Green Book

Director: Peter Farrelly 

Lead Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini

Screenwriters: Nick Vallelonga, Brian Hayes Currie, Peter Farrelly 

Producers: Jim Burke, Brian Hayes Currie, Peter Farrelly, Nick Vallelonga, Charles B. Wessler 

Editor: Patrick J. Don Vito 

Musical Director: Kris Bowers 

Cinematographer: Sean Porter 

Genre: Drama, Comedy 

Distributor: Pioneer Films 

Location: Louisiana, USA 

Running Time: 2 hr 9 min

Technical assessment: 4.2

Moral assessment: 4

CINEMA rating: V13

MTRCB rating: PG 13

You’re black. You’re gay. It’s the 60s—there’s a toilet for whites, a separate toilet for blacks. And you’re a renowned classical pianist, invited to perform before the most genteel audiences in the Deep South with its long history of black slavery and racial segregation. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) chooses to make a concert tour in Louisiana, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama when he can be paid thrice as much in upscale New York. This he does to make a political statement—for an end to discrimination. And for that he endures the cruelty of the conflicted whites who applaud him for his music but refuse to have him use the same toilet they use, much less dine in the same restaurant they dine. Shirley knew he would be subjected to violence, so he hired Italian migrant and now New York City bouncer “Tony Lip” Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) as driver. Tony’s job is to deflect the blows against the great African-American artist so Shirley can complete his tour and Tony gets to return home to his wife Dolores (Linda Cardellini) in time for Christmas. Shirley does not go unscathed, but Tony emerges exorcised of his own prejudices.

Green Book is based on a true story, while “The Green Book” is a little booklet of tips on where to eat and where to sleep when you’re black and traveling in the Deep South. It becomes the centerpiece of Tony’s initiation into the world of segregation, which escaped his consciousness because he is white. With most of their illuminating interactions happening in a green Cadillac, Ali and Mortensen make the story move: Ali with his measured lines and guarded ways (for which he wins a best supporting actor award), and Mortensen with his unrestrained benevolence and glee. With fewer words, camera angles and movements allow us to enter into the inner conflicts of the two, and to laugh at their endearing quips and banters. The camera pans over rolling hills and verdant landscapes with Kris Bowers’ music in the background, interspersed with Aretha Franklin and Little Richard plus costume and production design to recreate the mood of the 60s.

The magic of Green Book is its play of contrast between Shirley’s fastidious discipline and Tony’s street-smart hustle. But both converge on a shared humanity and friendship, leaving us convinced that the key to communion is openness, to tolerance is recognition—of the fundamental right to live our life just as others have the same right to live their own. By using the language of cinema, director Peter Farrelly paints for us the irrationalities and perversions of discrimination on account of race, color, and gender. And with that same language, he brings us back to the anchor that builds our character and forms our beliefs and views—the family where life begins and where acceptance is a given.—MOE

Bumblebee

DIRECTOR: Travis Knight

STARRING: Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, Jorge Lendeborg Jr, John Ortiz, Jason Drucker, Pamela Adlon

PRODUCER: Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Tom DeSanto, Don Murphy. Michael Bay

