Tag: musicals

Review: ‘Disney’s Snow White,’ starring Rachel Zegler, Andrew Burnap and Gal Gadot

March 19, 2025

by Carla Hay

Andrew Burnap and Rachel Zegler in “Disney’s Snow White” (Photo by Giles Keyte/Disney Enterprises Inc.)

“Disney’s Snow White”

Directed by Marc Webb

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed magical kingdom, the fantasy musical film “Disney’s Snow White” (based on a Brothers Grimm story) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some Latin people and black people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: Exiled princess Snow White, with the help of seven dwarves, falls in love with her future prince and battles against her evil stepmother queen, who wants to kill her.

Culture Audience: “Disney’s Snow White” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movies headliners, the original Brothers Grimm story, and the 1937 animated “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” but this live-action remake is too formulaic and is missing a lot of the original story’s magic.

Gal Gadot in “Disney’s Snow White” (Photo by Giles Keyte/Disney Enterprises Inc.)

Even though Rachel Zegler shines as the title character of “Disney’s Snow White,” the rest of this remake’s live-action performances are mediocre to terrible. No magical spells can erase this cash-grab film’s unconvincing visual effects and other missteps. One of the worst things about “Disney’s Snow White” is the villain is too campy (because of awkwardly hammy acting from Gal Gadot as Evil Queen), instead of being menacing and terrifying. The quality of the movie goes downhill in all of the scenes with Gadot.

Directed by Marc Webb and written by Erin Cressida Wilson, “Disney’s Snow White” is based on the 1812 German fairy title “Snow White,” written by the Brothers Grimm in the first edition of their collection “Grimms’ Fairy Tales.” In 1937, Walt Disney Pictures released “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,” an animated film version of the story. Although “Disney’s Snow White” admirably doesn’t make the story an exact copy of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,” some of the changes look overly contrived, including making the Seven Dwarves all animated characters instead of having these little people portrayed by live actors.

Another big change (and not for the better): The altered fate of Evil Queen at the end of the movie is not as effective in “Disney’s Show White” as her fate was at the end of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” And for baffling and unnecessary reasons, “Disney’s Snow White” also significantly changes the story arc of one of the Seven Dwarves, in what seems to be a manipulative way to jerk some tears from audience members. And this live-action version of a classic Disney animated film has the same problem as all of the other live-action remakes that have a Disney princess: Her love interest (in this case, a good-looking prince named Jonathan, played by Andrew Burnap) is bland as bland can be.

Unlike “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,” which only showed Snow White as a young adult, “Disney’s Snow White” shows Snow White’s childhood when she was about 7 or 8 years old. This backstory takes up the first 15 minutes of this 109-minute film. The movie seems to want to silence the controversies over the “ethnic” casting of Zegler (who is mixed-heritage Hispanic and white) by showing (not telling) that Zegler’s Snow White character is also biracial. In the original fairy tale, the magical kingdom where the story takes place is called Germonia. But since that name sounds too much like Germany, “Disney’s Snow White” simply gives no name to this magical kingdom.

An unseen narrator (whose identity is revealed at the end of the movie) says in a voiceover that Snow White in childhood (played by Emilia Faucher) was the only child of kind and loving parents. These parents are royalty and don’t have names in the movie. Snow White’s father was a king (played Hadley Fraser), while her mother (played by Lorena Andrea) was a queen. Snow White’s mother died suddenly for unnamed reasons. An “enchanting woman from a far-off land” (played by Gadot) then charmed the king and married him.

But this Evil Queen has sinister motives: Get rid of the king and Snow White, so the Evil Queen can be the only ruler of the kingdom. The Evil Queen lies to the king by telling him about an imminent invasion threat in the southern kingdom, so he goes away to defend his people. With the king away, the Evil Queen forces a lot of civilians to become soldiers to do her bidding. Snow White’s father has disappeared and is presumed dead.

The Evil Queen also banishes Snow White from living in the royal palace and forces Snow White to become a maid. And if you can believe it, people in the kingdom didn’t notice. Maybe they were too caught up in their own problems. Princess Snow White soon becomes mostly forgotten and presumed dead, as she toils in obscurity.

The Evil Queen has a magic mirror that talks back to her and has a shadowy face that can appear. (Patrick Page is the voice of the mirror.) The Evil Queen asks the mirror, “Who’s the fairest of them all?” to fish for compliments that the Evil Queen is the most beautiful female in the kingdom. The mirror tells the Evil Queen that she is the fairest,

“Disney’s Snow White” changes the “meet cute” moment for young adult Snow White and her future prince, but that doesn’t mean it’s an improvement for the romance part of the story. There is more chemistry between Evil Queen and her mirror, compared to the lack of sizzle for would-be couple Snow White and Jonathan. In the movie, Jonathan isn’t a royal. He’s a commoner who meets Snow White when she catches him stealing potatoes because he says he’s hungry. The Evil Queen finds out about the theft and orders Jonathan to be tied to an outside gate as punishment. Guess who comes to the rescue and frees Jonathan?

One day, the magic mirror tells Evil Queen that Snow White is the “fairest of them all.” This statement enrages the Evil Queen, who orders an unnamed huntsman (played by Ansu Kabia) to find and murder Snow White, who has run away to the Enchanted Forest. The Seven Dwarves, who are diamond miners, live together in a small house in this forest. One day, when the dwarves are away at work, Snow White ends up at the house and falls asleep in one of the beds.

Doc (voiced by Jeremy Swift) is the leader of the dwarves. The other dwarves have names that are supposed to be descriptions of their personalities: Happy (voiced by George Salazar), Bashful (voiced by Tituss Burgess), Grumpy (voiced by Martin Klebba), Sleepy (voiced by Andy Grotelueschen), Sneezy (voiced by Jason Kravits) and Dopey (voiced by Andrew Barth Feldman). Dopey is the physically smallest dwarf and is non-verbal.

Dopey is teased and bullied by some of the other dwarfs for being the misfit of the group. In “Disney’s Snow White,” Dopey is sweet-natured and is supposed to be very misunderstood, in terms of his intelligence. In this respect, “Disney’s Snow White” improves from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” The 1937 “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” movie has a way of demeaning a non-verbal person that would be considered problematic if that movie were released today.

“Disney’s Snow White” has some fairly good musical numbers, with original songs written for the movie by Oscar-winning “La La Land” songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. “Waiting on a Wish” is the obvious Oscar-bait song from “Disney’s Snow White.” Zegler’s skillful vocal talent is undoubtedly one of the highlights of “Disney’s Snow White,” as she is the cast member who is best able to infuse heartfelt emotions in her singing. (The less said about Gadot’s singing, the better.) As for songs carried over from the original “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,” the classic tunes “Heigh-Ho” and “Whistle While You Work” get competent cover versions in “Disney’s Snow White.”

The old-fashioned and patriarchal song “Someday My Prince Will Come” (from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves”) is removed from “Disney’s Snow White” and replaced by new and original songs where Snow White expresses more independence—just to let the audience know that her life doesn’t revolve around finding a man to take care of her. It all sounds very feminist-forward, but it’s just performative feminism. The big rescue scene in the movie’s climax still has the story’s Prince Charming (in this case, Jonathan) being the reason why the movie ends the way that it does.

The movie’s large budget is certainly seen in the impressive production design. Viewers who like watching cute animated animals will find a lot to like in “Disney’s Snow White,” which has an overload of adorable creatures (birds, squirrels and deer) who befriend Snow White and tag along during her journey. However, the movie never lets you forget that these animals are “too adorable to be true” visual effects, making these effects look forced and fake instead of looking believably natural in this fantasy world. “Disney’s Snow White” is missing a great deal of magic that the original story had. And that magic is undeniable charisma for all the characters that need it.

Walt Disney Pictures will release “Disney’s Snow White” in U.S. cinemas on March 21, 2025.

Review: ‘Emilia Pérez,’ starring Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez

January 5, 2025

by Carla Hay

Karla Sofía Gascón and Zoe Saldaña in “Emilia Pérez” (Photo courtesy of Netflix)

“Emilia Pérez”

Directed by Jacques Audiard

Spanish with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place from 2018 to 2023, mostly in Mexico (and briefly in Thailand, England, Israel, and Switzerland), the musical film “Emilia Pérez” (based on the operetta of the ame name) features a predominantly Latin cast of characters (with some black people and white people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A ruthless drug cartel leader enlists the help of an attorney to get gender affirmation surgery as a woman named Emilia Pérez, but things get complicated when she has her unsuspecting former wife and kids live with her.

Culture Audience: “Emilia Pérez” will appeal primarily to fans of the movie’s headliners and unconventional movie musicals that have better performances than songs or screenplays.

Selena Gomez in “Emilia Pérez” (Photo courtesy of Netflix)

“Emilia Pérez” (about a transgender former drug trafficker) is a musical but it’s more like an artsy telenova. The performances are the main reason to watch this uneven movie that has a messy screenplay and mediocre songs. “Emilia Pérez” is not even close to being the masterpiece might be hyped up to be some of the movie’s biggest fans. However, the dramatic parts of the film are watchable enough for viewers who are curious to see how the story is going to end.

Written and directed by Jacques Audiard, “Emilia Pérez” is based on Audiard’s operetta of the same name, which was inspired by Boris Razon’s 2018 novel “Écoute.” The word “écoute” means “listen” in French. “Emilia Pérez” had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where the movie won the Grand Jury Prize (the equivalent of second place); Best Soundtrack; and Best Actress, with the prize shared by “Emilia Pérez” co-stars Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz. “Emilia Pérez” is also France’s official entry for consideration for Best International Feature Film for the 2025 Academy Awards.

“Emilia Pérez” (which takes place mostly in Mexico) begins in 2018, by showing a 36-year-old defense attorney named Rita Mora Castro (played by Zoe Saldaña), who was born in the Dominican Republic but has been living in Mexico for years because she was educated in Mexico. Rita is having conflicted feelings as she prepares for a murder trial in Mexico City. Her client Gabriel Mendoza (played by Emiliano Hasan) is accused of murdering his wife. Rita suspects he is guilty, but her supervisor/lead defense attorney Berlinger (played by Eduardo Aladro) has decided that their strategy is to say that Gabriel is not guilty because Gabriel’s wife committed suicide. Gabriel ends up being found not guilty by a jury.

Rita is feeling unfulfilled in her life. In the musical number “Todo y nada” (which means “everything and nothing” in Spanish), Rita mentions she’s becoming disillusioned with her work, and she’s tired of people asking her why she’s not married and has no children. Rita also wants to start her own law firm, but she doesn’t have the money and thinks she’ll experience obstacles because of her race. (She identifies as Afro-Latina.)

Shortly after this verdict, Rita is in a courthouse restroom when she gets a strange phone call from an unidentified man, who tells her if she wants to become rich, she needs to go to a nearby newsstand in 10 minutes. It’s under these circumstances that a curious Rita goes to the newsstand. She is kidnapped on the street while waiting at the newsstand. Rita is taken in a van, where she meets her kidnapper while she has a hood over her head.

The kidnapper is a drug cartel boss named Juan “Manitas” Del Monte (played by Karla Sofía Gascón), who has a very unusual request. Manitas has been living as a man, but Manitas really identifies as a transgender female and has felt this way since childhood. Manitas wants Rita’s help to find a safe place to get gender-affirming surgery, and then fake Manitas’ death, so that Manitas can start a new life living openly as a woman with a new name.

