The Mule

The Mule (2018)

Starring Clint Eastwood, Bradley Cooper, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Peña, Dianne Weist, Taissa Farmiga, Ignacio Serricchio, and Andy Garcia

Directed by Clint Eastwood

Written by Nick Schenk

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C-

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña, Hannah John-Kamen, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Tip 'T.I.' Harris, Abby Ryder Forston, Randall Park, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, and Michael Douglas

Directed by Peyton Reed

Written by Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Paul Rudd, Andrew Barrer, and Gabriel Ferrari

Summary (in 500 words or less):  Back in the 1980s, Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) becomes trapped in the microscopic quantum realm by shrinking herself too small as she successfully disabled a Russian nuclear missile.  Back in the present day, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is on house arrest being monitored by the FBI after assisting Captain America a few years prior with the events of "Captain America: Civil War."  One evening, Scott has a wild dream wherein he sees himself as Janet van Dyne.  Utterly confused, he calls Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) who have all but excommunicated him after the events of the prior Ant-Man film and Civil War.  Upon hearing Scott's dream, however, they determine that Scott's visit to the quantum realm in the first Ant-Man film has somehow connected him to Janet and they hope that Scott can help reunite them with their wife and mother.  

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Passengers

Passengers (2016)

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen, and Laurence Fishburne

Directed by Morten Tyldum

There was so much promise in the first hour of Passengers that I found myself wondering why in the world the critics and general public dismissed this sci-fi flick upon its release last Christmas.  And then the second hour happens and all the goodwill engendered vanishes as the film resorts to the typical Hollywood-ization of "bigger equaling better" instead of continuing on with the more intimate tale created at the outset.  The tale of two disparate films that never mesh together, Passengers ends up being an ambitious disappointment which is quite a shame.

Sometime in the distant future, the starship Avalon is traveling to the colony of Homestead II, an Earth-like planet that will hopefully provide a sustainable life for the 258 crew members and 5000 passengers aboard.  It's not a quick jaunt, however -- the journey takes 120 years -- so the people aboard the Avalon are placed into hypersleep due to wake up four months prior to their arrival on Homestead II.  Unfortunately for mechanic Jim Preston (Chris Pratt), his sleep pod opens up 90 years early and he finds himself completely alone on the gigantic spaceship with robot bartender Arthur (Michael Sheen) as his only companion.  After a year, however, Jim is finally no longer alone when writer Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence) is found walking around outside of her pod.

This romance in space is what works so incredibly well in Passengers.  The chemistry between the affable Chris Pratt and the engagingly whip-smart Jennifer Lawrence is compellingly sweet as the duo run rampant through a huge futuristic world.  Their solitary companionship is surprisingly successful.  Unfortunately, the film veers off that path in its final half, forcing the charming duo to engage in a typical science fiction/action scenario that stands in such stark contrast to the lovely romance that precedes it.  Admittedly, there is a twist to Passengers that I'm unwilling to discuss here and the twist is believable and successful in its implementation...which is why it's even more disappointing that director Morten Tyldum's film shifts to genericness at its conclusion.  There was a huge opportunity for this film to be daring particularly in its final act and then screenwriter Jon Spaiths just takes the easy Hollywood way out.  It hurts even more since the first hour of this thing is filled with nice performances and a different perspective on the science fiction genre.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter, Gal Gadot, Scoot McNairy, Callan Mulvey, and Tao Okamoto

Directed by Zack Snyder

***This film is currently streaming via HBO Now/HBO Go***

Questions I had while watching Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice:

• Why does the voice of Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) when in the Batsuit sound like he's speaking through some voice box that amplifies his voice, making it echoey and deeper than normal?  This amplification makes it utterly obvious that all the vocals were completed in post. (I guess technically there is amplification device in his mask, but considering that the lower half of his face isn't covered by the mask, it just makes Affleck's performance laughable...even moreso than his depressing melancholy already was...)
• Why do all of the fight scenes look as if they were created by a video game manufacturer instead of looking like creative visual effects?  Zack Snyder isn't exactly known for realism, but it's utterly ridiculous-looking.
• Why is this movie so long?  And considering how long the title already is, why not add the 's' after the 'v' in the abbreviation of the word 'versus?'
• Why is Zack Snyder allowed to continue to reign his ugly directorial aesthetic over any films anymore?  His dark, dreary, heavy-handed nature creates an utterly depressing feel throughout, carrying nary a modicum of charm, hopefulness, or pleasantness that even the worst Marvel films contain even if just for a moment or two.
• Amy Adams' red hair adds at least some color to the muted grays and blacks that permeate the screen.
• Despite the criticism of Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor, at least he's hamming it up in a amusingly crazy way as opposed to the dreary hamming of Affleck.
• When one of your main characters -- Bruce Wayne, in this case -- gets his motivations because of scary dreams he has, that's just cheap storytelling.  
• In my Man of Steel review from a few years ago, I mentioned that Henry Cavill carried some charm.  That's not present here at all as he's just an angry superhero the whole time.
• I admittedly appreciated that they at least tried to explain away the ludicrousness of Man of Steel's destructive finale in which much of Metropolis was destroyed. 
• And at least the finale of this one was a little less ludicrous.  The post-script of the plot after the final battle was actually oddly resonant and upped my grade below by a spot.
• I should have stopped watching this at the fifty-minute mark when I first contemplated the idea.  
• Why will I inevitably subject myself to Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman after this atrocity?  I should know better...

