Ant-Man and the Wasp

Marvel Studios is obviously having a good year this year with its two recent juggernaut movies that are Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther which broke box office records both domestically and internationally. Now, the studio has one more movie to wrap up 2018 and hopefully will garner equal success – Ant-Man and the Wasp.

Taking place two years after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Scott Lang / Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) is under house arrest for aiding Captain America and gang in violation of the Sokovia Accords. This resulted in a rift in his friendship with mentor Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and romantic interest Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lily), who has taken on the mantle of Wasp after her mother, Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), went subatomic 30 years ago and is lost in the quantum realm forever. But a mysterious message from Janet forces all three former associates to reunite and get her back to the real world while fighting off Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), a villain who can phase through solid objects.

After Avengers: Infinity War which has a big scale of world, no, planet destruction, it is nice to see this movie taking on a more personal route having the plot only revolve around Lang’s social circle and in San Francisco. It is as if Marvel Studios wants the fans to relax from its previous movie which took place in multiple planets starring larger than life superheroes and supervillains, and enjoy its underdog tale of a family reunion.

Peyton Reed returns as director – not replacing anyone this time – and showed off his directing skills quite efficiently that balances action, comedy, and heart that this movie has. The shrinking effects are always impressive to look at and it seems like it has improved since the first movie adding a sense of realism to an otherwise unrealistic technology. Reed, who is known to direct comedies, expresses his comedic knowledge through a script that manages to give equal time on comedy and heartfelt moments. It also helps that he has actors and actresses with good comedic timing specifically Michael Peña who has the best scenes that are sure to make audiences laugh out loud.

Unfortunately though, Ant-Man and the Wasp struggles from what a lot of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies suffered from and that is a weak villain. After two great villains – Thanos and Killmonger – Marvel Studios should have stepped up their game and bring out a villain that is at least on par if not better than its previous two. The backstory they gave Ghost was not enough to emotionally affect and challenge the audiences to sympathise with her and her upbringing. Not to discredit John-Kamen, but it is just a pity to see her work with minimal help to create a compelling villain.

MCU fans needed this movie. It is relieving to see Marvel Studios taking a step back from all of the destruction that Avengers: Infinity War created and focuses more on a small problem in a town in America. It is good to see Reed adapt to the lore without any hand-holding and hopefully he returns to the franchise if a third movie was ever to be made. The post-credit scene ties into future MCU movies which fans of Ant-Man can look forward to.

[4/5]

Sicario: Day of the Soldado

Sicario surprised us in 2015 with a movie so compelling and visually pleasing that it made lots of top ten lists and managed to get three Oscar nominations which were Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, and Best Sound Editing that year. Three years later, a sequel would arrive in cinemas to continue the story of the sicario – “hitman” in English; a sequel that nobody on Earth asked for.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado follows Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) who is tasked to carry out a mission to start a war among the Mexican drug cartels to ultimately combat them. He is given free will by the US Department of Defence and is allowed to get unethical in order to succeed in this mission. And who better to be unethical with if it isn’t the sicario himself, Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro).

Straight of the bat, Sicario: Day of the Soldado does not hold back on its violence and shock value when a bunch of suicide bombers blow themselves up in an occupied supermarket; similarly shocking to the dead bodies they found within the walls of a house in the first movie. From there, the movie is seen taking familiar steps from the first movie to hopefully achieve its successes. Though a bit lacking in its intensity level, this movie still manages to achieve high-octane action scenes which will leave the audience gripping to their seats.

However, Sicario: Day of the Soldado failed midway when they introduce Isabela Reyes (Isabela Moner), the daughter of a high-profiled Mexican drug cartel who is being used as bait to further lure her father out from hiding.

The movie feels unfocused the minute Isabela is introduced, switching from the CIA’s plan to create war among the cartels to the movie becoming a babysitting movie that dumbs down del Toro’s character who has the most fleshed out persona among the other lead characters. This whole subplot slows the movie way down with a conclusion that is unsatisfying to the audience. Whether or not it is a setup for the next movie, but as it stands now, it was just an unnecessary plot point that can be shaved off and move on to the initial reason why Sicario: Day of the Soldado happen.

Looking back at Sicario, Sicario: Day of the Soldado is a poor sequel of an original story which failed to recapture the heart and soul of its predecessor. Knowing it has Brolin and del Toro as its two leads, the movie was a let-down that does not fully utilises its two actors and their capability as performers. With an unfocused story, Sicario: Day of the Soldado will be forgotten and overshadowed by its prequel.

