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Reviews of movies showing in theaters or streaming online
‘ALINE’: There’s an episode of “30 Rock” that features the character Jenna Maroney announcing she’s been cast in an unauthorized Janis Joplin biopic, but since the filmmakers don’t have the rights to Joplin’s life, Maroney is playing a Joplin-like character named “Jackie Jormp-Jomp.” But what was a silly gag for the NBC comedy has now become real, in the form of “Aline,” the unauthorized biopic “inspired by” the life of French Canadian singing superstar Celine Dion. The film follows the life of Aline Dieu, the youngest of 13 children, a child prodigy who takes the world by storm with her powerful voice, falls in love with and marries her much older manager, sings the most famous movie song in the world, and takes up a residency in Vegas, while mothering her three boys, including twins, and reckoning with the mortality of her older husband. It’s the Celine Dion story, with a few names changed, and a couple of snippets of her most famous songs — fairly standard biopic fare. In French with English subtitles. 2:08. 2 ½ stars. — Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service
‘AMBULANCE’: Director Michael Bay’s “Ambulance” celebrates Los Angeles as a shining city built on a cloverleaf of speed, concrete, yelling, automatic gunfire and rugged American individualism on both sides of the law. At weird intervals the action cuts away to a fluttering faceful of U.S. flag, as a reminder of where we are and who we are, and what the movie’s selling: national pride in a certain kind of mediocre action picture. None of the collisions, Gatling gun massacres or SWAT sniper stare-downs in “Ambulance” can compete with Jake Gyllenhaal’s popeyed, this-guy-goes-to-11 dramatics in the role of the turtlenecked bank robber under pressure, a character whose heist management style tends toward hammering repetition of simple commands. 2:16. 2 stars. — Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
‘THE BUBBLE’: “At least we tried to make a movie, they can’t judge us for that,” a character says at the end of writer-director Judd Apatow’s new comedy for Netflix. “We made something that’s a distraction in these difficult times.” I can only assume these words are a not-so-subtle effort to short circuit critiques — we’re grading on effort these days, are we? — from anyone puzzled by “The Bubble” and its half-hearted attempts to satirize Hollywood egos and moviemaking in the Age of COVID-19. The cast and crew of a “Jurassic”-like action franchise called
“Cliff Beasts” have assembled mid-pandemic — first for a luxurious two-week quarantine, then for several months of filming inside “the bubble” (no one goes in or out for the duration) — at a lavish estate-turned-hotel in the English countryside. From the word go, chaos reigns. 2:06. 1 ½ stars. Streaming on Netflix.
— Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune
‘THE BATMAN’: Just when you’ve had it with Gotham City, caped crusaders and the whole franchise, along comes a good Batman movie — easily the best since “The Dark Knight” 14 years and an entire film industry ago. “The Batman” features a solemnly effective new Bruce Wayne/ Batman courtesy of Robert
Pattinson. He has a superb counterpoint/frenemy/ soul mate in Zoe Kravitz’s Selina Kyle/Catwoman. Selina works as a nightclub hostess (vaguely defined on purpose) in a mob hangout frequented by John Turturro’s Falcone, who is outfitted by sunglasses handed down, apparently, from Sam Giancana. “Oz” Cobblepot, aka The Penguin, reports to Falcone but isn’t happy about the arrangement. He’s played by an unrecognizable Colin Farrell. Meanwhile, Andy Serkis as Wayne’s guardian Alfred Pennyworth is lovely, a naturally civilized antidote to all the hellishness swirling around him. All it takes for Gotham, aka America, to give into pure chaos, is simple: “fear, and a little focused violence,” according to Paul Dano’s Riddler. “The Batman,” rated PG-13 but barely, plays all the sides of Gotham’s mean streets more compellingly, and without mainlining the viciousness “Joker” style. I don’t know if we needed “The Batman,” but Matt Reeves, the director and co-writer, and company certainly elevated it. 2:56. 3 stars. — Michael Phillips
‘THE CONTRACTOR’:
Chris Pine slips into his best spy-wear for Tarik Saleh’s “The Contractor,” a character study (cloaked as a thriller) of a U.S. Army Ranger who tries his hand in the murky world of private security. Written by J.P. Davis, “The Contractor” paints a deeply cynical picture of life after service for American military heroes, having destroyed their bodies on the battlefield and left to fend for themselves and their families in an increasingly brutal world. 1:43. 2 ½ stars. Available via video on demand.
— Katie Walsh
‘THE COW’: One might not expect Andrea Arnold, the English filmmaker known for her intimately harrowing narrative features “Fish Tank” and “American Honey,” to next deliver a dialogue-free nonfiction film examining the life of a farm animal. But after an embattled experience on season two of the HBO series “Big Little Lies,” Arnold has turned back to nature, bringing her unflinching sensibility to bear on “Cow,” a carefully considered contemplation of the life of a dairy cow, Luma. While it can be a challenging watch, “Cow” doesn’t necessarily have a specific agenda, and is not an indictment of the dairy industry. It offers up a clear-eyed observation of the process and allows the viewer to decide. 1:34. 3 stars. Available via video on demand. — Katie Walsh
‘MORBIUS’: “Morbius” is an itty sort of Marvel movie, from Sony and Columbia, a little “Doctor Strange” drenched with gallons of “Venom.” Early in the movie the character of Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto), introduced originally in a 1971 “Amazing Spider-Man” comic storyline, turns down his Nobel Prize for inventing artificial blood and saving countless lives. The discovery was accidental, he reasons. The film, just this side of an R-rated melee, is one big fake blood squib. Struggling with a rare blood disorder, Dr. M ’copters into Costa Rica to subject himself to a caveful of vampire bats. His research suggests a blend of human and bat DNA will cure him, and he’ll be able to save his similarly afflicted childhood friend nicknamed “Milo” (played by Matt Smith). An awful lot of the movie depends on the chemistry between Leto and Smith, playing old friends and new enemies. I don’t relish pinning blame on a particular star/executive producer, in this case Leto, since so much in corporate franchise commerce has a chance to go wrong before a single performer gets in front of a camera. But my bafflement regarding Leto is becoming chronic. 1:44. 1 ½ stars. — Michael Phillips
‘SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2’:
Based on the enduring
Sega video game franchise about a speedy blue creature, “Sonic the Hedgehog” raced into theaters in early 2020. A mix of live-action and digital animation, “Sonic” was a reasonably fun family friendly adventure that benefited from a wonderful voice performance from Ben Schwartz as the heroic Sonic and generally enjoyable cartoonish shenanigans from Jim Carrey as his nemesis, the villainous Dr. Robotnik. With “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” we get a sequel that is, of course, bigger. And, unfortunately, looonnnngeeerrrrr. In the movie’s production notes, producer Toby Ascher speaks of efforts to create “a Sonic cinematic universe,” because, we can only assume, the world has too few cinematic universes at this point. Well, guys, if we are to see more of Blue Justice and his buddies, a little less may prove to be a bit more next time. 2:02. 2 stars. — Mark Meszoros, Willoughby News-Herald
RATINGS: The movies listed are rated according to the following key: 4 stars, excellent; 3 stars, good; 2 stars, fair; 1 star, poor.