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Mission: Impossible III

-- Mission: Impossible Week --
Please note that all Mission: Impossible Week film reviews may contain spoilers related to both the film that is being reviewed and other films in the series.

Mission: Impossible III (2006)

Starring Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monaghan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Keri Russell, Maggie Q, Simon Pegg, Eddie Marsan, and Laurence Fishburne

Directed by J.J. Abrams

After the absolute debacle that was Mission: Impossible II, anything -- and I mean absolutely anything -- would've been an improvement.  Fortunately, this third installment in the M:I series leaves behind John Woo's white doves and fiery orange color palette for an admittedly much more cookie-cutter action picture.  Still, director J.J. Abrams' debut feature film rounded up a great cast (which as mentioned before is a bit of a staple for the M:I pics) and showed Hollywood that he had potential as a feature film helmer.

The film begins with Ethan Hunt (Cruise) setting out on a mission (impossible) to rescue fellow IMF agent Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell) whom Hunt himself trained from an undercover assignment that has gone horribly wrong.  Unfortunately, the rescue is a failure and Lindsey ends up dead (much to the chagrin of this blogger and longtime fan of Ms. Russell).  Determined to find the person who killed her, Hunt and his team (this time made up of newcomers Maggie Q, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and returnee Ving Rhames) begin to hunt down arms dealer Declan Gormley (Philip Seymour Hoffman) whose "business" Lindsey was attempting to infiltrate.

While the action sequences are certainly solid, what makes Mission: Impossible III stand out is Philip Seymour Hoffman's villain.  Hoffman relishes the maniacal nature of his character and from his opening scene to his last, he brings a vibrancy to the flick that we hadn't quite seen yet in the pictures in the franchise.  To balance Hoffman out, Cruise's Hunt is given a serious love interest in this film in Michelle Monaghan's Julia and the relationship gives us a more well-rounded picture of the series' main protagonist.

The negative to this film -- and admittedly it's a bit of a problem -- is that it's oddly forgettable.  As I sit here typing up this review a week after watching the flick, I found myself finding it difficult to remember key action pieces.  Even in the dismal M:I II, I recalled moments.  With Mission: Impossible III, however, it feels a bit too generic for its own good.  Without a particularly unique stylization from an auteur, Abrams has crafted a well-made action movie, but one that feels like it could've been a part of any other franchise.  Still, the film works and it works pretty well.  However, as you'll see soon, improvements could still be made on the franchise to really make it shine.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - The Signal

The Signal (2014)

Starring Brenton Thwaites, Olivia Cooke, Beau Knapp, Lin Shaye, and Laurence Fishburne

Directed by William Eubank

Nic, his girlfriend Haley, and his best friend Jonah (Brenton Thwaites, Olivia Cooke, and Beau Knapp) are traveling cross-country to take Haley to college.  Nic and Jonah are MIT students who are admitted computer nerds, both of whom are irritated when a hacker successfully breaks into MIT's student database, stole a bunch of data, and nearly placed all the blame on the two friends.  When they discover that the origin site of the hacker's computer appears to be on their route in a town in Nevada, Nic and Jonah want to check it out and confront the guy who nearly got them expelled.  However, the location of the computer is an abandoned old house and upon exiting, all three youngsters are greeted with a phenomenally bright light and immediately lose consciousness.  Upon waking up, a researcher in a HAZMAT suit (Laurence Fisburne) informs Nic that they believe he and his friends have been in contact with an extraterrestrial life form and their current quarantine situation is for their safety as well as the entire planet's.  What in the world happened in that abandoned house?

