The young girl, Moana (Auli’l Cravalho) is destined to be the leader of her people, but is she destined to be something bigger? Disney’s Moana is the story of a princess looking to find who she is…just like Rapunzel, Frozen, and every princess before her.

Release Date: November 23, 2016
Writer: Jared Bush
Director: Ron Clemets, Don Hall
Music: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa’I, Mark Mancina
Cast: Auli’l Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Rachel House, Jemaine Clement, Nicole Scherzinger, Alan Tudyk

As an infant, Moana was drawn to the ocean. As the future leader of her people, her father and chief Tui (Temuera Morrison) needs her to be safe on dry land and never venture away from the island. Meanwhile, many years before, the Demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) has stolen the Heart of Te Fiti, the Goddess of the Islands. Her heart takes shape in the form of a small pounamu stone. When Maui stole the heart, a cursed was placed over the island and over time, each island would slowly die.

All through her life, Moana’s father trained her to be a leader, but it was her Gramma Tala (Rachel House), who encouraged her to follow her heart and seek the ocean. Unbeknownst to the others Gramma Tala possessed the Heart of Te Fiti. When the trees of the island begin to produced rancid fruit and the fishing traps no longer catch fish, Moana decides to take the Heart of Te Fiti, find the demigod Maui and restore the gem to the Goddess Te Fiti.

Moana is a solid story about a princess discovering who she really is. It is an inspirational tale for young girls and it also shows a girl who has leadership thrust upon her and embraces it.

As a reviewer, I have to judge Moana as a standalone, but it’s hard not to compare Moana not only to the last few Disney princess film, but also the string of female empowerment tales. Almost from the very beginning, I could not help but notice, I’ve heard this story over and over again in Disney Princess movies. In Frozen, Elsa has to embrace who she is. Rapunzel is on a quest to discover her true identity. The problem with Moana is that it tells the same story, but differently.

Moana has your basic cast of adorable characters. Moana’s parents, Chief Tui and Sina (Nicole Scherzinger) are good but overprotective parents. Pua the pig is cute, but like Mulan’s Little Brother shows up only in the beginning and the end. Heihei the chicken is an incredibly stupid chicken that serves as comic relief and important in a spot or two.

Moana has wise counsel, no not her father, but her Grandmother Tala and the Ocean. Yes, the Ocean plays a role in guiding and protecting our heroine.

Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson shines as Maui, the Demigod. Arrogant, but likeable, Maui is powerful but wants nothing to do with the mission of returning the Heart of Te Fiti. He is a has-been Hercules and only wants to return to the fame and glory he once had. In order to defeat the foes, Maui needs to retrieve his staff, which is lodged in the back of the giant coconut crab, Tamotoa (Jemaine Clement).

Disney continues to perfect the 3-D animation project. Moana boasts some of the most gorgeous and colorful backgrounds. The water effects are perfect. I used to lament the end of hand-drawn animation, but ever since Tangled, Disney make me a believer in their ability to tell compelling stories with computers.

Moana is also a Disney musical. Broadway composer Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote all of the main songs, while Opetaia Foa’l provides the Polynesian songs. Background music is composed beautifully by Mark Mancina.

The world knows Lin-Manuel Miranda from his hit Broadway play, Hamilton and he brings a great deal of Broadway sensibility to Moana. That’s the main problem with the music of Moana. We have an opener, an inspirational ballad, comic relief song, villain song and pretentious callbacks to the inspirational ballad. It’s as if he took a broadway checklist and after each type of song is written, he would check it off and move to the next. It felt staged versus organic.

Some songs are such as Maui’s “You’re Welcome.” The inspirational ballad “How Far I’ll Go” barely reaches the line of pretentious before backing off to a beautiful song, but the rest is Broadway sing-talk and the villain song, “Shiny” is the wordiest song in the world and incredibly hard to follow. You miss the days of the clever wordsmithing of Howard Ashman.

Moana may not be the greatest of the Disney Animated film, but it still shines brighter than its 2016 competition.

7 out of 10 stars

Famed neurosurgeon, Dr. Stephen Strange, finds new meaning in his life when he masters of the magical world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Release Date: November 4, 2016
Writer: John Spaihts, Scott Derrickson
Director: Scott Derrickson
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton, Chiwatel Ejiofor, Mads Mikkelsen

Marvel Studios has finally gotten away from the traditional superhero movie and now delves into the tricky world of multi-universes, other dimension and magic. Clearly Marvel’s biggest challenge to date because any misstep can turn Doctor Strange into the hookiest piece of garbage in the Marvel Cinematic universe. Instead, Doctor Strange is an engaging and visually stunning action film with mind-bending martial arts.

