Sonic The Hedgehog

A definitive kids movie with questionable appeal for adults.

Sonic The Hedgehog is one of those movies that doesn't really know who it is aimed at. The bulk of the plot and jokes are aimed at kids when the property itself is not very well known to the audience. Then there are adult jokes that are so thinly veiled that you could walk right through them. Ben Schwartz plays the titular Sonic and does a wonderful job imitating a child alien, as he played the man child Jean Ralphio on Parks and Rec. James Marsden plays the wholesome police officer who feels like a big fish in a small town. He gets roped into protecting Sonic from the almost too obviously evil Dr. Robotnic played by Jim Carrey who is at his absolute most Jim Carrey ever seen. He is so eccentric that it often times removes you from the film with his absurdity. While the film is often over the top with its child based comedy it is a respectable take on the need for family and the need to belong. 

The controversy around Sonic's teeth was heavily overblown but the studio listened and changed the film for the better. The downside might be that the production budget ballooned and it may not make back as much of the return. The studio is depending on Sonic being a success as there are two obvious set ups for sequels that might not happen and in my view are not necessary. Sonic wraps up the story line in a nice little bow until those zingers and does not require a sequel. It can only go down from here and Sonic unfortunately doesn't start out extremely high.

A solid kids flick that will not sit perfectly with Sonic die hard fans, it earns a C+ from the Holmes Review.

Bombshell

A strange and puzzling take on the Fox News scandal of Roger Aisles. At times it doesn't know if it trying to make Megyn Kelly a hero or a villain in her taking down of Roger Aisles for Sexual Harassment. There are definitely women that the film takes aim at, in particular Judge Jeanine who still defends Aisles to this day. It attempts to bring Gretchen Carlson to the forefront of the movement where she rightfully belongs but then falls into the trap that followed actual events where bombshell Kelly became the big hero who took him down. Charlize Theron puts in a wonderful performance for her role as Megyn Kelly and at times makes us wonder if she really cared about the women. But most of the time it feels like she is more interested in self preservation and how she is perceived than whether she is doing the right thing. Her husband puts up more righteous indignation about what is happening to them than she does. As one thinks about it, it almost feels like mansplaining in a film designed to show the problems with the old boy mentality. Margot Robbie plays a character who is a conglomerate of 3 different women's accounts of their dealings with Aisles and Fox News. She is the audiences first hand account of the harassment that women experienced at the hands of Fox that turns her from a dopey eyed party line toting to a disenfranchised cynic. They also randomly place a closeted lesbian democrat in the Fox news room played by Kate McKinnon. If this was an attempt to make it look like there are problematic people on both sides of the isle, it lands flat because this character is obviously made up. Nicole Kidman also puts in an interesting performance as Gretchen Carlson where they cannot seem to decide if she is a conniving opportunist or a genuine whistle-blower. The one aspect that it does get across that is by no way subtle is what the news is selling to the viewers and what the viewers want. Sex. It is interesting to look at what the film is trying to say. It almost comes across as if it doesn't matter in the #metoo era what happens because the viewers will feign interest but want sex sold to them at any cost. 

This film is a jumble of a messy plot and good performances. It is interesting to see what happened with the downfall of a media mogul but there are too many issues with the messaging. This makes it a C- disappointment.

Jojo Rabbit

Who would have thought that a movie about World War II Germany at the end of the war could be so darn funny. Taika Waititi is able to take the dark and disturbing topic of antisemitism into comedy with it's absurdity. Waititi even plays the main man Hitler himself as the imaginary friend of Jojo Rabbit (Roman Griffin Davis). Davis plays a sympathetic young boy indoctrinated by the Nazi propaganda. He eventually discovers that his mother (Scarlett Johansson) has been hiding a 18 year old Jewish girl Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) in their home. Jojo must grapple with the idea of someone he hates living in his house and how he can deal with it. His best answer is to write a book and interview the girl. Through this process he learns and grows wrestling with the differences and similarities between Elsa and himself. There are sporadic comedic appearances from Yorki (Archie Yates), Jojo's best friend who is an absolute delight to watch. His comedic timing is fantastic and his normalizing responses to the craziness that surrounds Jojo is fascinating. Another stand out performance is Sam Rockwell who plays Captain Klenzendorf, a one-eyed war veteran who is slowly disconnecting from the Propaganda and seeing it for what it truly is. Rockwell is a true highlight of the film and his play of of Alfie Allen, fresh off of Game of Thrones. Their sparing and care for each other is a welcome relief for all the hateful antisemitism, even if it is in parody, in the film.

Scarlett Johnasson. Wow. If there ever was a perfect example of what is wrong with the Academy Awards, she is it. She has almost the least amount of screen time and yet she is the one who gets the nomination. Thomasin McKenzy puts on a masterful performance as a lost in a world of hate Jewish girl while Johanson plays a happy mother trying to keep the cruelties of the world from her son. Don't get me wrong, ScarJo is not bad in this film, she is just not great. And for the amount of time she is on screen, it is not even close to worth an Oscar nod. McKenzy on the other hand does a wonderful job showing a wide range of emotions and depth. Where is her nod? And that is just to say in the same movie. There are many other performances in other films this year that are far better than Johnasson is here. The Oscars really need to reexamine themselves if they want to be relevant in the future because Johansson already has black marks to her name and if they continue nominating performances like hers over other truly masterful ones, no one is going to care if you get an Oscar or not.

Easily a B+ film with only minor detraction's from regrettable performances like Rebel Wilson.