Here’s the bad joke of Hollywood Christmas movies. They tend to begin, and end, with a blast of old-school Yuletide cheer. But that’s just a tease. In between, most of them make a point of straying about as far from the Christmas spirit as possible. Instead, they swap in the new American spirit: vulgar, violent, full of fake fun, celebrating their own crassness. To trace the genesis of the anti-Christmas Christmas movie (“Jingle All the Way,” “Violent Night”), you would probably have to go back to a couple of movies that are thought of as classics (though not by me): “A Christmas Story” and “Home Alone,” both of them glasses of eggnog spiked with misanthropy.
That said, I’m not sure that a Hollywood movie has ever kicked off the season with less true Christmas spirit than “Red One.” Sure, J.K. Simmons plays Santa Claus (who gets abducted), and Simmons is winning in his crinkly old wise innocence. Dwayne Johnson, as Santa’s bodyguard (who wants to retire because he’s having a crisis of faith), is his outsize amiable self. The odd thing about the movie is that while it’s a little bit tongue-in-cheek, it’s not really a comedy. Directed with charmless energy by Jake Kasdan, “Red One” is at once an action movie; a kidnap-rescue thriller in which the doors to supply closets in toy stores are mystic portals; and an exercise in Christmas world-building, as if that’s the thing that’s been missing from Christmas.
At the beginning, Simmons’ Santa is seated on his throne, greeting a line of children in a shopping mall, a location he finds to be the most soulful place on earth (which shows you how far we’ve come from “Jingle All the Way” — even Santa now digs the capitalism of it all!). The hot toy of the season, the one kids keep asking him for, is a video game called Vampire Assassin 4. We’re supposed to chuckle at how un-Christmas-sounding that is. But “Red One” could almost be the movie version of Vampire Assassin 4. It’s that busy and bumptious, that overstuffed with cheesy digital effects, that generically derivative a piece of violent kitsch.
The film’s first not-quite-trying-to-be-funny “joke” is that Santa Claus’s whole enterprise is run like a U.S. military operation. Santa’s code name is Red One. Johnson’s Cal works for ELF — which stands for Enforcement Logistical Fortification, and means that Cal darts around like a secret-service agent, barking orders into his wrist walkie-talkie. CF drones, Sno-Cats, a cargo plane: the film is light on tinsel but heavy on equipment. And the dialogue is tech-bombastic enough to sound like something out of a Dan Aykroyd comedy from 1986.
It is also — of course — a buddy movie. No, not Santa and his bodyguard. (Once Santa is kidnapped, which happens early on, he’s mostly out of the picture.) The buddies here, who start off hating each other, are Cal, who’s been tasked with hunting down Santa’s whereabouts, and Jack (Chris Evans), a degenerate sports gambler and derelict divorced dad who is also some sort of super-hacker. Disreputable powers from all over the globe hire him, through encrypted communications, to uncover the hidden location of people and things, which he does with effortless dash.
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It was Jack’s handiwork that revealed Santa’s precise location in the North Pole (under a dome, it’s sort of like the Christmas-store version of the Pentagon). And that’s what allowed Santa to be kidnapped by Grýla, an ancient witch played by the always-welcome Kiernan Shipka, who ever since “Mad Men” I’ve thought (and still think) is going to be a major star — and this movie, in its blunderbuss way, shows why. Grýla is a standard nuance-free glowering nemesis, like something out of a “National Treasure” sequel. Yet the way Shipka plays her, there’s a tingle to her anger. Her evil dream? To punish everyone on Santa’s naughty list.
We meet Santa’s reindeer, who are interchangeable oversize digital creations, referred to as “girls.” Why would the reindeer be so tall? And why would they all be female? This is the sort of “whatever” conceit that dots “Red One.” Cal and Jack start off in Aruba, just because. On the beach, Cal, amusingly, changes size during a fight, and the two have to fend off an attack by ferocious snowmen. But that’s just one pit stop. They wind up in Germany in a medieval “Star Wars” cantina trying to save themselves from Santa’s estranged brother, the giant goat-man troll Krampus (Kristofer Hivju), at which point you’re either onboard or (in my case) starting to check your watch.
