Shazam! The magic word for teenage entertainment Movie Rating 8 out of 10 Family rating It has an M rating with mild swearing, some disturbing gargoyle-like creatures that cause harm to humans, and superhero violence. Equivalent type movies would be Goonies or Poltergeist. With DC continually falling short of Marvel movies for entertainment, they have created Shazam to bring some fun back to the franchise. The movie is still about superheroes and of course super villains but does not come with DC's usually dark and grimy undertones. It has a good young cast, contains juvenile humour and is much more appealing than most of their stories and is suitable for older families. It carries themes that many youth/young adults can relate to such as being different, dealing with bullying behaviour, broken families and learning to deal with growing up. The story revolves around a teenage boy, Billy Batson, who has been through numerous foster homes after becoming separated from his single mother. In his efforts to locate his mother he falls foul of the police and is taken into custody and reassigned to another family. This household consists of five other foster children, each dealing with their own issues. However, Billy becomes friends with one of the boys, Freddy, who deals with a disability by being annoying to everyone. At the same time, there is an old wizard who has been given the task of keeping the supernatural bad guys under control. However, he is getting too old and is seeking a pure-hearted person to pass his powers on to. He is continually interviewing potential candidates but they have all failed the test that would qualify them for the power. One of these unsuccessful candidates is Thaddeus Sivana, who then does everything to obtain the power of the Wizard Shazam. Dr Sivana releases the seven deadly sins and as Shazam is nearing his end he recruits Billy to be the keeper of the power. This is done by calling out the word Shazam which turns Billy into an adult superhero. The movie then deals with Billy learning what superpowers he has as well as learning to act like the adult that he now looks. The adult Shazam is played with a childish innocence by Zachary Levi. The rest of the movie explores what can happen when someone acquires power without knowing how to use it, how it impacts on friendships and how to use it for the benefit of others rather than for selfish reasons. While watching the film I had the sense of seeing this before and in many ways, it is similar to 'Big' in which Tom Hanks becomes an adult overnight, or 30 Something with Jennifer Garner doing the same. In this movie, though Billy is able to change from a teenager into a superhero and back again by using the magic…

Instant Family will bring the family together. Movie Rating 8 out of 10 Family Rating It is rated PG but does have some coarse language Recently there have been too few movies that I have been able to recommend for families to watch together but Instant Family fits the bill. It is a movie for families that addresses what makes a family and how we all want to be part of one. The story centres on a married couple, Pete and Ellie Wagner (Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne) who in their late 30's recognise that they have missed their prime for having children. Instead, they consider adopting and thus begins a story that puts the foster/adoption programme on display. The movie begins with Ellie and Pete attending an 8-week training programme run by Karen (Octavia Spencer) and Sharon (Tig Notaro) who bring some comedy to this phase with their diametrically opposed training techniques. Next stage is meeting their foster children, yes multiple, Lizzie, Juan and Lita with their various characteristics and traits. Without giving too much away we then follow their journey as they try to become a 'normal' family. For those who are a little older, this movie has an 'Uncle Buck' feel to it that has the right mix of comedy and tenderness. There were many scenes in which I laughed out loud as the characters acted out just as many familiar members of my own family. There were cringe-worthy 'foot in mouth' moments that we can appreciate as something our partner, our parents or unfortunately ourselves would say. As with any family, but possibly more with a blended family, there is the awkwardness of establishing boundaries, relationships and trust and of course the horrible fear of rejection or failure that at times will dog us. There is a large supporting cast of family members and other parents going through the adoption process that all help the movie to share its message. From the adult sibling rivalries and involvement of parents/grandparents, through to the reality of being sometimes relieved that others are coping even worse than yourself, this has at least a couple of scenarios that we can all relate to. Instant Family may be seen by some as a sugar-coated tale that glosses over the many challenges facing both children and adults in the foster/adoption programs. However, I felt that it shared with the audience some of the hardships that have to be overcome and the overwhelming joy that can come to those who face these challenges and are willing to stick it out. to the end.  

Movie Rating 8 out of 10 Family Rating Adult Themes, Violence, some coarse language M Night Shyamalan started his directing his career with the incredible The Sixth Sense, then in 2000 came Unbreakable with Bruce Willis in the lead. Since then, many of his films failed to register with audiences, Signs, The Village, The Happening and then he went from poor to awful with The Last Airbender and After Earth. His career looked at an end until he went back to his roots and made the amazing Split, with James McAvoy and this last piece of the trilogy, 20 years in the making, Glass. While Unbreakable and Split can be watched without knowing the full story, I would recommend that you watch both of these before seeing Glass. If you haven't seen the first two there may be some spoilers ahead but not the outcomes of each movie so I hope it encourages you to see them rather than puts you off. Unbreakable, starring Bruce Willis tells the story of David Dunn, the sole survivor of a major train crash, who becomes the obsession of Elijah Price, Samuel L Jackson, who is a brilliant man but has a condition that has weakened his bone structure so that they will break under the slightest pressure. Price confronts Dunn and tells him that he believes that he is a superhero who has a role to play in helping others. This movie has a real twist at the end that I will not reveal. Split is the story of a man, James McAvoy, who has 24 distinct personalities. He has kidnapped 3 young girls and the movie goes through how each of the personalities interrelates, with some trying to save the girls while others welcome the arrival of the personality known as the Beast. James McAvoy is amazing as he revolves through so many characters, who refer to their collective self as the Horde, each with its own voice and characteristics. The film plays out as a stand-alone story until the very last scene where Split and Unbreakable become linked. So this is a long build-up to my review on Glass. This movie focuses on the character of Elijah Price, from the Unbreakable movie. Dr Ellie Staple, Sarah Paulson, brings Dunn, the Horde and Price together in a program designed to reform people who believe that they may have superhuman powers to see that they are just normal. While none of them is the standard superheroes/villains of Marvel status they believe that they have significant powers which are brought into question by the doctor's treatment. The film has continual twists and without adding any spoilers we find out at the end who has been manipulating who. The three main actors in Bruce Willis, James McAvoy and Samuel Jackson, play their roles brilliantly and the film becomes a real…

