Ant-Man and the Wasp

First Hit: It’s been a long time since a Marvel film brought joy, fun, and a story that worked—this one did.

I’ve really struggled watching Marvel films of comic book heroes. Most of the more recent Marvel films put these characters into today’s current world or some future world and they must fight some alien power to save the world, or some piece of it.

Here we have fun packed into an engaging story.

Scott Lang aka Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) is under house arrest. He’s got an ankle bracelet and agent Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) keeps coming over to check his ankle bracelet much to the amusement of Lang’s daughter Maggie (Judy Greer).

His former superhero mate Wasp / Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and her father Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) are attempting to build a machine that will allow them to find Janet Van Dyne / Wasp (Michelle Pfeiffer) who got stuck into a microscopic quantum realm.

Dr. Pym invented the ability to shrink and expand physical forms including people and that is how Ant-Man and Wasp were created. When Janet got lost in the realm, he believed she was still alive. In reaching out from her microscopic quantum realm, she contacts Lang.

Lang, Hope, and Dr. Pym believed they could rescue Janet, so the film is about how they find a way to finish a machine to make the rescue. However, there are opposing forces including Ava Starr / Ghost (Hannah John-Karmen) who needs Janet’s energy to unbecome a ghost. Ghost is supported by a former colleague of Pym, Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne). Another group trying to get control of the machine Pym is making is Sunny Burch (Walter Goggins), a low level criminal. However, helping Lang is his security firm CEO, Luis (Michael Pena).

Rudd is great in this role. He’s perfect at keeping the humor in this role, while having enough ability to make the role as Ant-Man realistic. Park is hilarious as the agent trying to catch Lang violating parole. Greer was wonderful as Lang’s daughter. Her precocious nature was perfect. Lilly was wonderful as Wasp, Pym’s daughter, and Lang’s old flame. Douglas was fun as Pym. He still carries a bravado that made his earlier films work. Pfeiffer was strong in this limited but pivotal role. John-Karmen was very good as Ghost and one trying to become whole. Fishburne was perfect as Foster. Goggins was good as the lower level mob guy thinking he could make a big score. Pena was fantastic. He carries the humor in this film perfectly. Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers wrote a wonderful film that captured humor, the spirit of superheroes, and had a storyline that was fun and worked. Peyton Reed did an excellent job of putting this story on the screen. I loved seeing San Francisco this way.

Overall: This was a fun film to watch and, in the end, thoroughly enjoyable.

Leave No Trace

First Hit: Sublimely acted and evenly paced film about a man and his daughter living in a public forest.

From the very beginning this film is work of elegance. The beauty of the forest in the public park, near Portland, OR, where Will (Ben Foster) and Tom (Thomasin McKenzie) are living, presents a sublime backdrop to the beginning of this story.

Will teaches Tom how to cover her tracks, how to hide, and how to escape surveillance. Why? The answer to this, is slowly dosed throughout the film, but never outright explained. This is part of what makes this film excellent.

Each time a helicopter passes overhead, the looks and actions Will takes and makes, gives the audience enough clues pointing to his participation in a war (Middle East) that has him skittish of the public, cities, and the government.

Tom, his daughter is loyal to him and he is her only parent. What happen to her mom, Tom’s wife is not explored. They don’t talk a lot with each other but when they do there is some short speak which has enough in it to keep the audience informed and engaged.

They get found by the Park Rangers and Portland Police and are taken in for questioning. They are separated and questioned and tested. Are there any sexual improprieties between the two? How has she been educated? What is Will willing to do to become more engaged with the world so that he can be reunited with Tom?

The government agencies figure out that he’s not harming Tom, but they insist that Will and Tom need to live in a home, Will needs to work, and Tom needs to go to school. A tree farmer sees an article in the paper about their predicament and offers them mobile home on his land where Will can work helping him, and Tom can go to school.

However, after a few months Will cannot tolerate the lifestyle and tells Tom to pack, they are leaving. They hitch a ride to Washington state where they begin a hike on a logging trail. After spending a very cold night in the wilderness they finally find a logging cabin and get warm.

After Will gets hurt and almost dies, Tom finds help in the way of a group of people living off the grid in a forest. The community is aligned with Will and Tom, in that they don’t like outside interference, help each other out, and leave well enough alone.

In the end, Tom decides she must find her own path while Will finally trusts that she’s found a home without him.

Foster was magnificent. His inward, hidden, brewing of a past that he’s struggling to live with, are fully evident in his performance. His looks and physical movements were perfect for this part. McKenzie was utterly amazing. Her display of loyalty, strength, and integrity towards the truth, her father and being resourceful were sublime. Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini wrote a powerful insightful script. Granik did an amazing job of creating an engaging story with minimal dialogue. The scenes in the forests and in the small places they lived were exceptional.

