LONG SHOT

Politics makes strange bedfellows.  In the case of the movie Long Shot, one would wish it would have made for a movie with any sort of entertainment value.

Secretary of State Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron) is smart, beautiful, and accomplished.  When idiot President Chambers (Bob Odenirk) tells her he wants to be a one-term president so he can transition to doing movies, she starts planning for a 2020 presidential run.  Her main platform is an environmental plan -- "trees, seas, and bees" -- and she needs to stay on Chambers' good side to get his endorsement.  She's also dodging meeting up with Parker Wembley (Andy Serkis), the movie's far-from-subtle caricature of Rupert Murdoch.

Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen) is an angry reporter who quits his job when his newspaper is bought out by Parker Wembley.  Fred knew Charlotte when they were in high school, and after a meeting at a gala Charlotte hires Fred to be her speechwriter.  The two start getting to know each other better, and soon they're romantically involved.  But while Fred's buddy Lance (O'Shea Jackon Jr.) encourages him, Charlotte's associate Maggie (June Diane Raphael) says the public won't accept a beautiful woman like her being with a rough-looking guy like him.  And Fred tries to keep Charlotte honest as more and more elements of her environmental get stripped away in the name of compromise.

Long Shot is part romantic comedy, part political drama -- and it fails on both levels.  There's no romantic chemistry between the two stars, and a few comedic set-ups fall flat, as do the one-liners tossed out here and there through the movie.  The political element is hardly realistic either, and even a blackmail story element doesn't work.  There are some very talented actors in Long Shot, but the material fails them badly.

Overall grade: D
Reviewed by James Lynch

ATOMIC BLONDE

While Atomic Blonde is being advertised as "a female James Bond," it doesn't go into fancy gadgets and gimmicks.  It does have a solid plot, some very good (and brutal) fight scenes, and lots of fun for star Charlize Theron.

The movie opens in 1989, days before the collapse of the Berlin Wall.  We see British agent James Gasciogne (Sam Hargrave) killed by KGB agent Yuri Bakhtin (Johannes Haukur Johannesson), who steals his watch.

Next we jump to an office, where British spy Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) is being debriefed by MI6 execitive Eric Gray (Toby Jones) and CIA agent Emmett Kurzfeld (John Goodman).  Gasgiogne has obtained a list of all covert British agents, which he had on microfilm in his watch; the list also had the identity of Satchel, a British double agent who had been providing information to the Communists.  Lorraine (who had been Gasciogne's lover) was sent to both East and West Berlin to get the list and learn the identity of Satchel.

Unfortunately, the mission is a disaster almost from the start.  Lorraine is quickly identified and attacked.  Her British contact is David Percival (James McAvoy), an agent who's gone native and seems more interested in drinking and partying than getting information.  Agents from numerous governments are after the list, and going to and from East Berlin is a challenge.  Then there's Spyglass (Eddie Marsan), a nervous man who claims to have memorized the entire list.

Atomic Blonde is a decent spy movie.  Charlize Theron does a great job as the title character, an agent who always seems to keep her plans, ideas, and suspicions very private; she also does quite well in the numerous fight scenes.  As for the rest, the plot is a fairly standard spy setup -- who can be trusted?  Who will survive?  Who's the double agent? -- with some twists but no big surprises; and the near-constant pop hits from the 1980s get overdone somewhat quickly.  This is an action movie that's not revolutionary but is satisfying.

Overall grade: B
Reviewed by James Lynch

KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS

With so many summer movies being franchises, fluff, or bogged down with special effects, it's a nice change of pace to see a movie that's quieter, self-contained, and quite beautiful.  Kubo and the Two Strings is a Japanese folktale from the stop-motion experts from Laika Studios that's both touching and harsh.

The movie opens during a storm, as Sariatu (Charlize Theron) is traveling in a small boat with her baby Kubo.  The journey isn't easy -- Sariatu is thrown out of the boat and hits her head on the ocean floor, while the baby is missing an eye -- but they make it to a cave in a giant mountain.

Years later, Kubo (Art Parkinson) is a young boy who supports by his mother by going into town, telling stories, and playing a guitar that brings sheets of paper to life.  Sariatu has memory lapses and periods of catatonia, but she still tells Kubo stories about his past.  His father, Hanzo, was a samurai whose love was an insult to Saraitu's father the Moon King and Sariatu's evil Sisters.  They killed Hanzo and the Moon King stole Kubo's eye -- and he wants the other one, which is why Kubo must always return home before night.

Of course Kubo winds up in town after dark, which brings the creepy Sisters (voiced by Rooney Mara).  Sariatu sacrifices herself to save Kubo, telling him to find a magic armor, sword, and helmet to protect himself.  Kubo's little figure of a monkey has come to life, and Monkey (also voiced by Charlize Theron) is a humorless guardian of Kubo.  A paper samurai acts as a guide for the pair, and they're joined on their quest by Beetle (Matthew McConaughey), a samurai turned into a human-insect hybrid with amnesia but a certainly he served Hanzo.  Together they face a giant skeleton, hypnotic sea monsters, Kubo's truly scary relatives, and revelations (including a twist I saw coming) and loss.

Kubo and the Two Strings is a very impressive movie.  The animation is stunning, from the largest stop-motion puppet ever to the emotional expressions of the characters (and the creepy still faces of the Sisters).  Unlike many other animated movies, this one has genuine loss and tragedy, and it's not magically reversed or changed at the end.  The voice talent is very good, and kids and adults alike will enjoy the bickering between Monkey and Beetle.  Kubo and the Two Strings may be a little scary for really young kids, but it's a delight for fans of both animation and originality.

Overall grade: A-
Reviewed by James Lynch

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

I do not believe any movie has featured as much driving and vehicular action as Mad Max: Fury Road -- and that includes movies about racing!  This reboot/continuation of the Road Warrior franchise is concerned almost solely with driving action, and it certainly delivers.

The movie opens in an all-desert post-apocalyptic world with Max (Tom Hardy) alone, haunted by memories/visions of a little girl he couldn't save -- and captured by a bunch of bald albinos.  They obey Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), a warlord with a skull mouthpiece who rules a small kingdom by sparsely doling out water to the people there.  He's created a green oasis in the desert - but up on a mountain, and only for him.  Max is kept as a living blood bag.

Joe's trusted servant Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) is supposed to take the heavily-armored War Rig out on a munitions run, but she changes course without telling anyone.  When Joe finds out she's freed and is transporting his five wives/breeders (one of whom is about to give birth), he sends his whole army out to retrieve his "property," no matter the cost.  And young driver Nux (Nicholas Hoult) straps Max to the front of his vehicle, still drawing blood from him while in the chase.

Through a series of events, Max winds up freed and helping Furiosa and the five wives travel to "the Green Place" Furiosa promised them.  Meanwhile the group is relentlessly pursued by Joe and his army, assorted bandits and groups, and even Nux hangs around.

While the leads are good (and Theron is the real star of the movie), the real key to Mad Max: Fury Road is the action and the spectacle.  Director and co-writer George Miller loves pushing things far pat the normal, whether it's cars covered in spikes, a vehicle covered with speakers while a blindfolded musician plays a guitar that shoots flames, Furiosa's bare-bones but functional prosthetic arm.  The action almost never stops (there is a brief lull about two-thirds into the movie) and the audience is treated to innumerable explosions, car crashes, and flying bodies.  A lot of the movie's feminist elements get lots on the cacophany of the chaos -- but Mad Max: Fury Road is undeniably one of the most exciting movies to hit the theaters in a very long time.

 Overall grade: A-

Reviewed by James Lynch