By Chris Kavan - 10/23/19 at 11:40 AM CT
While there are three big films getting some ratings love this week, it's going to be a deceptively short write-up because the films just don't have a lot to go on yet, despite being, you know, major releases. Two are strictly family fare - an animated sequel and an animated spy comedy. The long outlier is a romance, coming out right around Valentine's Day because - why wouldn't you? So don't expect a lot of details this time around because details are still hard to come by, but I'll do the best with what I have to work with.
The film with the most information to go off of at this point is the first of the animated offerings, from Disney (via 20th Century Fox), Spies in Disguise. The film follows ace spy Lance Sterling (Will Smith) and overlooked tech guru Walter Beckett (Tom Holland) - who has had a breakthrough - hide spies in plain sight by transforming them into the most mundane of animals: the humble pigeon. Unfortunately his theory is about to get a real-world test when Sterling takes the untested prototype and becomes... well, a pigeon. Thus the world's greatest spy is now the world's most common bird. Thus it falls on the shoulders of Beckett to take up the mantle of super spy and make sure the world continues to be saved. This seems like an exciting pairing in my eyes - and the cast is bolstered by the likes of Karen Gillan, Rachel Brosnahan, Ben Mendelsohn, Rashida Jones, Reba McEntire, Masi Oka and DJ Khaled. The movie seems like it has a lot of appeal - the animation style, the cast... but and a BIG but - it's releasing at the same time as Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - meaning, no matter how this looks, it's going to get buried. Still, there is room for more than one big film and perhaps people who find themselves without tickets (because they didn't pre-order them like any rational person) will decide this is a good second choice. Rated PG for action, violence, and rude humor.
And thus ends my ability to make any lengthy remakes about the new films. I guess I'll stick with animated and move right along to Trolls World Tour. The original Trolls, despite being based on a bunch of ugly doll things with crazy hair, was surprisingly good - and, of course, spawned a hit pop song in Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop the Feeling!". It also featured an extensive voice cast - almost none of which are coming back for the sequel! That's right, just Anna Kendrick, James Cordon, Ron Funches and Kunal Nayyar are reprising their roles - though Trolls 2 is adding plenty of new talent like Sam Rockwell, Jamie Dornan, Rachel Bloom, Charlyne Yi and musical talent like Chance the Rapper, Kelly Clarkson, Mary J. Blige, Ester Dean, Ozzy Osbourne and George Clinton. If nothing else, the music should be as good, if not better, than the first. In turn, it looks like the plot involves our core Trolls, Poppy and Branch (Kendrick and Timberlake) discovering that there are six Troll tribes, each dedicated to a certain kind of music (Funk, Country, Techno, Classical, Pop and Rock. And it turns out the Rock Tribe leaders, Queen Barb and her father King Thrash (Bloom and Ozzy) only want their music to rule the lands. I mean, if this is as fun as the first film, I don't see why it won't do just as well. Rated PG for some mild rude humor.
Lastly, and the film with the least amount of information, but very appropriate for its date - February 14, 2020 - otherwise known as Valentine's Day - a film definitely aimed at couples, The Photograph. The very vague description revolves around a series of intertwining love stories that span the past and present. It's been done before, but I guess it must be a popular enough because similar films keep popping up every now and then. In this case, our cast includes LaKeith Stanfield, Issa Rae, Lil Rel Howery, Courtney B. Vance, Kingsley Ben-Adi, Chelsea Peretti and Kelvin Harrison Jr. among others. For what it's worth, I'm sure it will kill for couples who like this sort of thing. Rated PG-13 for sexuality and brief strong language.
Those are all the major films from the MPAA Ratings Board this week, but be sure to check out the full list below:
A DARK FOE
Rated R for disturbing violent content, gruesome images, a rape, sexual content, nudity,
language and drug material.
INTRIGO: DEAR AGNES
Rated R for some language, sexual content and violence.
INTRIGO: DEATH OF AN AUTHOR
Rated R for language and some sexual content.
INTRIGO: SAMARIA
Rated R for language.
THE ISLANDS
Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements and violence.
LET IT SNOW
Rated PG-13 for crude sexual material, strong language, and teen partying.
THE MURDER OF NICOLE BROWN SIMPSON
Rated R for some strong bloody violence, language, sexuality and brief drug material.
THE ORCHARD
Rated R for violence, language throughout and some drug use.
THE PHOTOGRAPH
Rated PG-13 for sexuality and brief strong language.
SPIES IN DISGUISE
Rated PG for action, violence, and rude humor.
TOGO
Rated PG for some peril, thematic elements and mild language.
TROLLS WORLD TOUR
Rated PG for some mild rude humor.
