Long Live the King: New is Not Enough

If you go back and read through my reviews of Disney films, you might notice a bit of a pattern – I usually love them. I’ve often wondered if I am being a little easier on Disney films than I am on others because I have always seemed to love them, and even the ones I haven’t loved I’ve at least enjoyed. Now that we’ve reached Disney’s age of remakes, I am definitely being tested – Beauty and the Beast (2017) I loved, Aladdin (2019) I appreciated. But the remake of one of the ultimate classics, The Lion King, is perhaps the most disappointing Disney movie I’ve seen in a long time. Leaving the theater, I expressed this disappointment, and the person I saw the movie with thought that I was being too hard on the movie. Maybe I was (and the current trailer for Mulan is definitely not helping), but at the same time, it’s something to consider when you walk into one of these remakes. If Disney is going to continue remaking their films, they need to add to them; there needs to be a change, a reason to remake them. Beauty and the Beast fixed a few plot holes, included a few songs, and updated a few moments; Aladdin gained a more diverse cast and strengthened its female protagonist. In this case, the change for The Lion King was supposed to be the CGI, making the characters in a new way. I’m sad to say that it’s really not enough, because the story itself does not change. I’m not saying that it should – The Lion King was a great story back in 1994 – but no matter how great it looks, creating a “live action” version of the story is not enough of a reason to redo such a beloved story. 

A Star Is Born Aims for the Awards

If A Star Is Born is nominated for any awards this year (which, let’s be honest, it probably will), I hope someone in their speech talks about how it also deserves the award for “Most Rebooted Movie”. The story told in 2018, starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, is actually the fourth time that the title A Star Is Born has been used. In 1937, the story starred Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, telling the story of a farm girl from North Dakota who dreams of making it in Hollywood and falls in love with a famous actor. In 1954, Judy Garland and James Mason took the title roles, also telling the story of actors. It wasn’t until 1976, with Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, that the story switched to the music industry, where Cooper and Gaga have picked it up in 2018. Though the same basic story (and ending) is used in all four movies, the idea is that audiences will still see enough differences because of the time period changes that the basic story will still hold true and touch hearts. Much like the musical that dominated the 2016 award season – La La Land – A Star Is Born plays on the public’s love of music and stargazing, admiring the life of the arts that most dream of, even if it’s a secret, impossible dream. And, like La La Land, this vision of the arts and the life surrounding them is fine to watch, but doesn’t make quite the impact that it intends to.

Baby Driver: The Sensory Summer Surprise

Like basically everyone else who heard the title Baby Driver, I went into this one not expecting very much at all. Sure, it was a movie about a getaway driver with a badass Jaime Foxx in the passenger seat, but the title was Baby Driver, how cool could it possibly be? And, just like everyone else, I completely underestimated Edgar Wright and everyone in this movie. Not only is it a fun story and a nice way to spend two hours, it is a great leap into a sensory style of film, pulling its audience into the feel of the moment, actually triggering their sight and touch, and making them part of the experience. With the music so perfectly placed and the actors so in sync with their sounds, as well as some fantastic exploding colors and a lack of CGI car chases (you heard me, Wright went on record saying no CGI or green screens were used for the car chase sequences, how badass is that?!), no audience member can avoid being completely enveloped in this story, no matter what they think of the actual dialogue and plot. Those are almost secondary details, and all we need is the experience of Baby behind the wheel.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: The Most Worthy Marvel Sequel

*Warning: Potential Spoilers*

Marvel now thrives on sequel after sequel, putting out each movie to connect to the others in the hopes that this wide universe that they’ve created is enough to keep us coming back, no matter how annoyed we get at the tantalizing hints and wink-wink-nudge-nudge in-jokes that only the nerds will know. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the MCU, but sometimes it just gets exhausting. It gets even worse when they put out a film like Guardians of the Galaxy, because it just reminds us that they can make something this good and they don’t let their other movies take notes on how the Guardians amuse and delight us. Just as Vol. 1 was, GotG Vol. 2 is a cool refresher in the convoluted sea of Marvel, and it amuses just like its predecessor. Sure, some bits and pieces that are better, and some are worse, but overall it is the break in the universe that both geeks and regular moviegoers will appreciate.