PITTSBURGH (Newsradio KDKA) - What a fantastic weekend of summertime movies. Three wide releases, three very different genres and three very good films. Here are my reviews of Disney's Jungle Cruise, Stillwater and The Green Knight. Tune in Friday morning to 100.1 FM or 1020 AM KDKA at 7:05 AM as I discuss these films with Larry Richert and Kevin Battle of the KDKA Radio Morning Show and listen for the popular trivia segment. (the clues are in the reviews, don't tell Larry and Kevin)
Jungle Cruise (PG-13)
Starring: Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt
Disney's latest movie based on one of the theme park's attractions is the reason we go to movies in the summertime - escapism. A mix of "African Queen" romanticism and "Indiana Jones" panache. Amazon river boat captain Frank Wolff (Dwayne Johnson) takes the job of ferrying beautiful Dr. Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt) up river to find a magical tree believed to have the ability to cure anything.
A jungle journey fraught with dangerous animals, reptiles and thugs all with a supernatural element that makes the two hour and seven minute run time fly by in a blink. Jungle Cruise may not be the best movie ever made, but with so much negative energy around us these days this fun little film might just be what the doctor ordered.
Stillwater (R)
Starring: Matt Damon and Abigail Breslin
Let me start off by saying that I truly enjoyed Stillwater, however, I feel like I was sold a bill of goods. The trailer portrayed a character similar to what you would see Liam Neeson playing in a "Taken" movie - you know, the guy with a "very particular set of skills." The guy who can knock the crap out of six or seven bad guys, jump off a moving car into a raging river and still make it home for his daughter's birthday party.
Matt Damon's Bill Baker is a more thoughtful and sensitive type who's hard and often troubled past plays on him as much as his steadfast oil rig working stubbornness when it comes to helping his daughter.
Stillwater is loosely based on the Amada Knox story. Bill's daughter Allison (played by a game Abigail Breslin) is in a French prison accused of murdering her roommate/lover. Baker travels to Marseille to visit his Allison when she reveals that the real murderer is a man named Akim. With the help of local Virginie, Bill sets out to find Akim and prove his daughter's innocence.
The Green Knight (R)
Starring: Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander and Joel Edgerton
The Green Knight is a bold retelling of a classic King Arthur and the knights of the round table tale.
An epic fantasy adventure tells the story of King Arthur's nephew Gawain. Sir Gawain (Dev Patel) is a reckless and headstrong knight in waiting who decides to set out on a daring quest to challenge a humongous
emerald-skinned mysterious being and tester of men.
Gawain's journey has him contending with giants, ghosts, thieves and conspirators in what becomes the ultimate test to define his character in the eyes of his family and kingdom. Visually stunning from the rolling hills to the vast dark forest where treachery and life lessons await our hero.