SCREENWRITER: Christina Hudson

BASED ON: Transformers by Hasbro

MUSIC: Dario Marianelli

GENRE: Sci-Fi Adventure

DISTRIBUTOR: Paramount Pictures

COUNTRY:  United States

LANGUAGE: English

RUNNING TIME: 114 minutes

Technical assessment: 3.5

Moral assessment: 3.5

CINEMA rating: VA

MTRCB: G

The Autobot is about to lose the Civil War against the Decepticons. In an effort to live another day and continue the resistance, the Optimus Prime, their leader, dispatch a scout to Earth to set up a base where they can regroup. However, the scout is mistaken as a hostile invader by the military, led by Col Burns (John Cena) and attacked by a Decepticon scout who destroys his voice box and memory in an ensuing battle. Before the Autobot scouts loses consciousness, it takes the form of a 1967 yellow Volkwagen Beetle. Meanwhile, a teenager Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld) is very unhappy because her mother and younger brother have quickly moved on from the death of her father. Moreover, she dislikes her new stepfather, feeling he is constantly overreaching.  She impulsively buys (actually receives it a birthday gift) the rundown yellow Beetle and attempts to fix the car. She wakes it up and accidentally activates its homing signal which alerts Decepticon rangers. Unable to speak, the Autobot uses high pitched sounds prompting Charlie to nickname him Bumblebee. Charlie finds a friend in clumsy but endearing Bumblebee. She gets into trouble when her mother blames her for the destruction caused by Bumblebee’s clumsiness. With the government and the Decepticons chasing Bumblebee, Charlie decides she is the only person who can help her friend. A struggle takes place with Bumblebee saving Burns and defeating the Decepticon. The film ends with Bumblebee taking the shape of a Camaro and Charlie letting him go as she realizes “Bee” has a greater purpose.

Bumblebee is a brilliant choice for a solo movie since his character was the most endearing and iconic of the Transformer franchise. Providing him with a backstory was a sure blockbuster—if only the storytelling was as strong and tight. Thankfully, Steinfeld brought life to the movie. She was energetic and enigmatic enough to stand Bumblebee’s clumsy gentle giant persona. However, after a few cutesy moments together—one begins to feel the weight of an overstretched scene. After a while, it gets dull and repetitive. The conflict was predictable yet the action packed sequences with the robots transforming from one machine to another effortlessly did not lose its magic—even to non-fans.  No doubt the editing and CGI effects were enough motivation to watch the movie. It tried to be an “E.T.” with the friendship and heart-breaking goodbye—but it just did not get there.  Overall, Bumblebee would have been more effective as a short film. Without the need to stretch it into a full length feature, it could have developed more focus and tightened the narrative.

The movie, like its predecessors, talks about love and sacrifice as a powerful motivation to go through pain or death, if need be. It shows how one will do anything and everything to protect the ones they care about—human or machine. Bumblebee also shows how real love pushes us to protect and save people who are out there to harm us. And with such action, the original hate transforms into gratitude and love. There is also an underlying theme of being attentive and sensitive to the needs of others, especially our family. Charlie’s feelings were constantly neglected by her family causing her to find solace in Bumblebee. Fortunately, her “friend” provided positive influence. Otherwise, she could have been another troubled rebellious teenager.—PMF 

Alita: Battle Angel

DIRECTOR: Robert Rodriguez

LEAD CAST: Rosa Salazar, Cristoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley & Keean Johnson

SCREENWRITER: James Cameron & Laeta Kalogridis

PRODUCER: James Cameron & Jon Landau

EDITOR: Stephen E. Rivkin

MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Tom Holkenborg

GENRE: Science fiction/Fantasy

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Bill Pope

DISTRIBUTOR: 20th Century Fox

LOCATION: USA

RUNNING TIME: 122 mins.

Technical assessment:  4

Moral assessment:  3.5

CINEMA rating:  V 13

MTRCB rating:  PG

After the cataclysmic war known as “The Fall”, Earth has become a monumental trash heap where everyone scavenges to survive, kept alive by the thought of one day finding relief in Zalem, a city of the elite high up in the sky.  One day as the compassionate cyborg scientist Dr. Dyson Ido (Cristoph Waltz) scavenges for treasure among the trash, he finds the bust of a female cyborg with a human brain, half dead.  In his his clinic he succeeds in giving it a robotic body.  The cyborg awakens but can recall nothing about her past or identity; Dr. Ido then names her Alita (Rosa Salazar), after his deceased daughter.  Alita becomes comfortable with her new body and as her unique skillset surfaces, the curious cyborg discovers that Dr. Ido is a warrior-hunter.  As the story unfolds, layer upon layer of secrets are peeled off, revealing the surprising depth of each character.

