Tag: Marvel

Twofer Review – ‘Apollo 11’ and ‘Captain Marvel’ – Up and Down

Directed and Edited by Todd Douglas Miller
Soundtrack: Matt Morton

In an era in which we have seemingly unlimited options for content, and the only event “everybody” stops and looks at anymore is the Super Bowl, it can be difficult to:
A. have an appreciation for a truly shared cultural experience
and
B. think of a “documentary” as a must-see cinematic event.

Apollo 11, however, will make you a true believer.

This is a big, beautiful movie; as big as anything you’ll see on the big screen this year.

Rather than a traditional documentary with face-to-face interviews and a lot of experts explaining things, Apollo 11 is more of an art house experience, but make no mistake, it’s for everyone, not just a niche audience. Whether you’re a NASA nerd or a complete space novice, the power of the film is undeniable.

There’s not much else I can say in terms of the moon landing itself or the movie, but the score by Matt Morton is as nearly perfect as the rest of the film (and, as confirmed to me by a source, was performed on strictly Sixties period instruments, which is impressive).

You will laugh; you will cry; you will cheer.

If you see nothing else theatrically in 2019, go see Apollo 11.

Rating: ★★★★½ (out of five)



Directed by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck
Written by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck (story and screenplay), Geneva Robertson-Dworet (story and screenplay), and Nicole Perlman & Meg LaFauve (story)
Cast: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan, Annette Bening, Clark Gregg, Jude Law, Akira Akbar, Azari Akbar, Mckenna Grace, London Fuller, Marilyn Brett, Stan Lee
Soundtrack: Pinar Toprak

It stands to reason that after twenty-one feature films since 2008 (and three per year since 2017) the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) would start to unravel at some point.

I haven’t seen every MCU film theatrically, but I have seen every single one in full. They’re not all great, but to this point they’ve all maintained a certain level of quality, be it through ambition, emotion, charm, or just being quirky.

Unfortunately, Captain Marvel is lacking in all of these areas.

Frankly, it’s a boring, predictable tonal mess that feels like a Frankenstein’s monster of a script, and it tries to skate by on some mild Nineties nostalgia that largely falls flat (REMEMBER BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO!?).

The one true highlight of the movie is some quality de-aging effects for Sam Jackson (who finally gets to have some fun in these movies).

Other than that, there’s just not a lot to grab onto. I like Brie Larson as an actress, I’ve seen her do quality work, but her attempt to be laid-back and cool here just comes off as lethargic; and she’s not the only quality performer who goes wasted (Jude Law and Ben Mendelsohn among them).

Overall, there’s nothing Captain Marvel does better than any MCU film beforehand, and for the first time ever in seeing this giant franchise I felt like the movie was just total a waste of time.

The worst sin, though, is that the biggest question the film asks goes unanswered. I could forgive a lot but to get to the end of a movie like this and not have that “Why?” answered is just too much.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

New and Old Twofer – ‘Venom’ and ‘The Blob’ (1988) – Oozing on Through

Venom

Directed by Ruben Fleischer
Written by Scott Rosenberg & Jeff Pinkner (screenplay and story), Kelly Marcel (screenplay), and Will Beall (screenplay), based on the Marvel comics by Todd McFarlane & David Michelinie
Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze, Reid Scott, Jenny Slate, Michelle Lee, Mac Brandt, Sope Aluko, Wayne Péré, Scott Deckert, Marcella Bragio, Christian Convery, Sam Medina, Ron Cephas Jones
Soundtrack: Ludwig Göransson

Another week, another Riz Ahmed movie, and another big surprise.

I will admit, as I did last month, that it’s been such a down year for movies that I may well be grading on a curve at this point, but I will say unequivocally that in terms of new releases, Venom is the most fun I’ve had in a theater in 2018.  Big time critics may not value that (or even experience it), but I do.

