Movie Review: Just Mercy

There's plenty of films with grit, resolve, and heart that depict the struggle of people who go about their daily lives and want to make a difference in the world, but rarely do we venture into what the state of affairs are in a rural American community where several convicts and prisoners see time for their crime - proven or otherwise. Lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative Bryan Stevenson shares his story of that and one particular case he worked on for in his book "Just Mercy" - which sees Stevenson tell how he represented and defended Walter McMillian -  a pulpwood worker who was wrongfully convicted for murder and getting the death penalty - until sufficient evidence and court hearings through a number of years finally saw a reversal of the decision - freeing McMillian and reuniting him with his family.

Thanks to Warner Bros. Philippines, I got to see director Destin Danielle Creton's film adaptation of "Just Mercy" - featuring a powerful cast that includes Michael B. Jordan ("Creed", "Black Panther"), Jamie Foxx ("Django Unchained", "The Amazing Spider-Man 2"), and Brie Larson ("Captain Marvel", "Room") and representing a dramatization retelling of the events that brought Bryan Stevenson (Jordan) as a young and headstronng Lawyer to Alabama to fight for poor people who can't afford proper legal counsel and representation. He meets McMillian (Foxx), and after some time convincing the disillusioned man that he can set him free - starting a journey between both men that introduces us to Stevenson's team in Equal Justice Initiative and McMillian's family as a case that takes years to solve is unraveled before us in a powerful legal drama story.




Now in its second week in Ayala Cinemas, Just Mercy is a film that proves heroes do exist everyday and fight to do what's right amidst all the discrimination and bias that exists in the world. Walk into this with lessons to draw and learn. It's a powerful movie that shows just how talented these actors are in bringing real-life stories and dramas to life.

Rating - 4/5

Movie Review: Bad Boys For Life

"We ride together. We die together. Bad Boys For Life."

As one of the cop buddy franchises I absolutely love, "Bad Boys For Life" - the third installment in the "Bad Boys" film franchise, was a sequel I really didn't think would happen but at long last it did. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reunite as Miami P.D. cop partners and best friends Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey - looking like they NEVER AGED since the last sequel, Bad Boys II, hit theaters in 2003. The original film in itself was released in 1995 - making it nearly 25 years since this hilarious, explosive, and high adrenaline film series started and entertained generations of moviewgoers and now reemerging for the millennial viewership we have today.

Thanks to Columbia Pictures Philippines, I got to see the film a few days before it opened in theaters, and I will tell you now if you are a fan of the first two films - MIKE AND MARCUS STILL GOT IT! I was concerned how the plot would carry over following the insanity Michael Bay put us through in the first two films, but this threequel very much entertained me  - and it all boils down to chemistry and progression now that these guys are a little past their prime and older... But not necessarily wiser either thanks to their gangsta style shenanigans.


BAD BOYS FOR LIFE - Official Trailer
Set 17 years after the events of the last film, "Bad Boys For Life" sees Mike and Marcus still serving in the Miami P.D - with the former stylin' and profilin' as always while the other contemplates retirement especially after becoming a grandparent. However both best friends are drawn to a new cycle of crime and intrigue, as someone starts systematically targeting people Mike used to work with in an old case. As shots are fired and skeletons begin coming out of closets, both friends must reevaluate each other's own character and come together as "Bad Boys" to solve the problem and save the day once more.

As a longtime fan of these kinds of action films, "Bad Boys For Life" surprised the heck out of me and allowed the franchise to get a breath of freshness to reemerge in a film market that has vastly changed in the decades since the series started. Will Smith and Martin Lawerence are the key to making these movies work, and it helps to have new stories to tell that propel their lives forward, as well as working with familiar faces like Joe Pantoliano returning as Captain Howard and new blood in the form of Vanessa Hudgens, Paaola Nunez, Kate del Castillo, and Jacob Scipio joining the cast. While Michael Bay does not return to direct the threequel, duo directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are more than up to the task and bring on the fun, laughs, and high octane drama and action we've come to expect and a whole lot more. In fact, one old joke from the second film had a pay off in this sequel, and if you're curious about what that is here is a featurette on it:


2020 just started and this is one of my favorite movies of the year already. You know when something's good you shouldn't stop, and a new series of films should be made after this.

Bad Boys For Life is now showing in theaters courtesy of Columbia Pictures Philippines.

