By Chris Kavan - 04/03/19 at 11:04 AM CT
Another pretty good update from the MPAA Ratings Board this week. Four, count 'em, four major releases all getting their approved ratings. The lineup includes an animated film about embracing your uniqueness, yet another dog-gone film, an anti-super man origin story and something about a road trip combined with the time-honored tradition of pranking people. An interesting lineup with something for everyone and at least I'm happy to talk about the vast majority of the movies this week.
Let's start with horror, specifically superhero horror. These two genres don't often meet, but David Yarovesky wants to change that with Brightburn. The story, per the trailers I've seen, pretty much follows the Superman origin - that is a couple (Elizabeth Banks and David Denman) find a baby in a crash-landed spaceship. They soon discover the child possesses amazing abilities but unlike the Man of Steel, our boy (Jackson A. Dunn) turns into a Man of Death. Taking on the mantel of Brightburn, he turns his isolation into rage and turns against this puny race of squishy nuggets known as mankind. I mean the poster pretty much gives away he has the ability to fly, his name suggest some eye lasers and/or pyrokenetic powers and, by early accounts, he also shares Superman's seemingly invulnerability. Thus it will be interesting to see if the good (normal) guys can stop him. The cast also includes Matt Jones, Steve Agee, Jennifer Holland and Meredith Hagner. Oh, James Gunn (no stranger to heroes or horror) is helping produce, and gives me the biggest reason to check this out. Rated R for horror violence/bloody images, and language.
From one extreme to another. Getting a very healthy "Trolls" vibe, UglyDolls looks to continue the tradition of presenting an uplifting message and casting some well-known musicians to kick things up with some catchy tunes. Thus we find the likes of Pitbull, Kelly Clarkson, Janelle Monáe, Nick Jonas, Blake Shelton, Charli XCX and Bebe Rexha joining Gabriel Iglesias, Wanda Sykes and Emma Roberts on a journey where "defective" toys enjoy their own community, but decide to check out the world outside their bubble. This, of course, puts them on a collision course with the citizens of Perfection who are all cookie-cutter, well, perfect and everyone learns a valuable lesson about where true beauty lies. Look, this isn't exactly rocket science, but this is the kind of movie that families will love. I didn't think Trolls looked like anything special, but it went on to earn over $150 million and spawn huge hit song. UglyDolls could certainly do the same. Rated PG for thematic elements and brief action.
If animation isn't your thing, but you still want a sweet, uplifting tale to lift your spirits... and you love animals then, boy, have I got the film for you! Actually, it's a sequel, as A Dog's Journey is the true sequel to A Dog's Purpose (and not the similarly-titles A Dog's Way Home, which came out earlier this year). The idea behind the film remains the same, Bailey (voiced by Josh Gad) is a dog-hopping spirit that goes from dog-to-dog, owner-to-owner trying to find the meaning behind it all. Dennis Quaid also returns and is joined by a variety of co-stars including Betty Gilpin, Ian Chen, Marg Helgenberger, Jake Manley, Kathryn Prescott and Kevin Claydon among others. The first film brought in $64.5 million, the not-sequel Way Home brought in $42 million and I think this one should fall right in between the two (unless people are really hankering for an animal to love). This is the kind of film that pulls on your heart-strings while still delivering a nice experience for the whole family. Rated PG for thematic content, some peril and rude humor.
The saying goes you save the best for last, but that saying is dumb, so instead I will leave you with Bad Trip. Bad Trip might not necessarily be a bad movie, but it is certainly the one that has the least amount to go one. What I do know is that apparently it follows two friends (played by Lil Rel Howery and Eric André) who go on a cross-country trip where they prank people using hidden cameras. This is like Jackass combined with every jack-hold on YouTube who thinks these prank videos are actually funny. And it's directed by the relatively unknown Kitao Sakurai. And that's about all I have. Rated R for crude sexual content, pervasive language, some graphic nudity and drug use.
Those are your main films getting the ratings update, but be sure to check out the full MPAA Ratings Bulletin below:
ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE
Rated PG-13 for sexual content, drug use/references, and language.
BAD TRIP
Rated R for crude sexual content, pervasive language, some graphic nudity and drug use.
BODY AT BRIGHTON ROCK
Rated R for language and some bloody images.
BRIGHTBURN
Rated R for horror violence/bloody images, and language.
A DOG'S JOURNEY
Rated PG for thematic content, some peril and rude humor.
DOMINO
Rated R for strong violence, some language and brief nudity.
MY HERO ACADEMIA: TWO HEROES
Rated PG-13 for some violent material/bloody images.
OFFICIAL SECRETS
Rated R for language.
OPERATION CHICAGO
Rated R for language throughout including some sexual references.
UGLYDOLLS
Rated PG for thematic elements and brief action.
