Hannah Waddingham Archives

Review: ‘Smurfs,’ starring the voices of Rihanna, James Corden, Nick Offerman, JP Karliak, Amy Sedaris, Natasha Lyonne, John Goodman and Kurt Russell

July 16, 2025

by Carla Hay

Ken (voiced by Nick Offerman), Hefty Smurf (voiced by Alex Winter), Smurfette (voiced by Rihanna), No Name (voiced by James Corden) and Brainy Smurf (voiced by Xolo Mariduena) in “Smurfs” (Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

Directed by Chris Miller

Culture Representation: Taking place mostly in the fictional Smurf Village and various parts of Earth, the animated film “Smurfs” (based on the comic book series of the same name) features a cast of characters that are Smurfs (blue humanoid beings), wizards, and other creatures.

Culture Clash: Papa Smurf, the leader of Smurf Village, is kidnapped by an evil wizard, and it’s up to the rest of the Smurfs and some allies to save Papa Smurf.

Culture Audience: “Smurfs” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the “Smurfs” franchise, the voice cast and animated films that are formulaic to a fault.

Razamel (voiced by JP Karliak) and Gargamel (voiced by JP Karliak), Papa Smurf (voiced by John Goodman) and Azrael (voiced by Rachel Butera) in “Smurfs” (Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

Even by the simplest of standards for animated films, “Smurfs” is a subpar mess of idiotic dialogue, hyper banality, and unimaginative plot developments that copy superhero movies. Most of the supporting characters have no real purpose but to take up space. “Smurfs” has about 18 characters who have noticeable speaking roles, but the movie cares about only six of these characters, based on how they affect the tepid story.

Directed by Chris Miller and written by Pam Brady, “Smurfs” is part of the “Smurfs” franchise that began in 1958 with a comic book series created by artist Peyo. Since then, there have been numerous “Smurfs” movies and TV series, all of which are about a group of dwarf-sized blue humanoids called Smurfs, who live in Smurf Village. After all these years that the “Smurfs” franchise has existed, “Smurfs” has a very unoriginal concept: Papa Smurf (voiced by John Goodman), the leader of Surf Village, has been kidnapped, and the other Smurfs go on a mission to save him.

Much like the Seven Dwarfs in the “Snow White” fairy tale, Smurfs have names based on their respective defining personality characteristics. They travel in a male-dominated pack that apparently that only makes room for one “alpha female” Smurf. In the case of the Smurfs, this “alpha female” is Smurfette (voiced by Rihanna), who is portrayed in this “Smurfs” movie as sassy but not as smart as she could be.

Smurfette is also an anomaly because unlike the other Smurfs (who are born without the need for female childbirth), she was created by the Smurfs’ arch nemesis: a power-hungry wizard called Gargamel (voiced by JP Karliak), whose main goal in “Smurfs” stories is to capture Smurfs and use them for unscrupulous reasons. It’s just another way of defining the Smurfs world as a world where only males get to create life. In this “”Smurfs” movie, Gargamel is not the chief villain and doesn’t have a lot of screen time.

The original “Smurfs” stories had a problematic erasure of females and made all the Smurfs male, except for Smurfette. This “Smurfs” movie has a more equitable gender balance of Smurf characters, but that still doesn’t make the movie very good. Only the most die-hard Smurfs fans would be able to tolerate the slop that’s doled out in this wretched film.

Most of the other Smurf characters in “Smurfs” are Papa Smurf’s red-haired, self-assured brother Ken (voiced by Nick Offerman), No Name (voiced by James Corden), Moxie Smurf (voiced by Sandra Oh), Hefty Smurf (voiced by Alex Winter), Vanity Smurf (voiced by Maya Erskine), Worry Smurf (voiced by Billie Lourd), Brainy Smurf (voiced by Xolo Maridueña) and Grouchy Smurf (voiced by “Smurfs” director Miller). In the beginning of the movie, No Name is very insecure about not having a name therefore not having an identity. He depends on Smurfette to give him emotional support and pep talks.

Gargamel and his more evil brother Razamel (also voiced by Karliak) belong to the Evil Alliance of Wizards, which has gained possession of thee out of four magical books that bring peace to the universe. Papa Smurf, Ken and their long-lost brother Ron (voiced by Kurt Russell) used to be a trio of superheroes called Smurf Guardians of Good. (For whatever reason, the Smurfs in the movie keep pronouncing “guardians” as “guardianeers,” even though the word “guardianeers” doesn’t exist in the English language.)

Razamel kidnaps Papa Smurf to force Papa Smurf to tell Razamel where to find the missing magical book, which is called Jaunty (voiced by Amy Sedaris) but doesn’t really need to be a talking book. You know the rest: Hijinks ensue. Chase scenes happen. The heroes find themselves trapped in a seemingly impossible situation, but they band together to figure out the problem and fight the villains.

The Smurfs end up in the Australian Outback, where they meet Snooterpoots, who are furry interdimensional creatures that live underground and have a weakness for eating cake. Snooterpoots have mop-like fur in various colors and are slightly smaller than Smurfs. Snooterpoots are also thieves whose specialty is pickpocketing.

