Let’s forget the mildly entertaining and somewhat inconsistent shorts that Disney spun from its billion-dollar franchise ‘Frozen’ and look at the new teaser that just dropped. A determined Elsa faces the fury of a stormy coastline. Was she kidnapped and left on an island? Shipwrecked? We don’t know. We do know, by the determination in her face and body language, that she’s going to get off the island using her ice powers. The ocean can’t defeat her. (I don’t know why she needs a running start or how long she plans on running.The ocean is big.) She could probably make a stairway or bridge over the waves, but that would be way less cool.) Winter is coming!
Floating multi-colored diamond shapes…
All the SVENS! Gather the herd, we have places to run!
Anna shows off her athleticism. That’s quite a leap. Of
course, tossing a bust around like it’s a bouquet of flowers showed off some of
Anna’s unexpected strength.
Elsa is fighting fire to save her friend Olaf. Is this the
time we see the demise of Olaf? If this scene comes before Elsa fighting the
ocean… I fear for our friend who likes warm hugs. Maybe, it’s retribution for
the short that was too long and shown before “Coco.” Olaf! Some people are
worth melting for. Just maybe not right now!
The wind through the leaves as fall settles across the land.
Has fall come too early? After Elsa’s eternal winter of the first movie, is
this how the trees would react? Are those two new characters? It doesn’t look
like Christoff’s coat. And he’s being blown like a leaf on the wind. It could
be Hans or the son of the Duke of Weselton.
There’s a fell voice on the wind. All of those blowing
leaves… It’s the Fall of Elsa. How else would a queen, her sister and the
official ice deliverer be able to leave the castle and ostensibly the kingdom? Who
did they leave in charge? Hans? He was a capable leader who seemed to care
about the people of Arendelle, even if he wanted to kill the sisters.
The all female version of “Vuelie,” the seemingly weirdly out of place opening to the first movie featured a choir of men and women. This trailer version is different. And cut! No, Anna, I didn’t mean that literally!
I have already proposed several different plotlines that I’m pretty sure Disney didn’t consider. You can see them on my Patreon page as a preview of my planned book “Penguinate! The Disney Company” if you join today! You might also want to check out five bad pick-up lines from “Frozen” at our Weebly archives.
“Trust is the most valuable commodity in the world” –
paraphrased from the Russian Defense Minister Toporov on “Salvation.”
In fewer than six months, the world will end. All it would
take to save the world is to launch a gravity tractor equipped with the newly
developed EM drive into space. It seems like it should be a relatively simple
thing to accomplish. The biggest issue is that no one trusts each other enough
to let anyone else do his or her thing, and it starts at the top with the
governments of Russia and the U.S.
REM: It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
Russia cuts off all diplomatic ties to the U.S. and threatens war. They know the asteroid is coming, and they don’t have the ability to build an EM drive, in spite of having kidnapped one of the scientists responsible for its invention. Russia threatens to shoot down anything shot into space and has already destroyed any satellite capable of crashing into the asteroid (which they should do, because if the asteroid is blown to pieces, it will result in a lot of meteors raining down on Russia and other countries in the Eastern Hemisphere rather than an extinction level event.) Russia threatens these things because they found that the U.S. has already dropped one asteroid on them (using the real-life Chelyabinsk meteor as part of its story).
Kaa the Python: Trust in Me
The U.S. president refuses to acknowledge the action, and
the only way to move forward with a launch is for billionaire Darius Tanz to
take PR official Grace Barrows to Moscow. Barrows is friends with the former ambassador,
who may be able to arrange a meeting with the Minister of Defense. Pointless
shenanigans (meaning the death of Barrows’ friend and the frame-up of Tanz and
Barrows for her murder by polonium) ensue and the two meet with Toporov, who
demands a test of their trust. Barrows and Tanz drink the tea laced with
SP-117, which is not sodium pentothal, and tell the truth about what they want
and how they propose to get it.
Russia still doesn’t trust the U.S., but it trusts Tanz and
Barrows. The launch is a go. Yay! We’re going to save the world with a joint
operation between the U.S. and Russia… Scrap that. The world learns about the
asteroid, and Russia withdraws its people again. The Secretary of Defense sends
up the rocket with the only EM drive, as far as he knows, and it gets shot
down. The world will be destroyed because government officials couldn’t do the
right thing. The only plan anyone has left is to shoot nuclear missiles at the
asteroid as it gets closer, and every scientist has already said that plan won’t
work. (Tanz has a secret plan, but the Secretary of Defense doesn’t know this
at the time he makes his stupid decision.)
