Film Review - Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

 Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania is the 31^st Marvel Studios film and the first to kick off Phase 5 of the MCU and this time Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), his daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) and the Van Dyne’s Hope (Evangeline Lilley), Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Dr Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) find themselves trapped in the Quantum Realm after an experiment goes wrong but while there they meet the Conqueror known as Kang (Jonathan Majors) who rules this Realm and is keen to get out and conquer the multiverse.

 

Quantumania is an interesting film in that when I saw it and came right out of it I enjoyed it enough but the more it has sat with me I have just wanted to forget all about it and I don’t think it is even that bad of a film.

 

But why is that well I will go into that but I want to talk about the positives first:

 

- The first of those is Jonathan Majors as Kang, he was sort of introduced in the end of the Loki series on Disney Plus but here he gets his proper introduction as the new big bad going forward and he makes a very memorable impression here, he’s soft when he needs to be and he shows off how powerful he can be when he gets to and those fight scenes are particularly good and the hints at him fighting the other Avengers across time had me very intrigued about those battles.

 

- And secondly the other cast are good as well, Paul Rudd is as charming and likeable as ever as Antman/Scott Lang and his bond with the now grown up Cassie still remains the heart of the film and this specific sub series of films in the MCU and its good to see, Lilley and Douglas are good but they don’t get as much to do while Pfeiffer gets a lot more to do here and it shows because she has some great moments here.

 

And yet this movie as a whole is forgettable and that comes down to firstly the visual look of this film, so much of it is spent in the Quantum Realm and it hurt my eyes to look at it after a while as it all kinda looked a bit fake and artificial as if it was all shot in the Volume like a lot of other Disney films and shows are nowadays and I’m getting really sick of it especially after how good Avatar: The Way of Water looked back in December.

 

And lastly the storytelling here is not great, its not horrible but so much of it feels very weird and not in a good way, at times your watching this almost knock off of Strange World other times it feels like Dune and other times it feels like its trying to shoe horn in the traditional Marvel comedy and it is now bad comedy because it just undercuts the scenes way too much now and again after the Way of Water played everything pretty much straight I’m really fed up with the constant quips and comedy in so many of these big films.

 

And so that was Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania and its fine but you won’t have much desire to watch it again after seeing it and it only confirms evermore that the MCU really should have ended with Avengers: Endgame because everything since just hasn’t been any good but when your holding up your home studio endings are to be ignored, 2 out of 5.

Film Review - Babylon (2023)

 Babylon is the new film by Damien Chazelle and takes place in late 1920s and early 1930s Hollywood which underwent a big transition from the silent film era to the sound or “talkie” era as they called it then, caught up in these changes are Manny Torres (Diego Calva) who is keen to get work in the movies, Jack Crawford (Brad Pitt) a silent movie star who wants to transition to sound and Nelly LaRoy (Margot Robbie) a young girl who dreams of stardom.

 

Babylon is sadly a mixed bag for me and it’s a bit of a bummer to say given that I’ve been a bit of a fan of Damien Chazelle’s work as I admired his direction on La La Land in 2016 and I really enjoyed his previous film First Man in 2018 even if Universal mishandled its release back then but before I delve into why I feel mixed I want to mention its big positives:

 

- Firstly the film is very nicely photographed by Linus Sandgren who also photographed First Man and the James Bond film No Time to Die and this movie looks great, the big crowd recreation scenes look fantastic especially on a big cinema screen, the party scenes feel lavish and theatrical, the sound stage scenes look good and the Los Angeles desert looks hot and dusty.

 

- Secondly there is a great score here by Justin Hurwitz with its many party scenes having this jazzy bombastic soundtrack that I was tapping my toes too, there’s a nice slower theme for Manny and Nelly and there are some other big brassy tunes like Voodoo Mama and Coke Room and the Finale, this is one musical score you are going to want to listen to when the film is over.

 

But alas despite those strong technical qualities this film did indeed leave me mixed and its for one big reason:

 

- The films storytelling on the whole and there is a lot of it in its 189 minute running time just left me cold and I feel this way because while watching this movie I kept saying to myself “Here’s to the Fools who Dream” which was the logline for La La Land and Chazelle I feel touched on very similar ideas in this movie in that movie in terms of wanting to make it big, having a dream and the demands and sacrifices that have to be made to achieve that goal.