The leader of the Snooterpoots is Mama Poot (voiced by Natasha Lyonne), a gravelly-voiced ex-girlfriend of Ken’s. Mama Poot is initially reluctant to help rescue Papa Smurf, but she’s persuaded to when she’s enticed with the reward of cake. There are huge sections of the movie where you only see Mama Poot, Smurfette and No Name. In a movie already overstuffed with characters, “Smurfs” shows various Snooterpots who are seen scurrying around, but only Mama Poot is the only Snooterpoot with a voice, name and personality.

Other characters in the movie include Evil Alliance of Wizards members Asmodus (voiced by Octavia Spencer), Chernobog (voiced by Nick Kroll) and Jezebeth (voiced by Hannah Waddingham); a talking tardigrade (voiced by Jimmy Kimmel); Razamel’s intern Joel (played by Daniel Levy); and Gargamel’s cat Azrael (voiced by Rachel Butera). There’s no point in keeping track of who most of these characters are because most of them are sidelined in service of a story that really focuses on Smurfette, No Name, Mama Poot, Papa Smurf and feuding brothers Razamel and Gargamel.

“Smurfs” copies a multiverse dimension-hopping idea that was in 2023’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” And just when you think “Smurfs” isn’t done imitating a Marvel superhero movie, the reveal of Smurf “demi-god” Ron (who has superhero powers) looks like whoever created Ron is a big fan of Thor and Captain America.

The dialogue in “Smurfs” is bland and often mind-numbing. At one point, Ken says to the group of Smurfs: “You don’t know Smurf about Smurfs.” In another part of the film, the Smurfs end up in Paris. Smurfette knows it’s Paris but can’t explain how she knows, even though the Eiffel is right in front of them. Where’s Brainy Smurf when you need him?

Later in the film, the Smurfs say words what could be curse words but are bleeped out. At first glance, it might seem “edgy” for a “family-friendly” movie to do this, but it’s really lazy comedy. It’s also a thinly veiled and short-lived attempt to keep mature audiences interested in all the drivel.

Much of the marketing for “Smurfs” is promoting Rihanna as the voice of Smurfette. And as expected, there’s an original song (“Friend of Mine”) that Rihanna recorded for the movie, whch shows Smurfette performing the song. It’s a forgettable pop tune that’s a blatant attempt to get awards recognition. Nothing about “Smurfs” is award-worthy or impressively creative.

The movie’s voice performances are visuals adequate, but the screenplay and direction fall very short of being coherent. It’s wasteful, considering all the voice talent involved. “Smurfs” introduces several new characters (Ken, Ron, the Snooterpoots), but does nothing new, in terms of what type of adventure story could be told. Even children (the movie’s target audience) could be very bored by this cash-grab film that make the Smurfs world look like a pile of mushy ideas copied from better movies.

Paramount Pictures will release “Smurfs” in U.S. cinemas on July 18, 2025. The movie will be released on digital and VOD on August 12, 2025.

Review: ‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2025), starring Maia Kealoha, Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Billy Magnussen, Tia Carrere, the voice of Chris Sanders, Courtney B. Vance and Zach Galifianakis

May 20, 2025

by Carla Hay

Stitch (voiced by Chris Sanders) and Maia Kealoha in “Lilo & Stitch” (Photo courtesy of Disney Enterprises Inc.)

“Lilo & Stitch” (2025)

Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp

Culture Representation: Taking place in Hawai’i and in outer space, the live-action/animated film “Lilo & Stitch” (a remake of the 2002 animated film) features a predominantly Pacific Islander cast of characters (with some white people and African Americans) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A mischievious outer-space alien crash lands on Earth, where he is adopted by a 6-year-old girl and her guardian 18-year-old sister, while outer-space officials hunt for the alien to bring it back to captivity.

Culture Audience: “Lilo & Stitch” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the 2002 “Lilo & Stitch” movie, the movie’s headliners, and family-friendly entertainment that delivers a good mix of comedy and drama.

Billy Magnussen and Zach Galifianakis in “Lilo & Stitch” (Photo Zach Dougan/Disney Enterprises)

The good news is that “Lilo & Stitch” is a worthy remake of the 2002 animated film, with an ending that’s arguably better. The bad news is that the hunt for fugitive alien Stitch is worse than the original movie. That’s because the 2025 version of “Lilo & Stitch” clumsily adds a body-transformation aspect to the story’s two space-alien hunters that makes them impersonate buffoonish humans who just aren’t very funny. Fortunately, these two bozos are not the movie’s main characters. The main characters in 2025’s “Lilo & Stitch” are endearing, doing justice their counterparts in 2002’s “Lilo & Stitch,” while bringing their own admirable qualities to these characters.

Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, the 2025 version of “Lilo & Stitch” was written by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes. Camp received an Oscar nomination (Best Animated Feature Film) for directing and producing 2021’s “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On,” a quirky live-action/animation hybrid that he also co-wrote. Because the 2025 version of “Lilo & Stitch” is a remake of a Disney classic, there isn’t much room to be offbeat, but 2025’s “Lilo & Stitch” mostly strikes the right balance of energetic comedy and heartfelt drama. The movie also has perfect casting of the two sisters who are the main human characters of the story.

The 2025 version of “Lilo & Stitch” begins in the same way as the 2002 “Lilo & Stitch” movie: In outer space, on the fictional Planet Turo, a rogue scientist named Jumba (voiced by Zach Galifianakis) has gotten into trouble for inventing a creature through illegal experimentation. The male creature, which looks like a blue koala with antennae, is called Experiment 626, and will later be named Stitch when the creature lands on Earth and impersonates a dog. Chris Sanders, who co-directed and co-wrote 2002’s “Lilo & Stitch,” returns as the voice of Stitch/Experiment 626, a character that Sanders is credited with creating.

