MOVIE REVIEW: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is a reboot of the 1960's spy Cold War TV series that I only heard about and not so familiar with it's content and premise is director Guy Ritchie's (Sherlock Holmes, Snatch) most refreshing and relaxed film to date. His brisk pacing and signature editing compliments the good looking cast and stylish costumes that seems similar to TV's Mad Men.

When American CIA Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) team up with Russian KGB Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) to infiltrate Italian industrialists with a rogue nuclear weapon that both the US and the Soviet Union want to seize, it would had been imaginable in that era for the two superpower to join forces but they did. 

It also helps that both Cavill and Hammer have chemistry and rapport that echoed Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes' Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law's Holmes and Watson. He is turning out to be the master of the bromance action film.  Hammer also redeems himself from his two previous box office misfires that also emphasizes male bonding in two ways: J. Edgar and The Lone Ranger. Breakout star Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) though is wasted in a role that was underwritten and it's so good to see Hugh Grant again back into doing a summer blockbuster in a role may be the key for a sequel.

MOVIE REVIEW: Mr. Holmes

Amidst all the summer blockbusters that's been dominating the multiplexes right now lies Mr. Holmes, a small budgeted British period film reuniting the brilliant Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings and X-Men series) with the director that gave him an Oscar nomination for Gods and Monsters Bill Condon. The result is a refreshing and beautiful take on the iconic Sherlock Holmes that takes a 360 turn from the brash Robert Downey Jr. on the big screen and Benedict Cumberbatch's own interpretation on TV that our generation has known.

In the film based on the obscure novel A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin, the sleuth is now a 93 year old living in the English countryside and suffering from dementia. Living with him are a housekeeper (Laura Linney channeling Lynn Redgrave's Gods and Monsters character) and his young son Roger (Milo Parker) who turned out to be his only trusted friend he can rely on.

Mr. Holmes is set in multiple narratives recalling his trip to Japan, to fully solving his last known case and his relationship with Roger as he helps him with his beekeeping hobby. This is not the whodunit Sherlock that the world has known to love but a reflection and an appreciation to a character far close to retiring in pop culture.

MOVIE REVIEW: Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

After teaming up in one of last years best films Edge of Tomorrow, writer Christopher McQuarrie (Oscar winner for The Usual Suspects) and actor Tom Cruise are at it again in the fifth installment of the Mission: Impossible series. It doesn't disappoint and that's saying a lot for you know that in order for an action film franchise to stay successful - it has to be at least as par as the previous films before it. The last one Ghost Protocol has director Brad Bird's signature style of animated action paralleled by a gripping story. Rogue Nation stays on that course by delivering the usual scenes fans of the series expect of, plus since this is written and directed by the man who wrote The Usual Suspects, there's a lot of interpersonal connection between it's characters and McQuarrie triumphs on both counts.

Tom Cruise may have lost a little bit of that Hollywood pretty boy actor vibe and it shows in the film. Fortunately it helped because this Ethan Hunt looks tired chasing all the bad guys in the world only to find out that his group the IMF has been shut down by the CIA and the burden falls into himself. Ethan Hunt is just as human as us after all.

With the help of his trusted teammates from the previous films William Brandt (Jeremy Renner), Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames), they track down The Syndicate - a network of terrorist bent on taking down the world. Alec Baldwin joins the series as well and plays a CIA officer in his typical persona. British Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson however steals the show in a star making turn playing Ilsa Faust - a rogue British agent who may or not be part of The Syndicate. 

Mission: Impossible is great Hollywood entertainment and so far it is the second best action film of 2015 after Mad Max: Fury Road. 

MOVIE REVIEW: Southpaw

Director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) tries his hand in the boxing genre in Southpaw and like any other films that showcase the life inside and outside the ring, the movie doesn't offer something new but Fuqua's grit mood throughout the movie aided by handheld shots and anchored by a tough yet heartfelt performance by Jake Gyllenhaal elevates it among other boxing films.

Southpaw is all about the reigning Junior Middleweight Boxing Champion of the World Billy "The Great" Hope (Gyllenhaal) who has it all: a great boxing career, a loving wife (Rachel McAdams) and daughter Leila (Oona Laurence) and financial success. 