Let start off by saying there is a lot to wrap your brain around with Doctor Strange. After a car accident, famed neurosurgeon Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) losing the use of his fingers and at the same time loses his whole reason to live. He becomes obsessed with healing his fingers and returning to his world of fame. Obsessed to the point that he pushes everyone away, including colleague and former lover, Christine (Rachel McAdams).

Searching for answers, he finds that Western Medicine is of no help and desperate for answers discovers Eastern Mysticism as a possible way to heal himself. He finds himself down to literally his penny in Kathmandu. He trained by fellow student, Mordo (Chiwatel Ejiofor), mystic librarian Wong (Benedict Wong) and the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton).

Strange proves himself to be a fast learner, but as always he is faced with the choice to heal his hands and return to his former life or risk it all for something bigger than himself. In this case, it’s the nefarious Kaecillius (Mads Mikkelsen) and his disciples. Kaecillius has decided that immortality is what he truly seeks and can only attain it by handing the earth over to the Dark Lord Dormammu.

Visually Stunning. Let’s just say it. Doctor Strange is a visually stunning movie. This is basically why you should see this movie, especially in Imax-3D. Everything is just cool to watch. Think of it as Inception on crack and with cool martial arts.

The first fight scene is amazing leading to a spectacular second fight scenes. This then leads to an almost impossible to believe final act, which will blow your mind. How’s that for no spoilers.

To his credit, writer/director Scott Derrickson, weaves out-of-this-world Ditko-esque images and ideas into a story that is solid and somehow manages to hold itself together. The story is clearly an origin story and the symbolisms regarding time hit you in the face like a lead brick.  Strange must come to grips with not only losing his former life, which constantly haunts him but accepting a role that may save more lives than he can ever imagine.

Doctor Strange is a smart story with amazing visuals. It manages to find itself worthy do sit among the other Marvel films. Stay for the ending.

8 out of 10 stars

The new Kirk and crew must figure out the secret of the evil Krall before he destroys the Federation.

Release Date: July 29, 2016
Writer: Simon Pegg
Director: Justin Lin
Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, Idiris Elba

The film picks up with Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and the crew of the Enterprise already three years into its five-year mission. Kirk is growing weary of one diplomatic mission after another and is considering retiring from the monotony of space travel. Spock (Zachary Quinto), on the other hand, has his thoughts focused on the remaining members of his species. After receiving bad news from New Vulcan, Spock is also considering retiring to help with the proliferation of his people.

The setting of Star Trek Beyond is the massive space station, known as Yorktown. Created inside a protective sphere, this space “city” holds millions of people from a vast variety of alien races, which comprise the current Federation of Planet.

Trouble stirs when an alien ship approaches the space station and its captain requests the help of the Enterprise to rescue its crew abandoned on the other side of the nearby nebula. With Federation approval, the Kirk and crew agree with assist with the rescue and upon arrival the crew finds itself in the middle of a sneak attack from the villain Krall (Idris Elba). Forced to abandon ship, the Enterprise crew is separated. They must find away to regroup, figure out who Krall is and how to return to the Yorktown and warn them of Krall’s plans.

Star Trek Beyond gets the crew of the Enterprise beyond its origins highlighted in the first two films. It shows the new crew of the Enterprise fully engaged in the original mission of the series of seeking out new worlds and civilizations. Star Trek Beyond’s main plot is an attack on that mission. It starts with Captain Kirk trying to broker peace between two warring species and ends with Krall trying to put an end to the growing expansion of the Federation.

Star Trek movies have succeeded when the film are not 2-hour episodes, but more an action adventure with high stakes. They work when the consequences of failure are dire. For Star Trek Beyond, they’ve succeeded in finding the balance and creating a high-stakes, high-adventure, 2-hour episode. Writer Simon Pegg uses the attack on the Enterprise to split the crew up and force the volatile pairings of Kirk/Chekhov/Scotty, McCoy/Spock and Uhura/Sulu to grow, develop and work together to overcome their impossible situation.

The strength of the successful Star Trek movies, including this one, have always been the crew. When most of the film focuses solely Shatner or Stewart, it fails because, as fans, we love the individual members and want to see everyone get their fair chance at saving the universe.

Star Trek Beyond also succeeds because the story is clover, the action makes sense for the most part and the nostalgic reasons we love Star Trek are also there. I also like that we’re finally engaged in the voyages of the starship Enterprise.

Star Trek is a good film and should appeal to casual fans and Trekkies alike. There are only two moments that fell flat. The first is the opening sequence, when Kirk is brokering peace between two alien cultures. The moment is basically a comedic gag and played solely for laughs. Yes, it was funny, but that is the wrong tone to start a Star Trek film. It presents the movie as a comedy right off the bat, when film is clearly meant to be more than light fun.