Jumba is facing punishment before a committee led by the Grand Councilwoman (voiced by Hannah Waddingham), the leader of the Galactic Federation. The Grand Councilwoman decides that Experiment 626 (who is hyper, mischievous and very intelligent) must be exiled on a desert asteroid. However, Experiment 626 causes havoc on the spaceship carrying him. The ship crashes instead on Earth, on the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i. (The 2025 version of “Lilo & Stitch” was actually film on the Hawaiian island of O’ahu.)

A horrified Grand Councilwoman orders Jumba to retrieve Experiment 626 from Earth and send him to the original asteroid destination. Jumba admittedly doesn’t know much about Earth. But an eager law enforcement official named Agent Pleakley (voiced by Billy Magnussen), a self-proclaimed Earth expert, offers to accompany Jumba on this mission. Pleakley (who has a cheerful and goofy personality) explains that he’s been doing extensive research of Earth, which he and his colleagues have been using as a planet to repopulate mosquitos.

Grand Councilwoman allows Pleakley to go on this mission. Jumba, who is gruff and impatient, isn’t pleased about this situation because he’s somewhat of a loner who likes to be the “alpha male” of everything. Predictably, Jumba thinks Pleakely is annoying, and thier conflicts sometimes hinder their mission. It’s a familiar story formula of two beings with opposite personalities who are forced to work together for a common goal.

In the original “Lilo & Stitch,” Jumba and Pleakley kept their original alien bodies but were under strict orders not to reveal themselves to humans. Jumba and Pleakley had the ability to make themselves invisible. In the 2025 version of “Lilo & Stitch,” Jumba and Pleakley can still make themselves invisible, but this time, they decided to disguise themselves as humans, to make it easier to interact with people.

How do Jumba and Pleakley disguise themselves as humans? Jumba and Pleakley are at a Hawaiian airport and take photos of two male companion travelers (played by Galifianakis and Magnussen), who are outside of a terminal on their way to getting checked in for their flight. Jumba and Pleakley then use those photos to transform themselves into looking like these two human travelers. There’s some not-that-funny sitcom-ish slapstick where Jumba and Pleakley both have problems adjusting to walking and dressing like humans.

Meanwhile, the two main human characters of the story are introduced: Lilo (played by Maia Kealoha) is an energetic and curious 6-year-old girl, who lives with her bright but overwhelmed 18-year-old sister Nani (played by Sydney Elizebeth Agudong) in a modest Kaua’i house. Nani is Lilo’s guardian because their parents died in a car accident a few months ago. Nani has been juggling child-raising responsibilities with her job as a server at a resort restaurant called Jimmy’s Luau, which has live entertainment.

A new aspect to the story is Nani had plans to study marine biology at her first-choice college: the University of California at San Diego, where she had a full academic scholarship. But because Nani has to take care of Lilo, Nani has put her college plans on indefinite hold. Nani has to deal with a lot because Lilo has a tendency to get into trouble. Viewers have to assume that this story takes place during the summer because Lilo is never seen in school.

In both “Lilo & Stitch” movies, Lilo is treated like a weird outcast by her peers. Just like in both movies, an early scene shows Lilo is late for a hula dancing performance at the resort because she was busy feeding a sandwich to some fish in the sea. Lilo also says she can communicate with the fish. She gets teased about it by some “mean girls” in the group.

In both “Lilo & Stitch” movies, Lilo gets kicked out of the dance group because of a conflict with a “mean girl” in the group who insulted Lilo. In the 2002 “Lilo & Stitch.” Lilo punches the girl and gets in a brawl with her. The 2025 “Lilo & Stitch” tones down Lilo’s violence and just has Lilo pushing the mean girl off of the dance stage.

Nani is understanding but exasperated by Lilo’s rebellious antics. Lilo asks Nani, “Am I a bad person?” Nani replies, “No, but sometimes you do bad things.” Just like in both movies, the concept of ‘ohana (family) is repeated as “no one gets left behind.”

And just like in both movies, Lilo is lonely and wants a best friend. She loves animals and is a big fan of Elvis Presley’s music, which is played throughout the movie. The Presley songs include “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Hound Dog,” Suspicious Minds,” “Stuck on You,” “(You’re the) Devil in Disguise” and a Bruno Mars cover version of “Burning Love.” Hawaiian music is also part of the movie’s soundtrack, including songs written for the movie (such as “He Lei Pāpahi No Lilo a me Stitch” and “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride”) and Hawaiian music classics, such as “Aloha ‘Oe” and “Henehene Kou ‘Aka.”

In both “Lilo & Stitch” movies, Nani’s guardianship of Lilo is under scrutiny by a social worker, who does home visits and is concerned about the sisters’ living situation and Nani’s ability to properly take care of Lilo. In the 2002 “Lilo & Stitch” movie, Tia Carrere was the voice of Nani. In the 2025 “Lilo & Stitch” movie, Carrere has the role of social worker Mrs. Kekoa, who is assigned to monitor Nani’s guardianship of Lilo.