The villains are shape-shifters, but the key thing about “Red One” is that the whole movie is a shape-shifter: arduous action jape, low-kitsch Christmas fairy tale, buddy movie, family-reconciliation movie — every quadrant and demo must be served. At the movies, Christmas isn’t a holiday anymore, it’s a concept to be retro-fitted. Do you hear those sleigh bells jingling? Come on, it’s lovely weather for an over-the-top-of-the-North-Pole, through-the-supply-closet-portal, cargo-plane ride together with you.
GLADIATOR II is Director Ridley Scott’s long-awaited return to Ancient Rome. General Maximus and Lucilla’s son, Lucius, returns to Rome as a gladiator. He’s intent on exacting revenge against the Roman general who killed his wife in a battle in another land. However, the general is now married to his mother and is involved in a plot to overthrow the evil twin emperors now ruling Rome.
GLADIATOR II is an exciting, spectacular, sometimes inspiring adventure. It has some great dramatic twists that propel the movie’s message promoting liberty over tyranny. In the end, the hero rallies the people against the tyranny of the two emperors. The movie also has a Christian character who heals the wounds of the gladiators. He makes a reference to forgiveness and salvation in one scene. However, the movie has lots of strong action violence, including some very bloody scenes. GLADIATOR II is more historical fiction than historical drama. It’s not historically accurate. Also, a male character makes a lewd joke about sometimes having homosexual relations. Finally, there are references to Roman pagan beliefs. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution.
(BB, PP, ACAC, C, Pa, FR, Ho, L, VVV, S, N, A, M):
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:
Strong moral worldview supports liberty and general republican virtues against imperial tyranny, plus a Christian character is a former gladiator who has become a physician who binds up the gladiators’ wounds and befriends the hero and speaks about forgiveness and salvation in one scene, with some Roman paganism/hedonism and hero has dreams of his recently dead wife getting on the boat with the ferryman to the afterlife, and the evil twin Roman emperors dress effeminately, and another villain jokes about having been with men as well as women in one scene;
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Foul Language:
Two “d” words (one is old-fashioned);
Violence:
Some very strong such as a bloody beheading in the arena, and lots of strong violence such as lots of sword fighting, gladiators fight off a bunch of vicious baboons, Roman armada storms a walled city with lots of war violence, woman shot with an arrow and plunges off wall onto sandy and rocky beach, many people hit with arrows, gladiators fight off another gladiator riding a large charging rhinoceros, gladiators fight a sea battle in the Coliseum, bloody murder, etc.;
Sex:
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No sex scenes, but the evil twin Roman emperors dress effeminately, and another villain jokes about having been with men as well as women in one scene (these things seem to reflect the decadence that was Ancient Rome), and two scenes of marital couples kissing;
Nudity:
Some upper male nudity images in battle scenes and gladiator scenes;
Alcohol Use:
Some wine drinking;
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Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:
No smoking or drugs; and,
Miscellaneous Immorality:
Revenge but it’s overcome by forgiveness and sacrifice, gambling on gladiator battles.
GLADIATOR II is Director Ridley Scott’s long-awaited return to Ancient Rome, in a story about General Maximus and Lucilla’s son, Lucius, returning to Rome as a gladiator, intent on exacting revenge against the Roman general who killed his wife in a battle in another land. GLADIATOR II is an exciting, spectacular, sometimes inspiring adventure with some great dramatic twists and a message promoting a libertarian republic over tyranny, but it has some very strong violence and doesn’t strive for total historical accuracy, so extreme caution is advised.
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The movie opens with Lucius as a young, high-ranking, married soldier in the North African kingdom of Numidia, the Roman Province which later became the home of St. Augustine. A Roman general named Acasius leads a Roman armada against the capitol city on the shore. The city is no match for the Romans. They soon overrun the city and take Lucius prisoner after Acasius orders an archer during the battle to shoot his wife who was firing arrows from atop the city’s walls.