Rita knows about Manitas’ reputation for being a ruthless criminal. However, she relates to Manitas feeling “stuck” and wanting a drastic life change. The money that Manitas wants to pay Rita would also make her a millionaire, so she accepts this offer with little hesitation. Of course, being kidnapped and pressured into this taking this offer is a big reason why Rita says yes to Manitas.

Manitas has a wife named Jessi (played by Gomez) and two sons: Diego (played by Lucas Varoclier) and Angel (played by Théo Guarin, who are about 4 and 6 years old at the time of Rita’s kidnapping. Jessi (whose full name is Jessica) was born in the United States and still has several family members living there. Jessi is a loving parent to the children, but she remains a bit of a hollow enigma throughout the story.

Manitas plans to have Jessi, Diego and Angel live in Switzerland, where Jessi doesn’t really know anyone. Rita has been tasked with telling Jessi that Jessi and the children have to go into hiding in Switzerland because Manitas’ criminal enemies want to harm them. Manitas death will then be faked, so that Manitas can start a new life as a woman.

“Emilia Pérez” (which has a total running time of 132 minutes) takes an awfully long time before Manitas gets gender affirmation surgery, which doesn’t happen until about 40 minutes into the movie. Before that, there are some very contrived-looking scenes of Rita going to the Thai city of Bangkok and the Israeli city of Tel Aviv to find the place that will give the surgery. She decides to choose a surgeon named Dr. Wasserman (played by Mark Ivanir) in Israel to give Manitas the procedure. The musical scenes for this search for a surgeon have the weakest songs in the movie.

After the surgery, Manitas has been reinvented as a bachelorette named Emilia Pérez (also played by Gascón), although she uses the title Señora (Mrs.) for her name. Four years later, Emilia and Rita see each other again at a dinner party in a London restaurant. Rita is surprised to see Emilia there but soon finds out that Emilia planned for Rita to be there.

Emilia wants Rita’s help again: This time, Emilia wants Rita to bring Jessi, Diego and Angel over from Switzerland to live with Emilia in Mexico. (Gaël Murguia-Fur has the role of older Angel. Tirso Rangel Pietriga has the role of older Diego.) Emilia explains that she misses her children and she wants Rita’s assistance in telling Jessi, Diego and Angel that Emilia is a distant cousin of Manitas, who gave her some inheritance money to take care of them financially.

For a while, the plan works. At first, Jessi is a little suspicious over how Emilia is overly affectionate with Diego and Angel. And at times, Emilia slips up when she describes Dego and Angel as her kids. (The children call her Auntie.) Overall, the family is harmonious but this wouldn’t be telenova-type of story if things continued to go smoothly.

Because Manitas is supposed to be dead, Emilia doesn’t mind that Jessi has a lover named Gustavo Brun (played by Edgar Ramírez), whose occupation is unclear. However, it’s implied that whatever he does for money is suspicious. What Emilia doesn’t know is that Jessi and Gustavo were secret lovers when Jessi and Manitas were married. Although Jessi says that she loved Manitas, she apparently married Manitas when they were very young, and she wasn’t sure if Manitas still loved her.

Emilia feels guilty about all the murders she was responsible for when she was a drug cartel boss, so she reinvents herself as a philanthropist who has started a nonprofit charity to find missing people whose disapperances are believed to be related to drug cartels. Rita works as Emilia’s attorney for this charity and is morally conflicted when Emilia solicits donations from rich criminals. It’s during this charity work that Emilia meets Epifanía Flores (played by Paz), whose missing husband’s body was found by Emilia’s workers. Emilia and Epifanía have an instant attraction and become intimately involved with each other.

“Emilia Pérez” has moments that are thoroughly engaging, especially in the scenes where Emilia and Rita are interacting with each other. But the first third of the movie is somewhat confusing because it looks more like Rita’s story. For a movie called “Emilia Pérez,” it’s a bit of creative misstep that the title character appears so late in the movie.

Another flaw in the movie is the relationship between Jessi and Gustavo is not shown enough for viewers to understand what Jessi sees in him. All that viewers will see about the romantic part of their relationship is that Jessi likes to talk dirty to him over the phone, they’re definitely in lust, and they like to have sexy dances with each other when they go out to a nightclub. Gomez is adequate in her role as Jessi, who is an underdeveloped character.

“Emilia Pérez” is also sketchy with details over why Emilia has so much financial control over Jessi and the kids. As the “widow” of Manitas, Jessi would be entitled to a lot more that what she gets, in terms of an inheritance and financial independence. Viewers can only conclude that Jessi must be less-than-smart if she believes everything that Rita tells her and willingly goes to live with a “cousin-in-law” whom Jessi has never met before and knows almost nothing about. Jessi’s financial dependence on Emilia is crucial to a major plot development in the last third of the film.

Gascón (who is a transgender woman in real life) and Saldaña are the obvious standouts with their committed performances. Saldaña’s song-and-dance number of “El Mal” during a charity event is a highlight of the movie. Gascón also excels in her dual roles as Emilia and Manitas. “Emilia Pérez” blends romance, action and drama into a poutpourri that isn’t thoroughly appealing because of some plot holes, unanswered questions, and songs that are underwhelming. However, the personalities of Emilia and Rita are interesting enough to keep viewers engaged in story that isn’t often seen on screen.

Netflix released “Emilia Pérez” in select U.S. cinemas on November 1, 2024. Netflix premiered the movie for streaming on November 13, 2024.

Review: ‘Better Man’ (2024), starring Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton, Damon Herriman, Raechelle Banno, Alison Steadman and Kate Mulvaney

December 23, 2024

by Carla Hay

Jonno Davies in “Better Man” (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

“Better Man” (2024)

Directed by Michael Gracey

Culture Representation: Taking place from 1982 to 2019, in the United Kingdom, the United States, and other parts of the world, the musical film “Better Man” features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: British pop singer Robbie Williams (portrayed as a chimpanzee in “Better Man”) finds fame as a member of Take That and even greater success as a solo artist, but he falls into traps of celebrity status, such as ego problems and addictions to alcohol and drugs.

Culture Audience: “Better Man” will appeal primarily to fans of Robbie Williams and musical movies that are unconventional.

Asmara Feik and Steve Pemberton in “Better Man” (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

Some viewers might never get accustomed to seeing singer Robbie Williams as a chimpanzee in the musical biopic “Better Man.” It’s a unique choice in an otherwise conventional but entertaining film with uneven pacing. The musical numbers are elaborate highlights of the film, while the dramatic parts—although competently acted—are hit-and-miss scenes that sometimes drag in this 134-minute movie.

Directed by Michael Gracey, “Better Man” was written by Gracey, Simon Gleeson and Oliver Cole. “Better Man” had its world premiere at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival and its Canadian premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Why is Williams (who was born in 1974) depicted as an ape in this movie? Gracey has said in interviews that he got the idea from several interviews he did where Williams compared himself to a monkey who was trained to perform.

The real Williams provides voiceover narration, while actors Jonno Davies (as the teenage and adult Robbie) and Asmara Feik (as the child Robbie) do the physical body acting as the chimpanzee, thanks to computer-generated imagery. The other characters in “Better Man” are humans who treat the Robbie Williams character as human and don’t comment that he looks like a chimpanzee. It’s the movie’s way of showing that looking like a chimpanzee is how the Robbie character perceives himself, not how other people see him.

“Better Man” is the second authorized biographical project about Williams in two years. Williams was the subject of the 2023 Netflix limited documentary series “Robbie Williams,” where he looked back on video footage of his life as a celebrity and added his personal comments. Even though “Better Man” is a scripted movie with fantasy elements, “Better Man” actually provides more insight into who Williams is than his “Robbie Williams” documentary. For the purposes of this review, the real people will be referred to by their last names, while the movie characters will be referred to by their first names.

“Better Man,” which is told in chronological order from 1982 to 2019, begins by depicting Robbie as an 8-year-old child in his hometown of Stoke-on-Trent, England. Back then, he was known as Rob or Robert. As he says in hindsight narration, from an early age, he had a burning desire to be an entertainer. He says he has an unabashed love of musicals. And he spends a lot of time at home practicing his singing and showman moves.

As an example of Robbie’s sarcastic humor, he says in a voiceover: “I didn’t have much, but at least I had the respect and admiration of my peers. They just didn’t know it yet.” And then the movie shows a scene of young Robbie being bullied by fellow students in a schoolyard.

Robbie’s father Peter (played by Steve Pemberton) is also a wannabe entertainer, but he doesn’t have the talent that Robbie has. Peter is mostly a low-level emcee at a small pub that he owns called the Red Lion, which has talent contests on a regular basis. Peter passed on to Robbie his admiration of Rat Pack entertainers Frank Sinatra (Peter’s favorite), Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

Peter is also very self-absorbed. When he wins £5 in a talent contest, the victory goes to his head. He decides to go on the road to try his luck as an entertainer in other citiies. Peter doesn’t come back and abandons his family.

This abandonment causes lifelong “daddy issues” for Robbie. He hides a lot of his emotional pain with a cocky bravado and cheeky jokes. Throughout the movie, there are scenes of Robbie seeing menacing versions of himself (especially while he’s performing), where these versions of himself taunt him and cruelly insult him. It’s an obvious manifestation of his self-loathing.

Robbie’s mother Janet (played by Kate Mulvany) and Robbie’s grandmother Betty (played by Alison Steadman) do the best they can to raise rebellious Robbie. Betty is more supportive than Janet when it comes to Robbie’s showbiz dreams. Janet wants Robbie to graduate from high school and get a regular job, like most of his peers.

Robbie explains in a voiceover: “Where I grew up, you were meant to act small. But the thing is, I’m cabaret. I came out of the womb with jazz hands.” At 9 years old, he got his first taste of performing in front of audiences by being in school plays.

When Robbie is in high school, a school counseler discourages Robbie’s goal to be a famous entertainer, by telling Robbie that Robbie should “keep your feet on the ground” and “this is not for you.” It’s around this time in 1990, when 16-year-old Robbie hears on the radio that there are auditions for a new boy band that eventually will be known as Take That.

Robbie shows up to the audition with a lot of confidence. But that confidence is soon deflated when he sings an old-fashioned show tune and doesn’t get the positive reaction that he expected. Take That’s manager Nigel Martin Smith (played by Damon Herriman), the only “judge” in this audition, tells Robbie it’s the wrong song choice because Take That is a pop group. Robbie feels he’s bombed in this audition, but his saucy spirit comes through when he winks at Nigel before leaving the audition room because he thinks at least this flirtatious gesture will make Nigel remember him.

And just like something in a movie, Robbie gets a call that he’s been chosen for the group. It’s just in time, because Robbie had dropped out of high school, and he hadn’t told his mother yet. Robbie joins Take That, with Nigel as their control-freak manager. (The movie shows it was Nigel’s idea to have Robbie start calling himself Robbie.)

The other members of Take That are Gary Barlow (played by Jake Simmance), Howard Donald (played by Liam Head), Jason Orange (played by Chase Vollenweider) and Mark Owen (played by Jesse Hyde), who look nothing like the real people they’re portraying in this movie. (But then again, the Robbie as a chimpanzee doesn’t look like the real person either.) Gary and Robbie are the only Take That members in “Better Man” who are given distinct personalities.