Mrs. Kekoa’s first visit to the home is a disaster. The place is a mess. There’s not enough food in the refrigerator. And she finds out that Nani sometime leaves Lilo by herself, which is something that Nani lies about by denying it. Mrs. Kekoa tries to give Nani some leeway by telling Nani that Nani has three tasks to complete before Mrs. Kekoa’s next visit: (1) stock the fridge; (2) clean up the house; (3) and get health insurance for Nani and Lilo.

Later, Mrs. Kekoa is aided by a CIA operative named Cobra Bubbles (played by Courtney V. Vance), who is also looking for Experiment 626, but Cobra fools Mrs. Kekoa by going posing as the director of the social services agency. In the 2002 “Lilo & Stitch” movie, the Cobra Bubbles character (voiced by Ving Rhames) was much more menacing and imposing than the Cobra Bubbles in 2025’s “Lilo & Stitch.” Cobra was the only social services worker in 2002’s “Lilo & Stitch,” and his CIA identity was revealed much later in the movie.

It just so happens that on the night that Experiment 626 crash-landed on Earth, it looked like a falling star that Lilo and Nani could see from Lilo’s bedroom window. Just like in both movies, Lilo pushes Nani out of the room so that Lilo can be alone to wish on the falling star. Nani eavesdrops and sees that Lilo’s wish is to find a best friend who loves her unconditionally and will never abandon her.

It doesn’t take long for Experiment 626 to cause chaos on Earth. He crashes and runs all over a wedding reception, where people scream, fall down and hurt themselves when they see this creature. Experiment 626 is then taken by animal care control workers to a local animal rescue shelter called Na Me Ola, where he is put in the section for dogs.

Lilo’s introduction to Experiment 626 is slightly different in both movies, but the end results are the same. In 2002’s “Lilo & Stitch,” it’s Nani’s idea to bring Lilo to the shelter so that Lilo can find an animal friend. In 2025’s “Lilo & Stitch,” an elderly neighbor friend named Tūtū (played by Amy Hill) suggests that Lilo go to the animal shelter and accompanies Lilo to this visit. In 2002’s “Lilo & Stitch,” Hill had a different elderly woman role: Mrs. Hasagawa, the owner of a fruit stand.

Tūtū lives with her grandson David (played by Kaipo Dudoit), a surfer who has a crush on Nani, who is also an avid surfer. David asks Nani to go on surfing dates, but she politely turns down his invitations. It’s in contrast to 2002’s “Lilo & Stitch,” where Nani’s romance with David was already established. Jason Scott Lee was the voice of David in 2002’s “Lilo & Stitch.” In 2025s “Lilo & Stitch,” Lee portrays the manager of Jimmy’s Luau.

The workers at the animal shelter don’t know what type of animal Experiment 626 is, so they plan to have the creature stay at the shelter until some local scientists can take this creature for evaluation. Experiment 626 sees dogs and photos of dogs at the shelter, and he is intelligent enough to transform himself to look as much like and act as much like a dog as possible. That includes make his antennae and extra feet hide inside his body. In 2002’s “Lilo & Stitch” the other dogs are so frightened of Experiment 626, they hide on top of their cages. But in 2025’s “Lilo & Stitch,” the dogs in the shelter aren’t bothered by Experiment 626.

When Lilo meets Experiment 626, she’s immediately interested in him because he looks so different from other animals in the shelter. Even when she’s told that this animal is not up for adoption, Lilo insists that this is the pet that she wants. Just like in both movies, Experiment 626 sees a poster of a girl hugging a dog, so he hugs Lilo to ensure that she will want to adopt him. The tactic works.

Of course, once Experiment 626 is in Lilo’s home, it acts like an unruly dog. One day, while he’s in Nani’s truck with Nani and Lilo, Experiment 626 rips the upholstery on a car seat. Nani is annoyed and says that she’ll now have to get the seat stitched up. And that’s how Lilo gets the idea to name this pet Stitch.

The rest of “Lilo & Stitch” is delightful to watch when Lilo, Nani and Stitch are in the scenes. Kealoha and Agudong (who are both native Hawaiians) are completely believable as sisters. Agudong gives a likable and relatable performance, even though she looks like she’s in her mid-20s instead of the 18-year-old character she’s supposed to be.

And although Stitch is the cute creature of the movie, precocious Kealoha as Lilo is an equal star of the show. Kealoha has great comedic timing and performs convincingly in the dramatic scenes. “Lilo & Stitch” is Kealoha’s first movie. And it’s a very impressive debut for her. The rest of the human characters in the movie are serviceable or fairly bland.

Where 2025’s “Lilo & Stitch” falters is in showing Jumba and Pleakley’s pursuit of Stitch/Experiment 626. In the 2002 “Lilo & Stitch” movie, there was more suspense for this hunt because Jumba and Pleakley actually seemed to be dangerous. In the 2025 “Lilo & Stitch” movie, Jumba and Pleakley are just bickering clowns in cartoonish human form, wearing garish tourist clothing. Pleakley’s wardrobe choices are especially cringeworthy because he dresses like a 5-year-old boy and often acts like one.

The 2025 “Lilo & Stitch” movie also doesn’t seem to know how to deal with Jumba and Pleakley, whose hunt is so inept, it feels like the stakes are diminished because of how Jumba and Pleakley are presented as screw-ups in this version of “Lilo & Stitch.” The Cobra character is brought in the middle of the film and is more fatherly than scary. In other words, the villains in this movie needed act more like villains.

