Welcome to the latest episode of Movie Review Talk with Scott Mantz! On this episode, Scott, Matt Atchity, and Andrew Freund are discussing four new releases – The Predator, White Boy Rick, A Simple Favor and Peppermint. The critics also give their thoughts on the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Blu-ray that comes out on digital and Blu-ray soon.
The Predator is directed by Shane Black, the writer of the original 1987 Predator film that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. This film stars Boyd Holbrook, Sterling K. Brown, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Munn, Jacob Tremblay, Thomas Jane and Trevante Rhodes. From the outer reaches of space to the small-town streets of suburbia, the hunt comes home in Shane Black’s explosive reinvention of the Predator series. Now, the universe’s most lethal hunters are stronger, smarter and deadlier than ever before, having genetically upgraded themselves with DNA from other species. When a young boy accidentally triggers their return to Earth, only a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers and a disgruntled science teacher can prevent the end of the human race.
White Boy Rick stars Matthew McConaughey, Richie Merritt, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bruce Dern. The film from ’71 director Yann Damange has been generating powerful buzz from press screenings and film festivals like TIFF where it was recently screened. The film is set in 1980s Detroit at the height of the crack epidemic and the War on Drugs. It is based on the moving true story of a blue-collar father and his teenage son, Rick Wershe Jr., who became an undercover police informant and later a drug dealer, before he was abandoned by his handlers and sentenced to life in prison.
Peppermint is a revenge film starring Jennifer Garner and directed by Taken director Pierre Morel. Recently seen as the loving mother in the surprise hit Love, Simon, Garner returns to the actions genre she knows so well from her days as the star of ABC’s Alias and as Elektra in both Daredevil and Elektra. The film tells the story of young mother Riley North (Garner) who awakens from a coma after her husband and daughter are killed in a brutal attack on the family. When the system frustratingly shields the murderers from justice, Riley sets out to transform herself from citizen to urban guerilla. Channeling her frustration into personal motivation, she spends years in hiding honing her mind, body and spirit to become an unstoppable force – eluding the underworld, the LAPD and the FBI – as she methodically delivers her personal brand of justice.
A Simple Favor comes from noted TV and feature film director Paul Feig. Feig made his name on comedies like Bridesmaids, The Heat, and Spy and now he’s back with a new mystery comedy. A Simple Favor is based on the novel by Darcey Bell with a screenplay from Jessica Sharzer and stars Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively and Henry Golding. It centers around Stephanie (Kendrick), a mommy vlogger who seeks to uncover the truth behind her best friend Emily’s (Lively) sudden disappearance from their small town. Stephanie is joined by Emily’s husband Sean (Golding) in this stylish thriller filled with twists and betrayals, secrets and revelations, love and loyalty, murder and revenge.
