The Secret Life of Pets (2016)

Director: Yarrow Cheney, Chris Renaud
Writer: Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio, Brian Lynch
Stars: Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart

Synopsis: 
Max (Louis C.K.) gets discouraged when his owner brings home a new dog, Duke (Eric Stonestreet), and because of their differences found themselves lost in the middle of New York. And must work together to found their way back home.

Review:
I'm just going to say it. This should have been called Pet Story, because it is the same exact plot of Toy Story. The first trailer released looked like this was just going to be about the title, the Secret Life of Pets, and probably have them actually going around New York and hanging with their friends, but then the more the trailers showed the more I noticed something, this was just going to be telling the story of Toy Story but with pets. And I was a bit sadly right.

Really if this movie's animation wasn't as beautiful as it is, and the characters weren't as great and hilarious as they are, I'd probably say that this was just a bland carbon copy of Toy Story, but the jokes and the animation and the voice acting do help this film out a lot. Kevin Hart's bunny character, Snowball, will probably annoy people depending on how they feel about Kevin Hart's comedy, because all he really does is his yelling type of line delivery, which I enjoy to an extent and was worried that it would get on my nerves, but because of how his character is, a psychotic bunny, I feel like it works well here.

Like I said the characters are all great, and even though I only enjoy some cats and am more of a dog person the cat named Chloe (Lake Bell) stole the show for me with every scene she was in. All the other characters though are great and spot on with their personalities. But the movie did lose points to me for copying off of Toy Story and not doing it's own thing.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

Recommendation: See it if you're an animal person and don't mind it being a copy cat of Toy Story, but maybe rent it if you enjoyed the first trailer and thought it would be something original.

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016)

Director: Jake Szymanski
Writers: Andrew Jay Cohen, Brendan O'Brien
Stars: Zac Efron, Anna Kendrick, Adam Devine, Aubrey Plaza

Synopsis:
Mike and Dave are two brothers that tend to get a little rowdy at family functions, so in order to keep them in control their family decides that instead of them being single and getting rowdy they should each find a date that would be able to keep them under control though out the week of their sister's wedding.

Review:
This movie honestly made me more upset at Dirty Grandpa earlier this year above all else, because Zac Efron and Aubrey Plaza showed that they can be really funny to me when their material is actually pretty good. Unlike in Dirty Grandpa where it felt like they were just trying to make something out of nothing and more than anything just get on my nerves more than make me laugh, but this one really did work for me. Anna Kendrick and Adam Devine really bring the laughs with them as well, which I'm glad because I thought they were both great in the pitch perfect films together so I was hoping they'd be just as good in this one. The story is a bit been there done that and I do think that some people might not like this and that some people might think some gags go a bit too far and too long but I didn't think that was the case. Honestly it's a bit of a squeeze between this Popstar and The Boss between which comedy is the best so far this year, I think Popstar would still take the cake.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Recommendation: See it

The Purge: Election Year (2016)

Director: James DeManaco
Writer: James DeMonaco
Stars: Frank Grillo, Elizabeth Mitchell, Mykelti Williamson

Synopsis:
Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) is running for president to end the Purge once and for all but the new founding fathers don't agree with her and try to set up her assassination during the annual Purge sending her and her body guard Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo) out on the streets to fend for themselves throughout the night.

Review:
The Purge movie series is one of the few series that I know that can actually improve upon themselves with each release. I thought the first one was a bit silly but still wasn't a waste of my time, but then I saw the second one and was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed it, even though it did still have its problems. This one though not only was it just as enjoyable as the last one, but a lot of the narrative problems I had with the last one have actually been improved upon to make this one my favorite and actually a bit excited if they do tend to make another one. This isn't perfect, there were a few things that did make me roll my eyes but they didn't linger as much though out the film like the last one's problematic portions did.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Recommendation: See it

The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

Director: David Yates
Writers: Adam Cozad, Craig Brewer
Stars: Alexander Skarsgard, Christoph Waltz, Margot Robbie, Samuel L. Jackson

Synopsis:
Set years after Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgard) met Jane (Margot Robbie) and moved into civilization. He is asked to return to the jungle with George Washington Williams (Samuel L. Jackson) and help investigate mining activities that are happening in the Congo.

Review:
This movie is serviceable. It respects the source materials and it looks great. Samuel L. Jackson is a blast as usual, and the rest of the cast does what they're suppose to do but this movie is mainly bland and boring most of the time. I honestly feel like if Samuel L. Jackson didn't bring in the much needed comic relief this movie would be mostly forgettable, especially compared to the animated movie.
But I do think that if you're a huge fan of the character of Tarzan then this is at least worth a look.

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5

Recommendation:  Rent it

The Shallows (2016)

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Writer: Anthony Jaswinski
Stars: Blake Lively, Oscar Jaenada, Lozano Corzo

Synopsis: 
Nancy (Blake Lively) is on the search for an island her deceased mother had found when she was pregnant with her many years ago and she encounters a shark in the surrounding waters only a couple hundred yards away from shore.

Review:
This movie is the best shark movie since Jaws, which honestly hasn't had an honest contest considering not many other shark films, if any, before this even touched the bar set by Jaws 41 years ago. That isn't to say that this movie isn't good, it's quite unnerving and terrifying honestly. This is this generation's Jaws because along with being filmed with a Go Pro camera a tiny bit, the use of cell phones and Instagram being apparent in this movie even video calling shows up in a scene, this movie makes you afraid of the water again.
Now I would still say that Jaws is a better film but I would be shocked if something could be released today with the amount of heart and suspense that surrounds Jaws and makes it the classic it is. But with the white knuckle thrills and amount of tension that this movie delivers makes it a worthy competitor and could be used as a nice opener for a summer double header at a drive-in or at home next year with jaws.

Rating: 4 1/2 Stars

Recommendation: See it

Swiss Army Man (2016)

Director: Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
Writers: Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
Stars: Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Synopsis:
It starts out with Hank (Paul Dano) being stranded on an island and loosing all hope on being saved and is setting up to hang himself until he finds Manny (Daniel Radcliffe) washed up ashore. The only problem is that Manny is dead. The thought of love though does seem to reanimate Manny, more progressively the more he can remember what love was. Through this reanimation progress Hank realizes Manny's potential at being a helpful tool in helping Hank return to civilization.

Review:
Swiss Army Man is every bit as original as it is hilarious. I can't exactly remember a movie this charming and every bit bizarre as this movie was. Now I can guess that there probably are going to be some people that watch this and want to walk out or turn it off within the first 10 or so minutes because of the bizarre content in this film, but it does reward those who stay by delivering a once in a lifetime cinematic experience that I'd love to experience again before it leaves theaters.

Rating: 5 Stars

Recommendation: See it