Category: New Releases

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}” column_structure=”2_3,1_3″][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”]Regardless of how you may feel about Tom Cruise, you can’t deny his star power. Having made it big with 80s hits Risky Business and Top Gun, Cruise has become one of the biggest actors today. Why else would 2017’s The Mummy be such a big hit in China? Regardless, he is still beloved for his charming personality, boundless energy, and willingness to do tons of crazy stunts. Since the mid-90s, Cruise has enjoyed a lot of success thanks to the Mission: Impossible franchise. In spite of the franchise’s fluctuating quality, it’s still a very popular and profitable franchise. Fast forward to 2018, 22 years since Brian De Palma (Sisters) crafted the original spy thriller. The sixth film in the franchise, Mission: Impossible – Fallout reunites much of the cast we’re used to, as well as some new ones, to bring us one of the most action-packed spectacles of the year.
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Synopsis

Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is tasked with retrieving three plutonium cores before a terrorist group called The Apostles get them. This group plans on using them to create nuclear weapons to, as they put it, tear down the old world. Hunt brings in his regular teammates, Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg), but he is also assigned a new team member, CIA agent Walker (Henry Cavill). He’s been assigned to keep an eye on Hunt and his team after a mission gone wrong. Along the way, they also run into former MI6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who may or may not be on Hunt’s side. In the midst of this is anarchist Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) who has a personal vendetta against Hunt. What follows are car chases, motorcycle chases, on-foot chases, and a helicopter fight as our heroes race against time to save the world once again.

Review

Compared to the many other action films this year, this one gives many of those a run for their money. Everything in this movie works so well. For one, Cruise is awesome as always and proves why he’s still a force to be reckoned with. Half of the fun of this movie is just seeing all the crazy stunts he performs. Plus, it’s great seeing him, Rhames, and Pegg working off each other and having a good time. You really get a sense of the camaraderie these guys have given their history together. Cavill is also memorable as a tall and broad-shouldered guy who can easily go toe-to-toe with Cruise. Ferguson is also great as a conflicted agent torn between her feelings for Hunt and her mission. Another stand-out is Vanessa Kirby as The White Widow, who has a very femme fatale quality, but also has great comedic timing.

What can really make or break a movie like this are the action sequences, and this does not disappoint. The movie is filled with tons of intense action set-pieces that are well-filmed and well-choreographed. As mentioned earlier, many of the stunts on display here are real. For instance, Cruise really does pilot a helicopter, run for miles across rooftops, and drive a motorcycle through traffic. It’s just amazing to see how they top themselves between movies. But of course, the action sequences don’t really matter unless you like the characters or the story isn’t interesting. Like I said before, the acting is phenomenal across the board, and there is so much going on that you’re never bored. The plot will make you guess and question what’s happening, but not in a way that leaves you confused. If you’re smart and pay attention, you’ll be able to follow along just fine.

Normally, this is where I’d get into the negatives I have with the movie. Thing is, unless something comes to me, I really can’t think of anything wrong with this movie. I guess maybe some of the villains aren’t very well-developed and maybe the plot is a bit convoluted. Honestly, many of those are nitpicks that absolutely do not take anything away from this movie. This is still a really fun, exciting, and intense action spy thriller. Even if you’ve never seen the previous films, Mission: Impossible – Fallout is still one of the best action movies in years, and it reminds us how to properly do big summer blockbusters.

Buy Mission: Impossible – Fallout from Amazon: https://amzn.to/4oFFILe.

Disclosure: The above link is an affiliate link, which means that, at no additional cost, I will earn a commission if you click through the link and make a purchase.

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Where to watch Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

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Movies set in a high-rise building are not necessarily a new concept. There have been many films over the years set in a tall building, whether it’s silent films like Safety Last! and Metropolis, action classics like The Towering Inferno or Die Hard, and more recent favorites like Land of the Dead and Dredd. Hell, there have even been horror movies set in a high-rise, such as Poltergeist III and Gremlins 2: The New Batch. For whatever reason, Hollywood really likes to use high-rise buildings as a setting for just about any type of film. This year, we’ve got another one to add to the list, Skyscraper. Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, the director of Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, We’re The Millers, and Central Intelligence, this is a major departure since this is his first non-comedy movie. So, with this being his first straight-up action film, does this movie rise to the top of other high-rise movies, or does it come crashing down in smoldering ruins?