Overall: This film was finely crafted and Granik’s story was wonderfully presented.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado

First Hit: With a reflection towards today’s boarder issues and cartels, this film also shows us a side of our government that could also exist.

Our government manipulates groups of people to change the course of events to suit themselves.

In this movie, we have the government wanting to start a war between Mexican drug cartels so that it disrupts the flow of people coming into the United States. They want to do this, because their belief is that a terrorist bombing explosion in a Kansas City grocery store was done by Islamic radicals that came through the Mexican border. They believe the cartels are transporting these radicals across the borders.

To create this disruption, our Secretary of Defense James Riley (Matthew Modine) brings on Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) CIA Special Activities Division agent, to figure out how to start a war between two cartels. By doing so he hopes to disrupt the inflow of terrorists across the Mexican border. He says the way to do this is to kidnap one of the cartels children and have the evidence point to the kidnapping by a rival cartel. Once Riley decides to go with this plan, he assigns Cynthia Foards (Catherine Keener) to manage the operation.

Graver brings on Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) who has a grudge against Carlos Reyes one of the cartels' leaders because they killed his family. Besides being motivated, Garver tells Alejandro he’s got free reign to do what he needs to make this operation happen.

The subplot is about a young boy Miguel Hernandez (Elijah Rodriguez) who is lured by money to become a coyote and take people across the border. Because he lives in the U.S. he can easily go across the border as needed to pick up his cargo of immigrants and take them across the river to the U.S. side.

When Alejandro and Graver kidnaps Isabel Reyes(Isabella Moner), they try to bring her back into Mexico. However, the Mexican police get involved, start a gun fight with the CIA, and try to get the girl back by killing the CIA operatives in convoy. The whole mission goes sour.

Riley and Foards find out that most of the bombers were born U.S. Citizens and not from over the border. This and with the convoy attack, Riley tells Graver to “clean it all up,” meaning kill the girl and Alejandro who escaped the Mexican Police assault. However, Alejandro has some integrity, is in possession of the girl, and decides he’s going to help the girl and himself stay alive and figure out a way out of the mess they're in.

The action is intense in this film and there is humility and kind humanity. As for the latter, there is a sweet sequence when Alejandro meets up with Angel (Bruno Bichir), a deaf man, finds a way to communicate with him, and asks him to help both him and the girl.

Brolin is strong in this CIA role. He carries the right amount of commanding surety in his character. Modine is excellent as Secretary of Defense. Keener was OK as the mission’s commander. Del Toro was excellent as the assassin with a heart. Moner was a revelation in this role. She showed wisdom far deeper than her age and perfect for the role. Rodriguez was very good as the brooding young man trying to find his way through his life. Bichir was wonderful as the deaf man who helps Alejandro and Reyes. Taylor Sheridan wrote a strong script that bordered on being too complicated for the required action. Stefano Sollima did a wonderful job of directing the action in this film.

Overall: I liked the relatedness to today’s border issues along with the movie's dramatization of the ugly truth that our government is not above throwing people away to cover their mistakes.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

First Hit: For something as overly done and complicated as this, it was a drag to watch.

This is another example of a franchise pushing it too far and getting minimal results.

The first opening scenes, when two guys are underwater sawing off a bone of a dead dinosaur and a guy on land, guiding them, was cartoonish although it wanted to be something else. They are sawing off this bone so that the DNA can be used to create more dinosaurs.

The island where the dinosaurs are currently living, Jurassic Park, has been over run (see last episode) by these very same dinosaurs. No people live on the island and it is no longer an amusement park. However, all of the dinosaurs are in danger of dying because a volcano on the island is starting to erupt.

Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell) has come up with a plan to transport several of the current species from this erupting island and put them on another island he owns. They identify something like 13 dinosaurs to move. I couldn’t help but notice that they only wanted 1 of each, so my mind went to; how are they going to propagate on this new island without a mate?

Unbeknownst to Lockwood, his company manager, Eli Mills (Rafe Spall), has other ideas. Mills is planning to use Lockwood's money to move the dinosaurs but to a place where he can sell them to the highest bidder. He’s also working with Dr. Wu (BD Wong) to genetically engineer some new species from the DNA of the captured dinosaurs and the bone that was captured in the first scene.

Under the belief that they are supporting Lockwood’s plan, Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) help Mills capture the dinosaurs. The were recruited because they know the Jurassic Park Island and Owen raised "Blue" (a Velociraptor) and may be the only one to get the raptor into a cage for capture.

To add some comic relief and younger actors, Franklin Webb (Justice Smith) and Zia Rodriguez (Daniella Pineda) are brought on the expedition because Webb is an IT wiz and Rodriguez is an accomplished physician for dinosaurs. Webb’s fear of everything resulted in lots of screaming by him which got old after his second scream.

