If you haven’t seen the delightful trailer for The Sheep Detectives, the title may convince you this is an animated, family-friendly adventure. It’s certainly gentle enough — but, talking sheep aside, the film is actually a witty and even erudite murder-mystery satire.

Someone’s Been Very Baa-d in The Sheep Detectives

Hugh Jackman stars as the lonely but gentle shepherd George Hardy. He lives a simple life tending to his flock outside of a quaint English town. Each night, he reads to the appreciative sheep from his collection of pulpy whodunits. When he turns up dead, the local police are outmatched, and the townsfolk are bewildered.

Fortunately, these are no ordinary ungulates. The group of clever sheep and lambs — voiced by an enthusiastic cast including Julia-Louis Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Patrick Stewart and Regina Hall — have been taking notes on the plots of all those page-turners. Determined to do right by their fallen friend (and avoid being sold to a rival farmer’s slaughterhouse), the sheep set out to unravel the mystery.

In an era when too many comedies remain fundamentally mean-spirited, this one is pleasantly kind-hearted. That should not, however, suggest a lack of depth; these are barnyard animals with some serious concerns. I expected to laugh; I didn’t expect to consider whether the occasional memento mori was essential for a true appreciation of life. The Sheep Detectives has surprising power.

A Seasoned — and Multifaceted — Screenwriter

Much of the credit must go to screenwriter Craig Mazin. He made his name on broad comedies such as Identity Thief and entries in the Scary Movie franchise. But he also turns to prestige TV, writing the acclaimed HBO miniseries Chernobyl and directing The Last of Us. A combination of wit and gravitas is a powerful thing; Mazin’s career has allowed that confluence to develop nicely.

The look of the film is less impressive. It’s sets are a watered-down repeat of last year’s Wake Up Dead Man, and Kyle Balda’s direction is presentational. Unfortunately, the sheep themselves recall the errors of Disney’s “live-action” animated animals, seen in the recent Lion King installments. There’s no good way to combine photorealistic animals and awkwardly moving CGI faces. You’ll be charmed enough to overlook the awkward appearance of these rams and ewes but not ignore it.

Otherwise, though, The Sheep Detectives is a rare thing: An all-ages film that will actually appeal to all ages.

Mortal Kombat II and More New at Theaters

The long-running video game series Mortal Kombat gave rise to a very bad movie in the ’90s, then a surprisingly entertaining one in the pandemic era. Now, a sequel to that film arrives, and it’s a serviceable affair. Mortal Kombat II, directed by rising Australian action helmer Simon McQuoid, has no delusions about it: Neither too tongue-in-cheek nor overly maudlin, it’s content to be a gory and vivid spectacle. The sets impressively recall the games; while the acting leaves something to be desired, the action will satisfy fans.

We’ve seen a number of lavish concert films from pop superstars. Only now, however, have we seen one helmed by superstar director James Cameron. Billie Eilish — Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D) is credited to Eilish herself alongside the Titanic and Avatar auteur. The famously effects-focused Cameron opted to film the tour in 3D; expect performances of hits including Birds of a Feather, Bad Guy and the Oscar-winning What Was I Made For?

Happy 40th birthday to Top Gun, which was released to giant box office (and elevated Air Force recruiting, if you believe the legend) back in May of 1986. The Tony Scott film will be back in theaters this week.

Story by Sean Collier
Featured Photo Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

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Twenty years after the Oscar-nominated first film, the stars return for The Devil Wears Prada 2, a film with the courage not to rely on nostalgia — but no willingness to innovate. The results are funny and pleasant but decidedly light.

The Devil Wears Prada 2, a Sequel Review

Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) returns, picked up by Runway when her high-minded newspaper undergoes budget cuts. She steers the publication through a minor public-relations flap while renewing polite hostilities with Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), the publication’s clever and condescending editor-in-chief.

There are obstacles — an unhappy advertiser represented by former colleague Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt), a stalwart chairman (Tibor Feldman) replaced by his clueless son (B.J. Novak) — but none add up into a serious complication or even a consistent plot.

At one point, Nigel Kipling (Stanley Tucci) bemoans the small size of print magazines in the age of digital; a recent issue of Runway, the film’s stand-in for Vogue, was “so thin you could floss with it,” he says. The script, by returning scribe Aline Brosh McKenna, acknowledges the considerable changes in the publishing world in the decades since the original film debuted. Yet these threats are always fleeting; there’s always another money man to be called, another deal to be made.

It Looks Good, But Don’t Read It Cover to Cover

There are genuine laughs; Streep, a Best Actress nominee for the first film, embodies the character’s wit and cutting charm beautifully. There’s also a society page worth of special guest appearances — this will probably be the only film to feature both NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns and presidential offspring Jenna Bush Hager — many of which are fun, if not impactful.

There’s also an unannounced A-list star in the third reel; good thing, because by then, you’ll likely have checked out. The Devil Wears Prada 2 is thoroughly agreeable, and director David Frankel elegantly depicts both New York and Milan, but the story can’t support the film’s 119-minute runtime.

Fashionistas and Streep (or Tucci) superfans won’t regret buying a ticket. For the rest of us, save this one for your next transcontinental flight; it’ll eat up miles and might even lull you into a midair slumber.

An Animal Farm That Orwell Probably Didn’t Imagine, and More New Releases

The title Animal Farm lends itself to an animated feature. The content of George Orwell’s dystopian novel… not so much. That didn’t stop comedy writer Nicholas Stoller and director Andy Serkis, who have adapted the book into an all-ages parable, complete with slapstick jokes and celebrity voices. Reviews aren’t kind; writing for Consequence, Liz Shannon Miller says, “There are bad movies, and then there are movies that drain all life and joy out of a person’s soul.”

Perhaps young viewers will be better off at home: Swapped, a new animated feature from Netflix, features a loaded voice cast headlined by newly minted Oscar winner Michael B. Jordan.

Speaking of last year’s awards season, I Swear, the biography of a Tourette’s advocate that became an unfortunate point of controversy, expands to more American screens this weekend. By all accounts, the film is nuanced and powerful — unlike the ensuing flap.

AMC has a fun theme in its Thrills & Chills horror series: You Didn’t Stay Out of the Woods, a group of fright flicks set in remote cabins. They’ll show the 4K Director’s Cut of 2002’s Cabin Fever on May 1, then The Cabin in the Woods on May 8.

Story by Sean Collier
Featured Photo by Macall Polay Courtesy of 20th Century Studios

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