The movie depicts the real-life jealousy/rivalry that Williams had with Barlow, who was Take That’s main songwriter and therefore made more money than the other members of Take That. A scene later in the movie shows at the height of Take That’s fame in the mid-1990s, Robbie was resentful that Gary could afford to buy a mansion, while Robbie couldn’t afford his own place and was still living his mother and grandmother. As Robbie explains in the movie, Robbie felt that his own songwriting talent was unfairly stifled or dismissed in Take That because Nigel had decided that Gary would be the group’s chief songwriter and wouldn’t budge on this decision. As the youngest member of Take That, Robbie had the image of being the group’s “rebellious bad boy.”

Take That was initially marketed to gay men. But when Nigel saw that the group would be more commercially successful as teen idols marketed mostly to females, he switched to that marketing tactic, and Take That became a mainstream success. Williams has had high-profile romances with women, but he’s always been coy abut his sexuality and doesn’t confirm or deny stories that he’s had male sex partners. In “Better Man,” Robbie says he feels completely comfortable in gay nightclubs because he can be himself without judgment. He also says in the movie that the only thing that bothers him about stories that he had gay sex is if the stories say he was had bad sexual skills.

Take That and Williams didn’t have the success in the United States that they did in Europe, so American audiences might be underwhelmed or disinterested in the story told in “Better Man.” (“Back for Good” was the only Take That song that was a hit in the U.S.) If you’ve ever seen any episode of “Behind the Music,” then you know what to expect for the rest of “Better Man”: Robbie achieves international fame and fortune but also experiences low points in his personal life, such as troubled romances and his various addictions.

When Robbie was asked to leave Take That in 1995 because his addictions made him unreliable, he faced an uncertain future. But he went on to have a solo career that was even more successful than what he achieved with Take That. His first solo album—1997’s “Life Thru a Lens”—had lackluster sales until the release of the album’s ballad single “Angels,” which remains the biggest hit song of Williams’ career. His other solo hits include “Let Me Entertain You,” “Millennium,” “Rock DJ” and “She’s the One.”

“Better Man” is told in chronological order, but the movie isn’t as precious with the timeline for the musical numbers. One of the standout musical sequences—involving acrobatic stunts and superb choreography—shows Take That celebrating the group’s success, but the song playing during this sequence is Williams’ solo song “Rock DJ.” “Better Man” effectively shows a poignant musical moment when “Angels” is performed in the movie. And the recreation of his first 2003 Knebworth concert (where he was made his entrance by hanging upside down on stage) is absolutely stellar.

“Better Man” depicts how Robbie’s solo career allowed him to showcase his talent as a songwriter whose specialty is writing lyrics and melodies. His partnership with musician/producer Guy Chambers (played by Tom Budge), who co-wrote and produced Robbie’s biggest solo hits in the 1990s and early 2000s, is depicted as a “bromance.” However, “Better Man” (which ends in 2019) doesn’t mention that in real life, Chambers and Williams ended their musical partnership in 2002.

Robbie’s love life is also given selective treatment in “Better Man.” Williams’ real-life relationship with American actress/TV host Ayda Field (whom he married in 2010) is noticeably absent from the movie. Robbie’s main romance depicted in “Better Man” is his volatile 1997 to 1999 relationship with his former fiancée Nicole Appleton (played by Raechelle Banno) from the British female singing group All Saints. Robbie and Nicole’s romance is depicted as a match made in pop music heaven, until the relationship was derailed by Robbie’s infidelities and the couple’s busy work schedules.

“Better Man” also shows that Robbie was competitive with Nicole when it came to having hits on the charts. At a time when Robbie’s solo career was stagnant, All Saints had their first No. 1 song (1997’s “Never Ever”) in the United Kingdom. And this type of success bothered Robbie. The movie implies that Nicole had an abortion due to pressure from All Saints’ management. Nicole’s abortion and Robbie’s despair over this terminated pregnancy are candidly shown as the final blow to their relationship. This abortion is never mentioned in the “Robbie Williams” documentary.

Liam Gallagher (played by Leo Harvey-Elledge) and Noel Gallagher (played by Chris Gun)— the feuding brothers of British rock band Oasis—are depicted in “Better Man” as people whom Robbie both admired and envied at a time when Oasis was riding high on the charts in the mid-to-late 1990s. Robbie and Liam became party buddies after Robbie left Take That. In real life (and not depicted in “Better Man”), Liam Gallagher and Appleton began dating in 2000, had a son together in 2001, and were married from 2008 to 2014. Maybe that’s why Robbie says of Nicole in a voiceover: “She has terrible taste in men.”

The “Robbie Williams” documentary doesn’t delve into the complicated feelings that Robbie has for his father Peter. By contrast, “Better Man” puts Robbie’s love/hate relationship with his father at the forefront and as one of the reasons why Robbie has longtime self-esteem problems. Robbie’s battles with depression are also depicted in the movie. It gives “Better Man” a deeper resonance than the usual “sex, drugs and rock’n’roll” storytelling which is expected in a movie about Williams’ life. However, “Better Man” breezes through Robbie’s recovery from addiction in a way that’s a little too superficial.

“Better Man” is solidly enjoyable as a musical. And director Gracey has made a career out of doing musical biopics: His previous feature film as a director is 2017’s “The Greatest Showman” (about circus mogul P.T. Barnum), and he was an executive producer of 2019’s “Rocketman” (about singer/songwriter Elton John), which were both hits. “Better Man” should be commended for doing something never seen before in a musical biopic (depicting the human star of the story as a chimpanzee), but the movie still can’t shake the reality that this monkey persona is a gimmick. “Better Man” is able to transcend this gimmick by offering a story with heart underneath the flashy musical numbers and proficient visual effects.

Paramount Pictures will release “Better Man” in select U.S. cinemas on December 25, 2024, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on January 10, 2025. The movie wll be released on digital and VOD on February 11, 2025, and 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray and May 13, 2025.

Review: ‘Mufasa: The Lion King,’ starring the voices of Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Tiffany Boone, Mads Mikkelsen, John Kani, Preston Nyman, Thandiwe Newton and Lennie James

December 21, 2024

by Carla Hay

Mufasa (voiced by Aaron Pierre) and Taka (voiced by Kelvin Harrison Jr.) in “Mufasa: The Lion King” (Image courtesy of Disney Enterprises Inc.)

“Mufasa: The Lion King”

Directed by Barry Jenkins

Culture Representation: Taking place in Africa, the animated film “Mufasa: The Lion King” (a prequel to “The Lion King” movies) features a cast of characters portraying talking animals.

Culture Clash: The origin story of future lion king patriarch Mufasa is told, including how he battled a pride of lion invaders and was betrayed by his adoptive brother.

Culture Audience: “Mufasa: The Lion King” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of “The Lion King” franchise and animated films that are formulaic and don’t do anything innovative.

Kiros (voiced by Mads Mikkelsen) in “Mufasa: The Lion King” (Image courtesy of Disney Enterprises Inc.)

The animated musical “Mufasa: The Lion King” delivers the expected eye-catching visuals, but the story, dialogue and songs are underwhelming and tedious. This disappointing prequel lazily copies the formula of other “Lion King” films. Considering the large production budget and award-winning talent involved for “Mufasa: The Lion King,” this hollow film is an example of too many wasted and missed opportunities.

Directed by Barry Jenkins and written by Jeff Nathanson, “Mufasa: The Lion King” tells the origin story of royal lion Mufasa, who is a stereotypical heroic character. Mufasa died near the beginning of “The Lion King” movies, as seen in the 1994 original “The Lion King” movie and 2019 remake. Mufasa’s unexpected death (by falling down a gorge) made his son/only child Simba a runaway because Simba blamed himself for Mufasa’s death. Mufasa was actually murdered, and the killer went on the hunt to murder Simba. It’s assumed that most people watching “Mufasa: The Lion King” saw a “Lion King” movie that told Simba’s origin story. Anyone unfamiliar with Simba’s story will feel a bit lost and confused by the beginning of “Mufasa: The Lion King.”

“Mufasa: The Lion King” begins with a caption announcing that the movie is dedicated to actor James Earl Jones, the original voice of Mufasa in the previous “Lion King” movies. (Jones died in September 2024, at the age of 93.) “Mufasa: The Lion King” then has an opening scene showing that adult Simba (voiced by Donald Glover), his love partner Nala (voiced by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter) and their cub daughter Kiara (voiced by Blue Ivy Carter) are living as a happy family somewhere in Africa. An elderly, wise mandrill named Rafiki (voiced by John Kani), who was a trusted ally of Mufasa, notices that Kiara is afraid of an expected rainstorm.

Rafiki tries to comfort Kiara by telling her that Kiara’s legendary grandfather king Mufasa used to be afraid of storms too, when Mufasa was about Kiara’s age. Rafiki then tells Kiara the story of Mufasa when Mufasa was a child and a young adult. This story and flashback scenes are the basis of much of “Mufasa: The Lion King.” Returning characters from “The Lion King” movies are two of Simba’s wisecracking friends: goofy warthog Pumbaa (voiced by Seth Rogen) and sarcastic meerkat Timon (voiced by Billy Eichner), who hang around to listen to Rafiki’s storytelling about Mufasa.

Mufasa’s origin story is almost an exact replica of Simba’s origin story. Mufasa as a cub (voiced by Braelyn Rankins) had a happy childhood and was his parents’ only child, until he was separated from his biological family for years and had to find his own identity as a young adult. “Mufasa: The Lion King” has one of the same villains as the original “Lion King” story, but “Mufasa: The Lion King” adds another villain to elongate the already predictable plot. The main difference between the two origin stories is that Mufasa was separated from his family because of a natural disaster, while Simba was separated from his family because Simba ran away after Simba’s father Mufasa died.

In “Mufasa: The Lion King,” cub Mufasa was living in bliss with his parents Masego (voiced by Keith David) and Afia (voiced by Anika Noni Rose), whose goal was to find the promised land of Milele, so the family could live in Milele. Mufasa’s parents describe Milele as a paradise-like place where resources are plentiful and animals live in harmony in “the circle of life.” Milele is a place that some animals believe is real, while others think Milele is a mythical place that doesn’t exist.

The family’s plans to find Milele are interrupted during a flash flood that causes Mufasa to nearly drown in a cascading river. As a result of this flood, Mufasa is separated from his parents and can’t find them. A crocodile almost attacks Mufasa, but he is rescued by another cub named Taka (voiced by Theo Somolu), who is a prince of his pride of lions. Mufasa doesn’t know how to find his parents, so Taka (who is about the same age as Mufasa) takes Mufasa back to Taka’s home, which is a place called Pride Lands.

Taka’s parents—stern father Obasi (voiced by Lennie James) and compassionate mother Eshe (voiced by Thandiwe Newton)—have very different reactions to Mufasa. Obasi, who is very distrustful of outsiders, is reluctant to accept Mufasa into the pride. Eshe is more open to accepting Mufasa, especially when Taka openly expresses that he has always wanted a brother. (The utterly bland song “I Always Wanted a Brother” is performed in this part of the movie.)

Obasi tells Mufasa that Mufasa can only live with this pride of lions if Mufasa wins in a speed race against Taka. Mufasa wins the race because Taka deliberately lets Mufasa win—and Taka doesn’t let Mufasa forget it. Obasi also tells Taka never to trust Mufasa because Taka is Obasi’s rightful heir. It’s the first indication that although Taka wants Mufasa as a brother, Taka expects to inherit the kingdom from Obasi. Even with this “victory,” Mufasa s still treated with suspicion by Obasi, who orders that Mufasa has to spend time with the females of the pride.

