Hello, and welcome to the Geeky Brummie Film Roundup! Every week we take you through the weekend’s biggest new releases and why you should be excited for them. This week: chops, salt and bacon…
Usual disclaimer: unless otherwise stated, I haven’t seen these movies yet so all of my opinions are based on trailers, early reviews and other rumours and buzz.
Karate Kid: Legends
Karate Kid: Legends unites original karate kid (and Cobra Kai star) Ralph Macchio with the remake’s Mr Miyagi stand-in (and martial arts legend) Jackie Chan, as they team up to train young kung fu prodigy Li Fong (Ben Wang). When Li and his mother (Ming Na Wen) move to New York, he has a run-in with a local karate champion and decides to take him on in the Five Boroughs karate tournament. His uncle Mr Han (Chan) calls on old friend Daniel LaRusso (Macchio) to train him, building on the kung fu grounding that Han has already given him.
Plot-wise, this is following all the same beats as every other Karate Kid movie that’s come before. But if you’re a fan of those films then you’ll no doubt get a kick out of seeing the training montages and bruising tournament battles play out on the big screen again. The real joy here will be watching the eponymous legends coming together and instilling their different styles into their young protégé. Despite the fact that, at 71 years old, he could still beat the stuffing out of pretty much anyone if he wanted to, Jackie Chan always brings a hugely warm and likeable presence to his films. Meanwhile Macchio, as well as providing some connective tissue to the original movie, has gained even more of a following since then through the spin-off show Cobra Kai, earning his sensei status in this film. Even Ming Na Wen, who seems to just be playing a straightforward mother role here, is a bit of a martial arts legend in her own right (as anyone who watched Agents of SHIELD will know). I’m hoping some or all of them will get some proper action scenes here as well as training Li.
The brief moments of action glimpsed in the trailer promise some well choreographed fights, as you would expect from a film and cast like this. Even if the story is nothing new, anyone who comes to the cinema looking for some fancy footwork and slick strikes will not leave disappointed. The reviews have been relatively lukewarm, but this should still be an enjoyable watch.
- Karate Kid: Legends on IMDB
- Karate Kid: Legends on Rotten Tomatoes
The Salt Path
Based on a true story, The Salt Path follows Moth and Raynor Winn (Jason Isaacs and Gillian Anderson) – a couple who lose their home and decide to trek the 630-mile coastline of Dorset, Devon and Cornwall as a chance to reassess their perspective on the world.
This looks like quite a simple story but I expect it will be beautifully told. Isaacs and Anderson are both incredible actors, and will be more than capable of carrying the emotion and heart that the film requires. The coastal landscape provides a stunning backdrop as the Winns contend with the forces of nature, a serious medical diagnosis, and unwelcoming locals. As you would expect from a story about a middle-aged couple taking a long walk, the pacing looks a lot more sedate than anything else in the cinema at the moment, but that should allow plenty of time for the reflective script and deeply human character arcs to breathe.
If you’re looking for a film that will help you slow down for a bit and appreciate what life has to offer, this is the film for you this week.
- The Salt Path on IMDB
- The Salt Path on Rotten Tomatoes
Peppa Meets the Baby
I feel obliged to cover this off as it’s in cinemas, although I suspect that if you have kids who are Peppa Pig fans you’re probably already aware of it, and if you don’t then you probably don’t want to go anywhere near it, so I won’t dwell on it for too long. In Peppa Meets the Baby, the hugely popular if anatomically questionable piglet discovers that she’s about to get a new younger sibling. Billed as a ‘cinema experience’ rather than a film, this is actually a collection of 10 new episodes of the cartoon, plus some singalong songs. Small children who are fans of the show will no doubt love it, and anything that gets them going to the cinema at a young age can only be a good thing. And hey, if your idea of a compelling plot is ‘small pig gets excited at prospect of smaller pig’ then maybe you’ll enjoy it too – I’m not here to judge.
- Peppa Meets the Baby on IMDB
- Peppa Meets the Baby on Rotten Tomatoes
If you only see one film this week…
The Salt Path is probably the better film, but there’s no resisting the Chan-Macchio team-up – my film of the week this week is Karate Kid: Legends.
Still in cinemas and worth a watch
- Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – A mega-blockbuster that delivers on every level that you’d want it to. There are some silly elements that make less sense the more you think about them, but you don’t come to a film like this to think. Instead, come for the plethora of callbacks to earlier franchise entries, the insanity of Tom Cruise’s stunts, and a standout scene in a submarine that will have you holding your breath.
- The Phoenician Scheme – Like all Wes Anderson films, the Phoenician Scheme is daft as a brush, beautiful to look at, and very funny in places. The excellent cast are clearly all enjoying themselves despite the deadpan expressions throughout.
- Lilo & Stitch
Trailer of the week
It’s been a pretty light week for new trailers, but we have had a teaser for a new comedy written and directed by, and starring, Aziz Ansari. Good Fortune follows a ‘budget guardian angel’ named Gabriel who, bored of his usual job of rescuing people from accidents caused by texting while driving, decides to step up and save a lost soul – Ansari’s gig-worker, Arj. Also starring Seth Rogen, Sandra Oh and Keke Palmer, this looks like good silly fun. We’ll see whether John Wick can earn his wings when the movie hits cinemas in October.
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