Despite these flaws, 2025’s “Lilo & Stitch” retains the warmth and playfulness of the 2002 movie. The live-action visuals are an obvious improvement from the 2-D animation of the 2002 version of “Lilo & Stitch.” Best of all, 2025’s “Lilo & Stitch” gives a more realistic view of the world from the perspectives of Lilo and Nani, particularly in how Nani’s guardianship of Lilo is handled. The movie gives an important lesson that life doesn’t always work out as originally planned but it can work out for what’s best at that particular time.

Walt Disney Pictures will release “Lilo & Stitch” in U.S. cinemas on May 23, 2025.

Review: ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,’ starring Tom Cruise

May 14, 2025

by Carla Hay

“Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning”

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie

Some language in French with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in various parts of the world, the action film “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” (the eighth movie in the “Mission: Impossible” movie series) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some black people, Asians, Latin people and Native Americans) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: American rogue superspy Ethan Hunt and his international allies race against time to stop a massive artificial intelligence force called the Entity from destroying the world.

Culture Audience: “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, the “Mission: Impossible” franchise and action movies that are over-the-top spectacles.

Nick Offerman, Angela Bassett, Mark Gatiss and Janet McTeer in “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

“Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” is overstuffed, goes on for too long, and comes dangerously close to the ridiculousness of the “Fast & Furious” franchise. However, the engaging characters and superior stunts outweigh the movie’s flaws. It’s by no means the best “Mission: Impossible” movie in the series, but it’s certainly the one that expects viewers to think the hardest about a convoluted plot that doesn’t deserve overthinking.

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” (the eighth movie in the “Mission: Impossible” series was written by Erik Jendresen and McQuarrie. “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” had its world premiere in Tokyo and its European premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. McQuarrie also directed and co-wrote 2015’s “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” 2018’s “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” and 2023’s “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” whose title was later shortened to “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning” after the movie underperformed at the box office. The “Mission: Impossible” movie series is inspired by the TV series “Mission: Impossible,” which was on the air from 1966 to 1973.

“Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” is essentially “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two,” but you don’t need to see “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” to understand “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.” That’s because “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” is filled with exposition dumps of characters explaining what happened in previous “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” and other previous “Mission: Impossible” movies, as well as over-explaining what they’re about to do in “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.”

One of the most unintentionally laughable things about “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” is how the characters take turns in their exposition-dump dialogues by each saying things with perfect timing, as if they know each other’s lines and never talk over each other or interrupt each other during these overly choreographed conversations. It never looks like real conversations, especially in the high-pressure situations that these characters experience. There are also several flashback montages for nostalgia’s sake and to inform viewers who might not have seen or who might have forgotten some key moments in previous “Mission: Impossible” movies.

At the end of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” American rogue superspy Ethan Hunt (played by Tom Cruise)—an operative of the secret agency Impossible Missions Force (IMF)—escaped from with one of two keys that have the power to destroy a massive artificial intelligence villain called the Entity, which is intent on taking over the world. The Entity is not physically embodied in any one being because the Entity is a virtual enemy that can spread wherever and whenever it chooses. However, the biggest human enemy in the “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” and “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” is Gabriel (played by Esai Morales), an assassin liaison for the Entity.

“Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” begins with an outer-space galaxy image and a male voice intoning the “Mission: Impossible” movie motto that gets repeated multiple times throughout this film: “We live and die in the shadows of those we hold close and those we never meet.” The voice adds, “The world is changing. War is coming.”

The praise gets a little corny and starts to deify Ethan as a female voice thanks Ethan for hs service, as several scenes from previous “Mission: Impossible” movies are shown like a greatest-hits playlist. The voice adds: “Every personal sacrifice you made has brought us another sunrise,” she says. “And although you never followed orders, you never let us down.

It’s also explained in the beginning of the movie that every corner of cyberspace has been corrupted by the Entity, which has inspired a doomsday cult. These fanatics have infiltrated every level of law enforcement, government bureaucracy and the military. “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” doesn’t do a lot with this “worldwide cult” plot development, because most of the movie shows Ethan mostly hanging out or fighting against a small group of people, most of whom are familiar characters.

Ethan is under orders to surrender to the U.S. government and hand over the Entity key that Ethan has in his possession. Ethan as other plans. His first order of business in “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” is to a prison break of former Gabriel cohort Paris (played by Pom Klementieff), a French assassin who is currently in prison in Austria because of the events that happened in “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.”

This review won’t go into too many more details about what happens, but it’s enough to say that “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” has a lot of dazzling action scenes but the story doesn’t do much that’s surprising. Ethan is joined by Ethan is joined by his two most loyal sidekicks: IMF computer technician Luther Stickell (played by Ving Rhames) and IMF technology field agent Benji (played by Simon Pegg), who have opposite personalities. Luther is laid-back and cool. Benji is high-strung and nervous.

Also along for the ride are Paris and two other of Ethan’s enemies-turned-allies who first appeared in “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”: arms dealer Alanna Mitsopolis (played by Vanessa Kirby); former U.S. intelligence agent Degas (played by Greg Tarzan Davis); and masterful thief Grace (played by Hayley Atwell), who has a mutual growing attraction to Ethan. Alanna is the daughter of illegal arms dealer Max Mitsopolis (played by Vanessa Redgrave), who died in 1996’s “Mission: Impossible,” the first film in the “Mission: Impossible” movie series. “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” reveals that another character in the movie has a parent who died in the first “Mission: Impossible'” movie.

