This is the summer sensation that’s equal parts singing and slaying. Canadian film director Maggie Kang taps into her Korean heritage with collaborator Chris Appelhans, best known as an American illustrator, to co-direct and write the musical fantasy Kpop Demon Hunters (B), an engaging and culturally rooted film about a trio of female singers who moonlight as monster assassins. The high production value style is inspired by the look and feel of large-scale concerts, promotional videos and globetrotting adventures with pop music sensations, blended seamlessly with aspects of mythology and demonology for equal parts authentic action. Arden Cho as lead vocalist of the fictional group Huntr/x, Ji-Young Yoo as the rapper/lyricist/knife specialist of the girl-group and May Hong as the rebellious dance lead are among the fresh voice talent delivering funny, contemporary dialogue and music, with assist from contemporaries such as the band Twice and veterans such as crooner Lea Salonga, plus Ken Jeong and Daniel Dae Kim, as agent and doctor, respectively. Ahn Hyo-seop also shines as the lead singer of a mischievous rival boy band, flanked by sly sidekicks: a grinning tiger and a cute bird with a hat The score composed by Brazilian pianist Marcelo Zarvos adds to the kinetic, electric atmosphere with a bevy of international talents contributing to bangers such as “Golden,” “Takedown,” “Soda Pop” and “Your Idol,” keeping audiences humming in sassy syncopation. Although it drags a little in the final act, the film is mainly breezy and exciting with infectious catchiness and colors. It is more finely and winningly observed than expected; and it’s no wonder this Netflix discovery has inspired sing-along cinema screenings.
As both writer and director of Incredibles 2 (A), Brad Bird’s mastery of the animated form is on display in delirious grandeur. Far surpassing his original film in wit, creativity and subtext, the auteur has delivered one of the most engaging films of the year. The retro comic book style provides a delightful backdrop for adventure and comedy, with an onslaught of fun flourishes appearing like cinematic confections from whiz!bam!pow! frame to frame. It’s a message movie in superhero disguise, of course, with much to say about gender and workplace, societal obsession with technological screens and protecting equal rights of individuals with unconventional origins. And the sequences with the super-baby discovering his new powers are comic gold. The film is fun from start to finish and showcase’s the filmmaker’s maturity and evolution. Hollywood will be hard-pressed to showcase a more satisfying sequel blockbuster this year.
Paul King’s Paddington 2 (B+) is charming family entertainment but with a marmalade tart wit and whimsy exceeding its simple premise. Voice actor Ben Whishaw and delightful actors such as Sally Hawkins and Hugh Bonneville are back from the original film, joined by Hugh Grant in an unexpected tour de force as an unscrupulous out of work thespian who cheats the titular talking bear out of an antique book with clues to buried treasure. Much of the film takes place with wrongly imprisoned Paddington cheering up inmates while Grant’s nefarious villain tries on myriad disguises in an attempt to claim outrageous fortune. The film soars especially in moments with splendid flourishes when least anticipated and in tender and droll subplots which transcend the spectacle. Blending live action, CGI animation and a pop-up art vision of London, the film is a first class caper. Although not quite as crisp as the first film, it’s a boon companion.
Director Chris McKay shows audiences exactly where a famous caped crusader gets those wonderful toys in the whimsical mini-fig laden animated feature The LEGO Batman Movie (B). A spinoff of 2014’s similarly hilarious 
Co-directors John Clements and Ron Musker have animated quests with more Herculean tasks, drawn crooning crabs making a bigger undersea splash and created caves with greater wonders than the adventure afoot in Moana (C+), their mostly adrift Disney Polynesian epic wannabe. It’s quite enchanting to look at, at least for the first act; and newcomer Auli’i Cravalho brings lovely life to the brave and modern title character. Coupled with a goofy demigod convincingly acted and sung by Dwayne Johnson, the heroine embarks on an ill-conceived odyssey marked by listless villains, average banter and misbegotten mishaps. There’s one good song (of seven) played several times in the film, a propulsive anthem by Hamilton‘s Lin-Manuel Miranda called “How Far I’ll Go,” but alas its prescient title begs the answer “too far” or “not far enough.” The most inventive use of tattoos since Memento and a creative battalion of Mad Max style pirate ships cannot lift the story to the gravitas to which it sometimes aspires. Bogged down in bluster and with story conceits which fail to differentiate it in the Disney kingdom canon, the film is barely better than its makers’ Treasure Planet and The Great Mouse Detective. The co-directors have found unexpected box office success but might have been better off leaving this journey in the bottle.
Pete Docter’s Up (A-) is a lovely animated film that peaks in its first ten minutes but then opens up to a variety of rich vistas of imagination. The story of an old man and a kid who drift off in a helium balloon bouquet propelled house to a magical world is a true original. I could have done without the talking dogs and some of the stock villains, but it was mostly gorgeous and moving.
Andrew Stanton’s WALL-E (B) is a fantastical futuristic fantasy in which the earth is filled with garbage and a tiny, adorable clean-up robot is awakened from his drudgery by a beautiful girl droid and a chance to blast off into adventure. The lyrical earthboard sequences are far superior to the latter ones, but this is another Pixar original that will have something to offer both kids and adults.