adventure aspect will be better and offset those limitations?  After all Twilight has enough romance and fighting to make the film worth it right, right?  No, the movie did not succeed on this aspect either for me.  Artemis Fowl’s limitations above carry over to this aspect of the film as well, leaving it a very skeletal framework with little sustenance for me.  The adventure again is rushed, tense moments reduced to dry bouts of conversation, little build up, and action that has that modern-day family approved stamp that seems to plague so many films.  Again those moments to grasp on to characters and worry about their fate become quick fix problems, where thirty seconds of an impasse show up and then resolves in some of the simplest story telling I’ve seen in a while.  The action scenes start showing some pizazz, building up to Fowl’s genius taking on this new world, only to quite in less than a minute.  What happened to that magic we saw in Mulan, the lion king, Tarzan, and Toy Story, where the franchises were still to family, but were not afraid to add some darker elements to the mix.  Fowl only does it with a few disturbing visuals, namely Gad dislocating his jaw, which would be more impressionable than a good action scene that actually uses its characters. An even weaker element is how some of these fights sort have had technical jerkiness to it, like a DVD skipping, the scene would pause and then quickly speed up.  While cool at some moments, it got overused and annoying for me, and felt like a distraction to the already limited scene. 

  The point this rambling makes is that the movie lacks intensity and connection to a majority of the audience, again too centered on the juvenile atmosphere that PG movies seem to have become.  I also felt there was a little too much political agenda in this movie, not in the manner/degree we’ve seen in other films like Star Wars, Captain Marvel, and Charlie’s Angels, but more like the Dream Big Princess campaign you see on Disney channel.  It gets in the way of the storytelling for me and while inspirational, fans like me may lose faith in Disney putting plot development aside to stay politically relevant.  Finally, this movie’s inconsistencies sort of amplify that this rushed tale seems much like an intro chapter or installment to the book (which I do know enough for it to be the case), but in series like Percy Jackson and Harry Potter, those first stories also felt contained to their own tale as well.  For Fowl though, the first installment focuses too much on the promise of a new series or movie coming in, perhaps another attempt to hypnotize into more toy sales.  Had the other flaws not been so magnified in my eyes.  

The VERDICT: 

            Artemis Fowl is cute and definitely the family friendly adventure theme that seems to be the new age of acceptable to many new parents.  For this reviewer though, it gets in the way of bringing these young adult books to life, sheltering the intended audience from darker moments just to make a buck. Sure the acting will be good for the intended audience, and the music and visuals may be just the thing to hook you in to the film as you watch your children’s eyes light up in delight (after all mine did for much of this film). However, the rushed plot, the forced acting, the lack of suspense, buildup, and intensity and trying to play too much in safe politics threw this film into disarray for me.  While it certainly fits better on streaming rather than the theater, I can’t help but wonder how much was lost to the numerous issues this film had with release.  Yet, I worry even more that the studio I know can make out of this world films is losing their ability to story tell due to playing to the public interest movements.  Nevertheless, I recommend this film for viewing at home of course, but take caution as some scenes may in fact be scary for those who are sensitive to the darker, more disturbing visuals.  

My scores overall are: 

Family, Fantasy, Adventure:  6.0

Movie Overall:  4.5