Liam, the kid scientist responsible for the discovery of the
asteroid and calling its attention to Tanz and then develops the EM drive,
finally gets his ex-girlfriend Jillian back to Tanz Industries to do a job she’s
uniquely qualified for. She may be willing to get back together with Liam;
after all, she had to keep the secret from her family and discovered how difficult
it was. Then, the reporter shows up, attempts to blackmail Liam and reveals to Jillian
that they kissed. Liam is dumbstruck.
First of all, this is not how a good reporter behaves. However,
it’s the second time that this particular reporter attempted to blackmail
someone. She has also made friends with people who could provide her with
information for her story. She’s going to get the story regardless of the
morality involved in the methods to get it. Her story is the reason the
Russians pull out of the launch deal. She is also the reason why Liam and
Jillian have more trust issues than before.
Billy Joel: A Matter of Trust
While in Russia, Barrows and Tanz engage in a tete-a-tete,
which results in an SP-117 kiss. Barrows is dating Harris Edwards, her boss at
the Department of Defense. This action would likely undermine their relationship
by destroying the trust they have in one another, but back in the states, it’s
clear that Edwards doesn’t trust her. Professionally, he revokes her security clearance;
personally, he goes to a bar and has sex in the bathroom with the bartender.
When Barrows gets back to the U.S., he arrests her and then accuses her of
sleeping with Tanz. Dude, that ship sailed when you went to the bathroom with
the bartender. What gives him that right? Oh, and he’s being set up by someone
to make it look like he ordered Barrows to be assassinated.
Fleetwood Mac: Little Lies
Barrows daughter doesn’t trust her and ends up in Re/Syst. Tanz makes a deal with RE/SYST, who tack on a malware program to monitor Tanz’ work from here on out. With all of the lies and deception, it’s hard to see how anyone will gain another person’s trust.
Instead of people trusting in each other, we’re stuck with a
bunch of egos, lies, and the inability to let it go for the sake of saving the
human race. Everyone is involved in making shady deals and shadier decisions
that work to undermine what little trust they’ve built up. Worse, everyone is
ready to believe the worst of someone else; they turn on a dime regardless of
their confessed feelings. If this show is any indication of the truth about
people and trust, there is little difficulty in believing that a few people at
the top will wind up destroying the Earth for petty reasons and because they
lack the humanity, intelligence, and moral compass required to do the right
thing for everyone rather than the right thing for themselves. If people facing
the end of the world can’t trust each other, how can normal people in everyday
life expect to do so?
Trust isn’t an easy thing to rebuild. Once it’s broken,
there are few people who are big enough to build it back up, and few people who
change for the better in order to justify rebuilding the relationship. Human beings
are creatures of habit. If a person engages in behavior that destroys trust he
or she will probably engage in the same behavior again no matter the good
intentions the person may have. The point is: Trust is the most important
commodity in the world. The world is ending for someone every day; inspire
trust and help make it easier to face.
Three episodes into “Salvation” and I can’t believe how stupid the characters are. The premise of the show is there is a planet killing asteroid on a collision course with the Earth. It has a 97 percent chance of colliding with our planet creating and extinction level event. The U.S. government has known about it for three months, and ordered a rocket from the Tanz company to send up a gravity tractor. The rocket has to retrofitted to work for what the government wants, and in testing, the retrofits don’t work right and the rocket blows up. The gravity tractor is out as far as the government is concerned.
In the meantime, a college student’s algorithm found the
asteroid. The student informs his professor, who disappears. The student gets
close to Darius Tanz, head of the Tanz company, and tells him what’s going on.
Tanz contacts the Department of Defense. Both the student and Tanz get added to
the secret group that is trying to find ways to deal with the asteroid. With
the gravity tractor out, one of the men has proposed running the IO satellite
into the asteroid to knock it off course.
The student and Tanz point out that doing so won’t move the
asteroid. It would instead create a lot of meteorites that would rain down on
Earth with no telling where they would land. The man, who proposed the idea,
concedes the point and asks if Tanz has a better idea. Tanz proposes the
invention of an electromagnetic engine which doesn’t exist. They agree on that
solution for the moment.