The second moment is the first attack on the Enterprise by Krall. The segment just went on too long. Director Justin Lin tells a great story here, but the entire attack segment just won’t end. The action sequence feels like it goes on forever and you have to let audiences breathe once in a while.

Overall, Star Trek Beyond has found a place on the mantle of Star Trek movies. What’s missing is a sense of importance that the best Star Trek movies have to the Star Trek universe. Star Trek Beyond is fun but not profound.

7 out of 10 stars

Kung Fu Panda 3 is a solid film for both children and adults, but mostly children. It’s the story of Po (Jack Black), the greatest warrior in the ultimate search for who he really is.

Release Date: January 29, 2016
Writer: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger
Director: Alessandro Carloni, Jennifer Yuh
Cast: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Bryan Cranston, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogan, Lucy Liu

After two full-length features and a television show, Dragon Warrior Po (Jack Black) is the hero and guardian of China and specifically, the Jade Palace. Po’s greatness has progressed to the point that his Master, Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) has made Po the new Master of the Jade Palace. Po does not feel he is ready to be the new master, let along the new teacher of warriors. He quickly fails at training his crew: Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogan), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Crane (David Cross).

Meanwhile, in the spirit realm, a new threat is brewing. The evil Kai (J.K. Simmons) is collecting the “chi” of all the great kung fu masters. Set on vengeance against his one-time friend and greatest warrior, Oogway (Randall Duk Kim), Kai has the power to steal of chi of any living being and turn them into Jade monsters. His ultimate goal is to return to the mortal world and steal the chi of the last great warrior, Po.

Back in the mortal realm, a mysterious stranger arrives, and it turns out to be Po’s father, Li (Bryan Cranston). Thinking he was the last of the pandas, Po returns to the Panda villiage with his father, Li hoping there he can learn the power of chi and save his friends and all of China. Po returns to learn the slow and lazy life of his panda ancestry. In the meantime, the rest of China is slowly being overrun by Kai and his ever growing jade warriors.

Can Po learn the lesson of chi from his fellow pandas? Can he become strong enough to defeat the powerful Kai? Can Po learn who he is and become a great teacher?

Kung Fu Panda 3 is a solid story for children and adults. Kids will love the numerous battle scenes, and adults will admire the beautiful landscape and artistry of its Chinese origins. Jack Black continues to bring his likable persona to Po, and Dustin Hoffman shines again as the wise teacher Shifu. Best of all, the ultimate lesson of being the best you, you can be, is not lost on the young audience.

Also shining is veteran Asian actor James Hong as Po’s adopted father, Mr. Ping. He more than matches the wit and humor of Po as the father, who is about to lose his son to his real father. The Chinese culture also shines throughout the movie. Already noted are its beautiful landscape, food, and artistic dream sequences.

It’s hard to find good films for children during the winter period. Kung Fu Panda 3 is a great moment to get out of the rain and laugh with the little one. There was a lot of laughter in Kung Fu Panda 3.

7 out of 10

In 2003, Finding Nemo captured the hearts of young and old alike. So Pixar jumped on the opportunity to capitalize on a sequel. Thirteen years later, Finding Dory continues a year from the events of Finding Nemo.

Release Date: June 17, 2016
Writer: Victoria Strouse, Andrew Stanton
Director: Andrew Stanton
Cast: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Eugene Levy, Diane Keaton, Ty Burrell, Ed O’Neil, Kaitlin Olson

Fans of Finding Nemo, know that Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) suffers from short-term memory loss. Now that she has found a new home and new family with Marlin (Albert Brooks) and his son, Nemo (Hayden Rolence), Dory is starting to remember things. Specifically, she’s remembering her parents (Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton) and the moments she separated from them.

Dory quickly convinces Marlin and Nemo to help her find her parents by traveling from Australia to Morro Bay, California to a marine life rehabilitation center. Dory is aided in her search by Hank (Ed O’Neil) the Octopus, old friend Destiny (Kaitlin Olson) and Bailey (Ty Burrell), the beluga whale.

Like the original, Finding Dory takes the idea of children and friends being lost/separated and tells it in a fresh way. As a parent, stories of losing children is a scary prospect and made the story of young Dory hard to watch without thinking of my own child. But this is what Pixar does best. They tell an exciting story with high stakes and then proceed to jerk you around emotionally. Here’s a little cute fish and her loving parents and an incredible amount of foreshadowing that this fish is going to be lost for a long time.

The other thing that Pixar does well is the sucker punch. No plan is ever as easy as it sounds. All routes that appear to solve the problem is quickly shut down. Ultimately, this becomes the theme of the movie. Dory is the only character in the film, that is oblivious to the problems and easy solutions around her. Yet, she is the one who manages to solve all the problems.