“Mufasa: The Lion King” then has a series scenes showing that despite Obasi’s wariness of Mufasa, Taka went against his father’s wishes and became very close to Mufasa, who became just like a brother to Taka. The movie then abruptly segues to the young-adult phase of Mufasa (voiced by Aaron Pierre) and Taka (voiced by Kelvin Harrison Jr.), who are still the best of friends at this point in the story. They hunt together and protect each other.

However, there is some tension in the relationship because Mufasa has been outshining Taka because Mufasa has an extraordinary sense of smell, and Mufasa is overall more courageous than Taka. Mufasa is also considered more physically attractive than Taka: Mufasa has a full mane and is muscular, while Taka has a scraggly mane and is somewhat scrawny.

Mufasa’s keen senses are why he can detect the impending invasion of a group of villainous white lions called the Outsiders, led by the ruthless Kiros (voiced by Mads Mikkelsen), who want to take over the land occupied by Obasi’s pride of lions. Kiros has two sisters who are his warrior sidekicks: Akua (voiced by Joanna Jones) and Amara (voiced by Folake Olowofoyeku), who both have personalities that are indistinguishable from the other. You know what happens next: Mufasa and Taka join forces with the rest of their pride to fight against the Outsiders.

Meanwhile, a bit of a love triangle develops when Mufasa and Taka meet a young adult lioness named Sarabi (voiced by Tiffany Boone), who has two sidekick friends: young Rafiki (voiced by Kagiso Lediga) and a talkative hornbill named Zazu (voiced by Preston Nyman), who is Sarabi’s scout. Sarabi becomes a warrior ally to Mufasa and Taka. And even if you’ve never seen the original “Lion King” movie, it’s very easy to predict which lion brother will eventually win Sarabi’s love. Rafiki also has a special friend: a baboon named Junia (voiced by Thuso Mbedu), who will be forgotten by most viewers by the time the movie is over.

If the introduction of all these new characters sounds a bit overcrowded, that’s because it is. Sarabi’s brave-but-gentle personality is almost identical to Nala’s personality. Zazu is an utterly generic chatterbox. Kiros is every single cliché of a cartoon animal villain. Mikkelsen tries to give the Kiros character some sort of charisma, but his performance is hampered by drab dialogue.

One of the biggest problems with “Mufasa: The Lion King” is that even if you never saw any “Lion King” movie, it’s common knowledge in pop culture that Mufasa had a brother named Scar, who betrayed Mufasa and became a villain because Scar was jealous of Mufasa. In “Mufasa: The Lion King,” Taka is obviously the original name of Scar, although the movie tries to pay coy about it, as if it’s some big secret. Most viewers already know that Taka is a duplicitous villain, so there is no real surprise when the moment comes in “Mufasa: The Lion King” when Taka is revealed to be a villain.

“Mufasa: The Lion King” eventually shows how and why Taka’s name was changed to Scar, but this tidbit of information does not change the monotony of the story. The action scenes aren’t as thrilling as they could be. And the movie just can’t overcome the clunky and boring conversations. Pumbaa and Timon, the only “Lion King” characters with a lively rapport, are sidelined in “Mufasa: The Lion King,” which makes Pumbaa and Timon more annoying than amusing.

And unlike many other Disney animated musicals, “Mufasa: The Lion King” has absolutely no songs that are destined to be classics or winners of major awards. Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton,” “Moana,” “Encanto”) wrote the six original songs in “Mufasa: The Lion King” that have lyrics: “Milele”; “I Always Wanted a Brother” (co-written by Nicholas Britell, the composer of “Mufasa: The Lion King”); “Bye Bye”; “We Go Together”; “Tell Me It’s You”; and “Brother Betrayed.” None of these songs comes close to being as memorable as the Oscar-winning 1994 “Lion King” song: “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” written by Elton John and Tim Rice. Britell’s musical score for “Mufasa: The Lion King” is serviceable but not outstanding, compared to Hans Zimmer’s score for the original “Lion King” movie.

Here’s an example of why “Mufasa: The Lion King” has a poorly written screenplay: When elder Rafiki is telling the origin story of Mufasa, the movie cuts to interludes showing Rafiki being interrupted by Pumbaa and Timon, who complain and don’t understand why they aren’t part of the story too—even though Pumbaa and Timon didn’t even know Mufasa. Pumbaa also weirdly keeps guessing out loud if Taka is really going to be revealed as a young Pumbaa. It makes absolutely no sense. “Mufasa: The Lion King” director Jenkins won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for 2016’s “Moonlight.” We’ll never know how “Mufasa: The Lion King” would have been like if Jenkins also wrote the screenplay for “Mufasa: The Lion King.”

“Mufasa: The Lion King” is a prequel that expects viewers to know a lot about Simba’s “Lion King” story, which is why the beginning of “Mufasa: The Lion King” is so jumbled when re-introducing familiar characters. But at the same time, “Mufasa: The Lion King” also drags out the obvious “reveal” that Taka is really Scar, the villain lion who became an enemy of Mufasa and Simba. Everything else in “Mufasa: The Lion King” is really just a distraction that leads up to this reveal. The voice cast members are talented and do the best they can, but “Mufasa: The Lion King” is ultimately a shallow retread of 1994’s vastly superior “The Lion King.”

Walt Disney Pictures released “Mufasa: The Lion King” in U.S. cinemas on December 20, 2024.

Review ‘The End’ (2024), starring Tilda Swinton, George Mackay, Moses Ingram, Bronagh Gallagher, Tim McInnerny, Lennie James and Michael Shannon

December 6, 2024

by Carla Hay

Tim McInnerny, Michael Shannon, George Mackay, Tilda Swinton, Bronagh Gallagher and Lennie James in “The End” (Photo courtesy of Neon)

“The End” (2024)

Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed part of the United States, the musical film “The End” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with two black people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: After an apocalypse, a wealthy family of three are sequestered in a lavish bunker with three of their close associates, when they have their lives altered by an apocalypse survivor, who unexpectedly lives with them.

Culture Audience: “The End” will appeal primarily to fans of the movie’s headliners and musicals that don’t have much to say.

Moses Ingram in “The End” (Photo courtesy of Neon)

Viewers of the long-winded and boring musical “The End” will keep wondering when it’s going to reach the end. The acting is fine, and some of the singing is good, but the movie commits the worst sin for a musical: The songs and story are very forgettable. And that’s a sin that’s very hard to forgive for a movie whose total running time is 148 minutes.

Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer (who co-wrote “The End” screenplay with Rasmus Heisterberg), “The End” had its world premiere at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival and its Canadian premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. The story takes place in an unnamed part of the U.S., after an apocalypse has happened several years prior. (“The End” was actually filmed in Iceland, Italy, and Germany, but the main characters in the movie have American accents.) The entire story is set at a bunker that looks like a ice-covered mine shaft on the outside but looks like mansion on the inside. All of the characters in the movie live in this bunker.

In “The End,” the real names of the characters are not revealed. The characters are listed in the movie’s end credits according to whatever identity they have in the movie. Mother (played by Tilda Swinton) is icy and domineering. Father (played by Michael Shannon), who is Mother’s husband, is more laid-back and easygoing. Son (played by George Mackay) is a young adult who is emotionally immature and very sheltered. (For example, he has a childlike fascination with playing with toy train sets.) These three family members are wealthy and own the bunker where they live.

Also living in the bunker are three people who are there because the family allowed them to be there when the parents decided which people could live in the bunker with the family. All of these non-family members have an extra purpose to be in service to the family in some way, which causes an imbalance of power. As more details about Mother and Father are revealed, it’s easy to see why these parents aren’t as charitable as they first seem to be.

Friend (played by Bronagh Gallagher), a middle-aged family friend of the parents, is the main cook for this household. Friend is having a semi-secret affair with Son at the beginning of the movie. She has known Son since he was a kid. But now that he’s an adult, she obviously sees him in a different way. It’s mentioned that Friend had an adult son named Tom, who died (the reason why he died is later revealed), and Friend seems to feel very guilty about this death.

Doctor (played by Lennie James) was having some kind of love affair with Friend until she took up with Son. This previous romance is never seen in the movie, but Doctor makes it known to Friend and Son that he’s upset and jealous over their sexual relationship. However, because Doctor feels indebted to Son’s parents for saving his life, he doesn’t let this jealousy interfere with his dedication to the family.

Butler (played by Tim McInnerny) is the most subservient of the non-family members. He can be relied on to do whatever is asked of him, with no questions asked. There is no obvious information about Butler’s personal life, although it’s hinted that he is gay. He’s the only character in the movie who doesn’t have a love interest.

Under the strict direction of Mother, the people in this bunker do fire drills on a regular basis. Why? Don’t expect an answer. Son is a talented painter whose artwork seems inspired by Claude Monet, the French painter credited with being a pioneer of impressionism. Mother is very critical and nitpcky about his paintings, which affects Son’s self-esteem.

The apocalypse has supposedly caused massive flooding above ground and left Earth with freezing temperatures, which is why it’s icy all year round. The movie is vague about how the bunker occupants still have electricity and other resources. It’s implied that they grow their own food and raise the small animals (such as seafood) that they eat inside the bunker.

The people inside the bunker, especially the parents, seem unconcerned about finding out if there are any other survivors. But one day, a stranger is discovered unconscious outside the bunker. In the end credits, her name is Girl (played by Moses Ingram), but she’s actually a young woman. When she is able to regain consciousnesses, Girl says that she and her family became trapped underneath ice in a marine channel, but she was able to survive by digging her way out from underneath the ice.

The bunker parents made a pact not to let other survivors live with them, but they make an exception for Girl. It takes some time for Girl to adjust to her new surroundings. Her presence in the household changes the dynamics of certain relationships. And the most predictable and cliché thing happens between Girl and Son.

The singing in “The End” sounds like people singing dialogue, not well-crafted songs that give a new vibrancy to the story. Mackay and Ingram are the best singers, while the other cast members have adequate singing skills. There are no elaborate dance numbers. The movie’s technical aspects (cinematography, production design and costume design) are adequate, but can’t do much to elevate the lackluster story.

“The End” had great potential to be an innovative and original musical. However, the story concept goes limp within the first 30 minutes of the movie and never recovers. Many crucial questions are left unanswered by the end of the movie because there are hints that a lot of footage was edited out of this film that is already too long. One of the best ways to know if a musical is good is if the songs (and the way the songs are presented) are crucial in telling the story. Unfortunately for “The End,” this is a bland and disappointing movie, even it if hadn’t been a musical.

Neon released “The End” in select U.S. cinemas on December 6, 2024.

Review: ‘Moana 2,’ starring the voices of Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Hualālai Chung, Rose Matafeo, Awhimai Fraser, Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda, Temuera Morrison and Nicole Scherzinger

November 26, 2024

by Carla Hay

Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) and Moana (voiced by Auli’i Cravalho) in “Moana 2” (Image courtesy of Disney Enterprises Inc.)

“Moana 2”

Directed by David G. Derrick Jr.; co-directed by Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller

Culture Representation: Taking place in ancient Polynesia, the animated musical film “Moana 2” (a sequel to the 2016 animated film “Moana”) features a cast of characters who are human Pacific Islanders, gods or animals.

Culture Clash: Teenage adventurer Moana goes off on another sea voyage, but this time, it’s to find a long-lost island that can bring other Pacific Islanders together.

Culture Audience: “Moana 2” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of 2016’s “Moana,” the movie’s headliners and Disney princess movies.

