Mr. Movie: ‘News of the World’ on the big screen is good news
Theaters are in full swing in Tri-Cities again. Fairchild’s properties in Kennewick and Richland are open. Pasco will soon be open. The AMC website says the AMC Classic Kennewick 12 will open on Friday but I cannot reach anyone to get a movie lineup.
Last Saturday night I treated my family to a trip to a theater. It’s the second time I’ve been in one in close to a year. I’ve missed them. A lot of you have, too. Hopefully, this time the state will let theaters stay open.
By the way, if you’re worried about catching COVID, theaters are safer than restaurants and most businesses. There are several reasons. For one, computer systems can specify seating and easily keep people separate. The Fairchild theaters are stadium style so the people behind are several feet above and several feet back.
That makes social distancing easy.
Second, the sheer size of the auditorium means the volume of air moved is light years more than a restaurant and other buildings where ceilings are lower. And then there’s the fact that, unlike restaurants and stores, we all face the same way in a theater and we — mostly — don’t talk.
We text. Movie texting, however, is a topic for another day.
For me, and for my family, it was great to be in a theater again. I caught “Wonder Woman 1984.” I watched it the first time just before Christmas. To do my review, I had to see it on my 27-inch iMac. The movie looked good but films like Wonder Woman belong on a big screen and not a small one.
This time I saw the movie on the theater’s biggest screen. Night and day stuff. I rated it a 3 out of 5 in my original review.
It gets a half a point raise because of the theater experience.
Also showing in the Fairchild Cinemas theaters is the Tom Hanks flick, “News of the World.” It’s another great film. I didn’t see it on the big screen but I did see it in my own version of a home theater on my 82 — or is it 84? — inch TV.
As nice as that was, it will not come close to being as good as a theater. Anyway, and at least for now, the theater experience is back.
News of the World
Every year — even in a COVID-punishing year — there is one movie people ask about most. That movie in 2020 was “News of the World.”
It was definitely worth asking about.
The film is set in the late 1800s after the Civil War. Tom Hanks plays Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd. His profession is reading news of the world from newspapers to the citizens of towns in Texas.
It costs each person a dime to attend the reading.
On his travels, Kidd finds a wagon, a dead man hanging from a tree and a frightened young girl. She was kidnapped by the Native American tribe, the Kiowas, a few years before. He finds papers stating she is to be taken to her aunt and uncle in another part of the state.
Kidd can’t leave her there so he takes her to U.S. soldiers helping to settle Texas. They won’t do anything so Kidd decides to do the job himself and get the girl to her relatives. Along the way they encounter several dangers including a trio of bad guys wanting the girl.
The other plot angle has Kidd dealing with the reason he’s no longer with his wife and family.
The adventure revolves around the importance of getting accurate news and information to people who rarely hear of anything outside of their small circles. The captain’s sense of right, wrong and justice and the importance of saving the girl drives the story.
Tom Hanks continues to be everyone’s favorite. This is another perfect role for Hanks who is always — for lack of a better adjective — Hanks. No actor working today does the extraordinary ordinary man better. In fact, the only rival Hanks has for being the all time best actor doing extraordinarily ordinary, is Jimmy Stewart.
As good as Hanks is, the real scene stealer in “News of the World” is newcomer Helena Zengel. She has very few lines but her body language, facial expressions and beautiful blue eyes speak volumes. The chemistry between the girl and Hanks is exceptional. It also helps drive the movie.
Hanks rarely fails to find interesting projects and deep, rich, three-dimensional characters. “News of the World” reunites him with his “Captain Phillips” director, and the movie’s co-writer, Paul Greengrass. He brilliantly engineers sets and scenes that put you into the late 1800s and gives you an authentic view of the chaos of the post-Civil War times.
My one — and only — complaint is a script that sometimes works overtime to push modern political themes into the plot.
▪ Rated PG-13 for some violence and mature themes. It can be seen on Netflix and at Fairchild Cinemas Southgate 10 and Queensgate 12.
▪ Rating: 4 out of 5
Wonder Woman 1984
Wonder Woman does battle with super salesman and mega-huckster, Maxwell Lord. He wants to be the biggest oil baron on the planet and is willing to do anything to get there.
It’s 1984 and Diana still misses Steve Trevor who died over 60 years earlier in World War I. He sacrificed himself to save humanity from the god, Ares.
Diana works at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. She has no life except for work and doing some super hero things. No dating. No friends. Diana is an expert in ancient artifacts. A few artifacts from a robbery are given Barbara Minerva who is one of her associates.
One of them has the power grant wishes. Lord knows about it and has been tracking the artifact.
He’s a real charmer, mesmerizes Minerva and steals the artifact. Before that happens, the lady — not knowing the power of the artifact — wishes she’d be more like Diana and gains super powers. Also not knowing how the artifact works, Diana wishes Steve hadn’t died. He comes back from the dead.
After stealing the artifact, Lord uses it for his own selfish desires. Wishes are what give him power and wishes are at the center of his villainy.
Gal Gadot is not a very good actress but her looks and demeanor are perfect for the role. Plus, she goes all out to sell the character and the premise. Her biggest problem is being hampered by the horrible dialogue from the pen of writer/director, Patty Jenkins. She and her co-writers developed a potentially fun story but other than the early 1980s spoofing, disappointingly fail to put clever and snappy dialogue into the script.
The first half of “Wonder Woman 1984” is lots of fun. This is especially true of scenes where Trevor discovers 1984 and the modern technology of the times. Lots of laughs there. They make it worth sitting through the iffy second act and the totally boring third.
Chris Pine reprises his role as Trevor. Kristen Wiig (“Bridesmaids”) stars as Minerva.
He’s always been pretty good at comedy and plays being mesmerized by 1984 with tongue properly inserted in cheek.
Also having a blast is “The Mandalorian’s,” Pedro Pascal as Lord. He’s totally over-the-top and, other than Pine in his early scenes, and Wiig in hers, Pascal is the only actor in the film who seems to be having fun.
“Wonder Woman 1984” suffers from the same flaw that tears most super hero movies down. It’s puffed up with effects-laden scenes, and is too long. At 2:31 it’s bloated. A cut down to two-hours and this is a pretty good movie.
After sitting through the pre-movie features, gobs of trailers and the movie, this is an over three-hour experience. The bottom line? “Wonder Woman 1984” put some great performances into a not-so-good movie.
Some of you — like me — will end up wishing Lord would grant you a wish. That wish is that “Wonder Woman 1984” was a little shorter, and a little better.
▪ Rated PG-13 for mature themes, some violence and language. It can be seen at the Fairchild Cinemas Southgate 10 and Queensgate 12.
▪ Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5
This story was originally published February 25, 2021 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Mr. Movie: ‘News of the World’ on the big screen is good news."