Despicable Me 4, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Thelma, Films of Powell and Pressburger

This month’s Mike Peros movie and TV reviews are Despicable Me 4, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Thelma, Films of Powell and Pressburger
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko: https://www.pexels.com/photo/people-at-the-theater-7991186/

[NoHo Arts District, CA] – This month’s Mike Peros movie and TV reviews are Despicable Me 4, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Thelma, Films of Powell and Pressburger.

I don’t know about you but anywhere I have been this summer has been…hot. It doesn’t matter where I am, or where I’m headed—it’s been a scorcher coming and going, and if you’ve been feeling like me, perhaps you want some entertaining escapism  (as opposed to not-so-entertaining escapism). For instance, Despicable Me 4 is another amusing and endearing entry in the Gru/Minions series. I’ve seen some reviews give it the cold shoulder, but the movie aims to please, and does so quite well. The plot involves Steve Carell’s Gru coping with a newborn (the baby loves to torment him!) and now working for the Anti-Villain League. Gru captures former rival Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell) but Maxime escapes custody and vows vengeance, which sends the Gru family into hiding (their new, oily next-door neighbor is voiced by Stephen Colbert). Of course, complications ensue, especially with the neighbor’s daughter Poppy (Joey King) who has super-villain aspirations of her own. There’s a lot of fun to be had, with some beautiful animation, good voice performers (including Kristen Wiig, Steve Coogan, Sofia Vergara and Laraine Newman), clever gags, and a satisfying musical wrap-up. My only caveat is that the Minions (voiced by Pierre Coffin), though as delightful as ever, are a little under-utilized. At least they’re getting their own sequel next. I’ll be there.

Having ignored Beverly Hills Cop 3, I was wary of revisiting the franchise after its prolonged absence (Eddie Murphy’ choice, I’m sure), but Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is now upon us on Netflix, and not in theaters, and I quite enjoyed it. Murphy is in good form, with Murphy’s Axel returning to Beverly Hills to reconcile with his estranged daughter Jane (Taylor Paige) and help ex-partner Billy (Judge Reinhold), both of whom have run afoul of a cartel. The film does lack suspense and mystery—you’re not going to have trouble figuring out who the main bad guy is, but there’s a lot of fun to be had, as long as you don’t take things too seriously. For instance, the first major action sequence is exciting and CGI-free (but if you think about it, you can’t help but wonder how many “denizens of Detroit” got seriously injured or killed during axel’s well-staged hot pursuit. That’s the thing—if you’re watching this, it’s because you’re able to tune that out and enjoy Murphy in top form (and even acknowledging his age at times), Paul Reiser, John Ashton, Kevin Bacon, and Bronson Pinchot energetically revisiting their characters (or in Bacon’s case, just joining the fun now), several well done action sequences, and some good comic bits. I’d hesitate to make a “5”, but I guess that’s up to Murphy and Netflix.

The sleeper hit Thelma, written and directed by Josh Margolin, gives the 94-year-old June Squibb her first leading role (she was Oscar-nominated for her supporting turn in the 2013 Nebraska), and here, she is nothing short of superb. Squibb plays an independent, elderly widow with nearby family, including a loving grandson (Fred Hochinger). When she receives what appears to be a desperate phone call from him, in which he says he needs $10,000 to get out of some legal trouble, she dutifully follows some later instructions to send the money (cash) to a post office box.  Soon after, she realizes she’s been scammed—and decides to get back the money, with the reluctant help of an old friend (a sensitive performance from the late Richard Roundtree) and his scooter. Though much of the film is about this unlikely pursuit, it also scores some points in its look at family, friendship, and aging. Thelma’s daughter and son-in-law (Parker Posey and Clark Gregg) love her and want what’s best, but they also wonder if she might need more help). Her grandson has some maturity issues, and while Thelma prides herself on her independence, she realizes she needs other people too—especially when she takes an unanticipated fall in a deserted parking lot. The film is also poignant and satisfying in how she is able to simultaneously make peace with these concerns and acquire what is rightfully hers. See Thelma in a theater, if you can, but wherever you see it, stick around during the final credits to see the real Thelma, whose story inspired the film.

Finally, the Academy Museum is doing a retrospective that is really worth seeing. It is called Tellers of Tales: The Films of Powell and Pressburger and it runs for the second half of July into August. If you love their films, especially from their prime period in the 1940s, the series is a treat; if you don’t know them, introduce yourselves with what I’m sure to be pristine prints. Beautifully, often sumptuously photographed, graced with intelligent scripts and excellent performers, the films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger are among the finest films ever made. Made in England, a new documentary narrated by Martin Scorsese, is a good intro to the filmmakers and their films, who had languished in semi-obscurity until Scorsese helped revive their critical reputations.  The series also includes the essential romances I Know Where I’m Going and A Matter of Life and Death, the satiric Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, and the haunting, delirious Black Narcissus. Get thee hither to the Academy—you won’t regret it.

Mike Peros
Mike Peros is an author whose new book, JOSE FERRER: SUCCESS AND SURVIVAL, the first biography of the Oscar and Tony-winning actor, has just been published by the University Press of Mississippi, while his previous book, DAN DURYEA: HEEL WITH A HEART is now available in paperback.