Pictured clockwise, from left: Kele (voiced by David Fane), Moni (voiced by Hualālai Chung), Loto (voiced by Rose Matafeo) and Moana (voiced by Auli’i Cravalho) in “Moana 2” (Image courtesy of Disney Enterprises Inc.)

“Moana 2” didn’t learn the sequel lesson that more characters in a sequel don’t automatically make a better movie. Fans of 2016’s “Moana” should find enough to like in this sequel, which is adequately entertaining but inferior to the original “Moana” film. It’s the type of sequel that replicates much of the same “voyage at sea” concept as the series’ first movie but doesn’t do much to make it more innovative or more exciting.

“Moana 2” was directed by David G. Derrick Jr., and co-directed by Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller—a different team from John Musker and Ron Clements, who directed “Moana.” Jared Bush, who wrote “Moana,” returns as the screenwriter for “Moana 2,” which has Ledoux Miller as an additional screenwriter. “Moana” composer Mark Mancina also returns for this sequel with Opetaia Foa‘i as writers of some of the movie’s original songs. However, Lin-Manuel Miranda (who co-wrote many of the original songs in “Moana”) is not part of “Moana 2.” Instead, “Moana 2” has Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear as co-writers of most of “Moana 2’s” original songs. The end results in “Moana 2” are predictable and formulaic but not entirely disappointing.

In “Moana” (which takes place in ancient Polynesia), teenage Moana (played by Auli’i Cravalho) goes on a seafaring journey to give back a poweful precious stone to the goddess of nature Te Fiti (who is also a living island), in order to save Moana’s island of Motunui from a food shortage that could lead to massive starvation for the people of Montunui. Along the way, Moana teams up with a wisecracking and shapeshifting demi-god of the wind named Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson), who stole the precious stone many centuries ago. Moana also finds her identity and confidence as someone who can lead an adventurous voyage and do good things for her community.

In “Moana 2,” the stakes are much lower than life or death for the people of Motunui. Moana is now a proven heroic voyager, but Motunui is still isolated from other people in the Pacific Islands. Moana is visited in a vision by Tautai Vasa (voiced by Gerald Faitala Ramsey), one of Motunui’s orginal adventurers, who tells Moana to find the long-lost island of Motufetū, which can connect other people who live in the Pacific Ocean.

In order to find Motufetū, Moana has to battle against Nalo (voiced by Tofiga Fepulea’i), the god of storms who sunk Motufetū, thereby separating Pacific Islanders to prevent them from connecting with each other. It’s a muddled plot that only makes sense if you’re willing to believe that certain land in “Moana” can have mystical powers. As explained in the “Moana” movies, the people of Motunui were taught for generations to fear going outside a certain radius from their land.

Nalo has captured a mysterious woman named Mitangi (played by Awhimai Fraser), who has lived inside a giant clam for the past 1,000 years. Nalo has ordered Mitangi to stop anyone from finding Motufetū. Mitangi, who surrounds herself with flying foxes, isn’t quite the fearsome opponent that she needed to be to make “Moana 2” more thrilling. Her big musical number is when she performs a song called “Get Lost.” Mitangi is no Ursula (the sea-dwelling ruthless villain from “The Little Mermaid”) because Mitangi’s personality is being a fairly generic villain.

In “Moana 2,” Moana’s parents Chief Tui (voiced by as Temuera Morrison) and Sina (voiced by Nicole Scherzinger) have less importance to the story than they did in “Moana,” which had overprotective Chief Tui telling Moana not to risk her life as a voyager because she’s female. Moana received Chief Tui’s respect and permission to go on voyages at the end of the first “Moana” movie, so there’s not much reason for her to rebel against her parents in “Moana 2.” Moana’s beloved paternal grandmother Gramma Tala (voiced by Rachel House), who died in “Moana,” makes a cameo appearance in “Moana 2” as a ghostly vision.

“Moana 2” introduces a new family character, who is a cliché that many animated sequels have: the adorable kid who’s under the age of 10. “Moana 2” shows that Moana now has a younger sister named Simea (voiced by Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda), who’s about 4 or 5 years old. Simea’s only purpose in “Moana 2” is to show how much she wants to be an adventurer, just like Moana. In other words, Simea was created to most likely have her own animated spinoff.

As for Maui, there is nothing that’s very new or interesting about him. He still has tattoos that move around on his body, with the tattoos having the ability to portray many of his life experiences. He’s still cocky and prone to getting himself into embarrassing situations. He’s still the impulsive counterpoint to the more logical Moana. He is still the biggest comic relief, although Maui’s presence is diluted in “Moana 2” because the movie is a bit overstuffed with new characters.

In “Moana,” the only people on the sailboat voyage were Moana and Maui, accompanied by Moana’s slow-witted pet rooster Heihei (voiced by Alan Tudyk), who stowed away on the boat. “Moana 2” makes the misstep of having too many people on the voyage with Moana and Maui, thereby giving them more backup allies and less suspense in their chances of winning in any fights. Also on the voyage in “Moana 2” are Moana’s sassy best friend Loto (played by Rose Matafeo), elderly worrier Kele (voiced by David Fane) and burly storykeeper Moni (voiced by Hualālai Chung), who greatly admires Moana and Maui. The accompanying animals on this “Moana 2” voyage are Heihei and Moana’s cute pet pig Pua.

When only Moana and Maui there to protect each other in the first “Moana” movie, any danger they encountered seemed to be more of a challenge. In fact, one of the ways that “Moana 2” misses the mark is in making everything safer and less surprising than the first “Moana,” which already had enough predictability. The animation in “Moana 2” is perfectly fine but isn’t as vibrant as the first “Moana” movie.

“Moana” had bigger issues about environmental protection at the heart of the story, while “Moana 2” is more about Moana hanging out with her boat mates so they can find new friends. “Moana 2” makes more of an effort than “Moana” to incorporate Pacific Islander culture dancing into the story. However, the introduction of Moana’s new boat mates seems forced and contrived, as if this is the “Moana” version of the “Gilligan’s Island” motley crew.

The songs and musical score in “Moana 2” are pleasant, but the movie isn’t a journey chock full of memorable hits. “Can I Get a Chee Hoo?,” which has Johnson on lead vocals, is one of the fun tracks that does a good job of capturing Maui’s sense of playfulness. The anthemic “Beyond” and “What Can Be Better Than This?” are the obvious showcase songs for “Moana 2,” with Cravalho on lead vocals. Are these songs catchy and entertaining? Yes. Are they iconic as Disney animation tunes “We Need to Talk About Bruno” (from “Encanto”) or “Let It Go” (from “Frozen”)? Frankly, no.

The “Moana 2” voice cast performances are very good but would have more of an impact if the overall story and screenplay had been more engaging and more innovative. Mitangi’s most memorable line is when she gives this bland advice to Moana: “There’s always another way, even if you have to get lost to find it.” A mid-credits scene featuring Nolo and Mitangi can be considered a hint of what the story could be for another “Moana” sequel.

People who’ve seen 2016’s “Moana” might have varying expectations for “Moana 2,” which was originally going to be a straight-to-streaming project for Disney+, instead of getting a theatrical release. A live-action “Moana” is due out in 2026, with Johnson reprising his role as Maui. In other words, Disney is overloading on “Moana” but isn’t doing enough to come up with any ideas to take this franchise to new and creative storytelling levels.

Walt Disney Pictures will release “Moana 2” in U.S. cinemas on November 27, 2024.

Review: ‘Wicked’ (2024), starring Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, the voice of Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum

November 19, 2024

by Carla Hay

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in “Wicked” (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures)

“Wicked” (2024)

Directed by Jon M. Chu

Culture Representation: Taking place in the fictional land of Oz, the fantasy musical film “Wicked” (based on the novel and stage show of the same name) features a racially diverse cast of human characters (black, white Asian, and Hispanic) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy, as well as characters that are talking animals.

Culture Clash: Two very different witches become university roommates and unlikely friends, as one of these witches is bullied and persecuted for her green skin and the perception that she is evil.

Culture Audience: “Wicked” will appeal primarily to fans of the stage musical, the movie’s headliners, and big-budget studio musicals that have a good balance of style and substance.

Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Yeoh in “Wicked” (Photo by Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures)

Famous stage musicals are long enough, even with intermission. And so, when it was announced that the Tony-winning musical “Wicked” (a story about “The Wizard of Oz” witches as university students) would be made into a two-part movie—”Wicked” and “Wicked Part Two”—you could almost hear the collective groans of people who might be dragged to see the “Wicked” movie and will have to brace themselves for a bloated film that runs on for too long. Fortunately, the 160-minute “Wicked” is an enchanting cinematic version of the stage musical, with superb production values and entertaining performances. However, it didn’t need to be an overly long movie that will test the patience of anyone who doesn’t like musicals.

Directed by Jon M. Chu, “Wicked” was written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox. The “Wicked” movie and stage musical are based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” which features some characters that were originally in L. Frank Baum’s classic 1900 novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” Holzman wrote the Tony-nominated book for the “Wicked” Broadway musical, which won three Tony Awards: Best Actress in a Musical (for Idina Menzel), Best Scenic Design and Best Costume Design.

The “Wicked” movie is a faithful adaptation of the stage musical, which has two acts. The “Wicked” movie shows the events that happen in Act One of the stage musical. Just like in the musical, “Wicked” begins with Glinda, the Good Witch of the North (played by Ariana Grande), arriving in a pink bubble announcing to the residents of Oz that the Wicked Witch of the West is dead. Everyone rejoices at this news, as a giant Wicked Witch statue made of tree branches burns during this celebration.

But when a woman in the crowd asks Glinda if it’s true that Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West used to be friends, Glinda looks sad and admits it’s true. She then tells the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West and how they became frenemies when they were roommates at Shiz University. The movie then switches to flashback mode as this story is told.

The Wicked Witch of the West’s real name was Elphaba Thropp, who was born with green skin. Elphaba’s skin tone is a horror and an embarrassment to her parents Melena Thropp (played by Courtney Mae-Briggs) and Frexspar Thropp (played by Andy Nyman), who are prominent members of Oz society because Frexspar is the governor of Oz. Karis Musongole has the role of Elphaba as a child. Cynthia Erivo has the role of Elphaba as an adult.

Elphaba was conceived from a secret affair that Melena had with another man, whose identify is revealed in the second part of the “Wicked” musical. Even though Elphaba is not Frexspar’s biological child, he is her legal father, but she is treated as a burden by her parents because of her green skin and because there are indications that she has witch powers. Frexspar and Melena later have a biological daughter named Nessarose, who has paraplegia and uses a wheelchair. Cesily Collette Taylor has the role of Nessarose as a child. Marissa Bode has the role of Nessarose as an adult.

Even though Elphaba is treated as inferior to Nessarose, Elphaba is very loving and protective of her younger sister. From a young age, Elphaba experienced bullying and ostracism because of her green skin and because she has obvious magical abilities that have made people believe that she’s a witch. “Wicked” makes a point of showing that whether Elphaba could be considered a “villain” or an “anti-hero,” she probably would have been a different person if she hadn’t been bullied so much in her youth. Elphaba is an example of someone who is repeatedly treated as “wicked” until she eventually decides to become the “wicked” person that other people think she is.

As a young adult, Nessarose enrolls in Shiv University, which has special courses for those who have magical abilities. Elphaba tags along to look after Nessarose on the first day that Nessarose has arrived at Shiv University. But an intimidation incident causes Elphaba to create some chaos with her magical abilities, by making objects get thrown in the air. In order to protect Elphaba from being persecuted as a witch, Shiv University’s dean of sorcery studies Madam Morrible (played by Michelle Yeoh) lies to the students and says that Madam Morrible was the one who caused this chaos through magic.

