Sing (2016)

Nothing amasing (the central premise is pretty flimsy–what exactly is the competition?) but it’s hard to go wrong with a colourful cast of celebrity animals, each with their own storyline of easily engaging, moderate turmoil, breaking out of their oppressive environment (see gruff dad but also jail when gruff dad learns to love his son and will stop at nothing to tell him) while also breaking out in (catchy pop) song (each one hits the right notes at the end). Good humour too (see the car wash).

5

Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)

You can see it coming from a mile away thanks to the douchey Derek, but the character arc for Susan is a nice one (“I’m not going to shortchange myself ever again!”), adding substance to the bare-bones plot, while appreciably not feeling the need to pair her off with someone else at the end. A great gaggle of quirky secondary characters, meanwhile, keep the chuckles coming quite consistently (Rogen’s dimwitted blob monster is a standout: “I think that jello gave me a fake phone number”).

6

A Wrinkle in Time (2018)

The dialogue (nay, the whole movie) is like 99% painfully cheesy exposition (with poor performances to boot), though somehow the opening act set-up still manages to confound and frustrate the viewer completely in its vague, contrived nature (so how does Charles Wallace know all these mysterious people again?). After all the fluffy mysticism of the Mrs. it eventually crafts a nice message about self-acceptance and the power of love over evil, but it’s still so damn cheesy. Pine is good though.

2

Legally Blonde (2001)

Elle Woods, a fashionable sorority queen is dumped by her boyfriend. She decides to follow him to law school, while she is there she figures out that there is more to her than just looks. (IMDb)

Plays up a lot of stereotypes–ditzy blonde only being one of them–but at least to the central one it offers a unique “both/and” response too: You can be both boy-crazy and a Harvard student; you can wear pink and be a serious lawyer (see Elle’s return to the courtroom); you can be smart and silly (see Elle’s mature grad speech ending with a squealed “We did it!”). Witherspoon, Wilson, and Coolidge with her side-romance with the handsome postman are all charming in this fluffy but pleasant flick.

6.5/10 (Alright)

Hot Pursuit (2015)

An uptight and by-the-book cop tries to protect the outgoing widow of a drug boss as they race through Texas pursued by crooked cops and murderous gunmen. (IMDb)

Like most buddy cop/odd couple comedies, this one has a forgettable plot and shallow characters, but unfortunately, it’s never really funny enough to make up for it. Aside from a few good gags (see the increasing age/decreasing height of the ongoing news reports; the chatty Cooper on cocaine; the wild tourist bus ride), the humour is mostly just mediocre slapstick and Witherspoon and Vergara hamming up their tiresome and stereotypical caricatures (sexy, loud Latina; uptight, insecure cop).

5.5/10 (Poor)