Lucius is turned into a gladiator, who’s bought by a former gladiator named Macrinus. Macrinus is a clever man who’s ingratiated himself with the Roman elite, including the twin emperors, Geta and Caracalla. Macrinus takes Lucius to fight in the Coliseum in Rome.
Lucius swears revenge against Acasius. He’s determined to find a way to kill the man who killed his wife. His mother, Lucilla, as the daughter of a respected former emperor, is still part of Roman royalty and watches the gladiator battles from the royal box. She recognizes the mannerisms of his father in Lucius, who’s going by his adopted Numidian name. Years ago, Lucilla had sent her son away, to hide him from people in Rome who would like to kill the son of General Maximus, who’s in the line to become Emperor. Now, however, Lucilla also happens to be the wife of General Acacius, the man who Lucius wants to kill.
Lucilla meets secretly with her son. However, Lucius is angry she abandoned him and sent him away. So, he refuses to acknowledge her.
Meanwhile, her husband, General Acacius, is sick of the ruthless war mongering of the twin emperors. He’s actually consorting with other dissidents, who are intent on overthrowing the twin emperors. Lucilla and her friend, Senator Gracchus, secretly support the General’s rebellion.
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These conflicts eventually come to a head, leading to an exciting finish.
GLADIATOR II is an exciting, spectacular, sometimes inspiring adventure. It has some great dramatic twists that propel the movie’s message promoting liberty over tyranny. In the end, the hero rallies the people against the tyranny of the two emperors.
That said, some may feel that the intensity of the first movie, which centered on the conflict between Russell Crowe’s heroic general and Joaquin Phoenix’s ruthless Emperor, is lacking. The sequel transfers that intensity to Paul Mescal as the young hero, Pedro Pascal as the General, and Denzel Washington as the ambitious and devious businessman.
Some of GLADIATOR II is historically accurate. However, the movie condenses the history of the twin emperors, including the dates of their deaths, which happened years apart. Also, Lucilla actually died in 182 AD, well before the timeframe of this movie. So, GLADIATOR II is more historical fiction than historical drama.
GLADIATOR II has lots of strong action violence involving battles between armies and gladiators. For example, there’s the big battle in the beginning and gladiator contests involving vicious baboons, a gladiator riding a large rhinoceros, and gladiators on two ships engaged in a sea battle inside the Coliseum. Some of the violence is very strong and bloody, and some of it is tragic when favorite characters die.
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Finally, one character in the movie makes a lewd joke about having intimate relations with women and occasionally a man.
Satya Dev’s upcoming heist drama, Zebra, is set for a grand release tomorrow, with the actor expressing high hopes for its success. Kannada star Daali Dhananjaya plays a pivotal role alongside Satya Dev.
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To build anticipation, the makers recently released a sneak peek and hosted a special show for a select audience. The latest update reveals that the film’s runtime has been set at 164 minutes (2 hours and 44 minutes), which may feel a bit lengthy for a heist thriller. It remains to be seen how well the film engages its audience.
The movie also stars Priya Bhavani Shankar, Sathyaraj, Amrutha Iyengar, and others. Produced by OldTown Production and Padmaja Films Private Limited, the film’s music is composed by Ravi Basrur, known for his work on KGF.
Directed by Amber Sealey. Starring Phoebe-Rae Taylor, Jennifer Aniston, Rosemarie DeWitt, Luke Kirby, Judith Light, Emily Mitchell, Michael Chernus, Courtney Taylor, Catherine McNally, Kate Moyer, Maria Nash, Jeff Roop, Sharron Matthews, Kim Huffman, Ian Ho, Gabriela Francis, Gavin MacIver-Wright, Maya Lee O’Connor, Nicholas Fry, Miley Haik, Lauren Plech, Nylan Parthipan, Pip McCallan, Isaak Bailey, Christian Rose, Cristiano Buchanan, Anabelle Dietl, and Mia Burke.