Erika Sloane (played by Angela Bassett), who was the director of the CIA in “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” is now the president of the United States in “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.” Field agent Jasper Briggs (played by Shea Whigham) also returns and continues to hunt Ethan. He has a much smaller role than he did in “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.”

Other government officials who are featured in the movie are U.S. Army General Sidney (played by Nick Offerman), who is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; U.S. Secretary of Defense Serling (played Holt McCallany); Walters (played by Janet McTeer); CIA director Eugene Kittridge (played by Henry Czerny); U.S. Navy Admiral Neely (played by Hannah Waddingham); U.S. Navy Captain Bledsoe (played by Tramell Tillman); and National Security Agency chief Angstrom (played by Mark Gatiss). They mostly just stand around and worry about decisions they have to make because of Ethan’s actions.

“Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” has a lot of expected globetrotting, mostly in Europe, North America and Africa. (The movie was actually filmed in South Africa and England.) The trekking includes a stop in Alaska, where CIA analyst William Donloe (played by Rolf Saxon) and his wife Tapeesa (played by Lucy Tulugarjuk) play crucial roles in the story. William was previously seen in the first “Mission: Impossible” movie. It’s explained in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” what William been doing since then.

The expected fist fights, explosions and gun shootouts occur, but the two most impressive action sequences involve (1) a deep-sea dive to go inside a shipwrecked submarine and (2) a battle to reach Gabriel flying in a single-passenger plane. (These action sequences are glimpsed in the movie’s trailers.) The deep-sea sequence is marred only by unrealistic-looking actions where Ethan does certain things without an oxygen tank or pressure suit, which would definitely kill someone in real life in a deep-sea environment.

Cruise famously does many of his own stunts. But the visual effects in these fake-looking scenes don’t look convincing because they make Ethan look superhuman, which defeats the “Mission: Impossible” purpose of showing Ethan as a flawed human being. The filmmakers should’ve left it so Ethan could be a superhero without superpowers that go beyond human capacities.

And in case it wasn’t clear enough, even though it’s repeated enough times in the movie: It’s up to Ethan to save the world. And if he doesn’t save the world, as someone in the movie quips, it’s all Ethan’s fault. The elevating of Ethan to almost messianic levels becomes a running joke in the movie. The concept of Ethan being a superhero is obvious and doesn’t even need to be said out loud. However, it’s good to see that the movie is in on the joke and doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Cruise and the rest of the cast members are serviceable in their roles. But there’s sort of a cold disconnect in how most of the characters don’t mention the human stakes of saving their loved ones in this possible apocalypse. The only hints that any of these characters have lives outside of their work are brief glimpses of Erika showing affection and concern for her unnamed adult son (played by Kwabena Ansan), who’s in the U.S. military. William and Tapeesa are the only couple shown in the movie.

One of the drawbacks of making the chief villain an abstract virtual enigma instead of something tangible: It removes the possibility of having a villain with a unique personality. Human villain Gabriel is not in the movie for very long, considering the 169-minute runtime. Although there’s nothing wrong with Morales’ performance, Gabriel is an underdeveloped character and comes across as an inferior imitation of a villain in a James Bond movie.

Does anyone with knowledge of the movie business really believe that “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” is the last “Mission: Impossible” movie? No. “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” is not a great movie, but it’s good enough in delivering what fans expect. And what people can expect is for this franchise to continue in one way or another.

Paramount Pictures will release “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” in U.S. cinemas on May 23, 2025.

Review: ‘The Garfield Movie,’ starring the voices of Chris Pratt and Samuel L. Jackson

May 19, 2024

by Carla Hay

“The Garfield Movie”

Directed by Mark Dindal

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed U.S. city, the animated film “The Garfield Movie” (based on the “Garfield” comic strip) features a cast of talking animals and some humans.

Culture Clash: Mischievous cat Garfield and his dog sidekick Odie team up with Garfield’s long-lost father Vic for to steal a large quantity of milk from a tourist farm.

Culture Audience: “The Garfield Movie” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the “Garfield” franchise, fairly entertaining animated films where the main characters are talking animals.

Vic (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson), Garfield (voiced by by Chris Pratt), Odie and Otto (voiced by Ving Rhames) in “The Garfield Movie” (Image courtesy of DNEG Animation/Columbia Pictures)

“The Garfield Movie” isn’t outstanding, but it’s amusing enough for viewers who want a lightweight film about mischievous talking animals in an uncomplicated adventure story. The movie avoids being overstuffed and has some endearing sentimentality. Some viewers might be disappointed that the movie doesn’t have more interactions between humans and animals, but in the context of this particular plot for this animals, it’s better that most of the animal interactions don’t involve human interference.

Directed by Mark Dindal, “The Garfield Movie” was written by Paul A. Kaplan, Mark Torgove and David Reynolds. The “Garfield” franchise is based on the “Garfield” comic strip created by Jim Davis and launched in 1978. Garfield is a fun-loving and talkative orange tabby cat who can be mischievous. In this movie, he finds he reluctantly goes on a heist to help his long-lost father and finds out certain things that affect his life in a profound way. People do not need to be familiar with anything in the “Garfield” franchise before seeing this movie.

