The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: A Review of a Decent Spy Movie

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. debuted this past week around the world and it was fun. Its hard to describe though. Its a Cold War spy movie where an American agent has to team up with a Soviet agent to take down a criminal organization planning on selling an atomic bomb to a Nazi remnant hiding in South America. Imagine James Bond films of the 60's but more stylized and with a slightly heavier tone. There was beautiful women, cool action sequences, car chases, boat chases, a couple gadget gags. A lot of the movie revolved around the relationship between the two spies as they tried to interact with each other despite a history of trying to kill each other.

The movie is a pleasant action adventure. Henry Cavill plays an American Agent. I found this surprising as a British actor, but he was believable and entertaining. He played a smart-ass character with a bit of an attitude. Then there is Armie Hammer. I thought his fake Russian accent would be bad, but it didn't really bother me. He was fun as an adversary for Cavill and he felt like a Russian spy. It made sense. My favorite cast member was Alicia Vikander as Gaby. Her character is awesome. She is mysterious and interesting. She is strong-willed and knows she can take care of herself. She does a great job with a character who you believe is one person, but then you realize that the character is completely different as the movie progresses. She is the highlight of this movie, and it is the second time she has outshined her co-stars in a movie this year, as she did that in Ex Machina as Eva. She is so good and I can't wait to see what she does next.

As for the story, it wasn't that complicated and actually not completely memorable. It was your classic style spy movie with good action. But the story wasn't the highlight, it was the stylized nature of the editing that was memorable. At times there were scenes where you followed both spies through their activities on different parts of the set and the screen was split like a comic book. There were frames and different things happened in different frames and actors would cross from frame to frame. It was actually really cool. It could have been really corny, but they did a great job with it and it wasn't something I had seen done like that for an action movie before.

This movie also felt more like a set up for a franchise than anything else. It stands alone, but it ends and you get the feeling that the next film will be better. I wouldn't mind seeing another and I would definitely go, but I kind of feel this movie is evident of an issue the studios have these days. They are so interested in creating the next billion dollar franchise that they forget to just create a good singular movie. They are so focused on "Where do we go next?" that they forget about "What are we doing now?". Eventually that will be fixed but this movie suffers from that trend. The movie could have used more work on making the story better so that it was more memorable and interesting. It was too cookie cutter. The characters were interesting, the villain had potential, but you never felt suspense. There was never any weight to the story. A little more attention could have done this film some good.

Overall, I had a fun time seeing this movie. It was interesting enough to keep me captivated and was a good time a the theater, especially since I had never seen it before and it wasn't a sequel. It felt fresh and I appreciated that. If you are looking for something to do on a quiet Sunday, go see this. If your wallet is tight, then wait for it on cable. This should do well on cable. I give it a 3/5.

Trainwreck: Not a Trainwreck...

So Trainwreck staring Amy Schumer finally came out here in the UK, so I went to see it, and I was pleasantly surprised. This was a thoughtful, endearing comedy that pulled all the right strings, was cast very very well, and was a successful comedy in a year that was seriously lacking them.

To start off, I didn't really know what to expect from this film. I saw the trailer and wasn't blown away, so I was worried this would turn into a stupid gross-out comedy that tried to make the simple jokes. Instead we got a movie that actually makes a point and is strong and doesn't take the easy jokes, most of the time. There were a few moments that did, but you expect that in a movie like this. I tend to not like Amy Schumer's comedy. It has nothing to do with her personally, but for some reason I just don't laugh. However, I thought she was really funny in this movie. Her character was interesting and I loved how she played it. The progression her character takes was great and you saw an attitude shift in her as she gained more and more life experience. She shined in every scene. This was the perfect role for her. But the funniest parts of this movie involved scenes with other characters in it. Bill Hader was great in this. He was really funny and played a great second lead in this movie. He add more weight to Schumer's performance and added to the scenes he was in. His scene with Matthew Broderick and LeBron James in the intervention scene was comic gold.

The smaller roles were great too. John Cena played one of Amy's boyfriends and was spectacular. He has a squeaky clean image in real life, so it was jarring to see him play a dirtier role in this kind of movie, but he was great. I laughed every time he was on the screen. The movie theater bit was particularly scene stealing. The biggest surprise however was LeBron James. He was playing an exaggerated version of himself, but he was really really funny. He has great comedic timing and was the shock of this film. It was a breakout performance for him. He was the comic relief alongside Bill Hader, which is different, but it totally worked I didn't stop laughing when he was onscreen.