Pixar just manages to push out great film after great film, and Finding Dory deserves its spot on the shelf. Although it will probably sit in the middle of the pack, it is a fun movie, touching story and another repeat-viewing candidate for you and you children.

7 out of 10 stars

In 2003, Finding Nemo captured the hearts of young and old alike. So Pixar jumped on the opportunity to capitalize on a sequel. Thirteen years later, Finding Dory continues a year from the events of Finding Nemo.

Release Date: June 17, 2016
Writer: Victoria Strouse, Andrew Stanton
Director: Andrew Stanton
Cast: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Eugene Levy, Diane Keaton, Ty Burrell, Ed O’Neil, Kaitlin Olson

Fans of Finding Nemo, know that Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) suffers from short-term memory loss. Now that she has found a new home and new family with Marlin (Albert Brooks) and his son, Nemo (Hayden Rolence), Dory is starting to remember things. Specifically, she’s remembering her parents (Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton) and the moments she separated from them.

Dory quickly convinces Marlin and Nemo to help her find her parents by traveling from Australia to Morro Bay, California to a marine life rehabilitation center. Dory is aided in her search by Hank (Ed O’Neil) the Octopus, old friend Destiny (Kaitlin Olson) and Bailey (Ty Burrell), the beluga whale.

Like the original, Finding Dory takes the idea of children and friends being lost/separated and tells it in a fresh way. As a parent, stories of losing children is a scary prospect and made the story of young Dory hard to watch without thinking of my own child. But this is what Pixar does best. They tell an exciting story with high stakes and then proceed to jerk you around emotionally. Here’s a little cute fish and her loving parents and an incredible amount of foreshadowing that this fish is going to be lost for a long time.

The other thing that Pixar does well is the sucker punch. No plan is ever as easy as it sounds. All routes that appear to solve the problem is quickly shut down. Ultimately, this becomes the theme of the movie. Dory is the only character in the film, that is oblivious to the problems and easy solutions around her. Yet, she is the one who manages to solve all the problems.

Pixar just manages to push out great film after great film, and Finding Dory deserves its spot on the shelf. Although it will probably sit in the middle of the pack, it is a fun movie, touching story and another repeat-viewing candidate for you and your children.

7 out of 10 stars

Ghostbusters returned in a brand new reboot. Yes, it features a new timeline, new reality and new cast.

Release Date: July 15, 2016
Writer: Paul Feig
Director: Paul Feig
Cast: Kristin Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Chris Hemsworth

Erin Gilbert (Kristin Wiig) is a university professor of physics looking to obtain tenure at her job. Her problem is in the past she wrote a book with her childhood friend, Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) proving the physics around the paranormal. Basically, she proved through science that ghosts exist. Abby recently published that book and now Erin’s job is on the line.

Meanwhile, New York is experiencing an increased level of paranormal activity. Someone is place devices throughout the city that amplifies that manifestation of such ghosts. Abby with her partner, Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon), convince Erin to investigate the occurrence at a local historical landmark. Then again in a subway tunnel, where they meet Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones). This is the origin story of the new Ghostbusters.

The original Ghostbusters was never really a movie about guys who battle ghosts. It was an ensemble piece featuring Harold Ramis, Dan Ackroyd and Bill Murray. The purpose of the movie was to put these guys together and make a funny movie.

The new Ghostbusters is exactly the same thing. Bring together the talents of Kristin Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones and make a funny movie. The cast is perfect and well balanced. Wiig and McCarthy are the anchors to the team and together are a modern-day female Laurel and Hardy. Wiig playing the straight person and McCarthy walking the two into trouble.

Fans of Saturday Night Live will love the performances of McKinnon and Jones. Kate McKinnon has some brilliant moments on screen, especially at the end. Leslie Jones bring much-needed energy to the ensemble and plays the perfect contrast in attitude for the ensemble.

The story is fine. Paul Feig always manages to string together a solid story and the acting makes up for any perceived weaknesses in plot and science talk. The ending is a little problematic as all the little fantastic moments throughout the film lead up to a less than spectacular ending. What I’m saying is the small fight scenes with the ghost are exciting and fun to watch and it leads to a climax that does not match the events leading to it.

Feig manages to pay homage to the original Ghostbusters. The surviving members (sans Rick Moranis) make cameos throughout the film. Bill Murray manages to slip in the film with a character that moves the plot along. Feig also likes to throw a few curveballs at moments you would expect an obvious reference to the past. He’s real good at that.

But I laughed and that’s the job of comedies. Make me laugh and you will too. Put these four actresses in any movie and I’ll watch it.

7 out of 10 stars