Admit One 12/24/21
Here’s what’s new in theaters and on streaming for the weekend:
The Matrix Resurrections (Theaters and HBO Max)
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie Ann Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Neil Patrick Harris, Jonathan Groff, Jada Pinkett Smith, Priyanka Chopra Jonas
Directed by: Lana Wachowski
Plot: To find out if his reality is a physical or mental construct, Mr. Anderson, aka Neo, will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more. If he’s learned anything, it’s that choice, while an illusion, is still the only way out of — or into — the Matrix. Neo already knows what he has to do, but what he doesn’t yet know is that the Matrix is stronger, more secure, and far more dangerous than ever before.
Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 67%
Critic Consensus: “If it lacks the original’s bracingly original craft, The Matrix Resurrections revisits the world of the franchise with wit, a timely perspective, and heart”
The King’s Man (Theaters)
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Harris Dickinson, Rhys Ifans, Djimon Hounsou, Gemma Arterton, Matthew Goode
Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Plot: One man must race against time to stop history’s worst tyrants and criminal masterminds from starting a war and wiping out millions of people.
RT Freshness: 42%
Critic Consensus: “Ralph Fiennes’ solid central performance in The King’s Man is done dirty by this tonally confused prequel’s descent into action thriller tedium”
Sing 2 (Theater)
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Scarlett Johansson, Reese Witherspoon, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, Bobby Cannavale, Nick Kroll, Pharell Williams, Bono, Halsey
Directed by: Garth Jennings
Plot: Buster Moon and his all-star cast of performers prepare to launch their most dazzling stage extravaganza yet… all in the glittering entertainment capital of the world. There’s just one hitch: They first have to persuade the world’s most reclusive rock star to join them.
RT Freshness: 68%
Critic Consensus: “Second verse, same as the first: For audiences that enjoyed the first installment, Sing 2 should prove another endearing diversion”
A Journal for Jordan (Theaters)
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Chanté Adams, Jalon Christian, Robert Wisdom, Johnny Wu, Tamara Tunie
Directed by: Denzel Washigngton
Plot: 1st Sgt. Charles Monroe King, before he is killed in action in Baghdad, authors a journal for his son intended to tell him how to live a decent life despite growing up without a father.
RT Freshness: 43%
Critic Consensus: “A Journal for Jordan‘s affecting fact-based story stumbles onscreen thanks to Denzel Washington’s undistinguished direction and overly sentimental approach”
American Underdog (Theaters)
Starring: Zachary Levi, Anna Paquin, Dennis Quaid, Ser’Darius Blain, Hayden Zeller, Bruce McGill
Directed by: The Erwin Brothers
Plot: The story of NFL MVP and Hall of Fame quarterback, Kurt Warner, who went from stocking shelves at a supermarket to becoming an American Football star.
RT Freshness: 78%
Critic Consensus: “American Underdog sticks to the standard inspirational sports drama playbook — and proves once again that it can be very effective in the right hands”
Being the Ricardos (Prime Video)
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, JK Simmons, Nina Arianda, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Jake Lacy, Linda Lavin, Ronny Cox
Directed by: Aaron Sorkin
Plot: Lucy and Desi face a crisis during a week of production on I Love Lucy that could end their careers and another that could end their marriage.
RT Freshness: 69%
Critic Consensus: “Being the Ricardos can’t hope to truly capture its subjects’ brilliant star power, but Nicole Kidman has a ball with Aaron Sorkin’s spitfire dialogue”
Don’t Look Up (Netflix)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawerence, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Cate Blanchett, Tyler Perry, Arianna Grande, Timothee Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Kid Cudi, Mark Rylance
Directed by: Adam McKay
Plot: Two low-level astronomers must go on a giant media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet that will destroy planet Earth.
RT Freshness: 55%
Critic Consensus: “Don’t Look Up aims too high for its scattershot barbs to consistently land, but Adam McKay’s star-studded satire hits its target of collective denial square on”