Flash forward to the next meeting because the president is
getting nervous and wants an update. The man, who proposed the ramming of the
asteroid, comes back with the same proposal, but this time, he’s done the
calculations: the created meteors would rain down on Russia, China and Korea
killing an estimated 1.4 billion people. They have two windows. The first is in
seven days, the next is in 60 days. Rather than give Tanz and his team 60 days
to build and perfect their EM engine, they decide to go with the first window
because it gives them two chances to get it right.
What? The false logic here is that they have two chances.
Unless they have two satellites in orbit around IO, they have only one chance.
Waiting for the second window wouldn’t change anything. If they didn’t get it
right the first time, there is no second chance. The IO satellite would be
careening into space, and there’s no backup. You have one satellite and one
chance. Wait for the second window.
However, there’s a larger problem. Russia and China have
active space programs. Chances are they’re going to find out about this asteroid
and what the U.S. did. If they do, there’s a good chance, they’ll see the
destruction of the asteroid as an act of war and decide to use their missiles
to blow the U.S. up. The political wonks and military people should understand
that’s the natural reaction of any person in power and that this secret
asteroid information is going to get out. At the very least, some spy is going
to find out. More likely someone’s going to let something slip.
If colliding with the asteroid is the only choice, this
group needs to make sure it has a plan to evacuate the countries that are going
to be affected before it decides on this plan of action. That means the
information about the asteroid needs to be brought before the United Nations
and nations need to know what’s coming. Even more importantly, the U.S. doesn’t
have a monopoly on “smart” people or space. In fact, with the defunding of
NASA, the U.S. isn’t the leader in space exploration any more. The asteroid could
be used to bring countries together; instead of as a way to fill the American
ego.
In “the Mummy” (2017), Tom Cruise is a rogue army officer looking for ancient artifacts to sell on the black market. He gets caught in a tough spot, calls in an air strike, and blows a hole in the street of an insurgent occupied town that reveals a screaming face. His commanding officer gets there along with a woman who specializes in protecting antiquities. They discover a giant screaming bust, which she recognizes as Egyptian. Cruise, his partner and the woman go into the hole.
There the woman narrates what she sees: A rope with
hieroglyphs to warn against evil spirit submerged in a pool of mercury being
used to weaken its power, watchers faced inward (rather than outward) guarding
against the pool, a set of chains (not for bringing the object up but instead,
for keeping it down). We find out later that she knows monsters exist, and this
is one of the most ancient. Even with all of these warnings and the knowledge
of why the cavern looks the way it does, Cruise shoots the rope, activates the
lifting mechanism and reveals the sarcophagus, which is taken aboard a military
aircraft as a sandstorm threatens to engulf the plane.
Many of the other Mummy movies that came before involve a
team seeking treasure in the desert and continuing to proceed despite warnings
of natives, tribes put in place to guard against the release of the evil, and
bad things happening to the team before they even enter the chamber.
There is a popular myth about the curse of Tutankhamun. Many
people believe there was a curse written on his tomb and Howard Carter went in
anyway. Even though there has been no curse inscribed on the tomb, it’s
representative of what people will do for knowledge, history, fortune and
glory. The truths exposed in these films and this legend include people are
curious and people are greedy. And these are the reasons why burying nuclear
waste won’t work.
Nuclear waste is deadly for 250,000 years. That’s longer
than any languages will survive. Burying it with statues and pictograms
detailing its deadliness may be treated as superstition from a less developed
society. Or it may not be readable to explorers who have no context for the
depictions. Worse, it may entice the future explorers to learn more about the
inhabitants who lived amongst the strange drawings. At that point, the horror
and joke will be on them. Assuming the mummy of nuclear waste isn’t unwrapped
by natural disasters or our own people with malevolent intent.
Netflix’ “Io” is a minimalistic, quasi-science fiction movie about the end of the world. The CGI and backgrounds are questionable, and the two main characters have a hard time holding viewers’ attention, which is too bad because I like Anthony Mackie. However, what drives me to write this review is the anger I felt at the main character Sam, played by Margaret Qualley, at the end of the film. (Spoilers ahead.)
The Earth is contaminated by ammonia vapors and the entire
population has fled to Io, Jupiter’s moon, to find a new planet and build a new
life. The entire movie takes place on Earth, so the movie name is a bit of a
misnomer, but not so much that it creates cognitive dissonance. Sam, the daughter
of a scientist who has claimed that people can adapt to the new atmosphere and
urged people not to leave the planet, is the only one left alive as far as she
knows. She self-administers some sort of inoculation against the toxic
atmosphere.