“The Garfield Movie” (which takes place in an unnamed U.S. city) begins by showing Garfield (voiced by Chris Pratt) at home and using a phone app to ordering food for delivery (including pizza and lasagna) from Mama Leoni’s, his favorite Italian restaurant. Garfield’s best friend/sidekick is a goofy beagle named Odie (voiced by Harvey Guillén), who does not talk but makes various noises. Garfield and Odie live with their human owner Jon Arbuckle (voiced by Nicholas Hoult), an amiable bachelor who adopted Garfield when Garfield was a kitten.

Garfield explains his backstory that is shown in a flashback. When Garfield was a kitten, his single father Vic (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) took care of Garfield. Garfield’s mother is not seen or mentioned in the movie. One rainy night, Vic told Garfield to wait for him in an alley, where Garfield was put in an open wooden enclosure to shield him from the rainy weather.

Vic promised that he would come back, but Garfield waited for an unnamed period of time, and didn’t see Vic come back. Feeling lost and hungry, Garfield wandered over to Mama Leoni’s, where he looked through a window and saw Jon at a table by himself. The next thing Jon knew, he saw a cute and hungry kitten at his table, with the kitten wanting to eat the pizza that Jon had ordered. Jon hid the kitten at the table and eventually smuggled the kitten outside.

At first, Jon wasn’t going to take Garfield home because, at the time, Jon lived in an apartment that didn’t allow pets. But he was so charmed by Garfield, he took Garfield with him. Garfield says in a voiceover that he was the one who convinced Jon to move from the apartment to the house where they currently live. Eventually, Odie became part of the family.

In the present day, Garfield and Odie get kidnapped and find out that their captor is a fluffy white cat named Jinx (voiced by Hannah Waddingham), a diva-like feline who has two dogs as her main cronies: a Whippet named Nolan (voiced by Bowen Yang) and a Shar-Pei named Roland (voiced by Brett Goldstein), who do whatever Jinx tells them to do.

Jinx tells her story to Garfield and Odie about why she kidnapped them. Several years ago, Jinx immigrated from “a small town outside of London” to America to become a famous entertainer. She failed in that dream. A brief flashback shows that she bombed as a tuba player in a contest called Amerca’s Top Feline.

Feeling discouraged, Jinx befriended a bunch of other outcast and misfit cats, including Vic. One day, Jinx got trapped by animal control officers and spent four years, two months and seven days at an animal shelter, which she calls a “prison.” Jinx is bitter that her other stray cat friends, including Vic, were not captured and didn’t help her when she was captured and sent to the shelter.

For revenge, Jinx kidnapped Garfield and Odie, knowing that Vic would track them down. (It’s explained later in the movie how Vic would know where Garfield is.) When Vic comes to the rescue, Jinx tells them that something terrible will happen unless Vic can steal quart of milk from a place called Lactose Farms, for every day that she was in “prison.” She gives a deadline of 72 hours to commit this heist.

Vic convinces a reluctant Garfield to help him with this heist. Odie is along for the ride too. When they get to Lactose Farms, it isn’t the small “mom and pop” business that Vic remembers. It’s now a corporate-owned popular tourist attraction with a petting zoo and a complex layout to get to the milk supply.

While at Lactose Farms, these three would-be thieves meet a bull named Otto (voiced by Ving Rhames), who was put out to pasture when Lactose Farms was sold to the corporation. This new ownership also resulted in Otto being separated from his longtime love: a cow named Edith (voiced by Alicia Grace Turrell), who is currently part of the petting zoo. Otto agrees to help Vic, Garfield and Odie with this heist (since he’s very knowledgeable of the layout of Lactose Farms) on the condition that they free Edith so that Otto can run away with her.

Otto leads much of the planning for this heist, which will be an undercover operation. He gives code names for the three would-be thieves. Vic is Majestic Bullfrog. Odie is Clever and Curious Chipmunk. Garfield is Roadkill. Naturally, Garfield dislikes his code name.

There’s more to the movie’s story that just the hijinks that ensue for this heist. Garfield has a lot of complicated emotions about the sudden appearance of his absent father Vic. It leads to parts of the movie that cover topics such as childhood trauma over abandonment in a mostly sensitive and touching way.

Meanwhile, Jon frantically searches for Garfield and Odie in amusing segments that poke fun at how call centers frequently put people on hold and give impersonal service that isn’t helpful. A few supporting characters have slightly amusing roles, such as Lactose Farms security chief Marge Malone (voiced by Cecily Strong), who is shrill and aggressive. Making cameo appearances are two stray cats named Maurice (voiced by Snoop Dogg) and Olivia (voiced by Janelle James), who encounter Garfield and Odie.

“The Garfield Movie” has some moments where the pacing drags, but the film mostly has a brisk pace and competently engaging animation. The charismatic voice cast performances go a long way in maintaining viewer interest, since the personalities of the main characters are the driving force of this simple story. This is a very male-centric movie, where the female characters with the most screen time are either antagonists (Jinx and Marge) or need to be rescued (Edith).

