Arts & Entertainment
Labor Day Weekend Movie Guide: 'Tenet,' 'Mulan' And More
John David Washington and Robert Pattinson star in "Tenet," while Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter reunite in "Bill & Ted Face The Music."
As summer winds down, you can enjoy its last few days with these new releases headed to theaters and streaming this Labor Day Weekend.
Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated spy thriller "Tenet" aims to challenge our perception of time, starring John David Washington as The Protagonist and Robert Pattinson as his sidekick teaming up to save the world.
In Niki Caro's live-action remake of Disney’s 1998 animated film "Mulan," a young Chinese maiden (Yifei Liu) disguises herself as a man to become a formidable warrior — and you can watch it come to life on Disney+.
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Last but not least, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter reprise their iconic roles in "Bill & Ted Face the Music."
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Here's what to see and what to skip this weekend:
“Tenet” — John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki; directed by Christopher Nolan (Available in select theaters)
From Christopher Nolan, the director of “Inception” and “Memento,” comes “Tenet,” a sci-fi action spectacle about the concept of time inversion, the state in which living things and non-living things alike can simultaneously move forward and backward in time.
Confused yet? Well, fear not — Nolan will get you convinced about time’s tractability slowly but surely by the end of the movie. How exactly? It is through the eyes of The Protagonist (John David Washington), the newly minted member of "Tenet," a mysterious covert organization created to save the world from utter destruction.
Nolan’s spy thriller spans three continents and seven countries, starting with an opera house in Kiev where The Protagonist rescues a man from an assault attack. Moments later, our hero learns about his next mission: to stop Russian oligarch Andrei Sator’s (Kenneth Branagh) plot to decimate the world. Can The Protagonist, alongside his sidekick Neil (Robert Pattinson), thwart the malevolent Andrei as the duo navigate a treacherous web of international espionage?
See it. Christopher Nolan’s latest outing will leave audiences dazed and confused — in a dizzyingly delightful way. Tip: Leave your thinking caps at home, and just enjoy this wild ride of escapism.
“Mulan” — Yifei Liu, Donnie Yen, Li Gong; directed by Niki Caro (Available on Disney+)
Niki Caro’s “Mulan” is a live-action remake of Disney’s 1998 animated film about a young Chinese maiden who disguises herself as a man to become a formidable warrior.
In the film, Yifei Liu plays the titular spirited young woman with spectacular martial arts skills. Years later, her true calling comes when the Emperor of China (Jet Li) issues a decree drafting one man from each family to serve and defend the palace from Northern invaders led by the evil Böri Khan (Jason Scott Lee).
And so begins Mulan’s journey to become an honored warrior as she steps in her ailing father’s stead. Over the course of time, her fortitude will be tested as she crosses paths with a powerful shapeshifting sorceress named Xianniang (Li Gong).
See it. The Disney magic lives on in Caro’s very exhilarating film adaptation of the heroic fairy tale. Plus, if you’re a fan of gravity-defying and wuxia-inspired martial arts, you will be in awe.
“Bill & Ted Face the Music” — Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, Kristen Schaal; directed by Dean Parisot (Available in select theaters and streaming platforms)
Remember Bill Preston (Alex Winter) and Ted Logan (Keanu Reeves), two wannabe-rockers from San Dimas, California? Whoa! The best pals are back for the threequel, nearly three decades following the release of “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989) and “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey” (1991).
In the original film, teenagers Bill and Ted pass their history class by traveling back in time. In the second installment, the dudes are told that their band, Wyld Stallyns, would go on to produce a hit song that would turn the world into a perfect paradise. However, as the opening sequence of “Bill & Ted Face the Music” shows, the best pals, now middle-aged, have yet to come up with that one powerful song.
What’s the deal with our heroes? Can they ever face the music and get their mojo back?
See it. Whoa! “Bill & Ted Face the Music” delights audiences with scintillating spirit, though the screenplay feels erratic at times.
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