I thought this movie was really funny, but sometimes I felt they did take the easy route towards jokes. I really like it when any type of comedy movie or tv show makes jokes about social issues  by putting characters in situations where the absurdity of that issue is clearly visible and understandable without the viewer having to be directly told by the writers. The best comedies let the absurdity of social inequality speak for itself, but this film blatantly verbalizes the joke even though it was already evident what they were doing. When this film did it, it didn't feel like the joke was natural. It felt pushed and forced and was jarring and took me out of the movie. I immediately felt like the social critique was being explained to me like I was some sort of idiot. It was disappointing mostly because those scenes had already made their point successfully and didn't need the unnecessary tag.

Overall, this movie was really funny. Was it the funniest movie ever, no. But it was a really good, really smart, socially aware comedy that was well written, directed, cast, and acted. If you are looking for a fun movie for a Friday night go see this. If you are looking for something to see instead of Fantastic Four, see this movie. As for a rating, I give this movie a 3.25 out of 5. Very enjoyable and captivating. Worth a trip to the theater.

Fantastic Failure: Fantastic 4 Review

Here is my review of Fantastic 4. One of, if not the worst superhero movies of all time. This movie is a complete trainwreck. For more in depth analysis, check out my full video review below. I rate this movie a 1/5 stars. So far it is the worst movie I have seen this year. If you haven't seen it yet, don't waste your time and spend your hard earned money on a good movie like Mission Impossible Rogue Nation or anything else for that matter. This movie is just bad.

Mission Impossible Rogue Nation: An Instant Classic

Tom Cruise still has it. He is still a blockbuster MOVIE STAR. He, his team, and Bad Robot may have created the best Mission Impossible movie ever. This movie was great and it re-solidified Cruise's position as a movie star.

Mission Impossible Rogue Nation is a bunch of fun. The movie starts of fast and never slows down. The clip of Cruise hanging off the side of the airplane happens in the first 60 seconds of the film. And if you were wondering, Cruise did all his stunts including hanging of an airplane for all 9 takes of the scene. The story in this film revolves around Ethan Hunt becoming a rogue agent hunting down a secret organization of rogue agents. It sounds similar to every M:I movie which all involve some level of rogue agents, but this film takes the theme in a new and refreshing way. The story progresses well and makes logical steps and doesn't become too unbelievable. There are very few plotholes and overall the story makes sense. It is a spy film, a revenge film, a heist film, and a mystery film. It plays with story tropes from all these types of films, mixes them together, and produces a wonderfully enjoyable film that is captivating and interesting.

A movie's story is important, but it doesn't matter if the characters are not well rounded and connect with the audience. You don't have to worry about the Ethan Hunt character. He has been around long enough that it is pretty much a guarantee. The same goes for Luther. Both characters are established and connect the moment they appear on screen. The other characters though need to be good, and every one succeeds in this movie. Simon Pegg's Benji is a great character. He was a surprise in Ghost Protocol, so the character needed to progress in this film and play a more important role. I really felt that he was the second lead in this film behind Cruise. Benji was great. He provided comic relief and helped connect the audience to the crazy world of Mission Impossible. While he is talented at his job, his character comes off as the regular man and is the most relatable character in the film. You care about this character and feel like you are along for the ride with him. The other character that needed to succeed and did was Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa. Each new movie introduces a new bad-ass female character and this one, in my opinion, is the best one yet. She is a complete ass kicker. She is mysterious, strong, powerful, captivating, and interesting. You think you know her, but you are never quite sure until the very end. She is a character that I hope they bring back from now on. Lets stop replacing the women each time and make her a regular. She was that good and awesome.

The final piece needed for a great action film is awesome action sequences and this film was full of them! You have the awesome airplane opening sequence. A cool fight in the torture dungeon. The fight above the opera stage that felt both beautiful and creepy with the overlaid opera music. It felt like a dance and was really cool. Then you have the insane water scene and then the nuts motorcycle chase through the streets of Casablanca and the surrounding countryside. The action was thrilling and fun. With every movie they keep upping the intensity and insanity of the stunts. I cannot fathom what they will do next, but I have great confidence that it will be spectacularly awesome! And we shouldn't have to wait too long, as Cruise wants to start filming the 6th movie next summer!