The movie’s end credits have social media clips of cat videos, which are cute but look out-of-place in this animated film, even though there’s a running gag that Garfield likes to watch cat videos on the fictional streaming service Catflix. “The Garfield Movie” is not the type of movie that people should expect to win any major awards, but it’s not a complete waste of time either. It’s a middle-of-the-road film that will get mixed reactions but should satisfy viewers who aren’t expecting a masterpiece or a terrible movie.

Columbia Pictures will release “The Garfield Movie” in U.S. cinemas on May 24, 2024. A sneak preview of the movie was shown in U.S. cinemas on May 19, 2024.

Review: ‘The Fall Guy’ (2024), starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt

April 30, 2024

by Carla Hay

Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt in “The Fall Guy” (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures)

“The Fall Guy” (2024)

Directed by David Leitch

Culture Representation: Taking place in Sydney and briefly in Los Angeles, the action comedy film “The Fall Guy” (based loosely on the 1981 to 1986 TV series of the same name) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few African Americans and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A stunt double gets involved in a crime mystery while he tries to rekindle a romance that he had with the director of his current movie.

Culture Audience: “The Fall Guy” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and over-the-top action comedies that are predictable but have entertaining performances.

Teresa Palmer and Aaron Taylor-Johnson in “The Fall Guy” (Photo by Eric Laciste/Universal Pictures)

Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt are a great comedic duo and should have had more scenes together in “The Fall Guy.” Their collaborative scenes are the best parts of this uneven action comedy that is over-the-top but doesn’t take itself too seriously. The movie has a crime mystery that often gets overshadowed by the silly and bombastic stunt scenes in the film that don’t have much suspense. However, “The Fall Guy” doesn’t pretend to be anything but breezy entertainment with cartoonish violence and a little bit of an amusing romance.

Directed by David Leitch and written by Drew Pearce, “The Fall Guy” is based loosely on the 1981 to 1986 TV series of the same name. The TV series was an action drama, starring Lee Majors as the title character: a heroic stuntman. “The Fall Guy” movie released in 2024 is very much a tongue-in-cheek comedy that pokes fun at the movie industry and celebrity culture. “The Fall Guy” had its world premiere at the 2024 SXSW Film and TV Festival.

The movie’s title character is Colt Seavers (played by Gosling), an insecure and sensitive stuntman. For years, Colt has worked as a stunt double for an arrogant actor named Tom Ryder (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who takes Colt for granted. Colt’s career and personal life become derailed after a stunt he was responsible for went very wrong on a movie starring Tom. An ashamed Colt then quit the movie business and then went to work as a parking valet at a restaurant in his hometown of Los Angeles.

Colt has another reason to be miserable: He is sad because of the end of an intense fling he had on the movie set with a sarcastically witty camera operator named Jody Moreno (played by Blunt), who seemed to have strong romantic feelings for him too. However, after Colt’s embarrassing stunt mishap that resulted in Colt quitting the movie business, he abruptly cut off contact with Jody. She interpreted it as Colt harshly dumping her.

One day, Colt gets an urgent call from fast-talking movie producer Gail Meyer (played by Hannah Waddingham), who insists that Colt go back to work as a stuntman for a sci-fi action movie called “Metalstorm,” starring Tom as a character named Space Cowboy. Tom’s real-life lover Iggy Starr (played by Teresa Palmer) has the role of Space Cowboy’s love interest in the movie. “Metalstorm” (which is being filmed in Sydney, Australia) also happens to be Jody’s feature-film directorial debut.

Gail says that Jody requested Colt for this job. But when Colt arrives on the “Metalstorm” movie set, he finds out that this request was a lie. Needless to say, Jody is very upset that Colt will be Tom’s stunt double for “Metalstorm.” Jody huffs to Gail about Colt: “I didn’t approve him!” Jody demands that they find someone else to replace Colt. Gail responds, “We literally have no one else.”

Also on the “Metalstorm” movie set is Dan Tucker (played by Winston Duke), who is Colt’s stunt coordinator and best friend. Dan becomes Colt’s sidekick in a lot of shenanigans that happen in the movie. When Tom goes missing, Colt is ordered by Gail to find Tom. Stephanie Hsu has a small and somewhat thankless role as Tom’s personal assistant Alma Milan. Colt also meets Tom’s drug dealer Doone (played by Matuse), who gives an unwitting Colt a drink spiked with a hallucinogenic drug. Colt hallucinates unicorns in a comedy gag that goes on for a bit too long.

During the search for Tom, Colt goes to Tom’s hotel room and finds a dead man in an ice-filled bathtub, The rest of “The Fall Guy” is a combination of a crime mystery and exaggerated action scenes, with plenty of explosions, car chases and violent fights. Colt and Jody have the expected love/hate banter, where they both don’t want to fully admit how much their breakup hurt them. Their relationship goes exactly where you expect it to go. (Watch the end credits for some “surprise” cameos.)

“The Fall Guy” can get a bit annoying at how it seems to be a little too enamored with its stunt scenes, at the expense of developing the more interesting relationship between Colt and Jody. Colt and Jody trade snappy quips, but the movie isn’t completely convincing when it comes to showing how this would-be couple’s feelings are supposed to evolve over time. The jokes in “The Fall Guy” are hit and miss and elevated by the headlining stars’ comedic talent. It’s the type of movie that could have been better but also could have been a whole lot worse.

Universal Pictures will release “The Fall Guy” in U.S. cinemas on May 3, 2024.