Saban's Power Rangers fans relive the cheesy glory days

Movie Title:  Saban's Power Rangers

Grade:  C+

Rating:  PG-13, 124 minutes

In a Nutshell:  Does anyone actually care about the Power Rangers anymore?  My 4 sons absolutely loved it…back in the day, but I didn’t think it was even relevant to kids anymore.  

Seems like just a morphin cash grab to me in more ways than one.

Uplifting theme: 

• Friendship, loyalty, teamwork, sacrifice 

Things I liked:

• Fans of the Power Rangers will probably enjoy it just for old time’s sake.
• The characters are pretty well fleshed out with back stories, which pleasantly surprised me.
• The training sequences were pretty fun.
• Bryan Cranston is awesome in everything.  Did you know he actually voiced some of the characters in the original 1990’s TV show?  Cool.  Billy Cranston’s character in the movie was actually named after Bryan Cranston.  Even cooler.
• Their outfits have definitely gotten an upgrade.
• There is plenty of trivia for fans to sink their teeth into as the movie does a pretty good job paying homage to the source material.

Things I didn’t like:

• Krispy Kreme gets HUGE product placement.  Kind of weird, right?  Product placement always kind of annoys me, because it's so manipulative and an obvious cash grab. In this case, it’s a BIG part of the story line. Did you hear that Krispy Kreme is actually changing the name of the company in England, because customers there can’t figure out how to pronounce it correctly?  True story.
• Most of the lead teenagers are super annoying delinquents who are rude, self-absorbed, and whiny. They almost try to out-do each other to see which one of them is least understood and outcast. Even before the five teenagers get their special powers, they’re involved in very dangerous activities.  These kids are not great role models.  Of course, they finally figure out how to work as a team and sacrifice for each other (not a big spoiler alert), but I didn’t like most of them.  On top of that, they all buy into killing Rita within minutes.  I did, however, think R.J. Cyler (Blue Ranger) was the most compelling Ranger and did a great job.
• Rita Repulsa.  What a name. Ha ha.  Instead of declaring her intentions to conquer the world or the universe, she pretty much just trashes a little town.  Ha ha  Elizabeth Banks’ accent seemed off, but I appreciate that she was trying to go over-the-top campy like the original TV character did.
• Some bad editing moments.
• The original 90’s TV show was super cheesy and knew it.  That’s what made it really fun.  This movie mixes up the cheese with serious drama, so it often feels disjointed in tone.
• For an origin story, it’s fairly cliché.
• There are some really inappropriate jokes.
• It’s kind of like the directors picked out what special effects they wanted to use and then built a story around it.

Funny lines:

• “Yippee Kayay, Mother Fu….Mother.  Mother’s good.” – Blue Ranger (R.J.Cyler)
• “You five are the Power Rangers!” – Alpha 5 (Bill Hader)

“Are we like Iron Man or Spiderman?” – Blue Ranger

• “My guess is we have 11 years.  No, days.  Eleven days.” – Alpha 5
• “I’m pretty sure I’m a super hero.” – Pink Ranger (Naomi Scott)

“Pee in that cup!” – Kimberly Hart’s mom

• “Jason, did you just slap her?” – Blue Ranger

“I did.  Weird, right?” – Jason Lee Scott/Red Ranger (Dacre Montgomery)

• “Sorry, Bumblebee!” – Blue Ranger (Transformers reference)

Dumb lines:

• “Take that!” – Pink Ranger
• “Bring it on!” – Pink Ranger
• “We got this!” – Pink Ranger
• “My family is so normal.  Too normal.” – Yellow Ranger (Becky G)

Tips for parents: 

• Lots of fighting and destruction.
• A surprising amount of profanity.
• There are some subtitles you’ll have to read for little ones.
• There are several inappropriate jokes that will, hopefully, go over the heads of most kids.

If you love the Power Rangers and can't get enough, check out Saban's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - The Complete First Season on 6 Dvds - 60 Episodes Uncut

@trinaboice 

X-Men: Apocalypse made just for fans

Movie Title:     X-Men Apocalypse

Grade:  B+

Rating:  PG-13, 2 hours 16 minutes

In a Nutshell:    Another super hero movie filled with destruction, violence, and supernatural forces that just might destroy the world.  Ho hum.  

