Buzz Blog

Candy Cane Lane **1/2
Few holiday traditions are as enduring as the high-concept “What Really Matters” fantasy movie, from Miracle on 34th Street and It’s a Wonderful Life through Jingle All the Way and Elf; it’s all about whether the plot shenanigans provide ample distraction from the heart-warming but predictable platitudes about the true meaning of Christmas. This one casts Eddie Murphy as Chris Carver, a recently-laid-off dad determined to salvage Christmas by winning the big prize available for a neighborhood holiday decorations contest—which unfortunately means agreeing to a tricky deal with a banished renegade elf (Jillian Bell). Much of what follows involves the physical manifestation of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” gifts, and there are some inventive notions tossed in there, including geese a-laying that do so while in mid-air, and “French hens” wearing berets and mime shirts. But aside from Bell’s enthusiastic villainy and an effective recurring bit with Timothy Simons and Danielle Pinnock as mismatched cable-TV hosts, it’s not particularly funny, as director Reginald Hudlin—reuniting with Murphy after 1992’s Boomerang—plods through the gags and the moments of familial bonding involving Chris’s wife (Tracee Ellis Ross) and three children. It’s a harmless diversion that does little to distinguish itself on the streaming-service “Holiday Movies” lists where it is destined to reside for years to come. Available Dec. 1 via Amazon Prime Video. (PG)

Godzilla Minus One ***1/2
Godzilla was born 70 years ago as a manifestation of Japan’s anxieties and trauma in the aftermath of World War II; this latest from Toho goes back to the creature’s roots for a surprisingly potent creature-feature that also rethinks the legacy of men at war. It opens in the waning days of World War II in 1945, as Japanese kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) fakes plane trouble to avoid his suicide mission, just as the massive beast known as Godzilla attacks the island outpost where he lands; two years later, as Koichi attempts to rebuild a life with a woman named Noriko (Minami Hamabe) and an orphaned baby, the monster again emerges to cause havoc. The action sequences are pretty effective on their own merits, somehow melding a vintage “guy in a rubber suit” aesthetic with modern visual effects, and a nifty, suspenseful approach to knowing Godzilla is charging up his atomic breath blast. But while the logistical meetings involved in planning the defeat of the creature drag on a bit, they’re part of a bigger picture that emphasizes not military might, but individual people coming together to solve an existential threat. And as Koichi wrestles with survivor guilt, Godzilla Minus One turns the finger of blame on those who perpetuated a mindset devaluing individual lives, and tries to imagine a definition of bravery that comes without self-destruction. Available Dec. 1 in theaters. (PG-13)

The Shift **
Here’s the awkward bottom line of writer/director Brock Heasley’s genre spin on the Book of Job: At some point, it just feels weird when you’re trying to turn a faith-based fantasy into timeline-hopping science-fiction. It opens with the meet-cute between investment banker Kevin (Kristoffer Polaha) and his future wife Molly (Elizabeth Tabish), winding back and forth through the chronology of a relationship that eventually hits the skids. At the same time, Kevin is in a car accident that ends with him learning about the existence of The Benefactor (Neal McDonough), a Satan stand-in who sends Kevin into an alternate reality as a test of faith. That alternate reality is a sort of godless dystopia, and Heasley gives his world the obligatory desaturated vibe populated by shuffling lost souls. But the narrative ultimately focuses on Kevin’s attempts to get back to “his” Molly by obtaining the wrist gizmo that allows travel between realities, and as coolly effective as McDonough makes his devil, he somehow feels less intimidating when he requires technology to achieve his aims. Even if the rest of popular culture hadn’t left us feeling pretty “multiversed-out” by now, you’d still have a story where the hero’s final choice is pretty fore-ordained, in a movie that can’t find a middle ground between Left Behind and Everything Everywhere All At Once. Available Dec. 1 in theaters. (PG-13)

Silent Night ***
See feature review. Available Dec. 1 in theaters. (R)