The Film Fix: Reviews, Previews of Top Films in March both in Theaters, Streaming
By JONATHAN W. HICKMAN, Special to The Paper
Below are reviews and capsules of various films this month in theaters and/or streaming.
Review rating … A “Fix” is recommended with a rating between 6 and 10. A “No Fix” is not recommended with a rating between 1 to 5.
In Theaters
Last Breath (now playing) – Fix Rating 7/10 – This harrowing and inspirational picture is directed by Alex Parkinson, the filmmaker who chronicled the same true tale in a 2019 documentary. The narrative follows a saturation diver named Chris Lemons (played by Finn Cole), who gets stranded at the bottom of the North Sea while attempting to repair an underwater pipeline. The movie is an exacting recreation of the heroic efforts to rescue him as his oxygen supply runs out. Simu Liu (“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”) and Woody Harrellson co-star.
The Monkey (now playing) – Fix Rating 6/10 – “The Monkey” isn’t one of the best Stephen King adaptations (it’s based on a short story). However, the wacky, absurd approach by “Longlegs” director Osgood Perkins has an energy to it that might infect the cool kids with King nostalgia. The comic gore on display in this film easily fills huge vats with sinewy body parts and buckets of blood. Perkins’ unapologetically violent sequences are masterfully mounted and comedically effective even if his narrative loses its way by the film’s middle section.
Streaming Selects
NETFLIX
The Electric State (March 14) – The Russo Brothers (see “Avengers: Endgame”) continue their responsibilities as part of their blockbuster streaming deal with the platform. “The Electric State” is another big-budgeted science fiction epic, this time starring Chris Pratt and “Stranger Things” star Millie Bobby Brown. The story unfolds in a retro-futuristic 1990s America after a robot conflict of some sort. Brown stars as Michelle, a teen who teams up with a robot and a drifter named Keats (Pratt) to search for her younger brother.
APPLE TV+
The Studio (March 26) – Fix Rating 7/10 – Seth Rogen serves as a series co-creator alongside his “Sausage Party” co-producer Evan Goldberg to deliver this amusing Hollywood parody. Rogen plays movie executive Matt Remick, who takes over the top spot at Continental Studios, where he’s expected to make money (not art like he desperately wants). As he navigates his way around and through the pitfalls of running a major studio, he’s tasked with shepherding a big-screen adaptation of Kool-Aid. In the wake of the success of “Barbie,” the big money appears to be on bringing the story of the Kool-Aid Man (and his family) to theaters. The supporting cast is terrific, led by Catherine O’Hara, Kathryn Hahn, Ike Barinholtz, and newcomer Chase Sui Wonders. “The Studio” is a must-see for industry insiders and those with knowledge of Hollywood dysfunction.
MAX
The Righteous Gemstones (season 4, March 9) – Season 4 is the final season of the popular and hilarious series “The Righteous Gemstones.” As Gemstone patriarch Eli (John Goodman) continues to fade into retirement, the evangelical ministry he started has been handed over to his questionably competent children. These children all have very different approaches to expanding their religious empire and spend most of their time fighting with each other. This show, created by star Danny McBride, is over the top. Still, like most of his projects (see “Vice Principals,” for example), a sweetness undergirds the narrative, making it positively irresistible. And, yes, the trailers promise the return of Walton Goggins as Baby Billy Freeman.
DISNEY+ / HULU
Daredevil: Born Again (two-episode premiere now playing) – Charlie Cox returns to the role of Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, to continue the story first introduced on Netflix in 2015. Cox appeared as Murdock in 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” and the Disney+ series “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” and “Echo.” “Born Again” will bring back characters from the previous series, including Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin of Crime. Also, a new villain threatens in the form of a mysterious serial killer named Muse, who was part of Daredevil’s rogues’ gallery in the comics and was an art-obsessed criminal who created “masterpieces” with his victims’ blood. It sounds like pretty gruesome stuff!
Theatrical Teasers
Mickey 17 (March 7) — Oscar-winning director Bong Joon Ho (see “Parasite”) joins forces with Robert Pattinson for this wacky-looking adaptation of Edward Ashton’s popular novel “Mickey 7.” Because movie adaptations are always bigger than their source material, this one ups the book’s number of Mickey Barnes copies (called “expendables”) by the power of ten in this science fiction film about attempts to colonize an inhospitable and frigid planet.
Queen of the Ring (March 7) – This sports film is helmed by Ash Avildsen, the son of late director John G. Avildsen (Oscar winner for “Rocky” and the filmmaker who gave us “The Karate Kid”). Based on the true story of pioneering female professional wrestler Mildred Burke (Emily Bett Rickards), “Queen of the Ring” chronicles the rise of a single mother in a male- dominated sport and how she became the first woman athlete to earn a million dollars.
Black Bag (March 14) — Director Steven Soderbergh, who just dropped the creepy “Presence” into theaters in January, reteams with actor Michael Fassbender (see 2011’s underrated “Haywire”) and Cate Blanchett (see 2006’s “The Good German”) for this slick-looking spy thriller. Fassbender and Blanchett play married intelligence agents George and Kathryn. When Kathryn is suspected of working for the other side, George must choose between his loyalty to his nation and his love for his wife.
Novocaine (March 14) — “The Boys” star Jack Quaid plays Nathan Caine, a mild-mannered guy with a unique genetic disorder that gives him a congenital insensitivity to pain. When his girlfriend is kidnapped during a bank robbery, Nathan must put his extraordinary ability to work to rescue her. Like last month’s “Love Hurts,” this one looks like another “John Wick” imitator but with a heightened genetic twist.
Snow White (March 21) – Disney’s live-action adaptations of their animated library continue with this reimaging of the 1937 classic. Rachel Zegler (“West Side Story”) is the title character opposite Gal Gadot (“Wonder Woman”) as the Evil Queen. Expect this version to depict Snow White as a more active and heroic character determined to reclaim her kingdom.
Death of a Unicorn (March 28) – This A24 monster horror film features an A-list ensemble cast with the likes of Jenna Ortega and Paul Rudd, among others. The trailers reveal that a man (Rudd) and his daughter (Ortega) hit a unicorn on the road to an isolated mansion. Of course, they load the beast into their SUV and take it to their destination. But they are unprepared when the mother unicorn comes around for her baby. Don’t expect rainbows and heartfelt pleasantries in this dark comedy.
A Working Man (March 28) – Everyone’s favorite English martial arts star, Jason Statham, shows no sign of slowing down even as he closes in on 58 this year. In this actioner, Statham plays a construction worker named Levon Cade. The film is directed by David Ayer (see last year’s Statham collaboration “The Beekeeper”), who works from a screenplay co-written by Sylvester Stallone. When a human trafficking ring kidnaps Cade’s boss’s daughter, Cade is called upon to take up the counter-terrorism skills that he plied before being a working man. Expect a high body count, a hail of bullets, and a Statham fighting ballet.
Jonathan W. Hickman is an entertainment attorney, filmmaker, college professor, and novelist. More about Jonathan can be found by visiting: filmproductionlaw.com.
