Hellboy
directed by Neil Marshall
(R, 2 hours)
Based on Mike Mignola's celebrated comic book series from Dark Horse and written by Andrew Cosby, this frantically paced, ultra-violent and intensely overwrought carnage-fest stars David Harbour (who's terrific as Chief Jim Hopper in Netflix series Stranger Things) as a half-demon superhero who's summoned to the English countryside to take on a trio of rampaging giants.
Getting in the way is resurrected ancient sorceress Nimue (Milla Jovovich), aka the Blood Queen, who's seeking to avenge a long-ago betrayal. Monster battles ensue.
With Ian McShane, Sasha Lane, Daniel Dae Kim, Sophie Okonedo, Thomas Haden Church; directed by Neil Marshall. Bonus features including three-part documentary Tales of the Wild Hunt: Hellboy Reborn, deleted scenes, and details about the visualizing of complex scenes before filming).
Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (not rated, 1 hour, 47 minutes) An extravagant, combat-loaded and highly entertaining martial arts thriller in which Tin-chi (Jin Zhang) leaves his fighting days behind in favor of a simple life as a waiter in Hong Kong with his young son. A you might expect, that's not what happens. With Dave Bautista, Michelle Yeoh, Tony Jaa, Yan Liu, Chrissie Chau; directed by Woo-Ping Yuen.
Alita: Battle Angel (PG-13, 2 hours, 2 minutes) Baffling at times, yet with an odd appeal that illuminates the story, this film thrives on its good looks but falls short of providing a provocative plot. A cyborg, devoid of memory, re-animates several centuries in the future where she is incapable of recognizing the world around her; a sympathetic cyber doctor rescues her, then tries to shelter her from her danger-filled past. With Rosa Salazar, Keean Johnson, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Eiza Gonzalez; directed by Robert Rodriguez.
Do the Right Thing (R, 2 hours) Criterion is re-releasing Spike Lee's pivotal and risk-taking 1989 comedic drama of tension, anger and racism in Bedford-Stuyvesant over a 24-hour period in the scorching heat of the summer. Can't we all just get along? Then as now, it's not as easy as it might seem. With Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Giancarlo Esposito, John Turturro, John Savage, Bill Nunn, Miguel Sandoval, Samuel L. Jackson, Rose Perez, Martin Lawrence.
Missing Link (PG, 1 hour, 34 minutes) Here we have a bouncy, funny, skillfully wrought stop-motion animated comedy about friendship that gains even more traction with an appealing centerpeice: furry, towering, weighty and sweet Mr. Link (voice of Zach Galifianakis), a resident of the Pacific Northwest whose loneliness leads him to seek far-flung relatives.
To this end, he enlists the help of Sir Lionel Frost (voice of Hugh Jackman), who sees the undertaking as a chance to guarantee his stature as the world's peerless investigator of myths and monsters. With the voices of Zoe Saldana, Timothy Olyphant, Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry; written and directed by Chris Butler.
MovieStyle on 07/26/2019