TV remakes among week’s new films
‘Life’
Be careful what you look for; you just might find it.
In the sci-fi action movie “Life,” “it” is life. When a space station crew finds a living organism on Mars and brings it on board, they discover that it’s what turned Mars into a dead planet — and will do the same to Earth if it gets there. The crew includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds and Rebecca Ferguson.
So far, the reviews are mostly positive. Peter Debruge, Variety’s chief film critic, called “Life” “a thrill when it’s smart, but it’s even more exciting when the characters are dumb.” “Life” is rated R for pervasive language and some violence. It runs for 103 minutes.
‘Power Rangers’
“Power Rangers” reboots the 1990s pop-culture phenomenon the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers for a new century, minus some of the campiness of the lowrent TV series.
Again, five teenagers with attitude are recruited to save the world by a floating talking head (played by Bryan Cranston) from an alien villain named Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks). Bill Hader is the voice of their sidekick robot Alpha. And yes, there will be dragonzords.
“‘Power Rangers’ is baloney through and through, but as baloney goes, it’s better than you might expect,” The Wrap’s Alonso Duralde wrote in his generally favorable review.
“Power Rangers” is rated PG-13 for violence, language and some crude humor. It runs for 124 minutes.
‘T2: Trainspotting’
It’s 20 years later, and the “Trainspotting” crew — Mark, Spud, Sick Boy, Begbie — are still dealing with the same old stuff: joy, sadness, self-destruction, hope.
Director Danny Boyle and the guys from the groundbreaking 1996 British dark comedy are back in “T2: Trainspotting,” including Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller, Ewen Bremner and Kelly Macdonald. The reviews are generally positive; Entertainment Weekly’s Chris Nashawaty gave it a B, writing the actors “all slip seamlessly back into their onscreen alter egos as if they’ve been keeping tabs on them all these years.”
“T2: Trainspotting” is rated R for drug use, pervasive language, sex, nudity and some violence. It runs for 118 minutes.
‘The Last Word’
In “The Last Word,” Shirley MacLaine is a controlling businesswoman who demands a young writer at the local newspaper (Amanda Seyfried) write her obituary in advance, so she can set the terms of her story from beyond the grave.
But when that story turns out to have few happy turns, MacLaine sets out to restructure the narrative.
Reviews for “The Last Word” haven’t been very kind. Arizona Republic critic Bill Goodykoontz gave it 21⁄2 stars (out of 5), all for MacLaine’s fullthrottle performance: “If it wasn’t for her, it would be near-unwatchable.”
“The Last Word” is rated R for language. It runs for 107 minutes.
‘CHiPs’
The week’s other bigscreen redo of a TV franchise, “CHiPs,” turns the goofy pair of L.A. motorcycle highway patrol cops from the 1970s show into a bike-riding wizard permanently addled by pain medication, played by Dax Shepard, and a reckless undercover cop, played by Michael Peña, assigned to find bad apples in the motorized unit.
Kristen Bell, Rosa Salazar, Adam Brody and Vincent D’Onofrio costar.
“CHiPs” is rated R for crude sexual content, nudity, pervasive language, some violence and drug use. It runs for 101 minutes.
‘Wilson’
Wilson is an over-sharing, no-boundaries misanthrope who discovers he has a child — 17 years late. Determined to set things right, he drags along his long-estranged wife to find their daughter and re-create the family they never were.
Based on Daniel Clowes’ graphic novel, “Wilson” stars Woody Harrelson as the title pain in the butt, with Laura Dern as his ex and Isabella Amara as his daughter.
Reviews so far are mixed: “Despite its appealing performers and some tasty comic moments, ‘Wilson’ overestimates our affection for a grating antihero only mildly warmed by Harrelson’s ambling charm,” Hollywood Reporter reviewer David Rooney wrote.