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Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
A Nice End to One of Marvel Universe's Fun Storylines
Marvel has given us tribute stories for some of their other fabled characters, so it seems only apt they sent the Ant-Man out with a pretty decent closure tale.
Sending the main entourage of characters back to the Quantum Realm sets the ideal stage: as it also (finally) gives Ant-Man fans a far deeper look and exploration of the Quantum Realm, and much about its history, peoples (human or not), and secrets it may be harbouring for certain characters.
On that basis alone, i think the director and story-line creators did an admirable job of finally cluing us up on the mysterious realm we had previously heard so much about but had nary a clue about. So mission accomplished, and done so rather nicely.
Without the hitherto spoilers, it's notable to mention that the "Super Boss Villain" of this particular excursion into Quantum Land, kind of steals the show, as he excels as easily the best character portrayal in this entire movie. That said, Ant-Man, the Wasp, and other Earthlings do make fairly good plot fillers.
All together this is everything we've come to expect from Marvel, and is nice end to the Ant-Man trilogy.
A fun and exciting watch, for sure ;)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
The penultimate Sci-Fi Masterpiece
Long before "Mars Attacks", "The Forbidden Planet", or even other Sci-Fi classics like, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", there was this wonderful, Sci-Fi genre defining masterpiece.
It would be too easy to wax lyrical about the plot and direction, suffice to say, the blend of story, to moral, to plausible acting (and casting), to Direction, is impeccable.
I first saw the movie in the earl 80's, and it struck me as just a stunning indictment and, simultaneously, a great conveyor of hope, if that's at all possible. Well this movie makes it so.
It is certainly an instant classic, and the reason it lives a life long after its main theater-going audience has passed on, is testament to its reverberating, ever relevant morals, something seriously lacking in decades of movies since.
To the End (2022)
Soapbox Opera meets Political Pontification
What do you get when you add a politician with a penchant for camera opportunism and political stunts? You get a forsaken sorry montage of done to death, political diatribe with lashings of pseudo-activism.
What makes this instant meme a true failure though is its complete lack of scientific exploration, discourse and objective exposition, i.e. Showing alternate sides, views and scientific theory from both sides of the scientific and political spectrum.
Political grandstanding in the guise of a documentary examining a complex environmental, socio-political and economic subject requires intelligent, lucid, in depth examination of a subject from differing perspectives - not just cheerleaders for a single, world p.o.v
If you sat through this (wait for it) ... to the End, you obviously have an extremely high pain tolerance.
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Dammit Maverick!
I will right up front in saying, i never saw the first movie. To be perfectly honest, i was in my twenties at the time, and i was not a huge fan of Cruise.
But i digress. Fast forward to 2022, and on a hunch, i decided - after watching a composite trailer/interview with Cruise and the film-makers, that the movie seemed compelling enough to watch.
Honestly, i have to say, i think NOT having seen the original added an edge of complexity mixed with being the only one in the theater who didn't know the back story. Consequently, i was on a steep learning curve about the background characters.
Overall Conclusions:
(1) Top Gun - Maverick is clearly an epic enough story, in and of itself, to a point where you needn't have seen the original movie to appreciate and "get" the storyline and whole drive of the sequel.
(2) If you're going to try replicating real-life, jet fighter combat ...heck! Any combat, Top Gun Maverick has well and truly set the new benchmark by which all other future movies of this ilk will struggle to match.
(3) If i had to hazard a guess (seeing as i'm in the absolute minority of one - having not seen the first movie), this sequel not only crushes the original for storyline and atmosphere, but also has clearly got to be light years ahead of and improving upon air combat replication and special effects.
(4) The believability factor for TG Maverick is huge, and really cannot be understated. It's quite frankly breathtaking and genuinely awe inspiring what the director, cinematographers and live action production crew have accomplished in this instant movie classic.
Lastly, the nod for story telling and screenplay adaptation is masterfully constructed - as it doesn't follow the expected and dross cliches of similar action movies based on a military theme (and its predecessor is in that number). The significance in saying that, lies in the believability and original nature of the main character interactions throughout.
All told, any movie worth watching once, must surely be worth watching again (and even again). Top Gun Maverick is that great a yarn.
The Batman (2022)
If DC Only Ever Had One Character in it's Armory
If Batman was the ONLY character in the DC realm of comic book characters, than that would still be enough to hold DC up as a class above all other rivals in the field.
Once again, DC has shown Batman is far and away the jewel in its comic universe crown - and this time by simply adding another chapter to Batman's legacy.
I was initially skeptical that anyone could ever improve on - or at very least - rival the legend that is Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. I stand gladly corrected on that count; not only does this version of Batman add to the texture created by the incredible story-line of the 2008 epic, it adds further definition to what (i initially thought) was Batman already in its darkest and most raw depiction - especially with Heath Ledger's Joker as the cornerstone and the introduction to Harvey "Two Face" Dent.