While the premise of The Signal is certainly intriguing, director and co-screenwriter William Eubank has crafted a film that looks really good (and surprisingly expensive given what I must assume was a relatively low budget), but lacks any real substance.  His eye for images is impressive, but Eubank's film drags.  There's not enough here to warrant a feature and a few inconsistencies in the story make the climax feel a bit too far-fetched.  The three younger actors are all charismatic enough to carry their scenes, but overall there's just not enough positive here to place this in the recommendation column.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Man of Steel

Man of Steel (2013)

Starring Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane, Russell Crowe, and Kevin Costner

Directed by Zach Snyder

To me, "Superman" has to come with a little bit of fun attached.  Maybe it's the fact that I grew up with the somewhat tongue in cheek Christopher Reeve version or the very tongue in cheek Lois and Clark tv series (a must-watch every Sunday night for me growing up), but Zach Snyder's Man of Steel was so über-serious that it sucked all the joy out of a fun character.  Granted, we never get to see the journalist "Clark Kent with Glasses" in this movie -- I assume that's being saved for the sequel if the film's final minutes are to be the fodder for what is to come -- and we're forced to endure yet again another origin story which are two factors leading to the lack of frivolity.  Seriously, do filmmakers not realize that these iconic characters don't need their early life stories told over and over again (I'm looking at you Spider-Man)?

After we're told how Superman makes it to Earth from his home planet of Krypton (therein setting up the villain's plotline as well -- which I'll discuss in a bit), we jump ahead in time about two decades and find that the US government is investigating some strange scientific readings in the Arctic.  Intrepid news reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams) is on the scene and does a little digging on her own one night, coming upon a Kryptonian space ship wherein she meets Superman (Henry Cavill) who was doing a little digging of his own trying to find his origin.  While on the ship thanks to some weird outer space science, Superman is able to "meet" the holographic image of his father (Russell Crowe) who tells him that Krypton's military commander General Zod (Michael Shannon) is hellbent on finding a way to Earth in order to take it over since Krypton was destroyed decades ago.  Although Superman flies away, Lois is intent on finding out who this man is and discovers that he grew up as Clark Kent in Smallville, Kansas, with a mother and father (Diane Lane and Kevin Costner) who raised him as their own after they discovered his spaceship in their barn.  Eventually, General Zod arrives on Earth and the ultimate showdown begins.

Although I'm certainly no expert on this, Man of Steel certainly feels like it must hold the record for most deaths in a movie.  Granted, we don't see many of these deaths, but during the nearly hour long battle between Superman and General Zod, huge swaths of cities are destroyed and one has to think that the casualties were astronomical.  During this lengthy tête-a-tête, boredom ultimately set in for this viewer.  I was along for the ride for a bit, but then director Snyder just seems to try and want to top himself over and over again with ludicrous one-upmanship.  It begins to wear thin particularly thanks to the drab color palette he conjures up for the piece.

With the exception of the over-zealous (and over-acting) Michael Shannon and his evil minions who chew up the scenery whenever they make an appearance, the acting helps Man of Steel achieve a naturalness that we admittedly don't see in Superman pieces.  Henry Cavill (with whom I'm really not at all familiar) has the down-to-earth All-American Clark Kent-ian vibe to him, but also carries the gravity of the strength of "Superman" quite well.  Although this film didn't really give him the opportunity, I also think he's got the sly comedic chops in him that are needed for the adult Clark Kent journalist role so that's certainly a plus.  Amy Adams brings an intelligence to Lois Lane that I hadn't seen before (sorry Teri Hatcher) and it is somewhat refreshing.  She's still much too intrepid of a character for her own good, but Adams doesn't play her as a damsel in distress (although she is often just that throughout the film).  Nice turns from Diane Lane and Kevin Costner round out the cast.

Man of Steel is decent, but much too dark and serious for its own good.  The Marvel universe has at least latched onto the fact that a little bit of humor has to be instilled into their films in order to poke fun at the ridiculous nature of some of the goings-on.  Man of Steel is just itching for that same dry humor and instead it languishes in a world that's devoid of any joy.  I'd look forward to a sequel out of Zach Snyder's hands, but he unfortunately appears to be back at the helm which doesn't bode well for things to come.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Contagion

Contagion (2011)

Starring Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle, John Hawkes, Sanaa Lathan, and Elliot Gould

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Contagion is a modern-day version of those 70s "classics" like Earthquake and The Towering Inferno.  Let's put a bunch of well-known actors into a plot, throw in a natural disaster, and see who makes it out alive.  Unlike those special effects-laden films of a few decades ago, however, Contagion is actually good.  

Really good.  

And genuinely frightening.  I do think that, in the end, Steven Soderbergh's thriller about a new strain of deadly virus wreaking havoc on the world hopes that it feels "important."  And while it certainly paints a rather grim picture of what would happen should such an incident occur, I can't help but think it seems more "fluffy" than "substantial," but that's certainly not a bad thing in this case because it still succeeds at nearly every level.