The film is a horror-comedy-action-sci-fi mash-up that won’t work for everyone, but it won me over early and never betrayed my trust.  It’s certainly the best thing Ruben Fleischer (who I’d say I generally like) has done since Zombieland.

Now, you may ask, “Is there a lot of CGI in this movie?” and the answer is yes, there is, but, there is also a noticeable commitment to keeping things practical where they could.  For example, at the beginning of the film, there’s a spaceship that crashes, and when you see a response team at the crash site, they’re not looking at a blue screen, they’re looking at, as Daniel Craig’s James Bond might say, “A bloody big ship,” and that warmed my heart immediately; not to mention there’s some lovely use of San Francisco as a location.

As far as performances go, I’m not sure you can call whatever Tom Hardy is doing good or bad, it just kind of is, and since this isn’t Citizen Kane, I was fine with it; and, frankly, he pulled off the humor much better than I would have expected.

Beyond that, I like the way the Venom story and characters have been updated to present day-sensibilities (making Eddie Brock essentially a VICE reporter is particularly choice), and, even though the studio opted out of going for the R-rating (despite the success of Deadpool and Logan), it’s clear to me that the movie owes something, at least in spirit, to the 80s splatter films of Frank Henenlotter and Stuart Gordon (as well as Chuck Russell’s The Blob, which we’ll get to shortly), perhaps even Devil’s Express.

It’s not the most original screenplay in the world in terms of plot (hello, Iron Man), but it at least tries to do it’s own thing tone-wise.

As I said, it won’t work for everyone, but it’s certainly better than the critical reception would have you believe; perfect for a Halloween season comic book fix.

Rating: ★★★★½

 

The Blob (1988)

Original Release Date: August 5, 1988
Directed by Chuck Russell
Written by Chuck Russell & Frank Darabont, based on an earlier screenplay by Theodore Simonson and Kay Linaker, based on a story by Irvine H. Millgate
Cast: Kevin Dillon, Shawnee Smith, Donovan Leitch, Jeffrey DeMunn, Candy Clark, Joe Seneca, Del Close, Paul McCrane, Robert Axelrod, Beau Billingslea, Michael Kenworthy, Douglas Emerson, Jamison Newlander, Judith Flanagan, Art LaFleur, Sharon Spelman, Billy Beck, Jack Nance, Bill Moseley, Erika Eleniak, Ricky Paull Goldin, Frank Collison, Jack Rader, Clayton Landey, Noble Craig, Julie McCullough
Soundtrack: Michael Hoenig

Full disclosure, I saw this in a double feature with the 1958 original, which gave me an appreciation I might not have otherwise had (not that I hadn’t seen both versions before).  I’d give the original a review as well, but it was on a pretty faded archival print and I just don’t feel right about judging it in that way.

Anyway, in terms of 80s horror (and remakes in general), Chuck Russell’s The Blob is definitely up there.

It’s essentially a sliced, diced, sauteed, and smothered (get it?) version of the original (Blob comes to Earth in a meteor, eats a hobo, wreaks havoc in a small town, etc.), with more than a dash of Stephen King mixed in for flavor (no surprise there given Russell co-wrote the screenplay with Frank Darabont), and a refreshing attention to detail (no joke, I think even the cliche jump-scare cat is set up).  Seriously, if you like structure in your plot, this is the movie for you.

And, it’s properly gooey and gory and gross, although it’s amazing how some of the practical effects don’t look all that different from their counterparts thirty years earlier.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s not the best-acted movie I’ve ever seen (although that aspect is still an upgrade over the original), but I can forgive that based on the strength of the visuals and the story.

Overall, 1988’s The Blob certainly isn’t as strong as Philip Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers or John Carpenter’s The Thing, but, for the genre and the time it was made, it deserves to be in the conversation of more-than-worthwhile remakes.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Movie Review – ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ – All The Small Things

Directed by Peyton Reed
Written by Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers and Paul Rudd, Andrew Barrer, & Gabriel Ferrari
Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Tip “T.I.” Harris, David Dastmalchian, Hannah John-Kamen, Abby Ryder Fortson, Randall Park, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Douglas, Michael Cerveris, Riann Steele, Tim Heidecker, Tom Scharpling, Jon Wurster, Divian Ladwa
Soundtrack: Christophe Beck

Another week, another sequel.

