Quick takes on Living and other films

Creed III is the newest film in the Rambo/Creed franchise and, in many ways, it is the first time the franchise has stepped out from Sylvester Stallone’s shadow, most notably because he does not appear anywhere in the film. I’ve liked the last couple Creed pictures. Say what you will about them, but they’re always exciting, especially when the gloves go on in the final fight scene. This one though, sort of lost me. The film begins with Adonis Creed (Michael B Jordan) on top of the world, retiring after having locked up the undisputed champion belts of the world. He now wants to focus on his family, and train the next big fighter. A man from his past puts those plans on hold. When they were kids, Damian Anderson (Jonathan Majors) was an up-and-coming boxer but got in trouble with the law, partially protecting young Creed, and then spent his whole life in prison. Now freed, Anderson wants to resurrect his career, and if he gets a chance to take down Creed in the meantime, who he feels betrayed by, then all the better. It’s a good story, if a bit stale by this point, but just when the movie is supposed to hit those expected highs in the boxing ring, the film’s momentum is halted by an odd choice by the director to go for an artsy appeal. Do they not know their target demographic? It stopped the growing suspense for me and I never got back into it. A bit of a letdown after the last film in the series. ★★★

Plane, on the other hand, knows what it is and doesn’t try to do too much. Part of that comes from the lead, Gerard Butler. He has the whole action flick thing down pat. In this one, he is a pilot named Brodie, flying a passenger jet from Singapore to Tokyo. It being New Years, the passenger list is just 14, but one of them is a suspected murderer named Louis (Luke Cage’s Mike Colter), being escorted by an officer. Brodie and his copilot voice concerns about flying through a storm en route, but the powers that be want to save money so tell them to proceed. Sure enough, the plane runs into trouble when it is struck by lightning, frying all the systems on board. Brodie is able to guide the plane to a blind landing on an obscure island, which turns out to be in the Philippines. The copilot is able to deduce their location, and knows they are in trouble: this particular island has no law, and is ruled by dangerous rebels known for kidnapping and the ransom trade. Brodie will need to team up with Louis if they are going to get the passengers safely off the island, against a very dangerous man with his own private army to back him up. Turn your brain off and let the thrills wash over you, because this one has plenty of action, from fist fights to gun fights to even a rocket launcher coming out before the end. From a critics standpoint, I’m sure Creed III is the better movie, but Plane had my attention far better throughout its run. ★★★★

The Innocent is sort of an offbeat comedy with some thriller moments and even some emotional heft here and there. The film mostly follows Abel, the adult son to Sylvie. Much to Abel’s chagrin, the chaotic Sylvie always seems to be giving in to whims, so when she marries a prison inmate named Michel and then gives up her career to open a floral shop with him when he gets out of jail, Abel attempts to talk her out of it. Abel doesn’t trust Michel at all, tailing him to see if he is still involved in criminal activity. Abel even pulls in his longtime friend and coworker Clémence, who gets wrapped up in the “game” too. Turns out Abel’s intuition was correct, but Michel turns the tables on him and gets Abel and Clémence involved in the scam. Abel may find himself in over his head in more ways than one. Some clever moments, but the best moments for me were the final 20 minutes when Abel and Clémence are forced to face their troubled emotions regarding each other. Still, the movie was a bit too all over the place to really hit on all cylinders. ★★★½

There have been a handful of D&D movies over the years, but they’ve always flamed out with critics and audiences alike. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is the first to succeed, and it’s not just because it has an all-star cast including Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, and Hugh Grant (with other star cameos too). Taking place in the Forgotten Realms setting made it even better for me personally; I was a huge sci-fi/fantasy reader in the 90s and 00s, and have read every single book in the series. At the beginning of this film, Elgin is a bard who is currently in jail with his friend Holga. A former do-gooder, Elgin lost his wife when evil wizards lashed out at his family years ago, so he turned to the life of a thief instead. He and Holga have been in jail for 2 years, and he’s itching to get out and reunite with his daughter, who’s been in the care of former friend Forge. When Elgin and Holga escape though, they find that Forge has teamed up with those same evil wizards, and turned Elgin’s own daughter against him. Intent on getting her back, Elgin and Holga seek new friends powerful enough to take down Forge and his evil army. I’ve never played D&D, but I imagine it plays out much like this film does. It is full of magic and swordsmanship, but also the kind of humor that comes naturally to long-time friends. I laughed a lot and was completely enthralled by the gorgeous landscapes and magical creatures. Seeing sites and creatures I’d read about years ago come to life was a real joy. I’d love to see if they continue this series in the future, and explore more of the Realms. ★★★★

Living is a remake of the classic Akira Kurosawa film Ikiri, one of my favorite films of all time. Bill Nighy stars as Mr Williams, a bureaucrat in 1950s London. He is head of an office which seems to do little real work, mostly just moving around paperwork all day, every day. Williams’s private life is as boring as his work, leading to his nickname in the office of Mr Zombie. In the beginning of the film, Williams gets some news though that will change his outlook on life: advanced terminal cancer, which gives him just a few months to live. Williams decides to find whatever it is in life that he’s been missing all these years. He doesn’t find it in his son and daughter-in-law, who only care for the money he will leave them, and doesn’t even tell them about his prognosis. He doesn’t find it in partying with a man he meats at a bar. He doesn’t find it with a high-on-life young female worker, formerly from his own office, who doesn’t know how to relate her outlook on life to the older and dour Williams. Instead, he finds renewed hope in assisting petitioners to his office at work, who have been wanting to replace a trash pit by their homes with a park for their kids. Williams spends the time he has left making sure that happens. The film is beautifully told, and Nighy and cast are definitely on their game, but the film doesn’t quite catch Ikiru. I can only chalk that up to Kurosawa’s sure hand; he is after all one of the best there ever was. Still, a lovely film that I highly recommend. ★★★★½

• TV series recently watched: Shining Girls (miniseries), Star Trek Lower Decks (season 3)
• Book currently reading: Killing Floor by Lee Child