Urban Lark

I was going in thinking I was going to see bloody battle after bloody battle with the women warriors doing one magnificent move after another. However, that is not what this movie is. It is about the making of a warrior and the stories of these brave women. There are great battle scenes for sure but not an action packed movie from start to finish. That being said the stories are strong and gripping enough to pull you in and the acting is superbly phenomenal. The story masterfully shows strength and vulnerability, humility and arrogance, and triumph over deep tragedy in each of the characters in a way to show their humanity and not display them as larger than life superheroes who never experience self doubt or pain. Every actress/actor in it no matter if their part was small or large gave a tour de force performance especially the titular character played ingeniously by Viola Davis. I could say so much more, but I do not want to give any of it away for those who may not have seen it yet but it is definitely worth the price of admission. I do not know how the director did it but I felt like I was right there in Africa with the characters: The director was able to transport you from the theater to the movie setting in a way I cannot begin to describe. You have to be there.

This movie seemed to be advertised in a way to make you believe it was an edge of your seat thriller or atleast a multi cultural Set It Off, and it was not. The preview where they show the woman running really fast is actually her running for the bus so she wouldn't be late for a babysitting job. The movie is two hours and nine minutes long with the heist actually taking place in the last nine minutes. The twist at the end was very lackluster and did not make up for the long, drawn out movie. Several people actually went to sleep in the theater (I looked around), and one person started to snore. The acting was superb as expected, Viola's make up and clothing were on point, and I loved the scene on the basketball court. Unless you are a die hard fan of one of the actors or the director, you can wait for Red Box.

If you loved the first Creed then you will definitely love this one as it maintains the same energy. Michael B. Jordan's acting is absolutely exceptional as he is believable as both the tough boxer and the sensitive boyfriend. His raw emotion is award winning. I saw Rocky IV in theaters and was afraid that Creed 2 would be too much like Rocky IV but the writer definitely dug deep to present an original story about growth and redemption while not relying too much on the old rivalry of Apollo and Ivan Drago. The director also deserves a lot of credit for the many beautiful shots and angles throughout this film. In other words I loved it!

Be prepared to read a lot. There are a lot of subtitles. The plot is not really compelling. It was presented in a juvenile way meaning we had to believe things that just did not add up and the writers did not delve too deep into any area or any character. I really wanted to like it and was excited when it came out but very disappointed. A great opportunity to make an awesome franchise was squandered. But hey check it out you may love.