Jungle Cruise

In a lot of ways, this is Disney at its worst. The movie tells a story that has only a shred of relationship to theme park ride--which, by the way, was clearly intended to be in Africa, not the Amazon basin--that is not particularly interesting, is eye-rollingly predictable in oh so many ways (including a ham-handedly telegraphed "they hate each other, they love each other" romantic element), and that ultimately comes across as a cynical and insulting attempt to just grab some cash from film audiences (while obsequiously nodding toward various identity groups). Also, Jesse Plemons is a fine actor, but having him as your ultimate villain--and speaking German half the time at that--is not a good call. If not for the inherent likeability of the leads--Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt are not the problem here--a viewer with any self-respect would probably throw flaming projectiles at the screen. At least there's a CGI jaguar to provide some visual appeal. Yeeesh.

Wrath of the Titans

There may be a class-action case in the title here: technically, there's only one titan present in this tale, Kronos. That's one of the minor quibbles with this flick. That in and of itself is a surprise, as this work exceeds the standards of its predecessor. There's the usual dose of professional CGI work in the monsters and battle scenes, but there's also some real plot at work in this story, including good symmetry in the interactions of multiple father-son storylines. There is, dare I say it, some pathos included with the blow-shit-up sensibility typical of these swords-and-sorcery flicks. The eye-candy factor is lessened here, though Rosamund Pike gamely tries to hold up her end of the bargain. Still, this was one sequel that turned out surprisingly good, from what seemed like unpromising potential, so it definitely deserves some props for that. Like the Greeks, I have a word for it: goodenough.