[3/5]

Incredibles 2

It has been 14 years since The Incredibles released on the big screen in 2004 and is considered to be one of Pixar’s best releases. With its groundbreaking animation, relatable storyline, and an exceptional villain, fans wanted more from the superhero family that is made up of Bob Parr (Craig T. Nelson), Helen Parr (Holly Hunter), Violet Parr (Sarah Vowell), Dash Parr (Huck Milner), and the adorable Jack-Jack Parr (Eli Fucile). Fast forward to 2018, the Parrs are back in action juggling superhero work with their family antics once again.

Incredibles 2 picks up directly after where the first movie left us with The Underminer (John Ratzenberger) attempting to cause chaos among the citizens by robbing money from a bank but ultimately failed when our favourite superhero family stepped in to interfere with his robbery. However, the government isn’t too happy about the result judging from the amount of property damage caused by the Incredibles. Due to their actions, the “Super Relocation” program is shut down forcing Supers across the world to permanently adhere to their secret identities. While in hiding, the Incredibles were contacted by Winston Deavor (Bob Odenkirk) who is a strong believer in Supers and proposes a publicity stunt to regain the public’s support and trust in Supers.

After the long 14 year wait, it is finally good to see these characters that fans love back on screen again with their polar personalities that bounce off each other really well. Helen aka Elastigirl, is given more screen time as she takes centre stage in Deavor’s plan which sees her use her powers of elasticity in multiple creative ways which will give Mr. Fantastic a run for his money. While Elastigirl is off doing superhero work, Bob, or Mr. Incredible, is responsible in babysitting the kids which he isn’t particularly good at. He struggles in helping Dash with his mathematical homework and is clueless on how to deal with Violet’s romantic problems with her crush. This world that Bob involuntarily dove in is hilarious and entertaining to watch which proves mothers out there are really the best human beings in the world.

But the scene stealer is obviously Jack-Jack. Whenever the cute baby pops up on screen, he charms his way to audiences’ hearts with his adorable smile and bubbly manner. There is a fight scene involving a racoon which is probably the highlight of the entire movie. Come to think of it, all of the action scenes in the movie are enjoyable to watch especially when other Supers get to show off their abilities. The animation also has come a long way since 2004 with visuals that are detailed and carefully done.

As enjoyable Incredibles 2 may be, its villain is quite forgettable and predictable. The movie tries to make a plot twist towards the end but audience could see it from miles away which affects the movie’s big reveal. It must be difficult to follow up a villain as good as Syndrome in the previous movie that has so much conviction and reasons that rest in such a grey area. Not saying that the villain for Incredibles 2 is weak in any manner, it is just not as impactful and eye-opening as Syndrome who left such a mark in movie history.

All in all, Incredibles 2 stayed away from Pixar’s curse of sequels (remember Cars 2 or Cars 3?) and delivered what a proper sequel should have been – bigger action, better animation, and an overall good time. The movie ends almost the same way how The Incredibles ended a couple of years ago, but if Pixar decides to make a third movie, please don’t make your fans wait for another 14 years.

[4/5]

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Admittedly, Jurassic Park holds a dear spot in my heart. It is one of the earlier movies that, to this day, still manages to wow me with its impressive use of visual and practical effects. Even if the rest of the sequels fail to reach that initial standard set by Steven Spielberg, I still would very much defend the franchise which created something so spectacular and was brought to the big screens for moviegoers to experience. 25 years after the original, we now have a new Jurassic Park movie which acts as a direct sequel to 2015’s soft reboot, Jurassic World, titled Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

The theme park in the fictional island of Isla Nublar that holds various dinosaurs is now destroyed after the events of Jurassic World. Dinosaurs are scattered and roam freely around the island with no human supervision. However, that freedom is coming to an end when an active volcano starts to erupt, threatening to kill all living creatures on the island. That is when dinosaur enthusiasts Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) reunite and team up with a private rescue team with a mission to save as many dinosaurs as possible. But little did the on-off couple know that the rescue team has a hidden agenda that might affect the dinosaurs’ well-being.

Straight of the bat, the first sequence in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom brings that familiar sensation of suspense and terror that the original movie is known for, when an illegal mission goes horribly wrong at the now abandoned Isla Nublar. The sight of the terrifying Tyrannosaurus and gigantic Mosasaurus brings chills and also awe at how these larger than life creatures look like on the big screen. Then, the movie shifts its tone to the human characters and regrettably, it all falls apart.

