September 27, 2020

Skydog (2020) Movie Review

Director: Tim Kaiser, Daniel Knudsen

Writer: Mark A Knudesen (Screenplay)

Starring: Daniel Knudsen, Vickie Lynn Smith, Dean Cain, Rosie Berryer, Christopher Veldhuizen, Mimi Sagadin

Plot: When Colt Lifestone, a high school senior working on his pilot’s license, rescues a stray dog named Oreo, the two quickly become best friends. His normal quiet life is turned upside down though when he finds out that his mom is actually an undercover CIA agent lead by Director Neil Glasswell! When she’s captured and held hostage, he’ll need to team up with Oreo and his new friend Alice to find his mother, uncover the double agents within the CIA, and save the day.

Runtime: 1 Hour 48 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Skydog starts as we meet Josh (Knudsen) a high schooler who is trying to get his pilots licence always facing a stumbling block along the way, which lets him meet a stray dog Oreo that is around to give him some strength in his personal life.

When Josh’s mother (Thompson) goes missing on a secret mission, Josh learns about her true job identity and his own identity as Colt Lifestone, the son of two CIA agents and now with the help of Oreo, Colt must figure out what happened to his mother.

Thoughts on Skydog

Characters – Josh is a regular high schooler, star of the football team, trying to get his pilots licence, only to get failed again, he befriends a stray dog, which becomes his closest friend at home, until his mother goes missing and Josh learns about his true identity as Colt Lifestone. Cole must adapt to a new school, while trying to solve the mystery about what has happened to his mother. Alice Jones is the girl at school that becomes friends with Colt, she wants to help him solve the mystery. Agent Lifestone is the mother of Colt, she always gave him the impression she had a boring accounting job, but inside she is a spy that is always on mission when she is away. James Whitmore is the connection that is trying to help Colt cope when he mother goes missing, the one person he knows to trust. Director Neil Glasswell is running the operation in which Colt’s mother goes missing, he will do what he can to keep the operation secret.

Performances – Daniel Knudsen in the leading role does do a good job through the film, growing with his character entering into the world. The rest of the cast fill their roles in the film well without us feeling like any of the villainous figures are as bad as we would have liked to see.

Story – The story here follows a high school student that learns that his mother is actually an undercover CIA agent and goes missing, forcing him to go on his own mission to search for the truth. This is a story that brings to life a young spy figure that must manage to deal with school and trying to go undercover, it might well feel like a pilot episode to what could be an entertaining TV series. It does give us a safe story, where Colt is never really in any true peril and tries to show us the importance of a friendship with a pet, only doesn’t include the dog anywhere as much as it hints.

Adventure – The adventure side of the film does show a high schooler learning more about his life, growing up quickly and dealing with an enemy that is trying to kill them.

Settings – The film uses the settings to show us how Colt is living a normal life before everything gets out of control.

Scene of the Movie – Flight escape.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not enough Oreo.

Final Thoughts – This is an enjoyable adventure with an adorable dog in Oreo that will pull you into wanting to see the adventures.

DVD/VOD Release Date:10/20/20

ABC Film Challenge – 80s Movies – # – Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) Movie Review

This is under the numbers because of the fact it is a sequel.

Director: Steven Spielberg

Writer: Jeffrey Boam (Screenplay) George Lucas, Menno Meyjes (Story)

Starring: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, Alison Doody, John Rhys-Davies, Julian Glover

Plot: In 1938, after his father Professor Henry Jones, Sr. goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, Professor Henry “Indiana” Jones, Jr. finds himself up against Adolf Hitler‘s Nazis again to stop them from obtaining its powers.

Tagline – Have the adventure of your life keeping up with the Joneses

Runtime: 2 Hours 7 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade starts when Indiana Jones (Ford) learns his father Professor Henry Jones (Connery) has gone missing in search of the holy grail, his life’s work, this returns Indiana to Europe where he meets Elsa (Doody) and comes face to face with the Nazis once again.

Indiana and Henry must put aside their differences and get to get to the holy grail first and stop it getting into the hands of pure evil.

Thoughts on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Characters – Indiana Jones returns to his double life of a history professor teaching about fact and the adventurer that goes in search of treasures, only this time he will need to go in search of his father, he must deal with the fact his dad was distant from him growing up and now he must continue his fight against the Nazis. Professor Henry Jones is Indiana’s father and has been studying the Holy Grail his whole life, to which Indiana believes is only paperwork, but his time in the field is now causing more problems for Indiana. Marcus is the smart friend of the Jones family, only he is useless in the field, usually gets laughs along the way. Elsa is the Austrian scientist working for the Nazis looking to get the book belonging to Henry, we are never sure completely which side she is fighting for though.

Performances – Harrison Ford continues to be wonderful to watch in this role, showing excellent chemistry with Sean Connery who brings us the older figure that is played for laughs we never thought he could handle. The rest of the cast are entertaining to watch through the film, bringing to life their different roles with ease.

Story – The story here follows Indiana Jones on his latest adventure to help search for his missing father who went in search for the holy grail. This does bring Indiana back to his fights with the Nazis who want to use historical religious artifacts for their own benefit, this time the holy grail. We continue to build the world here, with an on going rival for Indiana to face, one that he has been up against for his whole life, one that is greedier, but one Indiana has started to get ahead off, along with a father son relationship that needs fixing despite knowing there is love between them.

Action/Adventure – The action sequences continue to follow what we know from the Indiana Jones trilogy, we have big chase sequences, one through Venice, one through the skies above Germany and the desert tank one is brilliant too.

Settings – The film takes us around the world on the adventure as we get to see each location with history being used to help lead the path to the answers.

Scene of the Movie – The Holy Grail.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Nothing in this one.

Final Thoughts – This is an excellent conclusion to the trilogy, one that builds a bigger world for Indiana and returns to a familiar foe for him to face.