Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton
Week of March 8, 2021
Chaos Walking
Rated PG-13 for violence and language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 22%
In Theaters
In 2017, Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow) started filming this sci-fi flick with hot newcomers (at least they were then) Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and Tom Holland (Spider-Man: Homecoming) about a boy on a strange planet who tries to protect a girl whose spacecraft has just crashed there. Making things awkward for the young man is the planet forces all males to have what is a called “the noise” where their thoughts are displayed as they are thinking them – and he’s never seen a girl. For years this project has been tinkered on due to poor test screenings, and at a price tag of $100 million it is finally hitting theaters this week. You can tell that a lot of work went into the project and it certainly has great ambition. Unfortunately, the content just doesn’t translate well on to the big screen as it comes across as more unintentionally silly and weird than serious. Holland and Ridley do a good enough job in their roles and the impressive supporting cast, including Mads Mikkelsen, Demian Bichir, Cynthia Erivo and Nick Jonas, all seem to be doing their best to hold it together, but the narrative and the noise both serve to annoy and distract more than thrill. In the end, you get a mostly forgettable sci-fi pic with Ridley’s awful clown-like hairstyle etched in your brain as its sole reminder. C
Coming 2 America
Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, language and drug content
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 52%
Streaming on Amazon Prime
30 years after the events of the original Coming to America, Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall and gang are all back to further explore their lives and adventures. As Prince Akeem (Murphy) becomes King of the fictional African Kingdom of Zamunda, he is under great pressure to produce a male heir, and what he has is three daughters. But fortunately he discovers that during his trip to Queens 30 years ago, he inadvertently knocked up an American (Leslie Jones) who went on to give birth to his bastard son (Jermaine Fowler). Very quickly into the film, he brings back son and mother to Zamunda to begin grooming him to become a prince. Even though most of the movie takes place in Zamunda, many of the characters played originally by Murphy and Hall in the original come back to visit in various sequences. Honestly, much of that isn’t funny, but enough of the new stuff is. There are some cringe-worthy laugh attempts throughout, but pleasantly enough there are some big jokes and bits that also work well. A prominent critic friend of mine wisely gave me the advice to grab a drink or two (or three) while watching and it will be that much more enjoyable. That might be true for any film. But here it works especially well and by the end I was having a particularly good time. So take my advice and take advantage of your ability to watch at home… B