 

But that film handles those a lot better because it never loses sight of who its core focus is, its Mia and Sebastian and their connection together whereas here the focus is split between Jack’s story and Manny’s story and Nelly’s story and because of it it felt like a whirlwind mess without any core story focus or any emotional core to hook this towards and after a while I felt nothing and just wanted it to end.

 

And so that was Babylon and it was a movie I was keen to see but after a while left me cold and feeling nothing despite its great technical achievements, the best movie about movie making for me still remains Robert Altman’s The Player and I don’t think anything’s going to top it for me, 2 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Knock at the Cabin (2023)

 Knock at the Cabin is the new film by M. Night Shyamalan and is based off of the 2018 novel The Cabin at the End of the World and stars Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge as Eric and Andrew a couple who take their young daughter Wen (Kristen Cui) to a cabin in the woods which is later invaded by 4 strangers (Dave Bautista, Rupert Grint, Abby Quinn and Nikki Amuka-Bird) who want to them to choose which one will die in order to prevent a global apocalypse.

 

Knock at the Cabin is a solid effort from M. Night Shyamalan who with the exception of Glass from 2019 has had a pretty good run of films in the last few years with Split, Old and now this movie and I found myself invested in this film and the choices the family has to make lest those who came to their cabin have to judge themselves on behalf of parts of humanity and the film does very well telling this premise and bringing out the tension.

 

What also helps is the solid performances from the actors, Bautista has been keen to push himself since starting in movies and that is paying off here as he is calm, collected and totally convinced of what he has to ask this family to do, Grint at times overdoes the anger but he is good as well as are Quinn, Amuka-Bird, Cui and Aldridge.

 

But my favourite performance is by Jonathan Groff who at times doesn’t believe what he is being told but he undergoes a good character arc and it was for me the main performance that helped this movie and there are some big changes from the ending in the book but I think they are changes that worked out in the long run.

 

And so that was Knock at the Cabin and it’s a solid thriller by M. Night Shyamalan that is worth a watch, 3 out of 5.

Film Review - Devotion (2023)

 Devotion is a new Netflix film and takes place in 1950 just as the Korean War is starting and concerns 2 naval pilots, Tom Hudner (Glen Powell) and Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors) the first African American to serve as a Naval Aviator but with the War heating up these 2 and their naval pilots will have to work hard to help the effort and come back home alive.

 

Devotion is quite good and when I was watching it I was reminded a lot of the 1990 film Memphis Belle which starred Harry Connick Jr, Sean Astin, Matthew Modine and Billy Zane among others and like that film this was very much a drama film first and a war film second but both films balance both of those elements very well and this one though it is 140 minutes long never dragged or lost its pace for me.

 

The first reason for this is the cast, Powell is good here even if at times it feels like he’s doing a different version of his Hangman character from Top Gun Maverick but Jonathan Majors is excellent here and though at times he does his soft talking he really delivers a great performance here and it is easy to see why he is headed for great things in the years ahead.

 

The second reason is also the use of the early 50’s history, this is long before the Civil Rights movement of the 60s and only 5 years after the end of the Second World War but you find yourself getting really interested in the time period and what’s going on, the fears of a third world war loom over some of the films events and the sight for some of a man of colour as a Naval Aviator is both one that some don’t like while others see as inspiring even though Jesse himself in one scene of the film just sees himself as another Aviator regardless of his skin colour.

 

Also there is some war action here but not an awful lot but when it is there it is good to watch and blends in well with the drama elements of the film.

 

And so that was Devotion and not an awful lot to say about this one, I liked the history, the story and the actors even though it doesn’t quite hit the heights of Dunkirk or 1917, 3 out of 5.

Film Review - Megan (2023)

 Megan is the new film by James Wan and Aleka Cooper who co-wrote Malignant together in 2021 and is directed by Gerald Johnstone and actually stands for Model 3 Generative Android and her creator (Alison Williams) decides to create her in the hopes it will help take care of her niece Cady (Violet McGraw) who has lost her parents in a car accident and for a while things go well but Megan is sworn to protect Cady at all costs even if it means killing those who get in her way.