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The film opens at a snowy cabin where the police, SWAT teams, and FBI have surrounded the area after receiving a domestic disturbance call. A group of soldiers led by Will Sawyer, played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, is sent in to deal with the situation, which results in the abusive father blowing himself up with a vest bomb. While the explosion left Will horribly scarred and without his left leg, it does lead to him meeting Sarah, played by Neve Campbell, a military nurse who ends up being his wife. Ten years later, Will has moved on to working as a security consultant and is hired by multi-billionaire Zhao Long Ji, played by Chin Han, to evaluate the security systems of his new skyscraper known as The Pearl, which is being touted as the tallest building in the world. Things seem to be going well until a group of terrorists invade the building and start a massive fire that engulfs the top half of the building. Will finds himself being framed for the attack, and he must find a way to clear his name, stop the terrorists, and save his family who are still trapped in the burning building.

Obviously, when you look at the plot of this film, it doesn’t exactly read as something original or something that’s never really been done before. The movie borrows elements from a lot of much better action movies, mostly Die Hard and The Towering Inferno, with some taken from The Fugitive, namely how the hero is trying to clear his name while a police officer is trying to capture him. Of course, just because a movie takes elements from other films doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad. What it comes down to is how the filmmakers handle the material and if they can make it work. For the most part, it does work here, largely due to the cast they’ve assembled and some of the action set pieces on display. Regardless of how you may feel about a lot of the movies he’s done, Dwayne Johnson is so likable and so charismatic that you can’t help but get behind him and want to see him win. In this, he is an insanely likable guy, who actually takes a few hits in the film and has some more human/vulnerable scenes throughout. Much like Die Hard, his character does go through the ringer and gets beaten and bruised quite a bit, and the fact that he has to do many of these scenes with a prosthetic leg makes him somewhat more relatable. Neve Campbell, known mostly for her role as Sidney Prescott from the Scream franchise, is also a stand-out here. She actually gets to kick some ass in the film and get really into some of the bigger action sequences, which is refreshing to see in such a big movie with a larger-than-life actor like Johnson. The child actors who play their kids, McKenna Roberts and Noah Cottrell, are not too bad here, not overly annoying like most child actors can be and are actually pretty competent throughout. The rest of the cast, while not necessarily amazing in their roles, still do a serviceable job here as well. The action scenes, while obviously done digitally for the most part, are a fun spectacle to watch, especially a scene where Dwayne Johnson makes a long jump off a multi-story crane into the building, as well as a scene where Neve Campbell and the kids run through a park in the building as it’s going up in flames.

Now comes the part where I have to get into what doesn’t really work about the movie. With a movie like this, it might seem pointless to talk about the flaws and the things that don’t make sense here, but as someone who cares about film and like to examine movies beyond just what’s on screen, I feel that I should, or else I wouldn’t be doing my job very well. For one, Will’s son has asthma that really only acts up when the script calls for it. Also, the movie is full of action movie cliches, whether it’s the villain who just keeps talking and talking while one of the good characters is taking the time to get a shot off on them, the main character having a tragic backstory that makes them promise never to do something only to do that thing later on, or the main character having a best friend who ends up betraying them at some point. Of course, a lot of these are nothing new, but it is both funny/annoying when these cliches pop up. As I mentioned before, Dwayne Johnson is supposed to be more of an everyman who gets beaten, bruised, and takes several hits in the movie, much like John McClane in Die Hard. But what made it work in Die Hard was that Bruce Willis, unlike many other action heroes of the time, wasn’t built like a brick house with tons of muscle. He really just looked like a regular guy who was stuck in a horrible situation and just had to make the most of it. Here, because Dwayne Johnson is so shredded and incredibly buff, it makes it somewhat laughable that he’s supposed to be scared of doing some of the crazier stuff his character does. The movie also has a lot of conveniences throughout, where a seemingly impossible-to-solve situation is resolved by something so simple. I don’t want to spoil too much of the plot for anyone who goes to see it, but when you see it, you’ll know what I mean. Lastly, when you find out why the terrorists are doing what they’re doing, you stop and wonder how and why something like this would happen.

Flaws aside, I still think this is an enjoyable if wildly predictable film. Largely thanks to a likable and talented cast and some pretty fun action sequences throughout, Skyscraper doesn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to action movies and doesn’t rise to the top like similar films, but it is still a fun movie to watch when you need something to put on for 90 minutes that you don’t have to think about too much and just sit back and enjoy the ride.

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[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”]Ant-Man, originally also known as Dr. Hank Pym, was created by legendary comic book writer Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and penciler Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Tales to Astonish #27 in 1962. Soon after, Lee and Kirby, alongside comic book writer/artist Ernie Hart created Ant-Man’s partner in crime-fighting known as The Wasp, originally Janet van Dyne, who debuted in Tales to Astonish #44 in 1963. Having been founding members of the original Avengers, the two had the unique ability to shrink down in size, giving them enhanced strength and speed. Pym was eventually replaced by ex-convict and electronics expert Scott Lang, who was created by David Michelinie and John Byrne, and he first became the new Ant-Man in Marvel Premiere #47 in 1979. He was soon followed by Hope Pym, aka Hope van Dyne, who was created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz initially as the super-villain Red Queen debuting in A-Next #7 in 1999. Flash forward to many years later when, in 2015, Marvel Studios released Ant-Man as part of their Marvel Cinematic Universe. Starring Paul Rudd as the titular character, as well as featuring Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne and Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym, the film was an enjoyable superhero movie, if somewhat middle-of-the-road when compared to Iron Man, Captain American: The First Avenger, and The Winter Soldier, and The Avengers. Nonetheless, much like the other films in the MCU, Ant-Man was a hit with both critics and audiences and, in 2018, we’ve been given a sequel called Ant-Man and The Wasp.