Her human connection is a man who is already at the Io
station. She meets Mackie’s Micah when he lands at her place in a helium balloon.
Micah is looking for Sam’s father and headed for the last shuttle off the
planet.
In no particular order, she dumps the man on Io, there’s a
flashback of her father telling her that the human connection is more important
than science, and Micah reinforces that idea when he says people aren’t meant
to be alone. Sam acknowledges all of this and agrees to go with Micah to the
shuttle. Before that happens though, she seduces Micah overcoming his
objections with “we have to.”
And here’s where I get angry. Sam goes to a museum and then
tells Micah, she’s not going with him. She sees life on Earth where everyone
else sees death. She rips off her mask and survives the toxic atmosphere. Micah
leaves the planet. She gives birth to a child, and they go visit the sea. What?
Seriously? She’s a scientist working in biology. She should know that women don’t
necessarily get pregnant after one session of intercourse. But it can happen,
so let’s go ahead and give that to the movie.
Here’s where the movie doesn’t make any sense. When Micah
tells Sam that she’s coming with him, she has already gone through the process
of convincing herself that’s the only logical plan. She’s lost the bees. She
needed help with the windmill. Most importantly, she knows she needs the human
connection. She’s accepted that. She says, “Okay,” and that should be that.
There is no indication that she has changed her mind about human connection in
the rest of the film or that she understands she is pregnant.
There is no sense to her decision, and if she knows she’s
pregnant, she makes the most selfish decision available. First, the treatments
didn’t work for her father, and administering them to a child would be
different. She doesn’t have the expertise or data necessary to insure the
survival of the child.
Second, that child is going to grow up, she’s going to die,
and the child is going to be alone with no chance for human connection. She is
basically sentencing her child to solitary confinement for much of its life –
at best, and she’s doing it for no other reason than because she still believes
the human species can adapt. Except, the child will not be able to reproduce.
He or she (according to the credits, the child is a boy) will be the last
person on Earth with no chance to find the human connection beyond the
mother-child one. Which brings us to the last point, she cannot on her own
establish a new species or a human adaptation to the ammonia with just her
child, which begs the question of incest and menopause, if they both survive to
his sexual maturity.
I was willing to deal with the long, slow parts of the movie,
but to have it conclude so illogically and against the character of the only
real characters in the film, was more than disappointing. It was disturbing and
enraging.
Why let reality get in the way of your enjoyment of good
entertainment? If you don’t want to read anything about what ‘Stranger Things
3’ should be like, move on to another article. Otherwise, here are some things
that probably resulted from ‘Stranger Things 2’ that will need to be explored
in the threequel.
Economics – Hawkins has to be a dried-up ghost town or the ruins of a small town when the lab closes up. The small shops and restaurants could survive while the shutdown was in progress because of the influx of military and moving people. After that though, there’s no way to replace all of the revenue lost from government workers who rented or bought homes, went grocery shopping or stopped at the local diner. An economist will trace the downfall of the economy to the failure of several crops in the area, most notably the pumpkins in every pumpkin patch. But the closure of the lab will be the true economic downfall. Some people might point out that all those dead government workers would’ve had the same effect. However, had the U.S. government kept the lab open, it would have brought in more workers. The poverty rate is going to climb unless…
This is the middle of Reagan’s presidency. Maybe he deregulates and sells off the property, which is bought by a weapons manufacturer. Employees flood into the area again, but is this a good business and will they find 11?
Ninja Kids – Steve’s been beat up twice now. He really needs to learn how to fight. He is supposed to be the number one jock in the school when we first meet him. He shows his athleticism swinging a bat. He’s got the physical talents, he just needs to develop them. The “Karate Kid” was released in the summer of 1984 before the events of “Stranger Things 2.”
Steve’s not the only one that needs to develop fighting
skills. The nerds need to develop their real-life fighting skills. After the
first incident, everyone leaves thinking, “Well, that’s over. Thank God,” and
they go back to their relatively normal lives as was evidenced in one of the
first scenes with Nancy and Mike. Mike steals Nancy’s quarters and doesn’t tell
her why. They promised no more secrets after the first season; they were back
to fighting and leaving each other in the dark in the second. It’s human nature
to ignore one bad thing. However, when after a second incident occurs, it’s
time to find someone who can teach you how to fight. The best fighters know
when they’re overmatched; the best teams learn to fight as a team. They also play
to each other’s strengths. “The A-Team” came on the air in 1983; “The Stranger
Things” kids have a group to pattern themselves after. They can’t just go back
to playing D&D; it’s just a game.