Rating -5/5

Movie Review: Spies In Disguise

Will Smith. Tom Holland. Two big stars in Hollywood, together in one animated spy adventure that's aimed for kids and adults alike and sees the cool secret agent turn into... A pigeon?! With a combination like that, 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios' "Spies In Disguise" is one family adventure not to miss - especially for those looking for the brave, the bold, and the weird mixed into a hilarious cocktail of film that has its share of silliness and good laughs.

Thanks to the folks at 20th Century Fox PH, I got to see this animated adventure for myself before it opened in theaters, and of course I am a fan of the Hollywood stars that have lent their amazing voice talents into this insanely bird flavored flick directed by Troy Quane and Nick Bruno. It's also the first animated movie to see in the big screen this 2020 here in Manila, so if you want to admire CGI and some cool animation from the folks that brought us the Ice Age movies - this one is for you definitely.


SPIES IN DISGUISE | TEAM Trailer

Presented in the same style as famous spy films like the James Bond and Mission: Impossible movies, Spies In Disguise sees Will Smith voicing the role of Lance Sterling - a cocky secret agent who's the best in the business and is good at what he does. All that changes when he underestimates a mysterious villain named Killian - who frames the agent and forces him to go underground. Teaming up with an eccentric yet brilliant scientist named Walter Beckett - Sterling is hilariously transformed into a pigeon after unwittingly ingesting a formula concocted by the young MIT graduate. What follows is an odd pairing that sees both working together to clear their names, catch the bad guy, and change the best agent in the business back to normal before he starts flying away with the birds... Literally.

Outside of playing bad boys and superheroes, Smith and Holland lend some of their best voice acting skills to Spies In Disguise, joined by an ensemble assortment of other talents that includes Rashida Leah Jones, Ben Mendelsohn, and Karen Gillan. Smith in particular is right at home being his confidant and smooth cool cat self - and also acting wacky and hilarious when he becomes a pigeon and banters with the young Holland. It's a weird combination but also something of a refreshing team-up to see, and having some cool eye-catching CG animation by Blue Sky Studios adds to the appeal of this animated flick. Definitely something to see in theaters with your family and loved ones.

Spies In Disguise in now showing in theaters courtesy of 20th Century Fox PH.

Rating - 4/5

Movie Review: Richard Jewell

Happy New Year and hello 2020! We're starting off the new set of dates fresh and looking forward to a lot of new adventures, films, games, and just about anything I can review and talk about - and what better way to start than with the very first film I caught this January 2020 - Clint Eastwood's newest biographical drama pic "Richard Jewell".

Based on the real life 1996 Olympic Centennial Park Bombing incident that saw the man of the same name saving lives and praised as a hero but quickly denounced as the suspect himself, "Richard Jewell" takes a good and long hard look at society, media, and government as they quickly become wrapped in suspicion, paranoia, and breaking the life of a common man who naively believes in the system but quickly learns the hard truth about it.

Thanks to Warner Bros. Pictures, I got to see the film last week in the brand new Estancia Cinemas wing - and what a tale this was featuring a stellar cast led by Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, and Paul Walter Hauser as the titular character Richard Jewell. This is the kind of movie that should entertain anyone who likes drama and character study performances - Jewell's life as your common man, average joe redneck who has an idealistic impression about law enforcement quickly turns into a real-life tale of heroism when he discovers a bomb planted during his watch as a security guard in an Olympic Games concert held at Centennial Park. Jewell manages to inform his peers and prevent the bomb from claiming more casualties - but things turn upside down when the FBI and press twist his profile and are convinced "he is the bomber". With nowhere else to turn and his life with his mother turning upside down, Richard enlists the help of an old lawyer friend Watson Bryant (Sam Rockwell) - and the fight to clear his name begins.


RICHARD JEWELL - Official Trailer
As the first film I got to see for the new year, Richard Jewell impresses and manages to tell a very relatable and compelling tale of an innocent man's quest to fight back against the system that wrongly judged him. We see in a pre-Social Media setting of 1996 just how gruelling that kind of experience is, and Eastwood has made one of his strongest biographical films yet with strong performances - particularly Sam Rockwell as lawyer Watson Bryant and Kathy Bates as Richard Jewell's mother "Bobi" (for which she has been nominated for an Academy Award). I'd definitely recommend the film to those who enjoy seeing a dramatization of a real life story.

Richard Jewell is now showing in theaters.

Rating - 4/5