Madam Morrible decides that she will mentor Elphaba and gets Elphaba enrolled in the university so Madam Morrible can be Elphaba’s private tutor. Madam Morrible also decides that Elphaba will be the roommate of Galinda Upland (played by Grande), who is also a first-year Shiv University student. (It’s explained later why Galinda changes her name to Glinda.) Galinda is privileged, spoiled, shallow and cares a great deal about being the most popular student in the school.

Predictably, Galinda and Elphaba clash with each other while also developing a gradual mutual respect for each other. Further complicating matters is the fact that Elphaba and Galinda both have crushes on a dashing but vain student named Fiyaro (played by Jonathan Bailey), who is very attracted to Galinda and begins dating her. Meanwhile, a Munchkin named Boq (played by Ethan Slater) has a crush on Galinda, while Nessarose is attracted to Boq. Galinda encourages Boq to date Nessarose so that Boq won’t focus so much of his attention on Galinda.

Other characters who are in the movie include a talking goat professor named Dr. Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage), an outspoken animal-rights activist who faces discrimination when Oz officials decide that animals should no longer talk and should be kept in cages. The Wizard of Oz (played by Jeff Goldblum) appears in the last third of the movie, where the majority of the action scenes take place. Providing much of the comic relief are two Shiv University students named ShenShen (played by Bronwyn James) and Pfannee (played by Bowen Yang), who are bullying phonies and gossipy snobs. Original “Wicked” Broadway stars Menzel (who played Elphaba) and Kristin Chenoweth (who played Galinda/Glinda) make cameo appearances as Wiz-o-mania superstars.

“Wicked” has the expected songs (written by Stephen Schwartz) from the stage musical, including “What Is This Feeling?,” “Popular” and “The Wizard and I” (one of the movie’s performance highlights) and the show-stopping “Defying Gravity.” Erivo is the clear standout with her skillful acting and exceptional singing, while Grande gives a worthy counterpoint performance with Galinda/Glinda’s intentionally affected mannerisms. All of the other cast members who have prominent song-and-dance roles handle their performances capably.

“Wicked” has fantastic production design and costume design. The movie’s visual effects are also well-done. Where the movie falters a little bit is that it gets too repetitive in showing the bullying, jealousies and insecurities that affect the interpersonal relationships. At least 40 minutes of this movie could’ve been cut from the film, and it wouldn’t have made a difference to the overall story. Even though the plot gets stretched out for too long, “Wicked” has more than enough to maintain viewer interest for people who are inclined to like musicals.

Universal Pictures will release “Wicked” in U.S. cinemas on November 22, 2024. Sneak previews of the movie took place in U.S. cinemas on November 18 and November 20, 2024.

Review: ‘Joker: Folie à Deux,’ starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga

October 2, 2024

by Carla Hay

Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in “Joker: Folie à Deux” (Photo by Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures)

“Joker: Folie à Deux”

Directed by Todd Phillips

Culture Representation: Taking place in 1983, in the fictional U.S. city Gotham City, the musical film “Joker: Folie à Deux” (a sequel to 2019’s “Joker” and based on DC Comics) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some African Americans, Asians and Latinos) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: Two years after the events depicted in “Joker,” Arthur Fleck goes on trial for murdering five people, and he meets and falls in love with Lee Quinzel, an anarchist who is a resident at the same lockdown psychiatric facility.

Culture Audience: “Joker: Folie à Deux” will appeal primarily to fans of stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga; the 2019 “Joker” film; movies based on comic-book characters; and unconventional musicals.

Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in “Joker: Folie à Deux” (Photo by Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures)

“Joker: Folie à Deux” is a stylish, uneven, and fairly provocative musical that takes bold risks that don’t always work but the lead performances are top-notch. The movie is a dark fairy tale about obsession, celebrity fame and criminal justice. Fans of the 2019 movie “Joker” will have strong opinions on whether or not this sequel should have been a musical. However, if the movie’s purpose was to take viewers further down the rabbit hole of the title character’s mental illness and emotional fragility, by having large sections of the movie devoted to fantasy-like musical sequences, then “Joker: Folie à Deux” succeeds in that purpose. (“Folie à deux” means “madness for two” in French.)

Directed by Todd Phillips, “Joker: Folie à Deux” was co-written by Phillips and Scott Silver, who had the same creative duties for “Joker.” “Joker: Folie à Deux” had its world premiere at the 2024 Venice International Film Festival. “Joker” was a bit of phenomenon, in terms of movies based on comic-book characters. It received widespread accolades, including 11 Oscar nominations (ultimately winning two Oscars) and the Golden Lion (top prize) at the 2019 Venice International Film Festival. It was also the first movie with an adult-recommended age-restriction rating to gross more than $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales. The movie was also controversial, with many critics saying that the movie glorified Arthur/Joker’s murder spree.

“Joker: Folie à Deux” takes place in 1983, two years after the events of “Joker,” in the fictional Gotham City, which is DC Comics’ version of New York City. (“Joker: Folie à Deux” was actually filmed mostly in New Jersey.) In the beginning of “Joker: Folie à Deux,” Arthur Fleck (played by Joaquin Phoenix), the mentally ill loner with the alter ego Joker, is a resident of Arkham State Hospital, a psychiatric facility for people who have been convicted or are facing charges in the criminal justice system.

Before he was arrested in “Joker,” Arthur was an aspiring stand-up comedian who had a day job working as a clown. Arthur is going on trial for murdering five people in a multiple-day rampage, which culminated with Arthur going on a live TV talk show hosted by Murray Franklin (played by Robert De Niro) and shooting Murray to death in front of a studio audience and in front of everyone watching the show on TV. The end of “Joker” showed that immediately following this horrific crime, Arthur became a folk hero of sorts to people who feel exploited, abused or ignored by society.

Phoenix, who won an Oscar for Best Actor for “Joker,” portrays this character not as the evil egomaniac that has been the persona of previous depictions of the Joker. Instead, Phoenix’s Joker is a survivor of child abuse who feels beaten down by life and is often powerless to control his urges because he is mentally ill. Arthur Fleck is also not a criminal mastermind who leads a gang and wants to take over the world, as has been the portrayal of Joker in DC Comics and in other movies and TV shows.

In “Joker,” Arthur was looking for respect. In “Joker: Folie à Deux,” Arthur is looking for true love. He thinks he’s found it when he meets Lee Quinzel (played by Lady Gaga), who lives in another ward at Arkham. (Lee’s alter ego is supposed to be Harley Quinn, but the name Harley Quinn is never said in “Joker: Folie à Deux.”) Arthur and Lee first see each other when Arthur is being escorted by prison guards down a hallway. The prison guard who interacts with Arthur the most is a bully named Jackie Sullivan (played by Brendan Gleeson), who likes to taunt Arthur and has resentment over Arthur’s fame.

When Arthur first see Lee, she is in the B Ward, a minimum security wing on Arkham, where there is a group of Arkham residents in a singing class. They are all singing “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” Arthur and Lee lock eyes in the way that people in movies do when you know they’re going to fall in love. Because he has good behavior, Arthur is sent to the singing class, where the classmates are told that music and singing are part of their therapy. Arthur and Lee get to know each other. And it doesn’t take long for Lee to tell him her life story and show that she’s been infatuated with Arthur, even since she saw him kill Murray Franklin.

In a private conversation, Lee confesses to Arthur that when she watched him on Murray Franklin’s show, she thought to herself that she wished Arthur would blow Murray Franklin’s brains out. And when Arthur did just that, she didn’t feel alone in the world anymore. Lee also says that she’s in Arkham because she was involuntarily committed after burning down her parents’ apartment building. She also says that her biological father abused her and died in a car accident.

A TV-movie was made about Arthur, which further adds to his notoriety. This fame has attracted many disturbed people who consider Joker to be their idol. Lee admits up front that she is one of those fans. She tells Arthur that she’s willing to devote herself to him and convinces him that when his legal troubles are all over, they can make a life together.

Lee and Arthur then have the closest thing that you could call a romance between two very emotionally damaged people. Arthur’s defense attorney Maryanne Stewart (played by Catherine Keener), who wants Arthur to be found not guilty by reason of insanity, is very suspicious of Lee and tells Arthur that Lee is playing Arthur for a fool. It’s too late because Arthur has fallen deeply in love with Lee, who has convinced Arthur that they are like two sides of the same coin.

“Joker: Folie à Deux” ends up showing what happens during the trial, which doesn’t end entirely like many people would expect. The musical numbers in the movie are presented as fantasies in the mind of Arthur. The filmmakers of “Joker: Folie à Deux” wisely chose classic tunes to be the songs in these musical sequences, including “Get Happy,” “What the World Needs Now Is Love,” “For Once in My Life,” “If My Friends Could See Me Now,” “”When You’re Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You),” “Bewitched,” “To Love Somebody,” “”(They Long To Be) Close To You,” and “Gonna Build a Mountain,” “That’s Life” and “True Love Will Find You in the End.”

The cinematography, costume design, makeup and production design all make “Joker: Folie à Deux” a visual feast. Phoenix and Lady Gaga also bring depth to their performances in their dialogue and musical numbers. “Joker: Folie à Deux” has more empathy to crime victims than “Joker” did and makes Arthur face the damage he did in his murderous rampage. The final scene in “Joker: Folie à Deux” continues what was foreshadowed about how more than one person can take on the Joker persona. (There are no mid-credits or end-credits in “Joker: Folie à Deux.”)

Phoenix and Lady Gaga capably handle the movie’s drama and the musical sequences. Are they convincing as a couple that will stay together? Of course not. Everything about the relationship between Arthur and Lee screams “doomed.” However, in the time they do spend together, Lee and Arthur have a dynamic that is different from other narratives about Joker, where Joker was the master manipulator, and Harley was the more vulnerable one in the couple. Viewers of “Joker: Folie à Deux” will either like or dislike this change.

“Joker: Folie à Deux” has some questionable choices in how it chooses to depict certain issues. Queerness and homophobia while incarcerated are given very short recognition when a socially awkward inmate in his 20s named Ricky Meline (played by Jacob Lofland) approaches Arthur in the prison yard and asks Arthur to kiss him because Ricky has never been kissed, and the prison guards told Ricky that Arthur would be willing to kiss him. In full view of other people, Arthur gives Ricky a platonic peck on the lips. But for the rest of the time that Ricky is on screen, he’s an obvious target because he’s now been branded as possibly queer.

The movie is also inconsistent in the violence it chooses to show and not show. There’s a police brutality scene where someone dies, but that death is never shown on camera. Meanwhile, Arthur’s homicidal tendencies are on full display, such as when he has a fantasy about murdering his trial judge Herman Rothwax (played by Bill Smitrovich) by bludgeoning the judge to death. That murder is shown in sickening detail.

“Joker: Folie à Deux” doesn’t do much with the psychiatrist characters in the film. Dr. Louise Beatty (played by June Carryl) is Arthur’s psychiatrist while he’s incarcerated. She asks him basic and generic questions about his childhood. During the trial, two psychiatrists who evaluated Arthur in the past are among the witnesses who testify. Dr. Victor Liu (played by Ken Leung) gets criticism from the defense for making an evaluation of Arthur based on an 89-minute interview.

