PROJECT POWER
The screen presence of Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt is always welcomed, but it’s Dominique Fishback that you will be most drawn to. This pill popping superhero movie is hers from the moment it starts to when the final credits roll. Performances aside, there’s nothing special that arises from a plot centering around having super powers for five minutes for every dose taken other than a few solid action sequences. It’s a nifty idea and has its fun at times; however, for what directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman are prescribing to the audience, being superficial, familiar, and feckless are a few major side effects.
FEAR CITY: NEW YORK VS. THE MAFIA
New York City became “Fear City” during the 1970s and ‘80s while five mafia families – Colombo, Lucchese, Gambino, Bonanno, and Genovese – ruled the blood-soaked streets. Director Sam Hobkinson’s docu-series is definitely interesting, but understandable for those who grew up during that time to get nothing out of it. Personally, not knowing too much about how everything went down, it all plays out as a captivating cat-and-mouse game, filled with clever schemes and significant advancements in laws and technology that changed how the game is played.
And while there is certainly major differences between the feds and the crooks they want to take down – the code they live by is surprisingly very similar when it comes to respect. Made up of three episodes (the last being the longest at an hour), Hobkinson’s slick telling is backed up by listening to old wiretaps as well as current interviews of the gangsters and investigators who lived to tell about it. Their words and solid re-enactments make you feel like you’re in the middle of a history-making crime bust.
ANIMAL CRACKERS
Told through colorful animation and a five-star vocal cast featuring John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Danny DeVito, and Ian McKellen, this slightly enjoyable animation isn’t a very memorable one. It has the right idea with a circus on its last leg, magical treats that turn people into fantastic beasts, and the unbreakable bond between family. However, it simply doesn’t add up to too much. The story, the jokes, the characters (with the exception of McKellen’s Uncle Haratio), they all are in need of a little more pizazz to really beguile kids and adults alike.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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