Happy Spring, fellow Cougars!
It may have been a slow-going struggle, but we all finally survived the brutal Chicago winter, though you never know if a random snowfall may happen between now and the end of the year.
It’s all honestly up in the air around this time of year.
But now, hopefully the weather has finally begun its transition into warmer weather (and allergy season, hallelujah), and we can all take a moment to enjoy the fact that it’s almost summertime!
While this is prime time to also start studying for the final exams that are looming in the horizon, it’s also important to try and unwind from everyday responsibilities throughout these last few weeks.
In all honesty, one of the best ways to do so is to curl up on your favorite couch or recliner, and put on a good movie.
Or even heading out to your closest movie theater and watching the newest films not out on DVD yet!
Pro-tip, if it wasn’t made obvious before: go during weekend mornings, where tickets are more likely to be the most affordable, or enjoy $5 Tuesdays at Marcus Theaters.
This week, I am reviewing three films that recently came out in theaters: A Wrinkle in Time, the newest Tomb Raider, and Love, Simon.
It is here that I will add my trusty disclaimer:
There will be plot details of each movie discussed within this set of reviews, and there will be some spoilers ahead.
You have been warned.
Now let’s get on with this week’s list of movies!
A WRINKLE IN TIME
Is there anyone present within this university that hasn’t, at the very least, read Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time anywhere between the ages of seven to twelve?
Is there anyone who has seen the original made-for-television 2003 fantasy film that was inspired by this novel?
If so, I am deeply sorry that you had to witness that train-wreck and CGI nightmare of a film that was a huge injustice to a great children’s novel.
Seriously, Mrs. Whatsit’s transformation in that film still makes me shiver to this day.
When I heard that they were remaking A Wrinkle in Time and that it was going to be released in 2018, I was equal parts apprehensive and hopeful.
My prior experience with the original A Wrinkle in Time film has subjected me to the belief that movies so deeply rooted in the fantasy genres are impossible to replicate correctly on-screen.
Of course, that is always the risk with all fantasy and sci-films.
I was also hopeful that this remake would succeed, and there are a few factors that led me to this.
We have made massive strides in the types of visual effects necessary for the story and its constant fantastical world-leaps.
It is directed by Ava DuVernay, a successful director well-known for Selma (2014). She became the first female black director to win a Golden Globe, Academy Award, and to create a live-action film with a budget of over $100 million.
Also, having stars such as Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kaling, Reese Witherspoon, and Chris Pine could have assisted in elevating this film into what it deserved to be.
A Wrinkle in Time more or less adheres to the plot of the original 1962 novel.
It follows Meg Murray (Storm Reid) and her younger brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) as they struggle through life without their father Alex (Chris Pine), who had gone missing years before.
Meg deals with the aftermath, which includes inspired gossip surrounding her father’s disappearance, mockery and bullying from the more popular girls of her school, and the internal question of what happened to her father.
She, along with Charles Wallace and their new friend Calvin O’Keefe (Levi Miller) are then thrust into an otherworldly quest to recover Alex from another world, assisted by three women named Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which.
In comparison to its 2003 counterpart, DuVernay’s A Wrinkle in Time was, in my opinion, quite excellent.
I enjoyed the inclusion of diversity within the cast choices, and Storm Reid was endearing to watch as main protagonist Meg Murray.
There were flaws within the movie, as to be expected.
I felt mental whiplash from the sheer amount of times they jumped from world to world alone, barely giving anyone time to adjust before they were gone again.
There were plot holes and unexplained details too vast to be ignored, but they were.
Clearly, there are mixed reviews with some praising DuVernay’s adaption of the story and others criticizing the writing and plot of the film in accordance to the story.
Overall though, I thought it was a great film to watch, and one that certainly planted a seed of nostalgia in me.
TOMB RAIDER
When I hear about a recently released film, or a to-be released film, that was inspired by the plot elements of a famous video game, there is a part of me that kind of shies away from going through with watching it.
Maybe it’s due to my opinion that certain plots belong to certain medias, and that they only really work when they stay in those medias.
For example, video games such as Until Dawn and Fight Nights at Freddy’s?
Let’s leave those stories within their original video games.
Although, I am keen to see how the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie looks like if it ever gets created, anyway.
In spite of this, however, I decided to give Roar Uthaug’s 2018 adaptation Tomb Raider a try.
The 2018 Tomb Raider is actually a reboot of a previous film made in 2001, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, which starred Angelina Jolie.
