Tyler Perry's A Madea Family Funeral

What will you do if you know a secret  that will tear your family  apart? This movie talks about the importance of family. Madea in this movie does her best to keep everyone 8n check when a scandalous secret threatened to tear he family.
    In this movie,  Madea and her group of friends (Bam,  Hattie and her brother Joe)   with Brian driving them planned  to go for the 40th wedding anniversary of her brother Anthony and his wife Vianne .  On arriving at their hotel,  they find him dying in an hotel room with a concubine Renee who happens to be a family friend. At Anthony's side was AJ his son who was at the hotel cheating on his wife Carol  with  his  brother's fiancee Gia. They take Anthony to the hospital and AJ went home to the rest of his family what happened.  They all rush to the hospital and the doctor told them  Anthony was dead.

 Madea tried to prevent Joe,  Bam and Hattie who knew the cause of Anthony's death from telling his grieving family. Vianne laves Madea in charge of planning the funeral which was in two days time.  Renee kept coming to the family house to help them  which made AJ upset and the others thought he was acting weird because they didn't understand why he was angry.  At the end of the funeral,  AJ could not stand Renee again and he told everyone that he caught her and his father in a hotel and  that's what caused his death.  Renee in turn tells everyone that AJ was in the hotel sleeping with his brother's fiancee.  AJ's brother got angry and sent his fiancee out while Vianne admits that Anthony had been cheating since but she ignored it but now he is dead she was going to live for herself and enjoy life. At the end AJ's wife left him and Vianne goes on vacation with another man.
 

       What's Great about This Movie.

        In this movie,  you will see how a woman (Vianne)  even with her cheating husband still struggled to keep her family together for the sake of her children.  Also another woman (Carol,  AJ's wife)  walked out of the marriage because he was cheating. She told him that she will not stand and watch him disrespect her and she offered to come back if he changes.

This movie is supposedly the last of the Madea series by Tyler Perry.  Like the other Madea movies this one will make you laugh a lot especially in the scenes that made tries to quote the Bible.  Overall,  I would say this movie did a great job at passing a sensitive message in a funny way.  There are a lot of crude jokes and vulgar languages because any movie that has Madea in it will have offensive languages. It was produced and directed by Tyler Perry and was released on March 1st 2019.  It is rated PG13 for crude sexual content, language and drugs.  It runs for 102 minutes.

Aladdin

The story of Aladdin  is well known because of the popularity of the cartoon and this movie is the reaction of the cartoon.  Aladdin (Mena Massoud)  is a young orphan boy that lives on the streets in the town of Agrabah and he is know for his mischievous acts. One  day he meets the princess (Naomi Scott)  who disguises herself as a maid and he falls in love with her. While trying to leave the palace without been found he met Jafar (Marwan Kenzari)  an adviser to the king but he had bad intentions unknowingly to the people of Agrabah. Jafar told Aladdin that who he came to meet was the princess and he will have him arrested unless he gets a lamp from the Cave of Wonders.
      Aladdin went there and he was given an instruction not to take anything else but the lamp. He got the lamp but as he was about to leave his monkey, Abu picked up a jewel and this made the cave to collapse. Instead of Jafar to help Aladdin he collected the lamp from him and left him to die but Aladdin survived with the help of a magic flying carpet and gets the lamp back and unlocks the power of the lamp releasing a Genie (Will Smith) .
 

The genie explained to Aladdin that he has three wishes and  Aladdin wished them out  of the cave. While they were out, he and the genie become very good friends and he told the genie about Princess Jasmine and the genie granted him his wish of becoming a prince (Prince Ali of Ababua) so that he would be able to marry the princess.  Jafar recognises him as Aladdin and in order to prevent him from winning the heart of the Princess and the Sultan he attacked them. He got the lamp back and used it to cause harm but Aladdin with help from Abu,  the magic carpet and the genie defeats Jafar and he ends up freeing the genie and marryi6the princess.
     What's so Special about Aladdin?
 When I watched this movie,  the things that stood out to me includes
 1: The friendship between Aladdin and the genie.  Although I have seen the cartoon I was still surprised by their friendship.
 2: Honesty and Integrity : The importance of integrity was shown in this movie through Aladdin.  He thought he could get the princess by pretending but he learnt that pretending does not take one anywhere.

 This movie beats the expectations of the viewers.  The cast were great and they  played their role perfectly. The songs which were also present in the original cartoon were performed so well and the new original song "speechless" by Princess Jasmine adds a bit of female empowerment.  The movie was released on May 24th 2019 and was directed by Guy Ritchie.  It runs for 128 minutes and is rated PG for some peril and action. 

