Pop Culture Notes:” Pacific Rim: Uprising:,””Wreck-It Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms”
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Pacific Rim: Uprising: The enormous robot fight scenes are super cool, but like the first Pacific Rim, the second is somewhat fluffy fun that’s mostly crushed under the weight cheesy, clunky dialogue. The filmmakers seemed to think that the movie could coast on the charisma of Charlie Day and he charm of John Boyega. Well, it couldn’t.
The movie is–at times–a fun spectacle, but make no mistake: it’s mostly trash.
Wreck-It Ralph Breaks the Internet: Oh, I enjoyed this one. On top of a nice story about what friendship really looks like (it’s unselfish and forgiving) is a treasure trove of some genuinely funny jokes and sight gags. There’s plenty to keep kids and adults entertained.
Mild spoilers: I was most intrigued by the idea of plunking Vanellope down in a Grand Theft Auto-type world and having her just freaking love it. The look and feel of those badass street-racing segments felt so fresh and funny to me, and completely in-keeping with the spirit of the character. The bits where Vanellope interacts with all of the Disney princesses are pointedly funny as well. All in all this is an extremely worthy film to its predecessor.
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms: *loooooooooooooong sigh* Like seemingly all of the live-action Disney movies, “The Nutcracker” is long on lush visuals and short on just about everything else. A compelling story and dialogue are traded for one-note characters and awkward, childish dialogue. Like Pacific Rim I’m sure the filmmakers thought the film’s A-list cast (Morgan Freeman, Kiera Knightly, and Helen Mirren) could carry this stunningly beautiful morsel of a film, but they couldn’t. “The Nutcracker” is a feast for your eyes, but just about every other part of you will be left hungry.
In fairness, the movie’s second saving grace was its use of the music from “The Nutcracker,” which was seamless and really helped to buoy some scenes.