Based on what I have seen within the reactions this reboot has garnered, there is quite the comparison to be made between Jolie’s Lara Craft, and that of Alicia Vikander in this remake.
However, seeing as how I haven’t even seen Jolie’s portrayal, that won’t be what this section is about.
Sorry Jolie fans.
Released on March 16, Tomb Raider follows the story of Lara Croft (Vikander) and the aftermath of her life following her father Richard’s disappearance.
She is, for lack of a better word, carefree with her life, even though she pretty much has it made. She was born into a family of wealth and is an heiress, and yet she abandons it all after Richard disappears.
In her “new life,” she’s a bicycle delivery girl – and she gets arrested after she has an accident with her bike that involved a police car – and tries out her fighting skills in MMA matches in an attempt to make money.
Overall, not super impressive?
Eventually, Lara is told that she must claim her inheritance, or else risk her father’s estate being sold off if she were to refuse or keep putting it off.
Faced with this ultimatum, she gets down to her father’s office, and that is where she discovers a pre-recorded message Richard left.
The message reveals details of his research into Himiko, the Queen of Yamatai, and the one who is said to command power over life and death.
This shifts the narrative from a daughter’s father going inexplicably missing, to a possible explanation and location of where Lara’s father may be.
Richard tells Lara to destroy all of the research he accumulated, but Lara, wishing to know more, decides not to and sets out to find out what happened to her father.
Along the way, she encounters a group named Trinity, an expedition that is set on using Richard’s research to harness Himiko’s power and use it for their own gain.
Overall, I thought that Tomb Raider was well-made movie; the visuals were impressive, and Vikander, in her portrayal, was decent and not overtly sexy to the point of shifting attention away from the plot.
However, anything else I could say about the film feels diluted in the face of the endless comparisons being made to its 2001/Jolie counterpart.
I feel that to appreciate, or maybe not appreciate, this film, I may need to educate myself further and watch the Jolie adaption as well.
At the very least, it may help me find out why this film received a 49% on Rotten Tomatoes.
LOVE, SIMON
I gotta be honest with you all, this was one of the movies I was looking forward to watching the most, and when I finally saw it, I was not disappointed.
Love, Simon follows the story of Simon Spier (Nick Robinson), a normal teenager who lives a normal life, with a normal family, attending in a normal high school, with normal friends.
He makes that abundantly clear right from the get-go.
However, having been surrounded by such normality and immersed in a culture that enforces suppression of anything that goes against the social norms, Simon hides a secret: he’s gay.
As he struggles with keeping such a big part of his identity about himself under wraps, Simon’s best friend Leah directs him to a social media page their classmates post to, in which an poster going by the name “Blue” has anonymously outed himself as gay.
Simon reaches out to blue under the alias “Jacques,” and thus begins a tentative friendship that gradually molds into a tentative crush on this anonymous Blue, and Simon is desperate to figure out who it is.
Honestly, Simon was incredibly relatable during his quest to find out who Blue is, falling for every person he suspected of being Blue, and getting a little downtrodden when it’s proven that they weren’t.
It was adorable, endearing, and way too real.
It’s all cute and happy times as Simon continues to correspond with Blue. Then his emails get leaked on social media, the whole school finds out, and Simon is outed before he is ready.
Not going to lie, you guys, I was heartbroken for Simon for a large part of this film, and I teared up more than once watching his story unfold.
I honestly loved this movie, and on top of the teenage rom-com tropes, I thought that it posed some interesting concepts that weren’t explicitly addressed in the film.
I’ll share one with you that I found intriguing and extremely important to recognize.
The first part of the film is dedicated to Simon’s backstory, which includes the gradual realization of his attraction to the same sex, and how his upbringing contributed to keeping this a secret from his friends and family.
This introduces an interesting, but important concept.
Simon’s parents are not homophobic, but their characters provide the idea of the damaging affects a heteronormative remark can have on a child who is struggling with their sexual identity.
The discomfort Simon emits is tangible when his father cracks a joke about homosexual stereotypes, or when he assumes that Simon’s computer hosts a plethora of girls to be “alone” with, or when he butts in with a “Lemme guess, you got someone pregnant” line when Simon is literally about to out himself to them.
Many parents mean well, and I don’t believe that they mean to be intentionally malicious, but Love, Simon makes it so clear that it happens anyway with anyone.
All in all, everyone, this was a really great and empowering movie that spoke out heavily about everyday LGBTQA+ encounters, and I highly recommend watching it!
Gisselle Lopez
Features Editor