Shazam movie review

Shazam is DC's comic based super hero comedy.  It illustrates  the power of teamwork and importance of family. It is about a 14 year old foster kid named Billy Batson (Asher Angel). He gets into trouble in all the foster homes he was placed in and he was given a last chance and placed with a new large diverse family with foster kids of different races.
   He and his new foster brother named Freddy  (Jack Dylan Grazer)  who was handicapped become friends.  One day when Freddy was bullied in school, Billy in his effort to save him ends up in the secret lair of  a group of wizards  who were almost extinct except one named Shazam (Djimon Hounsou) and he was weak and aging.  He transferred his powers to Billy. All Billy has to do is say the word Shazam and be transformed into an adult superhero (Zachary Levi).
   Billy informs Freddy about what happened with the wizard and together they discovered the qualities of Billy's new found power.  They both think that Billy just need to save a few people and become rich and famous. Little did they know that  Dr Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong)  who was previously rejected by the wizard had evil planned for them. When Dr Sivana discovered that the wizard had passed on his powers to someone he began looking for the person.  He found Billy and almost destroyed him and his family but with the help of Shazam's magic and his new foster siblings he defeated Dr Sivana.

   LESSONS FROM SHAZAM
 1) TEAMWORK : No superhero succeeds alone.  Superheroes need a team of trusted individuals who will help them succeed.  Billy thought he could defeat Dr Sivana alone and he couldn't but when he teamed up with his siblings they defeated Dr Sivana.
2)COURAGE: Courage is a very important trait that we all need. If we are not courageous we would miss out on great opportunities in life. If Billy was not courageous enough to confront Dr Sivana he won't have defeated him.
3) IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY:  The importance of family is portrayed in this movie. Billy felt a level of love and care from his foster family that he had never felt before.  He also understood that a real family stands up for one another.

      Shazam is DC universe's least serious and most teen friendly movie.  It contains scenes of violence, fighting,  few deaths and scary monsters.  Suggestive humor is used in the two scenes where characters go to sleep strip club.  It was directed by David F Sandburg and was released on April 5th 2019. It is rated PG-13 for intense sequence of action, language and suggestive materials.  It runs for 132 minutes. 

Lion movie review

 Everyone has a family and the family is a very important part of ones life. These days,  we see family as not just people related to us by blood but also friends and people who have a positive impact on our lives. Not everyone we meet improve our lives but if we are lucky enough to come across someone like  that they become like family to us.

   Today I want to tell you a true story of a young Indian boy named Saroo (meaning Lion).  He lives with his mother Kamla and his elder brother Guddu and younger sister Shakilah in a tiny village in India.  They were very poor so they did not have enough resources to live on. So his mother worked as a labourer and Saroo and his brother normally go out to look for menial jobs to do in exchange for food or money.
      One night after their mother went to work Guddu was about to secure a job in the city and Saroo insisted on following him which he succeeded in doing after much effort.  When they arrived the place,  Saroo was sleepy and tired so Guddu told him to wait in a particular place while he goes and make enquiry about the job. After a while,  Saroo woke up and he was frightened because the city seemed so big to him and he was not used to  city life then he started walking about and he got lost. He couldn't find Guddu and no one could help him get in touch with his mother because he didn't know the name of his village and he couldn't even pronounce his name right.  He said "Sorru" instead of "Saroo"

     Finally  he was adopted by an Australian couple and he began a new life with them in Australia. The couple had no kids and they treated him as their own child. Twenty five years later when Saroo got into the university and met other Indian students who talked about their families and hometowns, the need for him to find his real family became more pressing to him. With the help of his friends, he finds his village and his real family.
       His mother told him that she never stopped looking for him.  He was very happy to be reunited with his real mother.  When he asked for Guddu  he was told that he was hit by a train and  died while searching for him that same day he got missing. Although Saroo found his real family, he still had a huge place in his heart for his adoptive parents  and he was very grateful to them and claimed that they still remain his parents.  He later brought them to India and introduced them to his mum and sister.
    What I'm trying to point out from this story is that, no matter where we may be if we are not home we need someone to fill the place of out family.  Sometimes other people are not enough and we need our family. We should learn to treasure our family, as the saying goes "There is no place like home" there is really no place like home. Saroo learnt this because even with the great life he had in Australia he felt the need to find his real home.
       