Matt Reeves has essentially pulled off some movie making genius by adding to the Dark Knight's legacy - without subtracting from (or plagiarizing) its tenets.
He's managed to portray (not only) the darkness and inherent cynicism of the "baddie" protagonists, but in a brilliant twist shows the deeper and darker side to Bruce Wayne's psyche and personality with just enough twists in historical "facts".
As for casting? This was as much a master stroke as The Dark Knight's was. From Pattinson, Kravitz, Dano and Tutrturro, we are given exemplary performances in their respective roles: all played to perfection, and each with feasible plausibility (...is that even a thing? Too bad, it is now).
The cast is completed amazingly well with Wright (as Chief Gordon), Farrell (Oz/"The Penguin"), and Andy Serkis as Alfred.
If Nolan gave us The Dark Knight (and the greatest ever Batman arch-nemesis performance by the late, great Heath Ledger), this permutation of Batman gave us the Darkest Knight (i.e. Batman & Bruce Wayne) ever - and to great and epic effect.
The cinematography and soundtrack? Exemplary and beautifully constructed to fit the story being conveyed.
In parting, if you watch only one super hero/comic based movie this entire year, on the big screen, make sure it is The Batman. You will regret it if you don't.
Dexter: New Blood (2021)
New Blood, Old Formula
In the TV dramatic universe, it's far too common to witness rehashes and redo's of old, tied formats. The viewing public is constantly bombarded with ubiquitous effluent that some hapless, idiotic network exec' actually signed off on :/
But every now and then, on those rarest of occasions, the network exec's, the producers, the chief casting director, the screenwriter and the director(s) hit the mother lode, and the vision, hopes, and desires of all these groups actually align with those of a cynically discerning viewing public. It's like every planet in the solar system aligning in a perfect, never to be seen again, epic, cosmic phenomenon.
Dexter: New Blood is just that rarest phenom of a series, it's in the absolute minority in network television history.
If there is anyone who has ever contemplated watching Dexter (but never did... clearly because you spent most the late 2000's and early 2010's in a medically induced coma) - and this reboot, most assuredly make time to watch them both. Don't go into another coma until you have.
No spoilers are needed, suffice to say, you really don't know what you're missing out on if you haven't yet become a dark passenger on the disturbingly ferocious fairground ride that is Dexter: New Blood.
Black Widow (2021)
A Tribute (...not a Hunger Games one either)
Unless you've been living under a rock for the last twenty years, you'd have noticed there's this genre in movies thanks entirely to the late, great Stan Lee: the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
It is upon this genre that Mr Lee was able to so creatively weave together story-lines between his different superhero characters.
In the midst of one particular Marvel timeline we have The Avengers; and consequently we got to witness one Natasha Romanova (aka Black Widow).
It was with great sadness we witnessed her demise in The Infinity War series; that's where this movie likely met its inception.
Inevitably, because Black Widow was inevitably a MCU fan favorite, this movie sorta had to be made.
As a prequel like film, it takes a snapshot into a time in Black Widow's past life, and along the way we are introduced to her enigmatic family.
(It's at this point that fastidious, pompous and self-righteous MCU fanatics lose their rag at just how incongruous this movie is with their OCD/PTSD(?) ravaged minds. Because, of course, only their view of how MCU movies "should be made" ever really count for anything.
{Back to normal programming}
I won't go into further detail about the movie, as i'm sure there are people who are straddling the proverbial fence on whether or not they'll actually watch the movie.
To the latter point (i.e. Contemplation on viewing), i highly recommend that you most certainly do. As to why? This is a tribute Black Widow deserved - and the character many MCU fans came to love (myself included) did meet with an untimely demise, so she most assuredly deserved a send off on this raucous, wild scale. To that end, the direction, screenplay, dialogue and story line (mostly) achieved that goal.
Oh, one last point: it has to be reinforced that this movie is a snapshot into Black Widow's past lives; weaving it into a tapestry that gives viewers a better understanding of the person behind Black Widow - i'm quite sure the director didn't intend it to be a biographical (so, tough titties, OCD/PTSD types if it didn't meet your exacting standards on that front).
And so here is the curtain call for that spectacular chanteuse. Fare thee well, Black Widow, i fear we shall not see the likes of such a bad-ass maiden ever again.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
An Instant Classic
Typically, there's a line to be drawn between mixing genres, and to a certain degree Shang-Chi and the Legend could easily be categorized as being just another knock-off of the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon type Chinese legend tale.
But thankfully, MARVEL were (more than ) able to avoid that mistake. They achieved this by making sure to meld only the best aspects of Chinese martial arts culture with the best aspects of Marvel Universe, superhero tenets.
I won't include spoilers, suffice to say, this turned out to be an epic display of action, fantasy, thriller and just enough lighter humor to not come across as try hard, cheesy.
In all, if you're a fan of both Chinese martial arts, fantasy-legend and Marvel Universe, you will almost definitely enjoy, what i can easily see (imho) as becoming a classic.