War for the Planet of the Apes

I’ve seen glaciers move faster than Writer/Director Matt Reeves misnamed War for the Planet of the Apes; misnamed because it’s actually more of a revenge gang fight than a war until the last few minutes of a movie that Editors William Hoy and Stan Salfas should have cut by at least an hour. 

I could not keep thinking…and there is a lot of time to think while watching this snail-paced adventure…that so much money went into creating truly amazing ape-characters and they were wasted on this tepid story, when they and their creators deserved something far more grand.

What’s more, Composer Michael Giacchino almost outdid himself with a sound track arguably worse than last week’s Spider-Man: Homecoming soundtrack.  Unbelievable.

It’s not that this is a bad film, it’s just a sad experience that should have been so much better.  I give War for the Planet of the Apes a 3.1 out of 5.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Writer/Director Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: Homecoming is enjoyable…if you are 15 or under.  This is strictly fare for the pre or recently pubescent.  Otherwise, it may bore you to death with only occasional adult humor. And, it’s TV sitcom humor, at that.

Composer Michael Giacchino’s music adds to the TV or pre-1950s feel of the film.

What’s more, actor Tom Holland’s appeal may only work for adolescent girls.

Marisa Tomei provides one of the film’s only saving graces and her final line of the film sums it up best…”What the f*#!”

While for kids I give Spider-Man: Homecoming a 3.7 out of 5, for adults it’s 3 out of 5.

Baby Driver

Writer/Director Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver is one of the best and most unique action films of the year…what Kingsman: The Secret Service was to action-film lovers in 2014.

It’s the first action film I remember that gives a key credit to a Choreographer…Ryan Huffington. And that has to do with the way Cinematographer Bill Pope’s camera whirls around male lead Ansel Elgort and the film’s amazing car chases, all perfectly cut together by Editors Jonathan Amos and Paul Machliss. 

Baby (Elgort) is obligated to a crime boss played by Kevin Spacey and has to be the getaway driver for the heists he creates. And, not since Jason Statham’s Transporter franchise has there been a driver as adept and fearless as this young man, who was traumatized as a boy, when his mother and father died in a car accident that left him with a permanent buzz in his ears, for which he uses non-stop music over his headphone as an antidote.

When Baby meets a waitress played by Lily James, he knows he has to get out of this work, but the crime lord is adamant about his staying.   

Just as Wonder Woman brought in a lot of non-action film viewers, I think that same crowd will be open to Baby Driver.  I give it a 4.6 out of 5.