By Chris Kavan - 02/22/17 at 10:30 AM CT
I have nothing to say about this week's rating bulletin except... it's a good one. We have set another Furious film with Vin Diesel playing the... villain?! Color me intrigued - even if by the previews they are going to make even more ludicrous decisions that defy physics and reality. Besides that we have a thriller involving a blind women who gets her sight back only to learn she may not like what she sees, a junior version of Mask where Jacob Tremblay portrays a boy with a facial deformity who is determined to fit in and a what is sure to be a three-hanky film when Jessica Chastain and Johan Heldenbergh take on the role of a couple in charge of the Warsaw zoo who rescue both animals and people when the Nazi party comes in to power. Overall, another excellent update and one I'm more than happy to share.
The Fast and the Furious films just aren't going to be the same after losing Paul Walker in a car accident. Still, the show must go on and the gang is back in town for The Fate of the Furious, which sounds a lot batter then the generic Fast 8. In order to shake things up, this time around Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto has seemingly turned his back on his old team and joined forces with a femme fatale (Charlize Theron) and is back to his criminal ways. Meanwhile, Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is in prison, but not for long. With Dom's betrayal, the gang, including Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Ludacris) will have to trust Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) and his plan to join forces with their former enemy Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) in order to stop Dom from making a terrible mistake and probably putting the world in danger. Helen Mirren and Scott Eastwood also join the expansive cast. The Furious series has always been fun - but ever since Justin Lin's Fast Five, they have gotten better even if the stunts and action has gotten even more unbelievable. As long as you can put reality aside for an hour or two, this action franchise seems to hit all the right note and with F. Gary Gary behind the camera, I have hopes this could be another home run for the franchise. Rated PG-13 for prolonged sequences of violence and destruction, suggestive content, and language.
The premise for All I See is You seems intriguing enough. Gina (Blake Lively) has lived with blindness for most of her life, while still enjoying a relationship with her husband, James (Jason Clarke). When a procedure offers the chance to get her sight back, she agrees and when the operation succeeds she finds that gaining sight also means she may not like what she winds up seeing. Yvonne Strahovski, Wes Chatham, Ahna O'Reilly and Danny Huston round out the cast. The movie is not going to shy away from adult content as it earns a hard R for strong sexual content/nudity and language. Methinks that maybe James isn't that faithful and that playing a blind woman may also come back to bite him where it hurts most.
Do you like animals? Do you like uplifting stories in the face of tragedy? Do you like crying at movies? Well, the trifecta has been hit with The Zookeeper's Wife. In Warsaw, Antonina and Jan Zabinski (played by Jessica Chastain and Johan Heldenbergh) run the Warsaw Zoo. They enjoy their life and their jobs, but all that is about to change as the new Nazi party comes to power in Germany. Soon enough, the Zabinskis work to not only save the animals in their charge, but their fellow man as the German's invade. So many films depict the horrors of WWII - and while I don't think The Zookeeper's Wife will shy away from some of the tragedy, I also think it will shine a little more light than what we're used to. Daniel Brühl, Efrat Dor, Iddo Goldberg and Shira Haas round out the cast. Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, disturbing images, violence, brief sexuality, nudity and smoking.
If that wasn't enough to make you cry, I'm sure even more hankies will be soiled with Wonder. In a story that reminds me of a junior version of the 1985 inspirational story Mask, Jacob Tremblay (of Room fame), plays, Auggie Pullman, a young boy with a facial deformity. Despite the adversity that comes from how he looks, Auggie is determined ot make his life at a new school as normal as possible, with help from his supportive mother Isabel (Julia Roberts) and father (Owen Wilson). The movie recently switched from an April to November release, not for any issues but because apparently it scored high with family audiences and November seemed a more viable option to pull in that audience. If the film can avoid being too melodramatic and syrupy sweet, and can actually touch on the drama - this could be a huge. The pedigree of the cast and director Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) lead me to believe it can avoid that trap and stand out. Rated PG for thematic elements including bullying, and some mild language.
Four big films this week, but don't forget to check out the full MPAA Ratings Bulletin below:
ALL I SEE IS YOU
Rated R for strong sexual content/nudity and language.
DRAGONHEART: BATTLE FOR THE HEARTFIRE
Rated PG-13 for violence.
THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS
Rated PG-13 for prolonged sequences of violence and destruction, suggestive content and language.
GROW HOUSE
Rated R for drug use and language throughout, including some sexual references.
PRAY FOR RAIN
Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and some violence.
RESIDENT EVIL: VENDETTA
Rated R for bloody violence throughout.
VOICE FROM THE STONE
Rated R for some sexuality/nudity.
WONDER
Rated PG for thematic elements including bullying and some mild language.
THE ZOOKEEPER'S WIFE
Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, disturbing images, violence, brief sexuality, nudity and smoking.