Overall, Mission Impossible Rogue Nation is an awesome summer action blockbuster. It was originally set to open in December, but the studio moved it up almost 6 months. This was supportive move as they thought it would be a huge summer hit. And they were right. This movie was really well made and kept you interested from beginning to end. It is one of the best Mission Impossible movies and may be the best. I give this film 4.5/5 stars! If you haven't seen it, GO! It's totally worth it. I can't wait to see what they do next!

Inside Out!: Pixar Does It AGAIN!

Because I currently live in the UK, some movies come out at odd times. Inside Out just came out here even though it has been out in the States for a month. I finally saw this movie and I have one reaction for Inside Out.

Inside Out was fantastic. Pixar did it again and I think they outdid themselves. I absolutely loved this movie, but first I want to talk about the short that played before the movie.

I loved this short and I forgot that they do this. Its been a while since I last saw a Pixar movie in a theater so I wasn't expecting this. I loved the short story and thought it was beautiful that the whole piece was done in song. It is a simple love story and was strikingly, gorgeously animated. The short animated film is an art in its own right and this one is awesome.

Now lets get back to the main feature. Inside out was great and was great for a number of reasons:

1. Characters.

        The characters in this film were an achievement. The characters are emotions, so going in I questioned how they were going to bring these emotions to life as full fledged characters. How do you give a full range of emotions to a character that is supposed to be a single emotion? Can you give joy fear, anger, sadness? These were my questions going into the film and boy were they answered. The film makers did a great job giving each emotion character motivations and overall personality with complex emotions. Joy could be happy and sad and confused and angry and afraid. Their most significant trait was their base emotion, which makes sense, but they carefully crafted each character into full blown complex characters.

2. The Premise

        The premise of this movie is really unique. It follows a group of characters, which control the emotions of a person, who live inside a young girl, Reilly's, brain. They help control the emotional reactions of Reilly and and make sure that she lives as great a life as possible. I love the idea of a story that follows the shenanigans and adventures of the emotions in Reilly's head. It was great.

3. The Story

       The story in this film was great and it was based on two interlocking stories. Reilly and her family moved from Minnesota to San Francisco and her story followed how she dealt with the changes in her life. The other story was about the mistakes and subsequent adventure that Reilly's emotions went on. The two stories tied together because  just as Reilly made the move, problems began to happen for the emotions which in turn caused more problems for Reilly. As more and more went wrong for the emotions, Reilly's experiences in San Fran got worse. The story did a great job getting the audience invested in all the characters and the audience cared what happened to everyone.

Inside Out was amazing and once again Pixar was not afraid of dealing with complex concepts. The film deals with complex emotions and can be seen as an example of how emotions work. It shows how emotions are not simple and have complex and different results. I could really see this film being used to teach kids about emotions and used to help kids control, rationalize, and understand their own feelings. The film even deals with death and the emotions that result from that. I thought this film was really powerful and potentially one of the most influential Pixar films yet. It had lots of great moments and was overall one of their best. I give Inside Out a 5/5. This movie was amazing and if you haven't seen it yet please go now!

Ant-Man Review: It doesn't get any bigger than this! And I tried something new!

Today I am reviewing Marvel’s newest masterpiece, Ant-Man. And I am not using the word Masterpiece lightly. Ant-Man is absolutely fantastic! All parts of this film were great including the story, the characters, the actors, and the special effects. But this movie was never a guaranteed success due to early production problems and setbacks and honestly the character Ant-Man is an odd concept. The first director and writer for the film was Edgar Wright and after years of development he left the project due to creative differences with Marvel. Production of Ant-Man started years ago before what we now know as the Marvel Cinematic Universe had coalesced into what we see today. Edgar’s vision for Ant-Man no longer matched the thematic and tonal characteristics of Marvel studios, so it was better for both parties to go their separate ways.

After Edgar left, Marvel hired Payton Reed to direct the film and brought in Adam McKay along with their leading actor Paul Rudd to rewrite the screenplay originally written by Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish. McKay and Rudd stated that they rewrote the film in order to make it fit better into the MCU but that they maintained the heart and core of Wright’s version. We will never know exactly what was included in the original version and what was added or changed in McKay and Rudd’s version but whatever the mixture was created a great story that translated into a great film.