From there, the movie suffers from a boring pace revolving on human characters that are just very expendable to a point where it does not matter whether these characters live or die. Maybe not so much on Pratt’s and Howard’s characters since they are the OG of the reboot franchise, but the newer characters – they are just appalling.

Justice Smith plays a hacker working closely with Claire who is always screaming in fear for no apparent reason and also is the moronic one among the group implying that he is supposed to be the comic relief when none of his jokes land. Daniella Pineda is a paleo-veterinarian who acts tough and gives out smart-ass answers but unconvincingly does so to the point that it becomes annoying. Then there is Isabella Sermon as Maisie Lockwood.

Poor Sermon. The young actress has to go through the most bizarre subplot in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. So bizarre that it leaves the audience wondering if this movie takes its logic too far. From her relationship with her grandfather who, conveniently enough, is John Hammond’s former partner, to her head-scratching nonsensical origin story. If the payoff is too much, at least make the build-up interesting, right? No, her subplot drags on for too long with weak dialogues and poor acting that do not contribute to the movie in any way. Revealing the big surprise would be a spoiler, but truthfully, it was not worth it.

With this subplot and focus on humans, the movie seems to not understand what the audience wants, and that is more dinosaurs. People don’t resonate with the Jurassic Park franchise because of its human characters. They remember this franchise because of how it projects these awe-inspiring dinosaurs with their specific manner and behaviours that audiences have never seen in real life. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom seems to forget and neglect that magic that they once had by putting their dinosaurs in the background.

Hopefully, this mistake can be corrected in the third Jurassic World movie which is already confirmed for 2021 with Colin Trevorrow set to return as director. Judging by the end of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, there are still hopes of bringing this franchise to the right track. But as for now, we will just have to sit and enjoy(?) this mess of a “dinosaur movie” that does not showcase dinosaurs.

[2/5]

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Since acquiring the rights to Lucasfilm in 2012, Disney has been pumping out Star Wars movies non-stop in hopes to keep the franchise alive for the hardcore fanatics. Aside from continuing the Skywalker saga, spin-off movies were made to fill in the yearly gap for each Skywalker centric movies to give more insight to this gigantic fictional universe. Fans had Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in 2016, and this year, we are treated to Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Solo is another Star Wars spin-off which follows everybody’s favourite space cowboy, Han Solo, who was famously played by Harrison Ford in the original trilogy. This time, Alden Ehrenreich takes on the iconic role portraying a slightly younger version of the pilot / smuggler; give or take 10 years before Star Wars. Han is on a mission to find his way back to Corellia after he vows to return to save his lover Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke) from the hands of Lady Proxima. Along the way, he befriends a group of criminals led by Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson) and helps them with a score which could bring Han one step closer to achieving his goal.

Going into Solo, it is hard to ignore the rumours circulating the movie what with Ron Howard taking over directing duties after Phil Lord and Chris Miller were fired halfway through the shooting process, Ehrenreich needing an acting coach on-set, multiple reshoots with Paul Bettany replacing Michael Williams as the villainous Dryden Vos, and so on. And as expected, Solo was a bit of a mess.

Solo failed to capture the essence of what makes a Star Wars movie great by playing its cards too safe without taking any risks or introducing something new to the universe. Everything that happens in the movie feels generic making it a textbook heist movie that audiences have seen a hundred times before. Considering that this movie revolves around a fan-favourite character, it did not have the emotional impact to drive the story forward, aside from a couple of nods to previous and future movies.

 That being said, Ehrenreich, who has big shoes to fill, was great as young Han Solo. He embodies the iconic character and made it his own without trying to imitate what Ford did in previous Star Wars movies. There were instances of that Han Solo wit that Ehrenreich completely nailed proving that he is indeed the perfect match to play this role.

Other than that, Donald Glover was also a standout in this movie. Not only does he look like Lando Calrissian, but he projects the character’s charisma and charm that Billy Dee Williams brought back when he played the older version of the intergalactic smuggler. The chemistry between Ehrenreich and Glover too was spot on bringing a unique take on the two characters’ love-hate relationship.

However good Ehrenreich and Glover may be, it was not enough to save the movie from it being just a plain ordinary movie with no real weight to the franchise. Two movies are already planned to continue on this story but if Solo is any indication of how the trilogy is going to be, Disney might want to consider giving directors more freedom in their work to inject more variety in this juggernaut of a franchise.

[3/5]