Some of the characters from “Joker” return as trial witnesses in “Joker: Folie à Deux,” such as social worker Debra Kane (played by Sharon Washington); Arthur’s former co-worker Gary Puddles (played by Leigh Gill); and Sophie Dumond (played by Zazie Beetz), Arthur’s former neighbor who was the object of his obsessive crush. New to “Joker: Folie à Deux” are the characters of assistant district attorney Harvey Dent (played by Harrry Lawtey); TV reporter Paddy Myers (played by Steve Coogan), who interviews Arthur in his Arkam cell before the trial; and an unnamed young Arkham resident (played by Connor Storrie), who seems to have an interest in Arthur, based on the way this young man stares at Arthur.

Where the “Joker: Folie à Deux” stumbles the most is in the editing and pacing of this 139-minute movie. Some of the musical sequences begin and end abruptly, while others flow smoothly with the rest of the story. A few sections of the movie also drag with monotony. “Joker: Folie à Deux” is unlikely to get the widespread accolades that “Joker” did because it’s generally tough for a sequel to surpass a highly acclaimed original movie. But for anyone who doesn’t mind watching musicals, “Joker: Folie à Deux” is a unique experience that can hold most viewers’ interest in seeing how this compelling story is going to end.

Warner Bros. Pictures will release “Joker: Folie à Deux” in U.S. cinemas on October 4, 2024.

Review: ‘Mean Girls’ (2024), starring Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auli’i Cravalho and Christopher Briney

January 13, 2024

by Carla Hay

Avantika, Reneé Rapp, Bebe Wood and Angourie Rice in “Mean Girls” (Photo by Jojo Whilden/Paramount Pictures)

“Mean Girls” (2024)

Directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr.

Culture Representation: Taking place in Evanston, lllinois, the musical film “Mean Girls” (adapted from the “Mean Girls” stage musical, which is based on 2004 “Mean Girls” movie) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some African Americans, Asians and Latinos) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A new transfer student in high school infiltrates a popular clique to sabotage the clique’s bullying leader, but the interloper becomes just as bad as the bully.

Culture Audience: “Mean Girls” will appeal primarily to fans of screenwriter/co-star Tina Fey, the original 2004 movie, the “Mean Girls” stage musical and comedic musical movies about teenage life that don’t have many surprises.

Jaquel Spivey, Angourie Rice and Auli’i Cravalho in “Mean Girls” (Photo by Jojo Whilden/Paramount Pictures)

Although not as funny as the 2004 “Mean Girls” movie, this musical version is still entertaining overall, despite a few missteps. The cast members’ performances are better than the songs. If you’re inclined to dislike musicals, then “Mean Girls” is probably isn’t going to change your mind. However, for people who are like or tolerate musicals, this version of “Mean Girls” will probably be enjoyable enough to not feel like a complete waste of time.

Directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr., “Mean Girls” is adapted from the “Mean Girls” stage musical, which is based on the 2004 “Mean Girls” movie. Tina Fey wrote the screenplays for both “Mean Girls” movies, as well as the book for the “Mean Girls” stage musical, which was on Broadway from 2018 to 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic essentially killed “Mean Girls” on Broadway when Broadway theaters were shut down from March 2020 to September 2021, but a touring version of “Mean Girls” still exists.

The “Mean Girls” movie was inspired by Rosalind Wiseman’s 2002 self-help book “Queen Bees and Wannabes.” And when the 2004 “Mean Girls” movie (starring Lindsay Lohan and directed by Mark Waters) was released, it was often described as a more family-friendly version of 1989’s dark comedy “Heathers” (starring Winona Ryder and directed by Michael Lehmann), because it had a similar story: A new transfer student in high school goes from being unpopular outcast to being accepted into the school’s most popular (and snobbiest) clique to replacing the “queen bee” of the clique. There’s also the vastly forgettable 2011 made-for-TV sequel “Mean Girls 2,” which was televised on the network then known as ABC Family.

In other words, there isn’t much of anything that’s original in this movie musical version of “Mean Girls,” which is updated from the 2004 “Mean Girls” movie by having a more racially diverse principal cast and having social media incorporated into the story. People who’ve seen the original “Mean Girls” movie and/or the “Mean Girls” stage musical will be curious to see how this “Mean Girls” musical movie is different. There are no bold and innovative changes.

The 2024 version of “Mean Girls” keeps the story of how 16-year-old Cady Heron (played by Angourie Rice), who is the only child of American parents, has been homeschooled in Kenya for most of life. When she and her family move back to the United States, Cady transfers to North Shore High School in Evanston, Illinois. (This version of “Mean Girls” was actually filmed in New Jersey.)

In the original “Mean Girls” movie, Cady is being raised by two married parents. In the “Mean Girls” musical movie, Cady is being raised by a single mother (played by Jenna Fischer), who doesn’t have a first name in the movie. Cady’s mother was a teacher in Kenya and has accepted a job at Northwestern University. There is no mention of Cady’s father in 2024’s “Mean Girls,” but the Cady character in both movies comes from a loving and supportive household.

In 2004’s “Mean Girls,” Cady was the narrator. In the 2024’s “Mean Girls,” the narrators are sassy Damian Hubbard (played by Jaquel Spivey) and cynical Janis ‘Imi’ike (played by Auliʻi Cravalho), two openly queer students and best friends at North Shore High School. Damian and Janis are in the movie’s opening scene, where they are shown recording a music video called “Cautionary Tale” on a phone. Janis is singing playing guitar, while Damian is singing and playing the tambourine.

It’s an introduction for Damian and Janis to tell the story of Cady and how she shook up the social hierarchy at North Shore High School. During Cady’s first few days at school, she is shunned or ignored by most of the students, except for Damian and Janis, who are also social outsiders at the school. Cady welcomes the friendship of Damian and Janis, who both tell Cady how much they dislike an all-girl clique at the school called the Plastics, who are the most elitist and popular clique in the school. A few years before, Regina (Janis’ former best friend) “outed” Janis as a lesbian, and it caused Janis to be the target of homophobic harassment.

The Plastics are physically pretty but they have the ugly personalities of being snobs and bullies. The leader of the Plastics is “queen bee” Regina George (played by Reneé Rapp), who only seems to be popular because of her looks and because she comes from a rich family. The other Plastics are Regina’s sidekicks: gossipy Gretchen Wieners (played by Bebe Wood) and dimwitted Karen Shetty (played by Avantika), who basically do whatever Regina wants them to do. The Plastics have certain dress code rules that Regina has dictated, such as they have to wear pink on Wednesdays, and they can only wear casual sweat clothing on Fridays.

One day, Regina invites Cady to sit with the Plastics at a table in the school’s cafeteria. It’s a rare invitation that immediately catches the attention of other students. Regina’s original intention is to insult and embarrass Cady. But when Regina sees how friendly and unthreatening Cady is, Regina decides that she can manipulate and control Cady into becoming one of the Plastics.

Meanwhile, Cady (who is a math whiz) gets an instant crush on an attractive guy who sits in front of her in their AP calculus class: Aaron Samuels (played by Christopher Briney), who happens to be Regina’s ex-boyfriend. Cady, who is bashful when talking to Aaron, doesn’t find out until after she has feelings for him that Aaron and Regina used to be a couple. Cady also finds out that Aaron was the one who dumped Regina, who wants to get back together with him.

“Mean Girls” writer/co-star Fey reprises her role as Ms. Norbury, the school’s AP calculus teacher. Tim Meadows also returns as North Shore High School principal Mr. Duvall. Just like in 2004’s “Mean Girls,” on Cady’s first day at North Shore, Mr. Duvall introduces Cady to her homeroom class, which is taught by Ms. Norbury. However, in 2024’s “Mean Girls,” Mr. Duvall and Ms. Norbury are now a couple, which was a romance that was hinted at the end of 2004’s “Mean Girls.”

Damian and Janis want to get revenge on Regina, so they urge Cady to join the Plastics clique, with the intention to sabotage Regina’s life. Part of their plan is have Cady get together with Aaron, so that Regina’s heart will be broken. Cady eagerly goes along with this plan because she wants Aaron for herself. For much of the movie, Cady is part of the Plastics, while secretly maintaining a friendship with Damian and Janis.

Soon after Regina has decided that Cady will be part of the Plastics, she invites Cady to hang out with her, Gretchen and Karen in Regina’s home. It’s here that Regina shows Cady her secret Burn Book, a pink, photo-album-sized book that has photos of people in the school with vicious insults written next to each photo. This notorious Burn Book predictably becomes a major source of conflict in the story.

Regina’s mother Mrs. George (played by Busy Philipps) is a ditzy, eager-to-please parent, who spoils Regina and acts like she wants to be Regina’s best friend. In both “Mean Girls” movies, Ms. George is one of the funniest characters, but her screen time is limited. That’s because the teenage perspective is the driving force of “Mean Girls,” which goes through the expected story beats of friendship betrayals and academic challenges, in backdrops such as classrooms, a school dance and the sterotypical teenage house party with no parents at home.

Although the cast members of the “Mean Girls” movie musical are all very talented, they don’t have the same special chemistry of the cast in 2004’s “Mean Girls.” The 2024 movie version of “Mean Girls” also doesn’t do anything new or interesting with the supporting characters, who drift in and out of the story in ways that don’t look as natural as they were in 2004’s “Mean Girls.” And because 2024’s “Mean Girls” is a musical, it uses hyper-realism during the musical numbers that takes a lot of bite out of the sharp comedy that 2004’s “Mean Girls” had.

Kevin Ganatra (played by Mahi Alam), the leader of the school’s math club, is the same type of nerdy character as the Kevin Gnapoor character (played by Rajiv Surendra) in 2004’s “Mean Girls.” He flirts with Cady but ends up with another student at the end of the movie. (The 2024 version “Mean Girls” changes who that student is.)

The other teachers at North Shore have very quick cameos, none of which are crucial to the story. These scenes could have been much better. Physical education teacher Coach Carr (played by Jon Hamm) teaches sex education and makes inappropriate comments that fall flat as jokes. French teacher Madame Park (played by Ashley Park, who played Gretchen in the “Mean Girls” stage musical) has a not-very-funny scene of her telling Damian to pick a French name for him to use in class. Literature teacher Mr. Rapp (played by Connor Ratliff) is mostly forgettable.

Jason Weems (played by John El-Jor) is a mischievous brat who is Gretchen’s love interest. However, his character is very underdeveloped in 2024’s “Mean Girls,” compared to the larger and funnier role that the Jason character (played by Daniel DeSanto) had in 2004’s “Mean Girls.” The Aaron character is blander in 2024’s “Mean Girls” than the Aaron character (played by Jonathan Bennett) in 2004’s “Mean Girls.” Gretchen (played by Lacey Chabert in 2004’s “Mean Girls”) is also still the same character in both movies, with no real dialogue improvement.

Worst of all, the character of Karen is made even more vapid in 2024’s “Mean Girls,” in ways that aren’t very funny and are borderline offensive. Karen Smith (played by Amanda Seyfried), one of the Plastics in 2004’s “Mean Girls,” wasn’t smart either, but at least had more of a personality and amusing lines of dialogue. The Karen in 2024’s “Mean Girls” has the personality of a blank space.

Original “Mean Girls” star Lohan makes an unremarkable cameo as a moderator for a math competition. It’s a squandered opportunity. The lines of dialogue that she has are very dull, with one only small sly nod to Lohan’s real-life troubles that tarnished her reputation and acting career. A better cameo for Lohan would have had her as a North Shore teacher or a parent of one of the North Shore students.