The story of this film is broken down into a few simple tropes. First it is a heist film. Our heroes Hank Pym, Hope Pym, and Scott Lang attempt to break into a top secret facility in order to steal shrinking technology that would send the world into chaos. We get all the classic heist film motifs involving planning the heist, training for the heist, and even having to break into another facility to recover the one tool needed to complete the job. This particular scene was one of the highlights of the film. Scott must break into an old Stark facility to steal a piece of tech that will allow them to completely wipe Darren Cross’s memory core. But nothing is ever that simple. The facility turns out to be the new Avengers base seen at the end of Age of Ultron. Scott goes up against Falcon, beats Falcon, and recovers the device. What ensues is a classic heist where the heist goes wrong, the villain goes after our hero’s loved ones, and the hero must step up and put his or her life on the line to save the day. The other highlight of the film was the climatic fight scene. What was so great about this scene was it is a great fight between Ant-Man and Yellow Jacket inside a young girl’s bedroom. It is one of the coolest fight scenes in a movie I think I have ever seen. The whole idea of putting a fight inside a bedroom is genius and it would only work in the context of this film. The results are that the heist failed, but Scott saves the day, stops Yellow Jackets, and becomes a true hero.

Another theme is that the film is a redemption story. Scott is a criminal. He has been in prison and has difficulty separating himself from the lifestyle of crime. But Hank Pym gives him a chance to change and become a better man. He eventually takes the offer and becomes that better man. He is redeemed in the eyes of Hope, his friends, his ex-wife, and her new husband.

The final theme of the story is that it is a story about fathers and daughters. There are two father/daughter relationships in this film. The first is between Scott and his young daughter. All Scott wants to do is be there for his daughter. To provide for her. But due to his past he has difficulty paying child support and without it he is not allowed to spend time with her. She idolizes him, but he isn’t the person she thinks he is. So he seeks to be the man she thinks he is, and that is his motivation for becoming Ant-Man. He never needed to be redeemed in his daughter’s eyes, but he wanted to be better for her and he becomes that better man. He is able to provide for his daughter and be there for her and be the man she always thought he was. The other father/daughter relationship in this movie is between Hank and Hope. This relationship need more fixing as there was decades of animosity built up between them. After Hank’s wife died, he dove into his work to try to recover her, but kept everything that happened to her and what he was doing from Hope. All she saw was a man who was not there for her when she needed it the most and who didn’t care for her. Then she voted him out of his own company and they were estranged for years until Darren Cross attempted to recreate Hank’s shrinking tech. Through working together to stop Cross, Hank and Hope finally talk about what happened to her mother and talked through their differences. They mended the break between them, realized how much they actually care for each other, and now have a future where they can have a lasting relationship. In the first post-credit scene, Hank gives Hope a prototype Wasp suit. This action symbolizes the mending of their relationship and the trust and confidence they now have in each other.

The special effects for this movie were spectacular and needed to be for this film. The idea of Ant-Man pushes towards the absurd and the effects played a big part in making this movie just believable enough that you could suspend your disbelief. The shrinking effects had to be good and all the effects when Ant-man was small needed to be really good. The effects in this film may be the best in any Marvel movie. All the ant animations were great. The digital environments looked real. The use of the effects to push the story forward and to add flavor to the battle scenes was great. The constant switching between big and small made sense and added a layer to the fights that isn’t possible in any other story. It also allowed them to use the effects for comedic effect, such as during the train sequence. The effects in Age of Ultron felt rushed and incomplete, but here they were almost perfect. This film was beautiful and was successful because of the effects.

