Willie's View Movie Reviews

    MARSHALL fails to tell me who Thurgood Marshall, the man, was and what his greatest contributions were to Africain American people and to history. Instead, what we get is a subpar biopic that goes through the motions and very lazily at that.     The film is more concerned with depicting the case that Mr.Marshall co-chairs on with a Jewish White Man, played by Josh Gad. The case is about a black man, played by Sterling K. Brown, who is accused of raping a white woman(Kate Hudson) and then trying to kill her by throwing her off a bridge. None of this spoilerish. It's the supposed facts of the case.   MARSHALL takes a solid hour to get going or you could say, to finally get interesting. For Forty minutes of its 118-minute run-time, MARSHALL becomes a decent, watchable film. The remaining 18 minutes reverts back to its predictable, paint by numbers style.   I have failed to mention the film's star, until now. Chadwick Boseman plays the title character, Thurgood Marshall.

       Anthony and Joe Russo do an amazing job assembling over a dozen characters around Captain America without losing focus on the title character. The viewer, for the most part, is able to keep track of the various plot threads that are established.       IT's a major endeavor balancing a complicated plot and various characters while trying to please a very picky fan base.  The Russo Brothers pull it off in a major way. Not only that, they are tasked with topping the first Captain America, which by comparison, is bland first chapter in this film series.    The film is titled THE WINTER SOLDIER, but in truth, his story makes up a third of the film. Almost 70% of the story involves the struggle between S.H.I.E.L.D. and H.Y.D.R.A. The rest of the plot is centered around Captain America and how he fits into the modern world-The 21st Century.    Another thing I loved about WINTER SOLDIER is that it is one of the very few MARVEL movies that doesn't rely on wise cracks or com

     THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE can be a difficult film to watch. It is not an entertaining film, to say the least. If left feeling sad for our men and women who fight for our country, who risk everything including their emotional health, for our freedom.      THANK YOU is about three American soldiers who return home after serving their time in the Military. The film's focus is on each man's adjustment to civilian life and learning that they each suffer from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). It is also about how this disorder affects those around them.    Some films are not made to simply entertain. Films can inform us of things we know nothing about. THANK YOU is an enlighting film into those who suffer from PTSD. However, it is not a fun, enjoyable film to watch. It's failing, at least for me, is that it failed to make me empathetic towards the main character, Adam, played very well by Miles Teller. For me, I was unable to connect in an emotional way with Adam

   HAPPY DEATH DAY is a horror/thriller version of GROUNDHOG DAY. It's about a College student, played well by Jessica Rothe, who finds herself dying over and over again. Finding out why she keeps dying how to stop the vicious cycle is just part of the fun. Yes, that's right. I called this film fun. The film has more depth than I was expecting. I was expecting no depth at all. Repeatedly dying over and over again starts to wear a little thin. Just when that happens, the film reveals that it has an unexpected depth, which is rare for most Horror films today.   I could reveal more about it's surprising depth that I speak of, but that would mean delving into spoiler territory, which I always try to avoid. I'll stop here.  A word of caution for Parents who like to keep an eye on what their teenagers watch. HAPPY DEATH DAY is Rated PG-13. It should be Rated R for strong language, sexual situations and plenty of violence. It's aimed at teenagers and it will attract the

  Guillermo del Toro's THE SHAPE OF WATER is unlike any love story you are likely to see anytime soon. If I told you that it's a love story between a mute woman and a male Amphibian, you're more than likely to laugh in my face and say that sounds ridiculous. Then again, so is the Fifty Shade of Grey films.   There is much to say about this beautiful and thrilling story. The positive outweigh the negative by far, making this one of the best films I've seen in 2017. First, the performances. Sally Hawkins plays Elisa Esposito. She is a mute who has scars on each side of her neck, almost like gills, that alludes to a painful and abusive past. She is a delicate, yet at times, fierce young woman. Her boldness compensates for her lack of vocal communication. She obviously communicates with sign language. Her actions speak louder than words.   Michael Shannon gives a truly creepy, villainous performance that also gives us an understanding to his way of thinking, however tw

   Liam Neeson on a commuter train. What could happen? Murder, mayhem, and action. That's what you will find in Liam Neeson's latest action thriller THE COMMUTER. However, if you've seen any of Neeson's thrillers than you'll recognize all the plot points offered here.    The plot focuses on a businessman on a commuter train who is lured into a criminal plan to track down a witness to a murder. If he accepts the offer, he'll get $100,000 for his troubles. If he doesn't or he fails, his family will die. Seen it all before. The reason anyone would be interested in this film is that of Mr.Neeson.   Is the film any good? At best, it's predictably entertaining. Watching Neeson try to figure out what is going on is worth the price of admission. The film is tailor made for him.   What doesn't work for the film is that the supporting cast that is assembled is completely wasted.  Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel), Jonathan Banks( Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul

  THE POST, directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks breaks no new ground in the depiction of journalism. However, Spielberg breathes life into the true story of journalists investigating a government coverup of the Vietnam War that spanned four Presidents.  Spielberg has always had a gift for making an audience care about what is happening on the screen. THE POST is another stellar example of Spielberg's cinematic gift of storytelling.   THE POST isn't about the story the journalists of the Washington Post wanted to publish. It's about the truth our Government didn't want the American people to know. Ultimately, THE POST is about whether or not The Washington Post had the right to publish the truth, regardless of how damaging the information could have been to the Government or more importantly, to the American people.   What works and doesn't work for THE POST?  First, the negative.     1.) It breaks no new ground depicting film journa

  THE FOREIGNER starring Jackie Chan is not the movie I was expecting. Based on the trailer and what I had read about the movie, I was expecting a revenge film in the style of TAKEN with Liam Neeson, which has been done to death. I wasn't high on seeing another film like that.   Upon viewing THE FOREIGNER, I was surprised to discover that not only was I was correct in the fact that it is a revenge thriller but I was also surprised to learn it is also a film that has a broader scope when telling this story. I'm not going to dive into spoiler territory here, but I will tell you that it involves Pierce Brosnan as an Irish Ambassador who Jackie Chan's character wants answers from involving his daughter's death. There is a whole other story that comes out of this that does not involve Jackie Chan's character at all. So much so, that you wonder if his character has been forgotten.    There is a bit of a minus in the fact that Brosnan's story is a bit stronger tha