MOVIE REVIEW: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Even if the advice is only spoken for a moment amid flurries of exposition and martial arts melee, neither versions of those breaths feel wasted in this new Marvel Studios entry. And does this movie ever breathe! In this sensational origin story, we gulp and we gasp with every kinetic huff and puff of our heroes and villains embroiled in turmoil and combat. I, for one, dig that simplistic focus on the voluntary and involuntary ways Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings draws in its oxygenated energy.

2021, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanSeptember 2, 2021AMC River EastShang-ChiComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Candyman

Call this a crude cinematic question as well as a question of evolved sensibilities, but how do you make shiny things and places scary? Horror stories typically thrive on the dirty, dingy, and grotesque as instinctual triggers. It’s harder to get that same effect in a setting of clean poshness. The long-distance sequel Candyman has an answer to that and it parallels putting truth to the societal cleansing castigated by the movie itself.

2021, 4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanAugust 26, 2021CandymanComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Free Guy

Once again, what’s winsome and bodacious in Free Guy begins with Ryan Reynolds. From Van Wilder and Deadpool and everything hit-and-miss in-between, he combines naivety, enthusiasm, and dorkiness to a vitality level that is nearly second to none among his comedian peers. Ryan’s verbal gift-of-gab has long been legendary, and his go-for-broke physical comedy skills on top of that mouth are the true, full commitment to the bit.

2021, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanAugust 13, 2021AMC River EastComment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Suicide Squad

Who’s going to make it or not? Who or what else is going to show up? What actors will make the most of their arbitrary characters? What improves from the grossly reviled 2016 movie? Most of all, as the action piles on, keep losing chips on trying to guess WTF is going to happen next. The pitch is clear. Come to The Suicide Squad and place your bets for the roller coaster experience that awaits. All of that warped glee equals the energy brought forth by James Gunn’s resuscitated and hyper-juiced sequel.

2021, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanAugust 4, 2021The Suicide SquadComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Long Story Short

Rafe Spall’s Teddy shares a lovely line to his best girl Leanne, played by Zahra Newman, towards the beginning of Long Story Short. He says “I love you more than I did yesterday and not as much as I will tomorrow.” I adore that line. It speaks with such intentional optimism. If only we all lived our lives as honestly and as purposefully as that little mantra. If you see sweetness in that gracious sentiment, there’s much more where that came from in the romance at the center of this little Aussie VOD gem written and directed by actor Josh Lawson.

2021, 4 STARS, Home Media, Independent Film, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanJuly 20, 2021Long Story ShortComment

MOVIE REVIEW: A Quiet Place Part II

The counterpoint would be to ask why ruin what stands as a distinctive strength. While A Quiet Place Part II ventures outside of its original single setting into the open world of its neighboring countryside, any omniscient truth is still rightfully guarded and methodically uncloaked at its own speed. Simply put, to know any more than our invested characters in harm’s way would take away the whole fascinating mystique that draws us with its purposeful and rapt silence.

2021, 4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanMay 31, 2021Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Water Man

That’s a sample of the welcome, sympathetic depth of The Water Man. So few fantasy films nowadays handle difficult questions like that one. Escapism for this demographic sells, no doubt, but internal odysseys will always have their place and merit. The Water Man, while destroying far fewer warehouses of Kleenex to reach its pinnacle, joins A Monster Calls and I Kill Giants as a trilogy of valuable discourses for bridging teens and adults together to engage with current and impending despair they may feel in their lives.

2021, Independent Film, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, Streaming, 4 STARSDon ShanahanMay 8, 2021Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Here Today

Within the movie, the themes all surround help that comes from lifted spirits found in many walks of life, both personal and professional. On the performance side, the material is solid enough to matter more than mere bits, yet light enough to spread its wealth of charm. No one is scene-stealing because no one has to, and that’s quite a tall order with the presence of Tiffany Haddish sharing the billing. Everyone is making the same music, so to speak, with Billy conducting every measure.

MOVIE REVIEW: Without Remorse

That gamer friend of yours won’t be wrong. They will be steering you in the right direction with the arrival of the red-blooded Michael B. Jordan’s John Kelly, the man who would become the notorious John Clark. Frankly, we’ve had enough nerds, professors, and analysts, even if Jack Ryan was a former Marine. Talk first and postulate a strategy? Hell no. Without Remorse calls in the asskicker with more shades of gray than all the paint samples at The Home Depot.

2021, 4 STARS, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanApril 30, 2021Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: The Mitchells vs. The Machines

At first glance, be it the poster of car-riding mayhem or a closer look at the textured exaggerations of the animation style amid the slick futuristic adversaries, a title like The Mitchells vs. The Machines from Netflix likely evokes shades of Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World stirred with a scoop of Clark Griswold-like shenanigans. That’s a fair read, yet there’s, of course, more to it than that. Believe it or not, there’s some finger-wagging and heart-affirming family truthfulness within the zany scribbles.

2021, 4 STARS, ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanApril 27, 2021Comment

MOVIE REVIEW: Mortal Kombat

2021’s new Mortal Kombat, debuting simultaneously in reemerging theaters and on HBO Max April 23rd, is a catechism of created clout. It passes tonal tests and achieves feats of action strength to renew and amplify the original zest powered by that inescapable theme song that evaporated from a bad sequel nearly 25 years ago. Bolstered by a commitment to build a mythology beyond the button-smashing combos, Mortal Kombat should ensnare new and old fans alike.

2021, 4 STARS, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEW, StreamingDon ShanahanApril 23, 2021Mortal KombatComment

MOVIE REVIEW: Nobody

Our former schlub begins punching, shooting, stabbing, plotting, huffing, and puffing through an escalating network of Russian mobsters. Bob Odenkirk puts his 53-year-old self through two years of training in the hands to become a polo-shirted wraith of wanton violence. In between fights, Odenkirk’s graveled voice and line delivery pushes the severity of his morals and mindset to match his fists and trigger finger. He’s simply awesome and owns this movie.

2021, 4 STARS, Home Media, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanMarch 22, 2021Nobody, Bob OdenkirkComment