Science Kids and Preppers – Maybe the nerds can’t become the best fighters. They can learn to shoot more effective weapons than the wrist rocket. Bows and arrows would be in their wheelhouse as something they could get excited about because they play D&D. Nancy already knows how to shoot a gun; she could teach the rest of them.
If those aren’t their thing, they could work on their science skills. Knowing which chemicals create toxic reactions and which could be explosive would be useful. Survival skills like setting traps would also be good to know. Again, they have role models in “the A-Team.” And they’re already pretty good with Morse code. (Does anyone know that anymore?)
Relationships – Let’s leave out the whole relationship thing. They’re kids. It wouldn’t last longer than 6 months for any of them. Maybe the teens have a shot. The way these relationships work or don’t work is going to come down to the writing and who the show appeals, too. Eleven and Mike are 12 when they meet. They’re 13 when they go to the Snow Ball. We don’t live in the age of Romeo and Juliet, so their romance really isn’t okay. The same holds true for any of the pre-teens. Dating might be a part of growing up, but it doesn’t have to define the show. Yet, with the interracial dating of Max and Lucas and the clear hatred of her brother for Lucas’ “kind” of people, it could wind up playing a big and important part.
Emotional Connection – Is anger the strongest emotion? That’s how El moves a train car. It’s how she closes the gate, but it feels empty and hollow. If anger is really the strongest emotion, then Billy should be the star of the show. There are a lot of angry characters. Max and Hopper both admit to their anger issues. Still, if this is the message of the series, then maybe we all just need to be a little angrier to attain our true power. I don’t happen to believe that, but I’m not sure what other message is currently being sent by “Stranger Things 2.” There’s a work together theme. There’s a take action theme. There’s a friendship theme… It just seems that anger has won out in the finale of the show, even with the love of the Snow Ball playing a small role in the denouement and teaser.
All of these thoughts were ones that occurred immediately
after watching the last episode of “Stranger Things 2.” I enjoyed the series
while watching it, but there are far too many questions if you try to throw a
little reality at it. Yes, I know it’s sci-fi. However, it uses the real world
as its basis for reality. No one will believe in the monsters. Atari’s the big
gift. He-Man loves Barbie. Science fiction and fantasy set up there rules and
have to play by them; otherwise Superhero Bob could come back to life with
superpowers from the radioactive bite of a Demodog or really anything else
could happen and the viewer (or reader) would have no way of being able to
suspend disbelief. I guess the other question is whether or not they will
explore 8’s character more. That whole sequence really seemed like a toss off,
but it did develop El’s character, gave her a choice, and allowed her to come
back to the real story.
Feel free to leave your comments about “Stranger Things 2.” Try to keep them nice. Check out my other blog posts on penguinate.com. If you want to meet a member of the Stranger Things cast, get your tickets for Lilac City Comicon 2019. The science teacher/AV advisor Mr. Clarke, Randy Havens is scheduled to be in Spokane. You can read more about Lilac City Comicon here.
The problem with “Avengers: Infinity War” is the way it
ended and what we knew about the next Marvel movies. Basically, Thanos’ snap
eliminated the newest half of the Marvel Universe, including most of Ant-Man’s
allies, leaving the old heroes to find a way to avenge the snap, which would
fit in perfectly with what Tony Stark told Loki in the first Avengers film and
serve as a way to tie the franchise together.
However, the upcoming movie slate after Infinity War includes “Spider-Man: Far from Home” (eliminating the emotional impact of his demise in Infinity War), “Black Panther” (which could possibly give rise to a female Black Panther because T’challa was dusted), “Guardians of the Galaxy 3” (though James Gunn departure after a controversy left this in doubt, Kevin Feige says it’s still on; it could team Rocket with the Reavers and/or Nebula) and “Doctor Strange 2” (which at this point I don’t have an observations on, except its Benedict Cumberbatch, and Mysterio looks like he uses magic).
With all of these movies, and the stars whose contracts are
expiring – Chris Evans (Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo
(Hulk), Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) and
Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) – as well as the apparent good byes and statements that
some won’t be returning to the roles, there is no way for the Marvel Universe
to continue without a complete reversal of an entire movie. This seems like it
has all kinds of potential to go lame though that type of action has happened
before – most notably in the last episode of “Twin Peaks” season 3.