Vice - Amazing performances, ordinary story Movie Rating 7 out of 10 Family Rating Adult themes, strong coarse language, depictions of war violence. This movie is based on the story of Dick Cheney and so the name 'Vice' refers to the office of Vice President of the United States in which he served during the period that George W Bush served as President. I really wasn't planning to see this film, as modern American politics leaves me cold, but as it will be nominated for some Academy Awards I have the reviewers duty to share with you all my opinions. The story follows the development of Dick Cheney from a lethargic university student with little ambition to the point that he becomes one of the most powerful men in the world. This review will be in two parts today as I will firstly review the movie and its cast and then secondly the politics of the presentation. Christian Bale is an amazing actor and will go close to winning the Best Actor award for his portrayal of Dick Cheney. Some of you may recall the little rant I had last year about Gary Oldman's performance of Winston Churchill, fat suit and all. In contrast, Bale has the mesmerising ability to physically become the character he is playing, losing heaps of weight in The Machinist and now putting on weight to play Cheney. Halfway through the movie, I forgot that this was an actor and not the real character. In support, Amy Adams does a great job as his ambitious wife without turning it into an episode of House of Cards. Steve Carel is also impressive as Donald Rumsfeld and Sam Rockwell as George W Bush. So with such good performances, you would expect that I would have given Vice a higher rating. Unfortunately, the movie really doesn't know what it wants to be as it swings from a Michael Moore documentary to a spoof on the Bush presidential reign to an episode of the Soprano's. It is hard to watch the movie with an unbiased view as it obvious that the writer and director, Adam Macky, does not think highly of Dick Cheney or the Republican party. Early in the film, he tells us that the story is based on facts relating to decisions and actions that Cheney took in his life however he then adds his own interpretation of what he believes motivated Cheney to make those decisions and none of it implies that Cheney had any concern for people at all. The movie runs for over two hours and during that time he tries to cover over 40 years of Cheney's life and so there are many stops and starts that makes it hard to understand segments in context. Throughout the movie, there are continual montages of cuts from real film clips that…

Movie Review 6 out of 10 Family Review Strong violence for a superhero movie, scary underwater creatures and a few swear words. I am afraid my first review for 2019 will tear the superhero community in two as I have heard people rave about Aquaman and others pan it as poorly made. Already I have been involved in an international incident where an NZ local took my comments on the film and Jason Momoa's acting as an affront to Maori culture. For this reason, it is important that I am upfront in declaring that I am definitely a fan of Marvel movies over those produced by the DC banner but I do try to be unbiased when reviewing their movies. It is also important for me to mention that it has grossed $940 million worldwide so people obviously want to see it Now that I have made all my apologies let me share with you my opinions on this mega-blockbuster. I am not a Game of Thrones watcher so I do not know how good an actor Jason Momoa can be but I believe he was picked for the role based on his image rather than his ability to play a character. Momoa portrayed his character as 'one of the boys' that is not interested in taking any responsibility for events that don't immediately affect his world. While we find that he is mentored as a young boy/man to understand his heritage and place in the undersea world of Atlantis he has no desire to be part of it, even though he doesn't seem to have any career or desire to achieve anything on land. In Aquaman, DC is trying to establish a knockabout character modelled on a cross between Thor's self-assurance and Deadpool's bad behaviour but Momoa does not have the comedic timing to land the zingers. The movie is directed by Australian, James Wan, who is known for his horror movies Saw, The Conjuring, Insidious and recently Furious 7. Knowing his background it is understandable that the violence in the film is more intense and personal than most Marvel movies. The increased violence. along with the nasty creatures from the Trench, lead me to recommend that this movie may not be suitable for younger children. Some of the underwater scenes are reminiscent of Avatar and the movie does follow a plot that establishes Aquaman as a much stronger character than previously portrayed in DC shows. However, the story is very predictable and rolls along without feeling the need to explain how certain things happen or why. (For a list of these see Spoiler Alert below). There are two bad guys with Patrick Wilson playing Aquaman's half-brother who believes that he is entitled to be King of Atlantis and a pirate known as Mantra that has high tech gadgets but not much else going…