The problem with making a sequel to 2017’s “A Dogs Purpose” is that a movie about the constant death and then reincarnation of several dogs for 2 hours can become extremely depressing. The new movie “A Dogs Journey” is unique in that it is a film both for Dog lovers and not for Dog lovers at the same time, because of the death scenes of beloved dogs. There is nothing in this world like the pure unconditional love of a pet and the pain of an understanding that most pets do not live much longer than 15 years at best. Dealing with this harsh reality can be devastating no matter how much we prepare ourselves for the inevitable loss.

This sequel once again stars Dennis Quaid and I thought that the story for this movie was better because it included less dogs who are reincarnated and one central story throughout the entire movie about a dog who protects the granddaughter of Dennis Quaid’s character. I thought this story was very well done throughout this film.

The Rotten Tomatoes rating for this movie is an anemic 47%, but I would give it a solid 70% because of the good job it does with emotional impact, especially at the end. I give a solid recommendation to A Dogs Journey, but prepare yourself for some very painful moments that are hard to watch.

The new movie “The Sun is also a Star” is a romance and fate movie, at the level of the memorable “Serendipity” released in 2001, starring Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack. The problem with Serendipity is that Beckinsale’s character believed in miracles and fate so much, that the odds of that relationship actually happening after the ridiculous beginning of this movie were a billion to 1. I thought the ending of Serendipity was very well done however.

This movie has many scenes of fate and unlikely circumstances, and most of them are not believable. I also did not believe the unlikely relationship between the main character Natasha Kingsley played by Yara Shahidi and Daniel Bae played by Charles Melton. The underlying story of Natasha’s family being deported back to Jamaica connects the action of this entire film and I found the conclusion to the deportation and the final scene unsatisfactory. I would have gone into a completely different direction with this story. Another problem was the many time killing music with no dialogue in this movie, that mostly means they did not have enough screenplay for 2 hours. Not a good sign for any film.

The Rotten Tomatoes ratings for The Sun is also a Star is a low 50% and I agree with this, and do not recommend this film.

Anyone who has seen any of the 3 John Wick movies knows how extremely violent they are. None of these movies are about a great story, they are all about expertly choreographed gun-play, martial arts and extraordinary action. A high number of the violent scenes in “John Wick 3” are so well done they surpass the extreme action of the previous 2 movies. There is a knife fight towards the beginning of this movie that is incredible, another fight scene in a library with a very tall assassin that is as well filmed as it was violent. There are scenes with motorcycles that are some of the best I have ever seen, and some other scenes with different horses that are extremely impressive. If you forego any sign of a screenplay or common sense and concentrate on the incredible amount of work that went into a movie like this, you cannot help but appreciate how well all of this was done.

John Wick 3 stars Keanu Reeves and Halle Berry and both must have trained for a long time to look as good as they did in the action scenes in this film. Also returning is Laurence Fishburne and Anjelica Huston and both are excellent in their roles. This movie starts when John Wick 2 ends and the convoluted story of a consortium of assassins and a 15 million dollar bounty put on Wick at times makes little sense, but none of this matters against the extremely well done action scenes.

The Rotten Tomatoes ratings for John Wick 3 are a very high 88% and I agree with this rating and highly recommend this movie, but only for people who do not mind extreme violence like this.