Page 31 - Aruba Today

PEOPLE & ARTS A31
Review: Third time’s a charm for the witty ‘Kung Fu Panda 3’
Po, voiced by Jack Black, left, and his long-lost panda father Li, voiced by Bryan Cranston, in a
scene from “Kung Fu Panda 3.”
JOCELYN NOVECK
AP National Writer
Three stars out of four.
If you’re one of those peo-
ple — and I’m with you —
who roll your eyes when
handed a pair of 3D glasses
at the multiplex, wondering
if all this rigmarole is REALLY example — to make this
necessary, then take heart:
The lovely, color-popping
visuals in “Kung Fu Panda
3” are well worth those
Review: Waves and nostalgia wash over ‘The Finest Hours’
JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer
Two and a half stars out of
four.
Waves of water and nos-
talgia wash over the
drenched and drippy “The
Finest Hours,” a Norman
Rockwell painting tossed
into stormy CGI seas.
The disaster drama, direct-
ed by Craig Gillespie (“Lars
and the Real Girl,” ‘’Million
Dollar Arm”), is a movie of
curious contrasts: an un-
abashedly old-fashioned
and overwhelmingly vanil-
la tale of awe-shucks-ing,
double-dating 1950s sea-
men, told with the modern
3-D effects of your average
end-of-the-world movie.
It’s about the 1952 rescue
mission — a true story — of
a four-man boat of Coast
Guardsmen sent from
Cape Cod to save the
crew of the USS Pendleton,
an oil tanker that a brutal
winter storm has broken in
half off the coast of Nan-
tucket.
darned glasses.
And the evocative Dream-
Works Animation visuals
are accompanied by just
enough heart, witty dia-
logue and kid-friendly hu-
mor — anything about
gorging on dumplings, for
an all-around extremely
satisfying third installment self beforehand (but if you
in the popular series. Like
a well-made dumpling, it’s
“The Finest Hours” pro-
vides more working-class
New Englanders bobbing
in churning nor’easter cur-
rents for those who have
been patiently waiting for
another wave to catch
since 2000’s “The Perfect
Storm.” Here again is that
formula of maritime adven-
ture and Massachusetts
accents (some believable,
some that sink).
This one has an Affleck.
Playing the assistant en-
gineer Ray Sybert on the
Pendleton is Casey Affleck,
who moodily skulks over
pipes and valves in the en-
gine room for much of the
film. More knowing than
his fellow shipmen, he at-
tempts to convince them
how to steer what’s left of
the tanker to safety.
On land is Chris Pine’s Ber-
nie Webber, a timid, do-
gooding Guardsman sta-
tioned in Chatham. The set-
ting could hardly be more
innocent; early scenes
show Bernie’s courtship of
that Jack Black is back,
and in fine shape, as Po,
our rotund panda hero and
(DreamWorks Animation via AP) reluctant Dragon Warrior.
Black’s goofy persona is
not too heavy but not too perfect for lines like, when
light, has the right amount he discovers other pandas
of spice, and leaves one don’t use chopsticks to
with some appetite for the slow them down: “I always
next time. Much of the ap- KNEW I wasn’t eating up
peal of the “Panda” films to my full potential!” That
is, of course, the starry cast was my personal favorite,
of voices, and it’s fun to try but the kids in the audi-
to figure out who they are, ence were overwhelmingly
rather than informing your- partial to this one, hurled
mockingly by the over-
do, stop reading here). Of matched Po at his taunt-
course, you’ll already know ing, evil opponent: “Chitty,
chitty, chat, chat. Chat,
chat, chat.”
The film, directed by Jen-
nifer Yuh Nelson and Ales-
sandro Carloni, begins
in the spirit realm, where
Oogway, the ancient kung
fu master (and tortoise), is
suddenly attacked by the
villainous bull Kai, a former
friend. Kai has been spend-
ing the last few centuries
collecting all the “chi”
power from kung fu mas-
ters and storing it in amu-
lets. His goal is to bring his you?” Mr. Ping — a goose,
supernatural army to the
mortal world and defeat
Po, his anointed opponent.
Chris PIne, left, and Holliday Grainger appear in a scene from, “The Finest Hours,” a heroic action-
thriller based on the true story of the most daring rescue in the history of the Coast Guard.
the red-haired Miriam (the the freezing surf to search
radiant Holliday Grainger): for survivors. His most nota-
seeds of sentimentality to ble companion is a near-si-
fuel the action to come. lent sailor played by the ar-
It’s just when they’re mak- resting Ben Foster, who ap-
ing their wedding plans pears to have made a bet
that the storm sets in, news to say as few words as pos-
of the tanker’s distress sible throughout the film.
spreads and Eric Bana’s ill- The central foe to the res-
informed commanding of- cue is the crushing waves
ficer dispatches Bernie into at the sand bar (“Tha Bah-
Thursday 28 January 2016
But the important thing to
know about Kai — Mas-
ter of Pain, Beast of Ven-
geance, Maker of Widows
— is that he’s voiced by
Simmons, the Oscar-win-
ning “Whiplash” actor who
terrorized poor Miles Teller
as a nightmarish jazz band
conductor. This guy knows
from cruelty.
Luckily, Po feels totally
confident and up to the
task. NOT! But first, an up-
date: Our roly-poly friend
has been busily goofing
around, as usual, when
the old master Shifu (Dustin
Hoffman) informs him he
must take over the task
of teaching kung fu. “ME
teach?” Po asks. Shifu re-
plies: “If you only do what
you CAN do, you will never
be more than what you
are now.” If that weren’t
enough drama, Po’s bio-
logical father, Li, has turned
up, causing consternation
for Po’s adoptive father,
Mr. Ping (the very funny
James Hong). “How do we
know he’s even related to
of course — says angrily, as
the pandas happily bump
bellies.q
(Claire Folger/Disney via AP)
hh”) that Bernie must mi-
raculously navigate.
Parallels between Bernie
and Ray mount as the film
toggles between them;
both are intelligent workers
— card-carrying members
of “the greatest genera-
tion” — thrown into impos-
sible situations by foolhardy
supervisors. q