DC League of Super-Pets, at Look Cinemas

It might be the “Summer of Superman,” but Krypto has been the biggest winner from the trailer release. If you think he is cute there, check out Krypto All In #1. Every panel fully capitalizes on his adorableness, while still telling a dramatic story. Hopefully, Ryan North and Mike Norton can sustain that high quality. At this point, most viewers probably still know Krypto best from this animated film. He is a bigger Krypto, but he probably had to be, since he is voiced by The Rock in Jared Stern & Sam J. Levine’s DC League of Super-Pets, which has a special family screening this Tuesday at Look Cinemas.

Originally in the comics, Krypto landed on Earth after Superman. In League of Super Pets, he jumped into the escape-craft with Kal-El (in far and away the cutest scene of the film). Of course, they grow up to be Superman and Krypto, inseparable superhero buddies, protecting Metropolis from villains like Lex Luthor. However, Krypto feels like Lois Lane is on the verge of breaking up the band, like an animated Yoko Ono.

Ironically, it is not Luthor who renders Superman and Krypto powerless. It will be his literal guinea pig, Lulu, whom Krypto rescued from Luthor’s lab. However, Lulu did not want to be rescued, because she absorbed Luthor’s villainous persona. Consequently, she works on her evil scheme to refine Orange Kryptonite from the animal shelter, where she is imprisoned with Ace the Boxer, Merton the turtle, PB the potbellied pig, and Chip, the squirrel, who really shouldn’t be in a domestic adoption shelter, but whatever. Together, they all gain superpowers as a result of Lulu’s Kryptonite super-charge.

Krypto got off on the wrong paw with Ace and his pals, because he is not good with other pets. However, they all start to grow on each other. Krypto also promises to hook them up with nice farm homes in Smallville. Unfortunately, Lulu acclimates to super-villainy much quicker than the Super Pets adjust to super-heroism.

League of Super-Pets is undeniably kid-friendly and amusing, but sometimes maybe in ways that are a little too silly for fans of the DC Animated Universe, which this film is not a part of. Arguably, the talking animal business drives the film rather than their roles within the DC Universe. Obviously, Krypto has an honored place in the Universe and Ace is also an established member of the Bat-Family. Chip and Merton have precedent but they are very loosely based on their namesakes, while PB and Lulu are entirely original.

The best moments capture the human-animal bond shared by Superman and Krypto, who are nicely voiced by John Krasinski and The Rock. Conversely, Kevin Hart is a lot as Ace—sometimes too much. Natasha Lyonne and Vanessa Bayer are almost as much as Merton and PB. However, there are some standout guest voices, notably including Keanu Reeves as Batman (that one makes a lot of sense, right?), Alfred Molina as Jor-El, and Keith David as Dog-El, Krypto’s father, whose hologram provides some of the best jokes for hardcore DC fans.

Red One, on Prime Video

According to scientists, polar bears really belong at the top of the planetary food chain, because so many of them have a taste for eating people. Therefore, a big talking polar bear like Agent Garcia ought to provide all the protection Santa Claus needs. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is also considered fairly formidable for a mere mortal. Yet, somehow the bad guys still kidnap Santa while both ELF (Enforcement, Logistics, and Fortification) Agents were on the job. Even though he is only human, Johnson’s Callum Drift won’t take this threat to Christmas laying down, so he decides to flip the clueless hacker who helped facilitate the crisis in Jake Kasdan’s Red One, which starts streaming today on Prime Video.

Agent Drift intends to retire after this Christmas, so you know what that always means: trouble. Masked mercs abduct Santa spiriting him away through a hole in the North Pole security system. Of course, a blame-America-first leftist like Tulsi Gabbard would say Santa was asking for it, because of his security arrangement with NATO. Regardless, it took some serious computing power to detect the secret location of Santa’s workshop, but Bah-humbugging black-hat and self-described bounty-hunter Jack O’Malley inadvertently supplied the necessary data by hacking national science networks.

To avoid further beatings from Drift, O’Malley agrees to work with ELF to follow the trail of his anonymous client, who turns out to Gryla, the Icelandic winter witch. As a former associate of Santa’s adopted brother Krampus, she always believed Santa was too lenient on the “naughty-listers,” like O’Malley. By stealing Santa’s powers, she intends to finally deal out the punishment she believes they richly deserve.