Another thing I want to point out is that Saroo was grateful to the couple that adopted him and he values them.  He did not abandon them when he found his real family. Although family is important friends too are equally important.  It is not good to neglect your family because of a friend neither is it good to neglect a friend because of your family. We should learn to value both family and friends .

Avengers : Endgame

How far are you willing to go for those you love?  What can you sacrifice for those you claim to love? The Avengers :Endgame is the last movie in the marvel cinematic universe's current generation of movies. This movie is about a group of superheros coming together to save the people they love and the world at large.
     

The movie begins after Thanos wiped out half of Earth's population using the infinity stones. The avengers  (those left behind) were trying to figure out a way to bring back those that were lost. Captain Marvel was confident that with her on their team they will succeed. Their plan was to get the stones back from Thanos and use it to bring everyone that vanished back. The avengers track Thanos but the stones were not found and so they dispersed. Five years later, Ant Man (Paul Rodd) who people thought vanished came back. He was stucked in the quantum realm during the fight in Wakanda during the Infinity War. He insists that by using science and technology they will be able to make a time machine to go back in time to stop Thanos before he even gets the stones.

       The avengers team was brought back together but it took time to convince them all but they eventually agreed and they made the time machine. Together they defeat Thanos and save the world but not without loosing   some of their team mates in the process.
          LESSONS FROM THE AVENGERS :  ENDGAME
1) COURAGE :  The avengers were courageous. They were not afraid to fight Thanos over and over again.. They knew their worth and they knew that they had to confront him. They  knew that the world was depending on them and they did not want to let people down.

2) PERSEVERANCE  : The avengers never gave up in their fight against Thanos even after their first attempt that failed they did not give up. If they had looked at their failures they would not have been able to fight Thanos again and win.. They persevered and it paid off.

3) TEAM WORK : One of the message that is very clear in this movie is teamwork. The avengers worked together as a team they knew  that they needed each other if they want to defeat Thanos . They worked together despite their differences and past conflicts.

       

There are a lot of things packed in this 3 hours movie. The Russo Brothers did not fail to surprise the audience .  This movie contains a lot of violence and death  but it also has a few comic relieves. It is more emotional than previous MCU movies . It shows us how different people deal with grief. There is the use of few offensive words in this movie. I suggest that you watch Captain America civil war and Infinity War so you can understand the story line. It was directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and it was released on April 26th 2019. It runs for 181 minutes and it is rated PG 13 for scenes of sci-fi violence ,action and some language.

Aquaman

Are you scared of responsibilities?  Do you always shy away from responsibilities?  I think you can learn a few things from Arthur Curry (Aquaman).
        Arthur (Jason Momma)  is the son of Queen Atlanna the queen of Atlantis. She met Arthur's father Thomas Curry (Temura Morrison)  when she  ran away from Atlantis because of an arranged marriage. They loved each other so much but she had to return to Atlantis because soldiers from Atlantis were after her and she wanted her son, who was just a toddler at that time and his father to be safe. So Queen Atlanna went back to Atlantis and agreed to the arranged marriage and she gave birth to another son.
       

Arthur grew up knowing his true identity as the heir to the throne of Atlantis.  He had lots of physical training to enable him claim the throne when the time comes. When the time finally came he kept refusing to go to Atlantis because he was mad that they sacrificed his mother because she gave birth to him and he felt that he would not be welcomed there.  He was alright with his life as a superhero on land known as Aquaman. His half brother Orm(Patrick Wilson)  occupied the throne and was about to start a war with the normal humans on land (which they called surface world). Arthur could not stand back and let the war happen because his Father and the world he knew was in danher so he decided to return to Atlantis and take his rightful position as the king.

    WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM AQUAMAN
 1) Courage : Arthur was courageous and he did not relent even though he was faced with a lot of oppositions when he got to Atlantis.
2)Loyalty: Arthur would not have been able to stop the war his half brother started without help from people who were loyal to him.
3) Perseverance : Although Arthur met with a lot of difficulties he did not give up instead he made himself stronger and he was able to stop the war.
4) Responsibility: Arthur tried to run away from his responsibility as the King of Atlantis and that gave his wicked brother the opportunity to take the position and plot War against innocent people.

     Aquaman is the origin story of DC universe half Atlantean superhero. It is full of battle scenes some which are bloody and involves death. It was directed by James Wan and released on December 21 2018. It runs for 143 minutes . It is rated PG for sequences of sci-fi violence, action and some language.