Birth Of The Dragon Review

Birth Of The Dragon was a Kung fu movie...that's it! It wasn't a docu-drama...it wasn't supposed to answer any lingering questions about legendary fights...it was a Kung fu movie with a plot that progressed neatly from beginning to end. If you need to classify it as something, then call it an historical fantasy. Yes, a man named Bruce Lee once existed during the time period in which the movie is set. Yes, another man named Wong Jack Man also existed during the time period in which the movie is set. Yes, these characters, Bruce Lee and Wong Jack Man, know Chinese martial arts, as did the actual people named Bruce Lee and Wong Jack Man. The historical portion of the movie ends there. The rest is pretty much a fantasy, and as a Kung fu movie, a pretty good one.

So, yes, It was good as a Kung fu movie--don't go into this film looking for a) historical accuracy, or b) resolution to the question of who really won the much discussed and debated legendary fight between Bruce Lee and Wong Jack Man. In reality, this movie is a buddy-buddy hero film (think Lethal Weapon) where oil and water characters meet, quarrel, and eventually team up to vanquish a greater foe. The filmmakers took characteristics of Bruce Lee seen in popular culture, like his movies and interviews, and created a character from them--pretty much pure cocky aggressiveness. They took Wong Jack Man and created an alternate backstory for him as a disgraced, yet, thoughtful and compassionate, Shaolin monk. This sets up a dynamic of cocksure aggressive character against spiritual, thoughtful character. Despite the potential for the characters to be one-dimensional, the writers managed to add a modicum of depth to their portrayals. The ensuing Kung fu was well choreographed and executed, and the acting was pretty good, too.

It was very entertaining. Don't go into it looking for a history lesson, or affirmation/verification of your beliefs about either person or their fight. That's not what the movie is about. This was meant to be an uplifting story of two good men with different paths to the same goal, teaming up to make a small piece of the world a better place.

I give this movie 👊🏽👊🏽👊🏽👊🏻👊🏻. There was violence, but not excessive violence, very little sexually suggestive content, and some language inappropriate for younger viewers.

It (Chapter One) Review

Well...I'm not much of a horror movie aficionado, tending to get scared by things lurking and popping out of the dark on screen, but I found It to be a creepy, spooky, thrill ride. This movie makes it really obvious where the Stranger Things showrunners got their inspiration from, because, at some points, this very well could have been an episode from that series.

Stephen King movies have a habit of being poorly realized on screen with the exceptions being, in no particular order, Shawshank Redemption, The Shining, Carrie, Stand By Me, Christine, Misery, and The Green Mile. Usually the movies are poorly acted, or the screenplays are poorly written; or the production values are embarrassingly low making the special effects garishly terrible. But not It. It gets it right on many levels, most notably the casting of the chid actors, and the production values. The interactions between the child actors seemed realistic, like they really had a friendly bond between them. There are well defined personalities, humor, angst, and awkwardness at just the right levels. And Peter Skarsgard does a fine job as a creepy and sinister Pennywise the Dancing Clown.

I won't spoil the movie for you, but suffice it to say that there are plenty of creepy, scary scenes involving Pennywise, and the special effects are so well integrated into the live action that they are genuinely frightening to behold. The movie is almost two hours long, but it flew by--and only covered the adolescent portion of the story. I guess they are saving the adult portion of the book for Chapter 2 coming out...in 27 years? I hope not!

I give this movie 👊🏽👊🏽👊🏽👊🏽👊🏻. There are some scenes of violence against clowns (Pennywise), children, teenagers, creepy, frightening imagery, and adolescent sexual situations.

Atomic Blonde Review

If you've been looking for a mix of the dude from Taken, Jason Bourne, and James Bond rolled into a kickass female character, look no further--go and see Atomic Blonde. Charlize Theron turns in a believable performance as British Mi6 agent Lorraine Broughton in 1980s Cold War East Germany. She is, by turns, savage, sophisticated, duplicitous, sexy, and skilled, sometimes all at once. In other words, she is not the hero we need; she is the hero we deserve right now.

Sent on a mission to recover a stolen list of undercover agents hidden in a wristwatch, Agent Broughton must contact her Eastern European Mi6 counterpart to collect and bring the watch back to England. Simple enough, no? No.

This is a spy movie; it could never be that simple. Double agents abound in this movie, and every man and woman is out for themselves it seems, forcing Agent Broughton to engage in hand to hand combat with what seems like half of the East German Police force at times. But her close quarters combat scenes are superbly choreographed and filmed. Her martial arts trainer should be proud of the work she puts in here. Broughton is not an invincible hero, either--channeling her inner John McClane, Broughton sports an ever worsening array of bruises, cuts, and blemishes etched across her body like angry tattoos. She makes this summer's other female super warrior, Diana of Themyscira, look amateurish in comparison.

After many plot twists and turns, more extended fight scenes in which Broughton uses improvised weapons (extension cords come in very handy), she saves her biggest, and most contrived, twist for the end--but I won't spoil that for you.

My only gripes with the movie were Theron's weak British accent, which seemed to drift in and out as the movie played out, and John Goodman, who, in a limited role, wasn't awful, just...John Goodman.

I give this movie 👊🏽👊🏽👊🏽👊🏻👊🏻. Not appropriate for kids under 17, due to nudity and sex scenes, and pretty brutal violence.