Unfortunately tragedy struck him one by one and when he had nothing, Hope had his hope on a boxing gym owner Tick Wills (Forest Whitaker) to put his life back on track. Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson also is in the film as Hope's promoter. He did not act. He just dressed the part.

Southpaw is a feel good movie masquerading as a grim one. Whitaker and young actress Laurence are also standouts in the film and as one who also watched the much hyped boxing event of the year which was the Pacquiao - Mayweather fight two months ago, you will have more fun and be satisfied watching Southpaw and not leave you shortchanged like that expensive live fight in Vegas.

MOVIE REVIEW: Terminator Genisys

Terminator Genisys is another reboot of the successful movie franchise and it is a big improvement compared to the two previous films before this: the dull Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) and the underwhelming Terminator Salvation (2009). It's also nice that Arnold Schwarzenegger is back is his iconic role but since this is a new version, the filmmakers made a role that is suited for his age and stature that befits once who once got elected to be California governor. He plays the Guardian aka Pops to Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke's Sarah Connor who is almost like a father figure to him all these years as they fight the machines amidst the upcoming dominance of the Genisys app that can easily rule the world.

Alongside Sarah Connor are the other characters we know of the movie series. His son John Connor (Jason Clarke) who may or have not changed, Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) and of course Skynet. The story is one long time traveling tale and it doesn't disappoint. Just be alert of it. I also love that they used San Francisco as their city. After San Andreas and Inside Out, we do love our city getting hit in Hollywood!!

 Terminator Genysis may not have the brilliance of Terminator 2: Judgement Day which is the best of the series but it does bode well for the upcoming trilogy that it's filmmakers had planned on doing.

MOVIE REVIEW: Magic Mike XXL

The second male bonding themed movie this summer season after Entourage in a months time is Magic Mike XXL, the sequel to the surprise box office and critical hit in 2012 that's loosely based in lead actor's Channing Tatum's early career as a male stripper or as one of the characters says in a politically correct term: a male entertainer.

Fast forward three years later, Mike Lane (Tatum) left the group Kings of Tampa to put up a business but he was persuaded to go back to the group for a one last gig at the stripper convention in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Minus their big boss and recruit from the first film, Mike back together with the rest of the gang: Ken (Matt Bomer), Richie (Joe Manganiello in a great revelatory comic performance), Tito (Adam Rodriguez) and Tarzan (wrestler Kevin Nash) encounter drag queens, ex flames and cougars on one fun filled road trip that was shot in signature Steven Soderbergh style. The Oscar winning director may had transferred the reign of directing the sequel to his frequent assistant Gregory Jacobs but the script and the overall feel of the movie feels like an Ocean Eleven film transported to the South that you can feel the humidity and the sunshine simply by just watching it.

New recruits to the film include Jada Pinkett Smith as a club owner with such a sexy empowering performance you forget that in real life she has teenage kids, Amber Heard and it's great to see Groundhog Day's  Andie MacDowell back on the big screen having fun as a Southern divorcee who longs for some good lovin.

Ladies would love the film for the actors themselves with their fit bodies gyrating onstage and guys like me loved it for it's sheer comic value and the friendship that it's characters showed in the film that I'm pretty sure most of us can relate to whether you take your clothes off for a living or not.

For a sequel of one of the funniest films in this decade, Magic Mike XXL does not disappoint.

MOVIE REVIEW: Max

Inspired by accounts of service dogs accompanying troops in the world's most dangerous places such as Afghanistan and most likely the photos of them beside the casket of their fallen masters that went viral on social media, Max is not your typical dog movie that can easily warm your heart: part American Sniper part Lassie and shockingly part No Country for Old Men, the marketing department at Warner Brothers would definitely had a hard time promoting the film. 

It is just too violent for kids who are primarily the core of the family audience demographic not only due to scenes of war but also a subplot involving Mexican gun smugglers. I'm actually surprised how Max was classified PG with the MPAA considering the instances mentioned.

If you have military themed films then by all means Max is recommended. I had some experience of being near a Belgian Malinois, the breed of dog Max is and seeing the film made me realize how intelligent and affectionate they are to their masters and their purpose in the military. Trust your judgment though if you want to bring young kids to the film.