Alita: Battle Angel is the big-screen adaptation of Yukito Kishiro’s manga, “Battle Angel Alita”.  With its great attention to detail and character development, the film has created a world where viewers may easily get carried away, especially if it is watched on a giant screen.  While the bleak setting, Iron City, is a veritable junkyard, the movie is not depressing; while the lead female is a robot, she is not cold.  The visuals are breathtaking; the action, wow!  Director Rodriguez’s eye for action is complemented by cleverly placed close-ups that give the story its heart.  Waltz as a kindhearted man proves his acting mettle once more in a role that’s the opposite of his usually villainous, ruthless film persona.  Salazar, on the other hand, inspires sympathy—is it due to her role, or her soulful eyes?

An aspect worth pondering in Alita: Battle Angel is the wide range of human emotions depicted.  The story is set centuries into the future—year 2563—and yet, the characters’ responses to emotional stimuli remain the same as ours today.  Note the relationship between Alita and Dr. Ido, Chiren’s maternal instinct causing her change of heart, Alita’s self-sacrificing love for Hugo, etc.  Whether it is anger, love, ambition, or hatred fueling their actions, the characters—human or cyborg—are so like us, responding the way we do now, or even as our counterparts did centuries ago as history proves.  The desire for power or dominance is still there, so is the human longing for love.  Also, man still itches for greener pastures, as the gap between society’s rich and poor, the elites and the scavengers, remains unbridgeable.  If only the externals are changed 500 years from now, is the movie saying that the human brain is the same yesterday, today and forever?  What about human existence, purpose, or destiny—will it be forever a mystery?—TRT

Dragon Ball Super: Broly

Director: Tatsuya Nagamine  Lead Cast: Masako Nozawa, Ryô Horikawa, Bin Shimada, Chris Ayres  Screenwriter: Akira Toriyama  Producer: Toei Animation  Musical Director: Norihito Sumitomo  Genre: Anime, Action  Distributor: Warner Bros.  Running Time: 1 hr 41 min 

Technical assessment: 3.5 

Moral assessment: 3 

CINEMA rating: V13 

MTRCB rating: PG 13 

In some universe somewhere, there are ultra-aggressive warriors called Saiyans. They become a threat to a super god Frieza who wipes them out. But some survive, including three Saiyans: Goku and Prince Vegeta who land on earth, and Broly who had been exiled to another star as an infant by Prince Vegeta’s father who was then King of Saiyan. Broly exhibited powers that surpassed the prince’s, and the king did not want anyone to eclipse his son. Broly’s father Paragus joined Broly in exile, raising Broly for combat and revenge against Vegeta. But neither Paragus nor Broly could restrain his immense power. Years later, the three Saiyans face off in a battle when Frieza’s soldiers steal Bulma’s dragon balls, which have magical powers. Bulma is Vegeta’s wife. Broly—used as pawn by Frieza—grows stronger, while Goku and Vegeta, on the opposite side, discover their new strength of fusion as they combine to become Gogeta. 

Many anime fans consider this latest instalment in the Dragon Ball franchise the best in the series. Even viewers alien to the Dragon Ball vocabulary like the flashbacks that give context to the story, helping them understand that Kakarot the baby is now the grownup Goku. And the dialogue has enough to explain that Frieza’s and Bulma’s motive in gaining possession of the dragon balls is not power over the universe but aesthetics and personal vanity. Anime has a great following among adults and children, and this movie plays up every Super Saiyan power that can be visualized on screen with distinctive fight scenes suffused with vibrant colors, exaggerated movements, and hyped-up sounds and expressions.  

The movie is from beginning to end, battle scenes—glorified, alluring, and interjected with some humor. That is the nature of anime, and to say that the director should have made it otherwise would be to strip it of its own genre. But lest it be overlooked, the movie requires parental guidance when children are in the theater, which is not unlikely because Dragon Ball appeals to the young. There are. of course, some good messages. For one, we see how Broly’s potentials are laid to waste because he was brought up in an environment of hatred and fighting. His father manipulated him. Frieza is a cruel leader whose insecurities propel him to further acts of violence. But good is good, and cannot be extinguished. Goku reaches out to Broly after their showdown. Broly has episodes of tenderness and madness. These are allegories of life that lay hidden in the mesmerizing world of anime. And, unless viewed with a careful eye, they can seep into our consciousness as norms, especially among the young.—MOE