Photo courtesy of Disney Plus
Gun-toting action, family-friendly fantasy and a musical that gives history an anachronistic twist, all contribute to this week’s streaming selections. Bet you can guess which one features Mel Gibson.
Force of Nature (Streaming June 30, VUDU)
The setting is Puerto Rico during a category 5 hurricane. Emile Hirsch and Stephanie Cayo portray young cops sent to evacuate a multi-story apartment complex. It’s bad luck when they come up against a ruthless gang, led by a cold-blooded killer (David Zayas), that is searching the complex for a priceless art collection. Fortunately, retired detective Ray (Mel Gibson) and his adult daughter Troy (Kate Bosworth), are good-guys-in-residence, and armed for bear. The quartet is all that stands between the crooks and their prize. Similar to 1998’s Hard Rain, this one lacks Betty White and Morgan Freeman, as well as compelling characters to pull us into the fray.
Four Kids and It (Streaming June 30, FandangoNow, VUDU)
Adapted from Jacqueline Wilson’s 2013 book, a British fantasy that casts itself as a sequel to Edith Nesbit’s 1902 Five Children and It. Matthew Goode and Paula Patton portray a newly dating couple who bring along their respective kids for a seaside holiday. The children discover a Psammead sand creature (voiced by Michael Caine) that resembles a scruffy Muppet. It grants the kids one collective wish per day that wears off at sunset. Seeking the perfect wish, the kids learn that sinister Lord Tristan (played in over-the-top fashion by Russell Brand), means to capture the creature for himself—which will never do! Fantasies explored and lessons learned, in this blandly adequate, PG-rated adventure.
Hamilton (Streaming July 3, Disney+)
This award-winning, critically acclaimed Broadway musical has been described as being about “America then, as told by America now.” Ron Chernow's 2004 Alexander Hamilton biography inspired the play, filmed here as performed onstage by its original Broadway cast. In addition to traditional-style show tunes, the songs draw heavily from hip hop, R&B, pop and soul. In another break from convention, the show casts non-white actors as Founding Fathers and other historical figures.
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