One twist for Endgame could turn the Marvel Universe on its head. What if all the characters that died were the ones to survive, and the audience saw the dusting from the characters’ who actually died point of view? This would mean Rocket died, which would make sense because it has already been stated that he doesn’t have a long lifespan as a raccoon. It would also mean that Bruce Banner is dead, but the hulk isn’t necessarily dead. This type of reveal would make it easier to accept the Nick Fury/Spider-Man alliance. It could be interesting to see how the old characters deal with the reality of their demise while the mirror splits back to the new characters who did actually survive.
At this point though, “Avengers: Endgame,” which releases on April 26, 2019, lacks the stakes that Infinity War had during its run. The new characters are going to come back, and no one will be surprised when the old characters die. Marvel has more creative people than me working for it, and just because the general outcome of the movie is known doesn’t mean it won’t be good. But because we already know so much about it beyond the movie itself, it may not be engaging, especially if Peter Parker comes back and is threatened with death again. He’s already got a movie coming out, and it has a trailer. (Check out other movie related posts.)
In spite of its implications for “Avengers: Endgame,” Sony
has released a “Spider-Man: Far from Home” trailer, which clearly shows that
Spider-Man, aka Peter Parker, is alive and well and on Earth, and so is Nick
Fury. The “Far from Home” title doesn’t indicate Spider-Man is still in space.
Instead, he’s in Europe. Seriously, Europe? That’s far from home after
traveling to the planet Titan? Oh, I have so many questions.
The first question is: How does this school have so much
money? When I was in school, we had to have permission slips, our parents had
to pay, and we barely got to go on a field trip to the park across the strip in
elementary school. Flash forward to high school, and I had zero field trips. Nowadays,
it seems like it would be even more difficult. With schools cutting budgets for
the arts and fun while focusing on the core of reading and arithmetic, how does
Spider-Man’s school have enough money to take the kids to Washington, D.C. much
less Europe? The cost of insurance alone would be staggering. What school
district does Parker go to?
Peter Parker is supposed to be poor, right? Even if his aunt can afford to put him in an upscale school, can she afford all these trips and their associated costs? Is Stark footing the bill? Was the fundraiser at the beginning really for Spider-Man?
How do his classmates not figure out he’s Spider-Man? Kids
aren’t that dumb. Spider-Man shows up in Europe at the same time as the class?
He was also in D.C. and saved MJ and disappeared from a bus while there was a
super fight going on outside. Maybe it’s a case of Clark Kent’s glasses.
“Peter Parker here to pick up a passport, please” tongue
twister? How many times did Tom Holland have to say that before he got it
right?
Are we going to get a Doctor Strange/Spider-Man crossover?
Mysterio seems to be using the same kind of magic as Strange does, and we all
know Doctor Strange is coming back from Thanos’ snap, just like Spider-Man and
Nick Fury.
Spider-Man is facing off against the elements. All of the
monsters have the same form but are made from one of the four elements – fire,
earth and water. Only wind is left out. I’m not sure how to phrase that as a
question, just more of an observation.
If you have answers or more questions, leave them in the comments below. Check out more of my movie-related commentary. Watch for my “Avengers: Endgame” commentary coming soon!
“Daddy’s Home 2” is a sequel that’s better than the original and proves that, in this case, more is better. The premise of old-school, toxic masculinity meeting new-world, kinder, gentler men uses a time-tested winning formula composed of slapstick, the absurd, and a heart-felt change in the characters that makes sense. While the writing sets the film up for success, it’s the casting and the acting that keep the film together.
Brad (Will Ferrell) and Don (John Lithgow) play to type as the uptight, over-emotional dad and granddad. Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) is the tough guy trying to change and adapt to a new reality while his father, Kurt, played by Mel Gibson, is stuck in the 1980s, womanizing and espousing the old values of masculinity that still work for him, but are, at the very least, questionable in the era of #metoo. The confrontation between the two styles of living comes into conflict as Dusty tries to conform to a life his father seemingly disapproves of.
“Daddy’s Home 2” plays to the strengths of its stars. The changes in character are believable, and even in the most absurd cases, the movie is never so far out there as to invoke disbelief, which is odd as a comedy. These qualities make “Daddy’s Home 2” a high-quality movie that isn’t just about getting belly laughs, which it does throughout the film, but it also explores the relationships between family members, especially fathers and their sons. For some, this film may seem like a guilty pleasure, but look closer and you have a film that really finds its meaning in the season. For more about the movies check out my other blog posts.
Penguinate! Positive Creativity 