Such is life.

(And I won’t even mention how this is the fourth Marvel movie in eight months.)

Let’s keep this short and sweet though.

2015’s Ant-Man was a film I thoroughly enjoyed except for one nagging thought, and that is, “How much better would it have been had Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish been able to see it all the way through?”  The answer is it likely would have earned another half (if not full) star in my rating, but still, I think Peyton Reed and company did a fine job making a mostly stand-alone movie with a fun, underdog, Eighties vibe.

Similarly, I enjoyed Ant-Man and the Wasp, though not as much as its predecessor.  The tone is largely the same, and the action is still very much to my liking (aka you can actually see what’s happening and who’s punching who, not to mention the miniaturization is unique and interesting), but the comedic execution isn’t as sharp and I found myself visualizing the ending long before we actually got there.

Even so, it’s an entertaining movie, and in a rare occurrence for Marvel, I actually noticed and enjoyed some of the score.

Quite simply though, Ant-Man and the Wasp isn’t as strong as the first one, but I’d still recommend it without any qualms.

Rating: ★★★½ (out of five)

Movie Review – ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ – The Gang’s All Here

Directed by Anthony Russo & Joe Russo

Written by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (screenplay), based on the comic book story by Jim Starlin, George Pérez, & Ron Lim, based on characters created by Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, and Jim Starlin

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Peter Dinklage, Benedict Wong, Pom Klementieff, Karen Gillan, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, Chris Pratt, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Jacob Batalon, Isabella Amara, Florence Kasumba, William Hurt, Terry Notary, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Carrie Coon, Michael James Shaw

Soundtrack: Alan Silvestri

It all comes down to this.

(Until Ant-Man and the Wasp comes out in ten weeks, which I’m actually more hyped for, but whatever.)

Eighteen movies in ten years have all been building up to the conflict to end all conflicts (until the next one).

The Infinity War.

So, what do we got?

Well…that kind of depends on the question.

As far as its purpose, which is the joining together of multiple sub-franchises to form, more or less, a single, cohesive story, I think this film does an admirable job of hammering the puzzle pieces together, but it’s not seamless enough to transcend the limitations of adapting one medium to another.

To put it another way, there’s very little about Infinity War that’s bad on its own; pretty much every scene unto itself works just fine, but I don’t think it cuts together well.  Frankly, I found the whole thing rather overwhelming (perhaps a second look would be worthwhile, but I’m not sure).

One big problem is that the audience is expected to carry too much into the movie (metaphorically speaking).  I’ve seen every MCU film, I assume most people who are going opening weekend have as well, but most of the emotional payoffs in Infinity War rely on you to remember why they’re important, and, as good a memory as I have, I just don’t have that kind of RAM for this, and as such a lot of the emotion of the movie fell flat for me (not to mention there haven’t been many real consequences in the MCU to this point, so…yeah, I’ll just leave it there).

Second, and I know I’ll be in the minority here because it’s the point of all of this for a lot of people, but there’s too much mind-numbing action, which I don’t normally find myself saying about these films.  I like action fine, I can even enjoy nonstop action when it’s done right, but let me ask you this:

If two CG characters are fighting each other, why does the camera need to shake so much?

One positive I will mention, because I didn’t hate this movie and want to end on a good note, I actually liked Thanos as a character.  Sure, he’s a villain who must be stopped, but at least he has an ethos and isn’t just another bitter revenge dude.

Other than that, hardcore fans will probably eat this one up, but I’m not convinced it has that much staying power for general audiences.  Check it out if you want, especially if you’re pot committed to the MCU, but don’t feel bad about seeing it at a discount.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

P.S.
Shoutout to Alamo/Mondo for the swag.