Aquaman

Aquaman

Dir: James Wan

Cast: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson, Yayha Abdul-Mateen,

Willem Dafoe, Dolph Lundgren, Nicole Kidman

        For years now, it seemed Aquaman was considered a punchline in the superhero

    world due to fishy capabilities but with the release of his film, all that seems to change.

    

        In the sixth installment in the DC movies franchise, Game of Thrones actor Jason
    Momoa stars as Aquaman, a half human/ fish hybrid who must return to his oceanic
    home of Atlantis and protect it from his half brother King Orm (The Conjuring's 
    Patrick Wilson). Orm declares war on the surface world after humans have polluted
    the once natural wonders. Aquaman's arch nemesis Black Manta (Mateen) shows up
    to fight him.

        Joining him on his quest is the beautiful Princess Mera (Heard) who leads him on
   a quest to find a magic trident. Veteran actor Willem Defoe plays Nudis Vulko, 
   Arthur's mentor and trainer. 

       James Wan take on the aquatic superhero is beautifully shot with vibrant colors
   something that the previous DC movies lacked. Aquaman's cinematography is one
   of the, if not, the best I've ever seen.

      After the success of Wonder Woman & Aquaman, perhaps DC/WB should stick
  to making solo movies rather than copying Marvels playbook and rushing out team
  up movies.

     Grade: B (8/10)

       

Venom

Venom

Dir: Reuben Fleischer

Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Jenny Slate

       After the way that Sony handled Venom in Spider-Man 3, most comic book 
   fans have been clamoring for Venom film ever since. Venom is based on the 
   popular Marvel anti-hero of the same name & directed by Zombieland director 
   Reuben Fleischer.

     The Plot

      Tom Hardy stars as Eddie Brock, a mild mannered journalist looking to uncover
   the truth about a shady biochemical lab known as The Life Foundation. The lab 
   experiments on humans using alien slime known as Symbiote.

     One day while sneaking into the lab for evidence, he inadvertently gets infected 
  with the alien slime that lives inside of him and transforms into the creature. Now
  the lab wants it back and hunts him down for it. 

What Did Work

    After a really clunky beginning that deal with his personal life involving his girl-

   friend Annie (Williams), there are some great action sequences. Everything after 

   Venom shows up is much better than the 15 minutes that try and set up the story.

What Didn't Work

   The beginning. I didn't know what kind of movie it wanted to be, a horror, scifi, or 

    even a rom/com? Either way it'd didn't matter. The villain of this movie was just
    forgettable. The CGI was really bad like it was rushed out for the sake of it. I
    personally found it to be really boring as well.

Overall

     This movie is neither good or bad just decent. It is an unnecessary movie made 
   by Sony just to keep the Spider-man rights with them. If Sony Pictures is starting
   their own cinematic universe, they're doing it the wrong way. This is akin to 
   Catwoman that had nothing to do with Batman. Maybe rent this one. 

Grade C-

Mission Impossible: Falllout

Mission Impossible: Fallout

Dir: Chris McQuarrie

cast: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris,

Alec Baldwin, Vanessa Kirby, Angela Bassett, Rebecca Ferguson

         Mission Impossible movies are one of the few franchises that shows no signs of

   slowing down upping the ante each time. Fallout may be the best one yet. 

         Adrenaline junkie Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt. The plot revolves around

   the IMF team racing against time to recover stolen plutonium after a mission goes

   wrong. But first they have to give up a captured anarchist Solomon Lane (Harris)

   to a mysterious woman, White Widow (Kirby), who claims she can help them 

   recover the missing plutonium.

         Superman actor Henry Cavill joins the IMF as Ethan's partner sporting the
    now infamous mustache that had to be digitally removed for reshoots on the
    Justice League movie.

   The Good: The action scenes involving the plane jump and rooftop chase had me 

   on the edge of my seat. There also was plenty of intrigue and double crossing to

   give James Bond a run for his money. Pegg's gadget man Benji has been an utter

   delight since he came on board in the third film.  

   The Bad: Nothing much to dislike about this movie just that I felt it was quite

   predictable and I could see it coming from a mile away. It doesn't spoil the

   viewing experience but it makes it feel more cut and dry than past entries. 

   Overall: MI: Fallout is everything we wanted and more from a franchise that

   keeps trying to top the last installment. It's a fun ride from start to finish 

   complete with twists and turns at every corner. It's the best movie to end  

   the summer on.

