Don't Worry Darling

The Stepford Matrix. Sorry for that sorta spoiler, but one must acknowledge that this kind of thing has been done before. Which is not to say this outing is automatically inferior to its antecedents. Indeed, this flick has a lot going for it, including a powerful performance from lead Florence Pugh, a shrewd choice by director Olivia Wilde to use the trappings—and especially the music—of mid-century, golden age (of a sort) America as the staging for this investigation into what’s what in a given life, and a tight, well-crafted presentation that grips the viewer's interest throughout. Life may be but a dream—or more likely, a nightmare—but at least you can be assured that these two hours are hardly the worst you’ll ever have.

Wonder Woman 1984

I wonder, woman. The woman in question, writer-director Patty Jenkins, has me pondering whether or not she has purposely presented a particularly female cinematic maneuver here, by wanting to have her dramatic cake and eat it, too. The villains in this flick--the now-ubiquitous Kristen Wiig and the heretofore unknown to me Pedro Pascal--aren't really all that villainous; they're just desperate and/or misunderstood. Despite that handicap, they still wind up putting the world in mortal danger anyway. Thank goodness--or a ton of box office for previous outings, take your pick--that Gal Gadot's charisma is here to save the day, the world, and the movie. Without her influence, and some nicely audacious action sequences, this would be a middling at best effort; with her, the film merits a tempered see-it recommendation. Her co-stars do decent if not outstanding work: Wiig is just about good enough as the rival woman, while Pascal is effective as the would-be deluded world-wrecker. Chris Pine is just sort of there, though maybe he shouldn't be; he's not offensive, just not much of a contributor. Put it all together and it's enough (barely) to hold the franchise over till the next inevitable outing, and for now that's probably good enough.

Wonder Woman

Some kind of wonder, indeed. This film relies heavily upon the newfound star power of Gal Gadot, who makes for an impressive screen presence and very much carries the proceedings on her well-toned shoulders. She really is impressive to behold, so much so that the viewer will likely forgive a lot of weaknesses in the surrounding staging: the supporting cast is largely forgettable (minus Chris Pine, who holds up well despite being outshone by Gadot), the story indulges in clichéd triteness at the climax, and, as far as the "cinematic universe" world-building goes, the whole thing doesn't particularly advance anything much. But when you look at the star's lovely visage and bask in her charisma, you wind up not minding so much. At the very least, you can be assured that this side of the superhero street got one casting move correct.

Star Trek: Beyond

It’s probably a bad sign for this version of the series that, at this point, the viewer starts to ponder questions that have little to do with the movie immediately in front of him. Questions such as: how much longer will this cast stay together? Are they going to be basing any future movies on original episodes, or can they keep coming up with original ideas? Original, in this case, being a relative term, since there seem to be some elements of movies we’ve seen before in this flick. The crew--or at least certain members--being marooned on a strange planet is a familiar trope; the powerful external threat to the Federation is just about an every-other-movie plot point; we’ve even seen the Enterprise crash and burn before. So story is probably not the selling point for this franchise; given that, they’d better have an appealing cast for the crew, and fortunately the producers scored on that front. The primary cast features likeable actors who fit their roles well; that’s probably why this movie remains appealing and entertaining despite some otherwise stale elements. But you have to wonder: how much longer will this one go on before there’s yet another reboot needed? The next “beyond” may require another go round with another “next generation” if they can’t up the game a little further for this crew’s next outing.

Into The Woods

My hearing must be going. Once again I've watched a movie where I couldn't hear a lot of the dialogue--in this case, in musical form--over all the background noise and orchestration. Alas, the burden of getting old. The fact that that is my concern when thinking about this film is a warning sign; it's a movie that promises much but delivers not nearly enough. I'm not sure the "wisdom" of the fairy tale rewrites is all that wise; folk wisdom gets to be folk wisdom for a reason, and you coming along with your jaded worldview does not necessarily change everything. Oh well; at least you get to spend a chunk of a couple of hours with the awesomeness that is Anna Kendrick, so that's something.

Star Trek: Into Darkness

There has to be a temptation to downgrade this effort, both for some obvious fanboy bait and a certain lack of originality. This second movie is not a shot for shot remake of that second movie; more like a mirror image of the first; or perhaps it’s a photographic negative where the picture is the same but the tones are reversed. However you want to put it, what remains for the viewer is much of what we got with the previous movie in this reboot sequence: an appealing cast crafting their own versions of these well-known characters, and just enough respectful recognition of what went before to make a remake/reboot seem not quite so obnoxious. Indeed, any who’ve never seen the originals of this series might even be getting a better experience; without the clouding effects of fandom obscuring the weaknesses of the original, new audiences may be able to judge this film for what it is: more than good enough.

Star Trek (2009

The J.J. Abrams remake. Better than I expected. Lots of nods to the stories so well known to everyone who watched the original series (mostly in reruns) all those years ago, and that vouches for the filmmakers’ sincerity in rebooting this franchise. And the cleverness of the plot, in the service of bringing new ideas to this and future efforts, promises something more than just another set of rehashes when the inevitable line of sequels comes knocking on our cineplex doors. All in all, a promising (re)start.