Chris Morgan’s screenplay cleverly incorporates a lot of slightly macabre Christmas lore, including Gryla and Krampus. However, Kiernan Shipka’s portrayal of the Christmas witch and the special effects surrounding her are consistently overshadowed by the more colorful characters. That definitely includes Kristofer Hivju’s imposing Krampus, who is more grouch than demon.

In truth, nobody is more colorful than J.K. Simmons, who looks quite fit—and even downright cut—as old kris. Frankly, he makes cookies and milk look a better muscle building supplement than any GNC powder. As usual, Simmons can land a sharp one-liner, but his sarcasm is gentler this time around—because he is Santa. He also develops great chemistry with Bonnie Hunt, who really should have had more screentime as Mrs. Claus.

Of course, the Rock does his thing, which includes milking Drift’s humorlessness for humor. Basically, Johnson acts like the film is titled The Fast and the Jolly, which should be totally fine with his fans. It is also nice to see Lucy Liu get to kick some butt to as Zoe Harlow, the chief of the clandestine MORA (Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority) agency. However, Chris Evans’ portrayal of O’Malley, the hacker and jerkweed absentee father, needed more charm and less smugness.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw

Is there a weirder term getting bandied about by the agenda-driven media than “toxic masculinity?” What’s so bad about men being manly? (It’s a rhetorical question.) That is why the world needs some testosterone-driven blockbusters every so often. If you find masculinity toxic than head to your “safe space” when The Rock, Jason Statham, and Idris Elba crash cars and jaw at each other in David Leitch’s Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, which opens today around the world.

What’s this film about? It’s about two hours and fifteen minutes. What more were you wondering about? Luke Hobbs is a Los Angeles G-Man. Deckard Shaw is a UK spy turned freelancer. They have worked together before, but they were never chummy. Much to their mutual consternation, the CIA has recruited them both to work as a team tracking down a misplaced mega-virus.

The case will be personal for Shaw, because his sister, MI6 agent Hattie Shaw was framed for the theft of the “Snowflake” virus and the murder of the rest of her recovery team. The real villain is Brixton Lore, whom Shaw also has some history with. The last time he saw Lore, he shot him once in the head and twice in the heart, but somehow, a shadowy eugenics organization managed to save the turncoat agent. Thanks to their enhancements and programming, Lore is now a bionic super-powered cyborg-hybrid.

Blah, blah, blah, whatever. The plot here is just an excuse for Hobbs and Shaw to talk smack to each other and engage in some large-scale smack-downs. Everything is big here, particularly the action sequences. Frankly, the early F&F movies seem downright quaint and intimate by comparison. Remember, it all started with Paul Walker’s character going undercover to bust a crew hijacking truckloads of consumer electronics. From there, we somehow reached the Rock fighting armored villains as he freefalls off a London skyscraper.

Of course, this all plays to the strengths of The Rock. He really has massive screen charisma, which easily shines through all the explosions and wildly over-the-top stunts. He also develops some solid comic timing trading mother insults with Jason Statham. Taking on the squintier, flintier, Eastwood-esque role, Statham manages to be cool and keep his head above all the surrounding madness as the more grounded Shaw. As an added bonus, Vanessa Kirby shows off some impressive action chops of her own, as Hattie Shaw.

As a bad guy demanding imposing physicality and neurotic angst, Lore is definitely dead solid in Elba’s wheelhouse, sort of like the Luther of supervillains. As an added bonus, Dame Helen Mirren clearly enjoys playing Ma Shaw, who is definitely her grown children’s mother. F&F: H&S also boasts two uncredited big-name cameos. One is pretty embarrassing, while the other is take-no-prisoners funny. Fortunately, the latter gets more screen time, including a curtain call during the closing credits.

Instead of Vin Diesel’s brothers-from-different-mothers “family” talk of the other Furious films, Hobbs & Shaw are all about traditional family values—and saving the world. It isn’t phony. In fact, The Rock has an affinity playing action heroes who are also engaged parents (as in the somewhat under-appreciated Skyscraper). The formula still works here, but it would have been even more effective if the bedlam were a little more grounded. Recommended for fans of the stars and the franchise, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw opens today (8/2), just about everywhere, including the AMC Empire in Midtown.