SYNOPSIS:
Melody Brooks is navigating sixth grade as a nonverbal wheelchair user who has cerebral palsy. With the help of some assistive technology and her devoted allies, Melody shows that what she has to say is more important than how she says it.
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Born with cerebral palsy, Melody Brooks (played by Phoebe-Rae Taylor, also born with that condition and unquestionably a significant key to the authenticity on display) is a nonverbal wheelchair user. She is also knowledgeable with ambitions and has a lot to say, but she is limited to communicating through a board attached to her wheelchair tray (a slight, realistic touch that most films about disability seem to ignore the existence of for some inexplicable reason) containing a chart of basic sentences, thoughts, feelings, and moods for simple expression.
Directed by Amber Sealey (from a screenplay by Daniel Stiepleman and based on the novel by Sharon M. Draper), Out of My Mind mainly works because it understands that giving Melody a Medi-Speak device (an electronic tool that reads off whatever is prompted, while also coming with preprogrammed basic phrases and sentences, read aloud in the usual generic computerized voices) won’t entirely solve the problem if everyone from the school faculty to her friends and immediate family vary in their struggles to listen to those words. The issues raised stem from society and the education system, not the disability itself. That’s not to say electronic voice communicators are useless. A voice is a voice, and her father Chuck’s (Luke Kirby) reaction to hearing her daughter “speak” for the first time in which he lets the waterworks flow is a heartstrings-pulling moment that doesn’t ring false.
However, even he sometimes misses the point and gets so caught up discussing what’s best for Melody with his wife, Diane (Rosemarie DeWitt), that they both end up ignoring her in the heat of the moment. He does happen to be the more forward-minded of the parents, as fearless as his daughter is about enrolling into a standard 6th-grade class rather than overachieving in special education. If expectations are already met, why not raise the bar? That alone feels like a mantra most disabled people already live by, consistently feeling the need to prove themselves to able-bodied people who can’t even be bothered to learn that they don’t have to talk to someone in a wheelchair with an awkwardly kind, pitiful tone. Nevertheless, Diane is the helicopter parent raising justifiable concerns over ostracism and bullying.
As for the speaking device, what Melody chooses to say first is equally moving, as it encapsulates and sums up the frustrations and misunderstandings she has felt, even from her family, her whole life. It’s also important to point out that the film isn’t vilifying the parents; caring for a disabled child is tricky, will wear anyone down, and inadvertently cause those miscommunications, or lack thereof. Despite one or two powerful scenes of them standing up for Melody, whether it be from an ablest school system (including a teacher played by Michael Chernus who is technically qualified at the job but is immensely punchable when it comes to his ableism and treating Melody’s classroom presence as a distraction and nuisance), the film primarily sticks with her perspective, sprinkling in some inner thoughts using the voice of Jennifer Aniston.
It’s a device used sparingly, thankfully not overdone. As for why Jennifer Aniston, Melody loves watching Friends, but one is eager to know if that’s also a choice from the book or one encouraged by Phoebe-Rae Taylor. From little details such as classroom desks placed too close together for wheelchairs to fit through the aisles, classmates feeling an awkward pressure of losing “cool” status if they are caught giving friendship a chance with Melody, and grossed-out glances her way as eating messier foods becomes, well, messy to her face, the film understands the pitfalls of public and social disabled life. Again, maybe that’s already in the novel or screenplay, but it can’t be overstated enough that when filmmakers cast disabled actors, it comes with extra layers of authenticity and insight.
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Remember that this is still a Disney+ production, so the material has a sanitized, sentimental feel while broadly playing every narrative beat. Once a nationwide quiz competition comes into play, the narrative’s focus shifts there, perhaps too much, even if it still explores Melody’s othering by some of her peers and that enraging teacher. Bluntly put, it all becomes too plot-focused and even contrived. Feel-good songs also repeatedly pop up to remind viewers that the material will never get too challenging. However, a film is sometimes so well-meaning and educationally beneficial that such saccharine material is worth overlooking. Out of My Mind offsets that with a huge heart and a dignified, optimistic, touching performance from Phoebe-Rae Taylor.
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
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