sequels – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

THE VERY EXCELLENT MR. DUNDEE – Review by Susan Granger

December 22, 2020December 24, 2020 Susan Granger crocodile dundee, dean murphy, paul hogan, sequels

Cheeky Australian comedian Paul Hogan became an international superstar with Crocodile Dundee, earning a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nod which led to a co-hosting gig at the 1987 Academy Awards. After that came less successful sequels, Crocodile Dundee II and Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles. Now admittedly 80, he’s divorced and retired, enjoying laid-back living in Los Angeles with his grown son. Suddenly, his agent/manager summons him, telling him that the Queen wants to bestow a knighthood upon him for services to comedy.

Reviews

FROZEN II – Review by Brandy McDonnell

November 22, 2019 Brandy McDonnell 0 Comments animation, disney, Frozen II, sequels

“Frozen II” makes room for romance, but rather than forcing it into the narrative like past Disney Princess movies, the cool sequel keeps blazing a trail by letting its characters have love and adventure, too.

Reviews

MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL – Review by Brandy McDonnell

October 17, 2019October 21, 2019 Brandy McDonnell 0 Comments angelina jolie, disney, Maleficent, Maleficent Mistress of Evil, michelle pfeiffer, sequels

But “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” is at its best when it lets its two powerhouse leading ladies – Jolie, who is a force of nature as the misunderstood Maleficent, and Pfeiffer, who chews the fantastical scenery with villainous glee – dominate the fairy story.

Reviews

ANGEL HAS FALLEN – Brandy McDonnell reviews

August 28, 2019August 28, 2019 Brandy McDonnell 0 Comments Angel Has Fallen, gerard butler, Jada Pinkett Smith, Morgan Freeman, sequels

The screenplay by Robert Mark Kamen, Matt Cook and director Ric Roman Waugh telegraphs every plot point so obviously that even a schoolchild will know whodunnit and why – not that any child should see this movie since Waugh’s leans into the R rating, violently racking up a stunning body count.

Reviews

TOY STORY 4 – Review by Brandy McDonnell

July 3, 2019July 3, 2019 Brandy McDonnell 0 Comments disney, pixar, sequels, Toy Story

The brilliant minds at Disney/Pixar have pulled off the seemingly impossible with the “Toy Story” series, creating a franchise that, four films and 24 years in, hasn’t produced a single dud. No playing.

Reviews

THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART – Review by Brandy McDonnell

February 13, 2019February 15, 2019 Brandy McDonnell 0 Comments Chris Pratt, elizabeth banks, LEGO Movie 2, sequels

For fans who have waited through five years and two spinoffs to find out what happened after aliens made of Duplo blocks landed in Bricksburg and declared “we are here to destwoy you,” the sequel picks up right where the first film left off and quickly constructs a whole new universe of possibilities.

Reviews

HALLOWEEN (2018) – Review by Brandy McDonnell

October 18, 2018October 20, 2018 Brandy McDonnell 0 Comments halloween, jamie lee curtis, Judy Greer, sequels, slasher movies

The imminently watchable Curtis (“True Lies,” “A Fish Called Wanda”) got her big break playing Laurie Strode, a teenage babysitter who manages to survive the rampage of stoic masked serial killer Michael Myers, in John Carpenter’s original “Halloween.” A direct sequel to the first film, the new “Halloween” smartly ignores the plethora of dull and convoluted entries in between and picks up 40 years later.