Damian in 2024’s “Mean Girls” is campier than in 2004’s “Mean Girls,” while Janis in 2024’s “Mean Girls” isn’t as hot-tempered as the Janis in 2004’s “Mean Girls.” In 2004’s “Mean Girls” Janis is presented as a heterosexual who was offended at being misidentified as a lesbian. Janis in 2024’s “Mean Girls” is really a lesbian and has a love interest named Grace Porter (played by Morgen McKynzie), who is a student at North Shore and barely says anything in the movie. It makes Grace look like a token.

As for the musical numbers, they are well-performed by the cast members (Rapp and Cravalho are the standout singers), but the movie switches to fantasy staging during the musical sequences. This abrupt shift in tone might be off-putting to some viewers. The sight of fake wind blowing through people’s hair, or school hallways having disco-ball-type lighting during song-and-dance numbers will be something that people might or might not find hard to take in a “Mean Girls” story.

The songs (music by Jeff Richmond, lyrics by Nell Benjamin) are good, but not outstanding. An original song called “What Ifs” (co-written with Rapp) replaces “It Roars” as the first song that Cady sings. For time-length reasons, there are less songs in the movie musical than in the stage musical, which has 18 songs.

“Stupid With Love” is still a showstopper, while Regina’s anthem “Someone Gets Hurt” is a definite highlight. The songs from the “Mean Girls” stage musical that aren’t in the “Mean Girls” movie musical are “Where Do You Belong?,” “Fearless,” “Stop,” “Whose House Is This?,” “More Is Better” and “Do This Thing.” Janis doesn’t get her time shine with a solo lead vocal (“I’d Rather Be Me”) until the movie is almost over, which is something that the movie should have corrected by giving Janis an original song showcase much earlier in the story.

In the talent show scene, Damian sings the theme to “iCarly,” compared to the 2004 movie, which had the better choice of Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” as the song that Damian sings in the talent show. In the 2024 “Mean Girls” movie, “Rockin’ Around the Pole” is the song choice for the Plastics’ talent show performance, which is an inferior replacement for “Jingle Bell Rock,” the song that the Plastics performed in the 2004 “Mean Girls” talent show scene. Megan Thee Stallion, who has a cameo as herself during the 2024 “Mean Girls” movie’s social-media montages, teamed up with Rapp for the soundtrack single “Not My Fault,” which is not performed in a musical scene in the movie, but it’s the type of original change that the movie needed.

Rapp’s version of Regina (she also played the role on Broadway from 2019 to 2020) is much more of a sneering and obvious villain than Rachel McAdams’ version of Regina in 2004’s “Mean Girls.” They are different but equally effective performances. Rice is quite good in her role as Cady, but it would be difficult for most people to surpass Lohan’s iconic performance in “Mean Girls,” the movie that was the high point of Lohan’s career in the 2000s.

The showdown between Regina and Cady in 2004’s “Mean Girls” was much more fun to watch than in the 2024 version, which makes a change to a certain bus-accident scene that probably won’t sit well with some fans of the 2004 movie. However, the 2024 version of “Mean Girls” was wise enough to keep some of the more famous catch-phrases from the 2004 movie. One of them is “Stop trying to make ‘fetch’ happen.”

The 2024 version of “Mean Girls” is the feature-film debut of directors Jayne and Perez, who are frequent collaborators. They bring an upbeat and candy-coated style to the “Mean Girls” story, which is well-suited for a musical. The costume design in 2004’s “Mean Girls” had better taste and still looks good decades later, compared to the overly trendy (and sometimes trashy-looking) costume design of 2024’s “Mean Girls. Fans of the original “Mean Girls” movie might miss the funnier jokes and the edgier undertones that the 2004 movie had. The 2024 “Mean Girls” movie plays it safe, but should satisfy viewers who want to watch a comedic musical that has expected outcomes.

Paramount Pictures released “Mean Girls” in U.S. cinemas on January 12, 2024. The movie will be released on digital and VOD on February 20, 2024. The 2004 and 2024 versions of “Mean Girls” will also be available in a two-movie collection on digital on February 20, 2024. “Mean Girls” (2024) will be released on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on April 30, 2024, the same date that “Mean Girls” (2004) will be released on 4K Ultra HD.

Review: ‘Journey to Bethlehem,’ starring Fiona Palomo, Milo Manheim, Lecrae, Joel Smallbone and Antonio Banderas

January 4, 2024

by Carla Hay

Fiona Palomo and Milo Manheim in “Journey to Bethlehem” (Photo courtesy of Affirm Films)

“Journey to Bethlehem”

Directed by Adam Anders

Culture Representation: Taking place in the Israeli cities of Nazareth and Bethlehem, the musical “Journey to Bethlehem” (based on New Testament teachings in the Christian Bible) features a racially diverse group of characters (white, Asian, Latino and black) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A virgin named Mary, who is reluctant to marry her fiancé Joseph, is banished from her family after claiming that she is giving birth to the son of God, and the couple goes into hiding from the evil king Herod, who wants to kill the children of Bethlehem.

Culture Audience: “Journey to Bethlehem” will appeal primarily to fans of musicals and faith-based movies that put a contemporary spin on ancient teachings.

Antonio Banderas in “Journey to Bethlehem” (Photo courtesy of Affirm Films)

As an earnest faith-based musical, “Journey to Bethlehem” does what it’s supposed to do for its intended audience. Other people might be surprised by the charm and appeal of this pop music version of the Bible’s nativity story about Jesus Christ. “Journey to Bethlehem” has some impressive visual effects and production design, considering its relatively low production budget of a reported $6 million. There are also engaging performances from the cast members, even if some of the characters are close to being cariactures.

Directed by Adam Anders (who co-wrote the “Journey to Bethlehem” screenplay with Peter Barsocchini), “Journey to Bethlehem” begins with this voiceover narration: “Long ago, in the time of Caesar Augustus and in the land of Judah, ruled by the evil King Herod, there lived a young woman named Mary, who didn’t know yet that she was chosen by God to fulfill an ancient prophecy to bring forth a promised king sent to save the world.” That king, of course is Jesus Christ.

“Journey to Bethlehem” (which was filmed in Spain) stays faithful to the basics of the biblical story but takes a lot of liberties in the interpretations of the characters. Just like in the Bible, the three kings who knew of the prophecy see the star that signals the arrival of this divine child. In “Journey to Bethlehem,” these three kings are portrayed as a somewhat comedic trio that bickers and banters with each other. It’s not slapstick insult comedy like the Three Stooges. It’s more like the biblical version of Spinal Tap.

Balthazar (played by Geno Segers) is the king with astronomy skills. Caspar (played by Rizwan Manji) is described in the movie as the king who is “the greatest scholar in all the lands.” Melchior (played by Omid Djalili) is the king who’s a great navigator and a map expert. Caspar (who is has a super-serious personality) and Melchior (who has a goofy personality) frequently clash with each other, while easygoing and optimistic Caspar is the most likely one of the three kings to keep the peace when there are conflicts within this lively trio.

Meanwhile, in Bethlehem, Mary (played by Fiona Palomo) is dreading her upcoming arranged marriage because she would rather be a teacher than a wife at this stage in her life. Mary has been betrothed to a man whom she hasn’t met yet. Her father Joachim (played by Antonio Cantos), who is a teacher, tells Mary: “You are a girl. You will be a wife, not a teacher, as tradition demands.” Mary’s mother Ana (played by Maria Pau Pigem) agrees with her husband.

At an open-air market, Mary has a “meet cute” moment with a young adult stranger named Joseph (played by Milo Manheim) when they accidentally bump into each other. He seems to be immediately attracted to her, but she seems to be a little attracted to him too. However, Mary is preoccupied with her worries about the upcoming marriage that she does not want. She’s polite to Joseph but she dismisses his attempts to flirt with her.

Meanwhile, King Herod (played by Antonio Banderas) is fixated on conquering more lands and people. He’s concerned that his eldest son Antipater (played by Joel Smallbone) doesn’t have what it takes to be the type of heir that King Herod wants. King Herod tells Antipater: “A king doesn’t need to be loved—only obeyed and feared.” Antipater, who desperately wants his father’s approval, spends most of the story carrying out Herod’s orders.

When it comes time for Mary to meet her fiancé, the meeting takes place at the home of Mary and her family. The fiancé arrives with his parents. Mary is shocked to find out that her fiancé is Joseph, the same person she met at the market. She’s immediately turned off (and tells Joseph that in a private conversation), because she thinks he shouldn’t have been flirting with her if he knew he was going to marry someone.

Joseph tries to smooth thigs over, but Mary becomes even more resistant to the idea of marrying him. Joseph’s domineering and haughty parents Jacob (played by Antonio Gil) and Rachel (played by Alicia Borrachero) are determined to make this marriage happen, because they want Joseph to inherit what can be offered as part of Mary’s dowry. Mary’s parents also insist that the marriage take place.

Not too long after Mary and Joseph have their first meeting that does not end well, she is visited at night by the angel Gabriel (played by Lecrae), who tells Mary that she will be pregnant and give birth to the son of God while she’s still a virgin. The experience is so profound for Mary, she tells her family members about it. They think she is mentally ill and blasphemous and beg her not to tell Joseph and his family.

However, Mary tells Joseph and his family. And when it becomes obvious that she is pregnant, the wedding is called off, and Mary is exiled to Hebron to live with her middle-aged cousin Elizabeth (played by Yaël Belicha), who is also having a “miracle pregnancy.” Elizabeth and her mute husband Zachariah (played by José María Rueda) welcome Mary into their home and are very protective of her.

King Herod hears about a blasphemous young woman who claims to be pregnant with a child of God. He’s determined to find her to kill her and her unborn child, so he sends Antipater on the hunt to find her. The rest of “Journey to Bethlehem” will not be a surprise to people who already know the story from the Bible.

“Journey to Bethlehem” has very good staging of the musical numbers, which often pop and glow with creative lighting and visual effects. Banderas hams it up as the story’s chief villain in a way that almost verges on parody but has enough self-awareness to hold back and deliver a convincing performance. During King Herod’s solo performance of “Good to Be King,” the set transforms into a menacing replication of the depths of hell to put an emphasis of how evil King Herod is.

Palomo and Manheim give engaging performances as Mary and Joseph. Mary is strong-willed and independent, which is an interpretation that might or might not be to a viewer’s liking. Joseph is portrayed as a forward-thinking person who doesn’t treat women as inferior to men. The blossoming romance between Mary and Joseph is portrayed as sweet and something that doesn’t happen right away because of Mary’s reluctance.

As far the movie’s original songs, “Journey to Bethlehem” has has some that are memorable and others that are on the bland side. Ada Anders, Nikki Anders and Peer Åström wrote the music for “Journey to Bethlehem,” whose musical highlights the anthemic climax of “The Nativity Song.” Antipater’s “In My Blood” brings some psychological “daddy issues” angst to the movie, while the three kings’ song “Three Wise Guys” brings much comic relief.

“Journey to Bethlehem” sometimes comes across as a production with a touring company (not the original cast) of a Broadway show. There’s plenty of musical talent, but it’s not the best of the best. However, “Journey to Bethlehem” is entertaining enough for anyone who wants to see a religious musical that isn’t overly preachy or pretentious and can be enjoyed by people of many generations.

Affirm Films released “Journey to Bethlehem” in U.S. cinemas on November 10, 2023. The movie was released on digital and VOD on December 8, 2023. “Journey to Bethlehem” will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on January 16, 2024.

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