Grade: B

Ant Man & the Wasp

Ant Man & the Wasp

dir: Peyton Reed

Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lily, Michael Douglas, Abby Fortson,

Hannah J. Kamen, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Pena, Randall Park,

Walton Goggins, Michelle Pfeiffer

(spoilers ahead)

         Ant Man & the Wasp comes right off the heels of an emotionally draining Infinity 
     War. This time around, we find our hero Scott Lang (Rudd) under house arrest after
     violating the Sokovia Accords during Captain America: Civil War. Before his 
     parole time is up, he spends it with his young daughter Cassie (Fortson).

        Scott gets a call from his mentor Hank Pym (Douglas) and his beautiful daughter

     Hope (Lily) looking for Hank's wife Janet (Pfeiffer) who is missing somewhere in

     a subatomic zone called the Quantum Realm.

        A young woman named Ava (J. Kamen) becomes the villain Ghost, and steals
     Pym tech. Pym's former business partner Bill Foster (Fishburne) helps try and 
     cure her of her phasing affliction.

  

        Scott and his former prison buddies band together and stop Ghost before she 
     can get to Janet.

     The Good: The acting was good because the characters played off each other well.
     The shared father/daughter dynamic was handled well so as to not to be forced.
     Pena once again borderline steals the movie with his hilarious performance as 
     the likable Luis.

     The Bad: The plot was quite predictable and the villain was very forgettable. 
     Some of the jokes fell flat and there wasn't enough action to justify a good
     Marvel film.

    Overall: Ant Man & the Wasp was a welcome palate cleanser after the intensity that
    was Infinity War. With Marvel's Phase III saga coming to a close early next year,
    it'll be interesting to see where Phase IV will be going and whether there'll be an
    Ant Man 3 to close Scott Lang's tale. It's a good summer movie to watch but quite
    forgettable one unfortunately.

 Grade: 6/10 (B-)

Avengers: Infinity War

Avengers: Infinity War

Dir: the Russo Brothers

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Josh Brolin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman,

Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo,

Zoe Saldana, Tom Holland, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Karen Gillan,

Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper (voice), Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan,

Pom Klementieff, Benedict Wong & Don Cheadle

       It's all been building to this. Marvel's biggest team up yet and the culmination of 

  eighteen films & ten years in the making. Immediately following the events of Marvel's

  Civil War, The Avengers are no more and our heroes are scattered across the globe

  (and beyond) and this time the stakes they face are high. 

       

(spoilers, proceed with caution)

      After laying waste to a ship full of displaced Asgardians, a cosmic entity named

   Thanos (Brolin) sends his minions to Earth looking for the last gem of his Infinity 

   Gauntlet, a powerful glove that grants the wearer unlimited power if all the stones

   are found. 
                              

       Tony Stark (Downey Jr.), Dr. Strange (Cumberbatch) & Spiderman (Holland) 

    team up to chase after the powerful being into outer space. They then meet up

    with the Star Lord (Pratt) and his ragtag group of alien friends. Thor (Chris
    Hemsworth) and Rocket Raccoon (Cooper) travel out to the farthest reaches 
    of the galaxy to craft a weapon to defeat Thanos.

       Meanwhile back on Earth, Scarlet Witch (Olsen), Black Widow (Johansson),

    Capt. America/Nomad (Evans) and Bruce Banner (Ruffalo) head to Black

    Panther's nation of Wakanda to protect it from the incoming alien invasion. 

    I felt some sympathy for Thanos as he had to sacrifice his adopted daughter 
    Gamora (Saldana) to do what was right in order to maintain balance in the 
    universe. 

                                    (spoilers over)

      I have very mixed feelings about this film. I can't say that I hated or liked it at all.

    I felt like that there was so much exposition going on that it dragged to the point 
    of tedium. The one thing that this movie did right was balance out the comedy
    with the scifi action that happened during slow scenes.

       Certain characters had to be killed off to show that Thanos wasn't messing 
    around. But knowing Marvel's M.O., they'll probably bring them back to life 
    just like they've always done.

       Marvel Studios has done a good job of tying in the previous movies like a 

   chapter in a book. It is also a big undertaking for the exec producer Kevin 
   Feige to bring all the superheroes together in one big movie such as this. 

      It is not the best movie of the MCU but the biggest that they have made. 
   When the credits came up, it left me wanting more hoping it ends on a positive
   not. It seems Marvel painted themselves in a corner and I just don't see how 
   they can continue. We'll find out next summer in 2019.

                                                         Grade: B-

 

Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider

Dir: Roar Uthaug 

Cast: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Daniel Wu, Walt Goggins

       Video game adaptations have always been a dodgy aspect of filmmaking. From 

   JCVD's portrayal of Guile in the Street Fighter film to the horrible Bob Hoskins' 

   Super Mario Brothers film of the early 90's, it hasn't exactly been great. This 
   version is a less hypersexualized version that starred Angelina Jolie way back
   in 2001.