 

Megan is good fun and while it dials back its horror kills it does have some interesting things to say regarding potential outsourcing of parenting and childcare responsibilities to a doll lookalike even though it is an Artificial Human or Android but Gemma (Alison’s character) clearly sees the good at first due to the improvements in Cady after taking her in but the film also has some interesting points to make about the need for kids to eventually grow up and build connections in the real world and I liked that about this movie.

 

Also Megan is a really fun character and while the horror moments would’ve benefited from an MA15+ rating they do work well enough and the character has some great moments and the combination of effects work and young actresses in the role make her very memorable to watch, I also really liked Alison Williams as Gemma this driven young woman who wants to build things and make a difference in the toy company she works for only for it to not go as she had hoped and how she eventually has to step in and be a parental figure to Cady on her own.

 

And so that was Megan and horror fans will enjoy this film as did I, 3 out of 5.

Film Review - The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

 The Banshees of Inisherin is the new film by Martin McDonagh who made In Bruges and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and takes place in 1920’s Ireland and stars Colin Farrell as Padraic and Brendan Gleeson as Colm two friends who one day aren’t friends anymore because Colm decides he doesn’t like Padraic anymore and Padraic can’t understand why and tries his best to get him to change his mind.

 

The Banshees of Inisherin is pretty good and I had a good time for the most part watching this film, firstly the scenery of the Irish coast is lovely to look at with its green hills, cloudy skies, beachside settings and old houses it makes this country look and feel like a place you really want to visit and also McDonagh’s script is pretty good for the most part I particularly like the use of the word Feck it reminded me a lot of Red Dwarf and its use of Smeg and Smeghead.

 

Secondly the performances here are very good, Farrell and Gleeson play off each other very well and have great chemistry together and it makes you wish that they would put their differences aside and be friends again so you can just watch them trade lines as they drink pints and Colm plays the fiddle in the pub, Barry Keoghan is also very good as a young man who is often seen as a town pest while Kerry Condon is good as well as Padraic’s sister and she has some good scenes of her own.

 

If I have one complaint about the film its that the comedy at times is very black and I am not against dark movies at all but here the black humour kind of bothered me a little bit and it didn’t really make me laugh all that much either and maybe this is a result of the dark times the world has been through since March of 2020 but my bleak-o-meter has taken a cut for the most part and I’ve found myself wanting happier and/or more escapist fare of late.

 

And so that was the Banshees of Inisherin and while its black and at times bleak comedy didn’t work for me this is a good drama anchored by great performances, 3 out of 5.

Film Review - Operation Fortune (2023)

Operation Fortune is the new film by Guy Ritchie and stars Jason Statham as Orson Fortune, an operative for British Intelligence who is tasked by his boss (Cary Elwes) to track down a briefcase called The Handle before it falls into the wrong hands but to complete his mission he will need a crack team (Aubrey Plaza and Bugzy Malone) as well as movie star Danny Francesco (Josh Hartnett) who notorious arms dealer Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant) loves.

 

Operation Fortune is fine, its nothing horrible but nothing special either and if you are a fan of the Stath then I think you will have a good time, there’s some good action scenes especially a car and helicopter chase in the third act and plenty of twists and turns which Guy Ritchie likes to do in a lot of his movies to keep you interested in what is going on.

 

As for the Stath well he is fine but nothing he hasn’t done before while Grant, Elwes and Eddie Marsan are good fun in their roles though whenever Josh Hartnett was on screen I couldn’t help but think that his role was clearly intended to be Channing Tatum and when he couldn’t be case or turned the role down (I don’t know any of this for certain) Hartnett took the role and to be fair he is fine and gets some good moments especially in the third act.

 

But my favourite person in this movie is Aubrey Plaza who is clearly having a great time here playing essentially a grown up Penny from Inspector Gadget but I didn’t care I loved her in this movie and she seems to get the movie she’s in from knowing when to play dumb and knowing when to be smart all while having a big smile on her face as he works her technical skills and I hope between this and Emily the Criminal from last year that better days are ahead for her because she deserves them.

 

And so that was Operation Fortune and its okay, nothing horrible but fans of the Stath will have a good time, 2 out of 5.