This sweet true story of “My Penguin Friend” smiles at, teaches and encourages its viewers in equal measure. “Alien: Romulus” turns some of its characters into bloodied pulps — and it just might make some viewers feel about the same. Despite Cate Blanchett’s presence in “Borderlands,” video game turned movie, its language and violence mean there are better ways to spend a Saturday.
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“My Penguin Friend” is not a large, complicated adventure. It doesn’t compel you to think about the dark, difficult things of our broken world or challenge you to somehow fix those ills.
Rather, this is a simple, sweet film based on a simple, sweet true story.
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Yes, we find some sad moments here. But this is a movie you can take the kids to without fear, and then talk about afterward. It tells a tale of a guy who offers help and healing to a suffering animal and, in return, gains some important healing of his own.
Perhaps more significantly, this pic celebrates the wonder of the nature God created. And it lauds the simple attributes of friendship and kindness. You know, the sort of stuff that actually makes a broken world better.
Read the rest of the review here. Watch the trailer here.
The” Alien” franchise has had a long and uneven history. The original film was an unabashed horror flick: “In space, no one can hear you scream,” ran the movie’s tagline. But while its sequels and side projects have all retained some of that “Alien” DNA (if you will), some pushed further into other genres. “Aliens” was as much an action romp as horrorfest. “Prometheus” and “Alien: Covenant” were both plenty gross but dipped their xenomorph toes into sci-fi speculation.
“Alien: Romulus” marks a return to its roots while staying true to the sometimes-muddy “Alien” canon. This is a straight-up horror flick, full stop. And while it can’t equal the original’s shock and awe, it tries to make up for that in its pure, unrelenting carnage.
The movie has more going for it, of course. We do care about Rain and Andy, and the film does encourage some thought as it dashes down the foreboding corridors of its space station. The film uses Remus and Romulus — the legendary twins of Roman mythology — as an in-the-know reference to point to the movie’s larger themes. It is said that Romulus, after all, killed his brother, setting Rome on its bloody, historical path. The film suggests that humans and aliens may be locked in a similar contest of sorts — one where only the fittest, and most ruthless, will survive.
So perhaps it’s fitting that “Alien: Romulus,” like its xenomorphs, shows no mercy. It has some strong moments and memorable scenes. But its ruthless, late-stage pace and preening preoccupation with gore can leave viewers less exhilarated and more exhausted — and, ultimately, a bit numb to it all.
“Alien: Romulus” turns some of its characters into bloodied pulps — and it just might make some viewers feel about the same.
Read the rest of the review here. Watch the trailer here.
If you’re not a gamer, you may not be aware of the über-popular looter-shooter video game franchise that this pic is based on. The “Borderlands” games present a bizarre world filled to the brim with imaginative, randomly generated weaponry that players can obtain and use to blast away at all that bizarreness with. The characters are exotic, the adventure immersive.
Even critics of M-rated violent shooters like myself, can find this game world to be a bit of a guilty pleasure.
So, when true fans of the series learned that the astounding Cate Blanchett would lead up a live-action movie version of “Borderlands,” they were truly joyous. Throw in a gaggle of other top-shelf actors (along with the sometimes controversial director Eli Roth) and the fanbase was shooting their digital weapons in the air and celebrating like a gang of Wild West bandits.
After early screenings of the film, however, the celebratory hue and cry online has dwindled as quickly as a screaming Claptrap kicked down a mineshaft.
And that’s for good reason.
Even with the immense talent of Blanchett deployed at the fore, this pic feels like an empty loot box. We witness great movie sets and lots of ‘splosion-filled action, to be sure, but nothing else. The film just ramrods its way through to the conclusion, with little to no character development or story connection.
Family audiences just looking for something colorful at the movie house to take the kids to will be equally disappointed. Not only is the story kind of meh, but they’ll also have to wade through the foul language and splattering goop.
There are many better ways to spend a Saturday.
Read the rest of the review here. Watch the trailer here.
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Plugged In is a Focus on the Family publication designed to shine a light on the world of popular entertainment while giving families the essential tools they need to understand, navigate, and impact the culture in which they live. Through our reviews, articles and discussions, we hope to spark intellectual thought, spiritual growth and a desire to follow the command of Colossians 2:8: “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”