The film opens on a black screen with the sound of someone coughing.  And already the mood is ominous.  We discover (thanks to a subtitle on the screen) that we are in Day 2 of this new viral outbreak and we see the young and vibrant Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) sitting at an airport bar talking on the phone with a man whom she just slept with.  All seems fine...except then we realize that Beth is the person whom we heard coughing mere seconds ago.  And Soderbergh makes it very clear via his directorial choices that Beth is passing this thing along to others -- the close up of the bowl of peanuts that she just ate from, the handing of a credit card to the bartender.  We're in for trouble and Soderbergh isn't hiding that from us.  The very fact that he makes these incredibly mundane things manage to appear so scary is a credit to him.

From there, the film branches off into various storylines -- some following "normal" citizens like Beth and her husband (Matt Damon), with others focusing on members of the Centers for Disease Control and their attempts to discover the origins of the virus (which is where folks like Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, and Marion Cotillard come into play).  Never staying with any of these plotlines for extended periods of time allows the viewer to never tire of any of them and always keep them longing for more.  Much like the disaster flicks of the 70s, no one is safe here.  Big stars (all of whom perform very well here) are going to bite the dust and this certainly increases the nerves that the viewer feels.

Admittedly, the film is bogged down with the character of Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law), a blogger who says that he will show the public the truth behind the secrets that the government and the CDC are hiding.  Anytime the plot veered into his territory, I kept wanting it to head to someone else.  His conspiracy theories just didn't seem well developed and, quite frankly, bored me (as most ludicrous conspiracy theories do).  Fortunately, as stated, the film doesn't stay on any one character for long and we find the plot quickly shifting to others.

Still, despite that one fault, I couldn't help but find myself absolutely enthralled by Contagion.  On the edge of my seat thanks to Soderbergh's creative direction, this is a completely believable real-life horror story the likes of which I hope we never see actually happen even though it positively could.  Time to grab that hand sanitizer...

The RyMickey Rating:  A-

Movie Review - Predators (2010)

Predators (2010)

Starring Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, and Laurence Fishburne

Directed by Nimrod Antel

Honestly, I don't remember a whole lot about the original Predator.  However, I do remember liking it.  With this newly released sequel of sorts, there isn't a whole lot to like.

A group of rough and tumble guerilla-ish "warriors" find themselves essentially marooned in an unknown jungle.  No one in the group knows each other, but we soon discover that each of them specialize in killing people (with the exception -- one would hope -- of a young doctor).  Unaware of their surroundings and finding it difficult to trust in one another, they begin to trek across the terrain, hoping to find some clues to fill them in on why they are there.  They soon discover that they aren't alone in this jungle and that they have been brought here as pawns in some type of game with the same alien-predators that were the main attraction in the earlier Ahnuld film.

This flick just didn't work for me in the slightest and it's really because of the plot.   It was just "that guy dies" then "that guy dies" ad infinitum.  And it's not as if there's even a hint of character development for me to even give the slightest damn that these people are biting the dust.  As for suspense -- who needs it, apparently.  I'm not saying I was looking for a "jump out of my seat" moment, but there wasn't even a bit of excitement here. True, the original Predator isn't exactly a masterpiece, but at least it had a little bit more of a plot about rescuing someone in the jungle.

Honestly, the only saving grace in this movie is Adrien Brody who at least hams it up (in a good way).  He realizes that he's in a piece of dreck and at least is playing his role with moderate gusto.  I was also moderately impressed with Alice Braga as the lone female in the bunch, but she's not given a thing to work with either.  The less said about Topher Grace's character's "surprise" plot twist the better -- good lord that had me rolling my eyes at the inanity of it.

Give me Alien any day...

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - Event Horizon (1997)

Starring Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlin, and Joely Richardson

Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson

I watched this movie on video shortly after it came out in the late 90s and I remember that it put me on edge. Not scared, per se, but it filled me with nervousness.

Cut to over ten years later and I wonder what the hell I was thinking back then.

The year is 2047 and we're exploring the outer realms of our solar system. A ship named the Event Horizon has gone missing on the other side of Neptune and a recovery ship - the Lewis and Clark - captained by Laurence Fishburne is sent to look for them. Shortly after they find the Event Horizon and dock there, strange things start happening to the crew and everyone soon begins to realize that the ship itself may be alive.

The final act of the film is genuinely creepy. But it wasn't nearly as nerve-wracking as I remembered it...probably a bad thing that I had any recollection of the movie. Part of the problem is that the special effects are pretty awful. Even putting it in the context that it was made ten years ago, the effects are bad. And the actors are forced to deliver the most ridiculous lines. Just silly stuff.

Oh, well. I sometimes bring this movie up when I talk about movies that made me jumpy. At least I can now never talk about this movie again.

The RyMickey Rating: D+