       The beautiful Alicia Vikander stars as Lara Croft, a young woman who has a 

   taste for adventure. At the start, we see her working as a bike courier in the streets

   of London. Before she can claim her inheritance money, she finds clues to the 

   disappearance of her father Lord Richard Croft (West).  

       She follows the clues to a remote island encountering merciless mercenaries 

   using slaves to find an ancient grave reputed to hide mystical powers. The evil

   Mathias Vogel (Goggins) captures her to use her knowledge of opening the 

   ancient crypt to bring about the end of the world.

     The Good: The action scenes were intense to watch and didn't know if 
   Alicia was actually hurt or not. I appreciated the nod to Indiana Jones movies
   when the booby traps were set off. The father/daughter dynamic hits all the
   right notes. Alicia Vikander is very easy on the eyes. 

    The Bad: While Vikander did a decent job portraying the famous heroine, 
  she lacks the charisma that Jolie's take had. This movie had less action and
   more drama which dragged the film down a tad. 

    Overall: Judging by the trailers, I thought it'd be a cheesy flick and it turns 
   out it isn't. It's a very enjoyable film that doesn't take itself seriously. The
   open ending left me wanting more in a sequel should they decide to make 
   another one. 

Grade: C (7/10)

Black Panther

Black Panther

dir: Ryan Coogler

Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Forrest Whitaker

Angela Bassett, Letitia Wright, Andy Serkis, Martin Freeman. Sterling Brown

      Black Panther isn't just another a superhero flick but the first in the MCU to feature a 

  black protagonist. Ryan Coogler, whose critically acclaimed Creed, is the first African

  American director to get his hands on a Marvel megaphone. 

      Shortly after the events of Civil War, T'Challa returns to his home country of 

  Wakanda to become king. But an old enemy, Dr Klaue (Serkis) shows up to steal his 

  homeland's supply of vibranium to sell on the black market. Also showing up 

  is fellow Wakandan Eric Killmonger (B. Jordan) to help him out.

    T'Challa is challenged to a fight by Killmonger where he wins and throws Black

   Panther over a large waterfall to his families horror. His family secretly rescue him 

   and heal him back to health to reclaim this throne. 

    The Good: Despite the sparse action scenes, there isn't much to like about this film.
    The character of Shuri was adorable as Black Panther's tech-savvy sister. Black 
    Panther is a good hero for little black kids to emulate since as don't have one.

    The Bad: The excess CGI is suffocating and the plot felt contrived and nonsensical.

  It dragged the film down to the point of boredom. This was a weak Marvel entry 

  and I left feeling disappointed. The lack of tension killed my enjoyment for this movie.
  The "what are those!!?!!" line was cringe-worthy and will become outdated within a 
  few years. 

   Overall: Despite all the hype this film is getting, I didn't think it was that great. The 

  characters were bland and I had hard time caring about them. 

               Grade: C (7/10)

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Dir: Jake Kasdan

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas,

Bobby Cannavale

     When it was first announced that Jumanji would be getting a sequel, many people 

   cringed at the thought it'd be nothing more than a cheap cash grab but as it turns out,

   it's a pretty fun movie. 

      Taking place right after the last movie, four awkward teens get sent to detention 
   where they stumble upon an old video game and get sucked into it. They soon realize
   that they don't have to play the game as their avatar version of themselves, they 
   must survive too. They are sent out on a quest to return a cursed gem known as the
   "Jaguar's Eye" to it's rightful place on the island's giant jaguar state perservering
   though many levels and all terrains. The teens in their new bodies must work 
   together before it's too late. 

    Each member has their own personality. Johnson spoofs himself as a geeky teen in
   a beefy man's body while Jack Black character was absolutely hilarious as a girly
   girl trapped in a overweight man's body. Gillan's character Ruby is clearly based 
   off of Lara Croft as shown to be scantily clad. Kevin Hart is his usual funny self 
   playing a zoologist with a weakness for cake.

   The Good: The cast play off each other quite well and humor never got old. The 
   running joke is that these great actors are playing against this trope. I appreciated
   the nod to some of the classic movies like The Breakfast Club & The Goonies.

   The Bad: At times, it felt rushed and superficial. While it tried to compare itself to
   the original film, it fell painfully short. There were a couple crude scenes that may
   not sit well with small children but older kids might find it funny instead. 

   Overall: While it felt like an unnecessary film, it did what it could and that is to 
   entertain and I was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out. It's the funnest
   film of the holiday season and a stark contrast to the depressing Star Wars film 
   that's constantly getting attention. Rather than coming across as crass it doesn't
   just respect Robin Williams legacy, it tastefully honors it. 

Grade: B+ (8/10)