This installment in the X-Men franchise is set in the 1980’s, occurring right after the story in X-Men: Days of FuturePast.  If you’re not a fan of the characters or missed that last movie, you won’t feel very invested in this one.

If you are an X-Men fan, you’ll enjoy this more than the average viewer, and get a kick out of learning more back story about your favorite super heroes.  There is a moment early in the film when a student talks about a movie she is going to see, but admits that it’s a 3^rd sequel, which everyone knows is not as good.  X-Men: Apocalypse both pokes fun at itself and takes itself too seriously.

 Uplifting theme: 

• Loyalty, friendship, family
• Good vs. evil

Things I liked:

• Stan Lee!  I love that Marvel includes him in every movie.  They even gave him a cameo performance in the TV series “Agents of Shield”!
• It was kind of hilarious when the all-powerful mutant Apocalypse (played by Oscar Isaac) starts watching TV.  When Storm (Alexandra Shipp) asks him what he’s doing, he mumbles “Learning.”
• Some of my favorite scenes in this and the last X-Men movie involve Quicksilver (Evan Peters). I love it  when he runs around, rearranging everyone to places of safety.  His character and moments provide most of the comic relief in the film.  He’s awesome, even if he lives in his mother’s basement.  Ha ha
• So many things get destroyed, so it was nice to see one of the mutants rebuild the school with his powers.
• Director Bryan Singer makes a cameo appearance in his own film and describes the moment as “poetic” in an interview with Empire.  He plays a security guard and gets to hug Wolverine in the scene.
• Keep watching the screen after the credits roll for a sneak peek! Audiences are teased with the potential of seeing Mr. Sinister and other cyborg villains.
• Jennifer Lawrence's nephew is a huge X-Men fan, although he tells her she isn't a "real" X-Men.  In an interview with Jimmy Fallin, Jennifer revealed that her nephew played her son in the last Hunger Games film.  When she told him about this X-Men Apocalypse movie, he asked "Do I HAVE to be in this one too?"  ha ha

Things I didn’t like:

• There are several languages spoken, requiring subtitles, which will make it difficult for young ones and slow readers to know what’s going on.
• This will be very dark to see on a computer screen once it comes out on DVD.
• 99% of the movie seemed like it was in front of a green screen.
• The fight scenes were not nearly as good compared to those in Captain America: Civil War.
• Psylocke (Olivia Munn) mostly stood around as a decoration.
• Don’t get me wrong here, I LOVE Hugh Jackman and am always happy to see him in any movie, but I thought it was odd that all of the actors were younger versions of their characters, except for Wolverine.  The good news is that Hugh Jackman has agreed to one more super hero feature in Wolverine 3, scheduled to hit the big screen March 3^rd, 2017.

Funny lines:

• “The CIA would kill for this!”  - Moira (Rose Byrne)
• “Why do you care so much?  Did you see a speech or something on TV?” – Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence)
• “Hold on!  What did I miss?” – Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee)

Interesting lines:

•  “Not all of us can control our powers.” – Cyclops (Tye Sheridan)

“Then don’t.  this is war.” – Mystique

• “The 4 horsemen.  He got that from the Bible” – young handsome guy

“Or the Bible got it from him.” – Moira

• “This world needs to be saved.” – Apocalypse 
• “Just because there isn’t a war doesn’t mean there is peace.” – Mystique
• “You got your war plane. Let’s go to war.” – Mystique
• “You will never win.”  - Dr. Charles Xavier

“And why is that?” –  Apocalypse

“Because you are alone.  Am I am not.” – Professor X
* "A gift can often be a curse." - Professor X

Tips for parents:   

• 1 F-bomb and some other profanity.
• LONG sequences of violence and destruction.
• Some characters and sequences might be too scary for young ones.
• One of the characters is a Holocaust survivor, so there is some discussion about tolerance and hatred.
• Most of the violence is bloodless, but in the beginning there is a body that is sliced and gory, as well as bodies that are on fire. Pretty icky.