Meanwhile, the original director of Jurassic Park, Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), spends his time arguing in front of Senate committees. He doesn't want to save the dinosaurs and is in favor of letting them die from the volcanic eruption. He suspects that there will be trouble if they are saved.

This is enough of the story line setup to say that things go bad for everyone’s plan and that is where the action takes over. Unfortunately, the only thing good about the action is that CG dinosaurs look awfully cool. The detail in their skin and movement is outstanding. However, some of the actions, like a dinosaur tapping its long-clawed toe on the bedroom floor, is too human of a movement and came off as silly.

Pratt does action, quirkiness and smart-alecky remarks very well. He’s well controlled in his body and always has enough wherewithal to make his character believable. Even in a boring dumb film such as this, he makes his character work. Howard is mediocre at best. She never looks the part of scientist or activist and she doesn’t come off as intelligent. Spall was OK as the guy who was out to make money for himself. Cromwell had a very subdued role and his performance reflected this. Goldblum plays the wiseacre know it all and although it is his signature type of performance, it would be nice to see him really act sometime. Pineda was strong as the young woman whose intent was to save the dinosaurs. Smith’s role was silly, and it made him look silly. Isabella Sermon did an excellent job playing Lockwood’s granddaughter Maisie, however there is something behind the curtain. Ted Levine played Ken Wheatly the tough guy carrying out Mills’ orders and always wanting to be paid. It is actually a good thing that he got his just deserts. Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow wrote this overly complicated moving into boredom script. J.A. Bayona did what he was told, action at all costs, and also throw in some tongue in cheek funny moments and quips.

Overall: This film is a disgrace to the franchise and isn’t worth the money spent on it or the price of admission.

Tag

First Hit: Funny moments but it also felt like it was pressing for the laughs.

At the end of the film there’s shot of an old Wall Street Journal article showing about 10 men who were the subject of a story about a group of guys keeping a game of tag going for many years. This was the premise and storyline for this film.

The idea of a group of guys playing the game of tag into their 30’s and 40’s has a nice ring to it. It is easy to see that this game, which the group started playing when they were young boys, is a way for them to stay connected to each other.

The film touches on this, but sometimes, a bit too cavalierly and tries to go for the laugh and not a deeper story. My sense was that this game between these men, besides being fun, grounded them in their roots and where they came from. Having just gone to my 50th high school reunion, it was interesting to hear stories of my old class mates and what their path had been. I’ve been fortunate to have been able to keep two friendships together for over 55 years, and it’s been nice to connect with them every few months and to have been part of their lives.

Here we have Hogan “Hoagie” Malloy (Ed Helms), Reggie (LilRei Howery), Bob Callahan (Jon Hamm), Randy “Chilli” Cillano (Jake Johnson), and Jerry Pierce (Jeremy Renner) as five friends who have played tag together since they were young boys. As they got older, they set aside the month of May as tag month. Anytime during this month, the person who is “it”, can and will find one of the other guys and tag him. At the end of the month, the game ends for another eleven months.

The hook this film uses was that Jerry had never been tagged. Somehow, for more than twenty years, he’s been able to avoid being “it.” Hoagie learns that Jerry is getting married in May and thinks this will be the opportune time to tag him. He rounds up the rest of the gang to plot this once in a lifetime score.

The opening scene has Hoagie getting hired as a janitor in Bob’s company, so that he can surprise Bob, tag him, and then enlist him in the effort to get Jerry. This is how the storyline gets the Wall Street Journal involved because at the time Hoagie tags Bob, he’s being interviewed by Rebecca Crosby (Annabelle Wallis) who is a journalist interviewing Bob about his company.

There are funny scenes as this small group join forces to get Jerry, but the over the top performance goes to Anna Malloy (Isla Fisher), Hoagie’s wife. She is intense and focused to help Hoagie’s dream come true, getting Jerry. There is a reason for this and you’ll have to see the film to know why.

Helms is good as the guy who instigates the plan to get Jerry tagged. Howery was strong as one of the members who had his own way of participating. Hamm was very good as the successful business professional who sets aside his business for the sake of the game. Johnson’s role was a little off for me. I didn’t see the reason to have someone whose ideal life was being high on pot as a good plot device. Renner was excellent as Jerry. His intense and intelligent actions were good for this story. Wallis was OK as the Wall Street Journal reporter following the story. Fisher was perfect as the over the top wife willing to make the game happen for her husband and herself. Rob McKittrick and Mark Stellen wrote an OK screenplay, although I think it needed to not focus on generating a laugh. It could have been funny without resorting to physical site gags. Jeff Tomsic directed this film and would have done better to redirect the emphasis towards the friendship between these men.

Overall: I enjoyed the film but would  have rather had a more engaged full story.