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Synopsis

Taking place two years after the events of Captain America: Civil War, we find Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) now under house arrest following his encounter with the Avengers and teaming up with Captain America. Because of this, ties between him, Hope (Evangeline Lilly) and Dr. Pym (Michael Douglas) have all but ceased. That all changes when Lang starts having visions of Hope’s mother Janet, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, who has been trapped in the Quantum Realm for years. Believing this to be a message of her still being alive, Hope kidnaps Lang and wants to use him to help her and Pym find and bring Janet back once the two have finished working on a tunnel that will allow them to safely travel to the Quantum Realm. At the same time, there’s a new villain in town known only as Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) who has the ability to shift in and out of the Quantum Realm following an experiment gone horribly wrong. There’s also the black market dealer Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins) who’s after Hope after he learns of the tech that she and her father possesses. Along the way, Lang, Hope, and Pym also try to get help from Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne) who was a former partner of Pym’s until he was fired for his own reasons. As Ant-Man and The Wasp, they must fight off Ghost and Burch who are after the technology that Hope and Pym have, while also working to try to find and rescue Janet before it’s too late.

Review

Once again directed by Peyton Reed and with much of the original cast returning, this movie has a lot of the same charm that made the first one enjoyable. As Ant-Man, Paul Rudd is still just as funny and charismatic as he’s ever been. Evangeline Lilly, who was more of a supporting character in the first film, really shines in this one, as she gets to fight alongside Rudd and really kick some ass as The Wasp. Michael Douglas, while again playing a supporting character in this, has a lot more to do and also has moments of intensity that remind you of how Douglas is an Oscar-winning actor. Also returning are the main comic relief characters, including Michael Peña as Luis, Tip ‘T.I.’ Harris as Dave, and David Dastmalchian as Kurt. They more or less have the same shtick as the first one, so whether or not you liked them before, you’ll feel the same way about them here. Talking about the newcomers to this franchise, Michelle Pfeiffer is terrific as Janet van Dyne, Laurence Fishburne kills it as he always does, and it’s fun to see Walton Goggins pop up in this. Plus, major kudos to Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, who is kind of a villain, but is also weirdly sympathetic once you learn about her backstory. She’s probably one of the only villains in the MCU who actually turns good by the end of the movie, which is actually quite refreshing.

Of course, with this being an action movie, this movie should have thrilling action sequences, and it definitely has those, and then some. Given how this movie, like the previous one, plays with the concept of changing size, they use it quite a bit here, including a fight scene where a salt shaker is enlarged and used as a blockade, as well as a chase scene where a giant PEZ dispenser stops a guy on a motorcycle. Also of note are the sequences in the Quantum Realm, which reminded me of some of the other fantastical locations in the MCU, such as Dormamu’s realm in Doctor Strange or some of the weirder worlds of Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s a spectacle to look at, even if a lot of it is obvious CGI and green screen. The movie also has a lot of heart to it, especially when it comes to the family dynamics, whether it’s Lang’s relationship with his daughter Cassie, or the relationship between Hope and Dr. Pym. While the movie is certainly a fun thrill ride, it also can hit you in the feels a little bit.

Getting into the negatives with this one, while I thought the villain(s) was certainly more memorable than the villain of the previous film, Ghost, unfortunately, doesn’t hold a candle to Loki, Killmonger, Ultron, or even Thanos. Also, as much as the comedy in this one works, there are a few places where the comedy does fall flat. Plus, when it comes to characters like Foster or Ghost, we don’t really know a whole lot about them, and we’re only given vague exposition about their backstories. Even with that said, I still really enjoyed this movie and had a blast watching it.

After how dark and dire the previous film, Avengers: Infinity War, was, people were hoping that the next film Marvel had to offer would be a nice palette cleanser before the next big movie. In that respect, this movie more than succeeds at being just that: a fun and entertaining superhero movie that leaves you in a good mood. Overall, Ant-Man and The Wasp, like the previous film, is another filler Marvel movie, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good time.

Buy Ant-Man and The Wasp on Amazon: https://amzn.to/40qveWY.

Disclosure: The above link is an affiliate link, which means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. 

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Where to watch Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

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