Here’s what we think of the ‘Space Jam 2’ sequel and other releases of the week
The increasing return of audiences to theaters is already producing changes in the advertising strategies of studios, which have begun to limit much more the access of the press to digital copies of their releases, which complicates the lives of those who do not. we are still willing to go so carefree in these enclosures. Anyway, this week, we managed to offer you a robust selection of the most interesting that can be found from today both in the rooms and in the streaming proposals.
SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY
Cast: LeBron James, Don Cheadle, Zendaya
Genre: Live Action Animation
In 1996, Warner Bros. released its first own animated film, “Space Jam”, combining the technique of drawings with that of real action and using a sports-inspired story (starring the famous basketball player Michael Jordan) in the that participated the popular characters of the Looney Tunes (present in the television programs that saw the light in the decade of the ’30s).
Twenty-five years later, “Space Jam: A New Legacy” hits both theaters and HBO Max, a sequel that focuses on the universe of the same sport while giving way to LeBron James, the current Lakers player who has been just compared to Jordan, and in this case, he plays an alternate version of himself who must free his 12-year-old son from the virtual kidnapping imposed by Al-G Rhythm (Don Cheadle) – a tyrannical computerized system – with the help of the aforementioned Looney Tunes.
There is no doubt that “A New Legacy” has the potential to generate a lot of money at the box office, and not only because of James’ presence, but also because it has a much more attractive staging than that of the previous film; In addition, its first part shows a much greater interest in the development of its human characters, especially with regard to the relationship between LeBron and his son “Dom” (Cedric Joe).
But all that is thrown away shortly after, once the real adventure begins; and if the first meeting with Bugs Bunny and co. gives rise to a scene as delusional as it is impressive (made with traditional animation), what comes before and after largely dispenses with logic, keeps the visual assault at a level difficult to tolerate, repeats the name of the producing studio a thousand times and, What’s worse, it uses an inside joke to suddenly turn the Looney Tunes into those three-dimensional CGI drawings that are an insult to tradition, finally demonstrating the 100% mercantilist vocation of this production.
GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE
Director: Navot Papushado
Cast: Karen Gillan, Lena Headey, Carla Gugino
Genre: Action / Thriller
Faced with the uncertainty that exists about the possibility that we will have a new installment of “Kill Bill”, Quentin Tarantino fans can temporarily console themselves with “Gunpowder Milshake” (available now on Netflix), a film clearly inspired by the task. of the aforementioned filmmaker – and, specifically, in the aforementioned saga – which, despite this, is creative and exciting enough not to be a simple cheap copy.
Here, Karen Gillian, the Nebula of the Marvel tapes, appears turned into Sam, a hitman who, after a failed mission, is forced to escape from the dangerous and omnipresent criminal organization for which she works, and that she must confront. also to a drug gang as he tries to protect the life of a girl (Chloe Coleman) caught up in the whirlwind of her unusual life.
Although the story is too simple to really take advantage of its healthy feminist overtones and the first part of the film lacks authentic unusual brilliance – in addition to raising a specific circumstance that is too similar to a certain narrative strategy of the “John Wick” saga -, the staging takes a spectacular visual flight later, when its long and impressive choreographies of collective fights unfold.
PIG
Director: Michael Sarnosk
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Alex Wolff, Adam Arkin
Genre: Drama / Thriller
In recent years, Nicolas Cage (“Living Las Vegas,” “Face / Off”) has participated mostly in series B productions that have limited him to showing his more deranged and aggressive side, and that is not necessarily bad, because many of them have been tremendously funny (as is the case of the recent “Willy’s Wonderland”) and, finally, there is nothing that can interpret deranged and aggressive characters like him.
But there is no doubt that man has much more to offer, and it is precisely there that “Pig” (available only in theaters) travels, a film whose premise undoubtedly sounds like another similar madness -and, moreover, as if it were a sort of a parody of “John Wick” – but that actually offers us a much more intimate account in which Cage has the opportunity to handle a much more contained and mysterious profile.
It all begins when Rob Feld (Cage), a hermit and truffle collector who lives in the middle of the forest, suffers the kidnapping of the pig that helps him in his work (and that he also adores), which leads him to abandon his self-imposed seclusion to give the culprits and get the animal back. However, instead of becoming a savage avenger, Rob begins a journey that leads him to meet all kinds of dangerous characters, yes, but to deal with them in ways much more subtle, questioning and psychological than expected. giving Cage one of the best performances of his career.
THE FOURTH
Director: Marcos Carnevale
Cast: Claribel Medina, Isel Rodríguez, Fausto Mata
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Argentine director Marcos Carnevale, who has extensive television experience but is best known internationally for “Elsa and Fred,” a highly sentimental drama about an elderly romance, is now moving to Puerto Rico in order to present us with a comedy. drama that deals with the complicated issue of migration and that, in addition to having two ‘off’ interventions by Ricky Martin, comes from the hand of a soundtrack composed by the former Calle 13 Eduardo Cabra.
It is “El cuartito”, a feature film that can be seen today in AMC theaters in the United States, and in which five people from different Spanish-speaking countries (more precisely, Argentina, Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic) are known to be detained in a control room of the Puerto Rico International Airport together with a couple of Muslims.
Most of the story has a theatrical flair that breaks only during the forced ‘flashacks’ that occur and near the end (which is certainly implausible), and there is one particularly raucous character who can be difficult to bear; But the film has really effective moments of humor and some wise political commentary as our friends interact in ways that are not always kind when locked in a room dominated by a portrait of Donald Trump himself.
CASANOVA, LAST LOVE
Director: Benoît Jacquot
Cast: Vincent Lindon, Stacy Martin, Julia Roy
Genre: Drama / Romance
The amorous adventures of Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798), a Venetian traveler and writer who is best remembered for his bedroom exploits, have been the subject of numerous television and film projects, and “Casanova, Last Love”, which is now in the face-to-face billboard is an addition to the arsenal that, without being really transcendent, finds novel and elegant ways to represent the same character in real life.
In this case, the aforementioned, who was also a historian, diplomat, secret agent and cellist, among other trades, is shown in an advanced stage of his life, while he confesses to a young assistant the details of a relationship from the past, developed in London , which led him to fall in love with a beautiful prostitute whose international fame as a seducer did not care.
Using a slow and contemplative style that will not be to the liking of all audiences, and largely dispensing with lurid scenes, veteran French director Benoît Jacquot (“Farewell, My Queen”) raises a questioning but not entirely accessible look at a Casanova strangely distant (in the hands of actor Vincent Lindon) who pales under the impetus of the woman with whom he becomes obsessed, Marianne de Charpillon, played with certainly superior vitality by Stacy Martin (“Nymphomaniac”).