Minions get their own fun flick

Movie:   Minions

Grade:  B+

In a Nutshell:   Adorable.  Silly. Colorful.  Like eating pure sugar. Imaginative prequel to the beloved Despicable Me movie franchise. The plot isn’t deep, but their crazy antics will still make you smile.

Warning: It may be too much sugar for some people.

Uplifting Theme:

·         Don’t mess with a minion’s teddy bear?

·         Working together, you can accomplish your goal.

Things I liked:

·         I love the minions’ cute jibberish language.  Adorable.  I noticed that they include quite a bit of Spanish bits, such as “Si”, “Gracias” and “Que paso?”  (What happened?)

·         There are a lot of fun pop icon moments, like the Campbell Soup Can art by Andy Warhol. I got to see the original one a year ago at a conference! 

·         I liked Scarlett’s husband’s play on words.  For example, he called Stuart: “Stu-ART”, “Stewperman”, and “Beef Stu”.

·         It was so fun watching Kevin, Stuart, and Bo go to London, so that I can share my vacation photos with you.  I was just there last week!  Awesome pic, right?

Even the famous Tower of London guards known as “Beefeaters” are featured for a moment. When I visited there last week, I learned that "Beefeaters" actually have many years of military experience before they can even apply for the job.  They live on site and exhibit such pride for their job.  

·         Great music from the 60’s and 70’s.

·         I loved the new Buckingham Palace guards with the yellow Minion hats.  Yep, I just saw the real changing of the guards there last week too!    I got this close to them during the ceremony...

·         There is a scene that shows the House of Commons in Parliament.  I saw that too!  The chairs really are green!  The House of Lords is so much more beautiful and fancy.  Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take photos on the tour.

·         Cute Abbey Road Beatles moment.  Did you catch it?

·         Funny faked landing on the moon conspiracy theory moment.  Did you see it?

·         The minions visit Westminster Cathedral too.  

 ·         After spending days on the London Tube, I got a kick out of the “Mind the Gap” voice on the train.  The location scouts for the movie did a great job of including authentic images for the London scenes.  What a great excuse to share some of my vacation moments with you!       

·         Keep watching while the credits roll at the end of the movie.
-    Terrific voice talents include the lovely Sandra Bullock, the handsome Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, and a bunch of unnamed yellow blobs.
-   The movie begins with an evolution backstory of the minions.  I loved their different clothes changes as the decades passed.  Yeah, I wore jean overalls in the '60s and 70's too.
-  Did you notice that Bob has one green eye and one brown eye?

Things I didn’t like:

·         Scarlett asks “Doesn’t it feel so good to be bad?”  Um, I’m not sure I want my kids repeating that message.

·         It doesn’t have the heart of Despicable Me, although it does explain how the minions found their ultimate villain.  No tissues required.

·         It’s more fun to see in 3D.

·         Uneven pacing.
-     Despicable Me is more magical, but these cute little guys deserved their own fun flick.

Funny lines:

·         “Who are you, my knights in shining…denim?” – Scarlett

·         “Steal me the crown and all your dreams come true: respect, power, banana!” – Scarlett

·         SPOILER ALERT:   “Bob, who appears to be a bald, jaundiced child, has pulled the famed sword right from its sword and has become the new king.” – TV reporter

Tips for Parents:

·         Some characters take off their shirts and do suggestive dancing.  You also see another character’s buns.  Come on now….that’s just not necessary in a kids’ movie.

·         Parents will be amused by references to pop culture that most kids won’t catch.
-   Unlike a lot of kids' movies, this one doesn't have a ton of bodily functions, although Bob farts once.

What?  You haven't seen the Despicable movies?  Hurry and catch up!  They're AWESOME!

Let the adorable merchandising begin:




Did you know?
During opening weekend, this film’s incomprehensible yellow henchmen, took in a whopping $115.2 million at U.S. box offices this weekend—the second biggest opening of all time for an animated film. (Shrek the Third holds the record, with $121.6 million in 2007.) “They’re bigger than Spongebob. They just have that mass appeal right now and are basically a merchandiser’s dream,” a senior box-office analyst for Exhibitor Relations told USA Today.