The story and themes in this movie are great and are classic pieces of filmmaking. The effects are brilliant. But none of it would work without great characters and great actors playing those characters and this film has all of that. Hank Pym played by Michael Douglas. Scott Lang played by Paul Rudd. Hope Pym played by Evangeline Lily. Michael Pena as Luis. Anthony Mackie as Falcon. Abby Ryder Fortson as Scott’s daughter Cassie. All these actors shine as their characters. Michael Douglas is really really good in this movie. He is perfect as Hank Pym. When older actors sign on for these big films, I worry that they will just phone it in, but Douglas does not. He took it seriously and that comes across. He became Hank Pym. Evangeline Lily is awesome as Hope. She plays a great character who is skeptical of Scott and knows she could do the job just as good. She is a strong, independent character and Lily does a great job portraying the changes her character goes through throughout the film and I cannot wait to see her become The Wasp. She will be great at that! Paul Rudd steals the show though. This is his best performance in a movie in my opinion. He really becomes Scott Lang. He is charming and funny like you expect, but he also is believably heroic. He expresses his motivations and you really understand his character. The side characters are also really memorable. Anthony Mackie’s appearance is great. Anytime he is in a Marvel movie is a great time. Fortson steals every scene she is in. She is adorable as Cassie. But the funniest person in this film was Michael Pena. His Luis character was hilarious. Every time he was onscreen I was laughing. His sequences where he explained how he got a tip were hysterical. His delivery was awesome and I hope he keeps popping up throughout the MCU.

That all being said Marvel still has a problem. They have trouble creating good villains. Darren Cross is the villain in this movie, but he is not that developed. His motivation is the perceived slight from Hank. It’s hard to believe that a perceived slight would cause a guy to want to build a superweapon, want to kill Hank, unleash chaos on the world, and threaten to kill a little, innocent girl. This film’s villain fits into Marvel’s tendency for cookie-cutter villains. They need to give their villains more depth. Hopefully Thanos will be good but as of now their only great villain is Loki. Cross is ok and is definitely better than most of Marvel’s villains, but he is still nothing spectacular. They really need to up their game.

Overall this is a great movie. I absolutely loved it. It has great story elements, beautiful special effects, and many great characters. All of that including the mediocre villain makes this one of my favorite Marvel movies. It is one of my top 5 favorite films and one of my top 3 favorite films of this year.  As for a rating, I will give this movie 4.75 out of 5. If the villain had been better I would have went higher, but it is still a great movie. I can’t wait to see it again and am excited to see what Marvel does next with Captain America Civil War. Well, that’s all for now. 

Mr. Holmes: Not Your Traditional Sherlock

Mr. Holmes is not a big summer blockbuster. It is a smaller film made by Miramax and BBC Films. I didn't know this film was coming out, but about a month ago I saw a trailer for it while seeing another movie and was intrigued. The basis of the film is that it shows Sherlock Holmes trying to solve a few mysteries later in his life.

In actuality, Mr. Holmes follows three separate but interconnecting story lines. The film starts off with a 90+ year old Sherlock returning from a trip to his country home with his live-in housekeeper, Mrs. Munro, and her young son Roger, who is about 10-12 years old. He develops a bond with Roger over their mutual interest in bee keeping. As the film progresses it is revealed that Sherlock is suffering from a disease like Alzheimer's which is causing him to quickly loose parts of his memories, forget peoples' names, and whole conversations and that he is trying to stave off the effects for as long as he can so he can write the story of his final case as to correct the many fallacies that Dr. Watson included in his publications. This is one of the three storylines. The second unfolds as he remembers parts of his final case which occurred decades earlier. This storyline reveals what happened and what caused Sherlock to stop solving cases and move to the country in exile. The third storyline revolves the complex relationship he has with Roger and his mother. He is fond of the boy and encourages him to follow his interests and learn as much as he can and be observant of the world around him. Roger eagerly works with Sherlock follows his advice. This causes friction between Roger and his mother and between the mother and Sherlock as she believes Sherlock is a bad influence on her son.

By the end of the movie, Sherlock has remembered his final case and the reasons why he quit and went into hiding, he has come to terms with his deteriorating mind, and mended his relationship with Roger and Mrs. Munro, and finally learns the valuable social skills needed for interpersonal interaction that he lacked when he was younger.

This is a wonderful movie. Ian McKellen is great in this role. The way he portray's Sherlock Holmes is exactly how I would have envisioned him in his later years. He played him perfectly. It was some of the best casting I have seen in a movie this year. He was great. I like him a lot better as Sherlock than Robert Downy Jr. who was really fun too. The best modern Sherlock is still Benedict Cumberbatch, but McKellen was spectacular. Laura Linney was also really good in this movie. She plays Mrs. Munro and her character growth is wonderful. She does a great job portraying the characters changes over the course of the movie. She really does a great job evoking emotion from the audience and is really memorable. Milo Parker stole the show though. He plays the young boy Roger who befriends Sherlock. It is not an easy task to work alongside a great like Ian McKellen and hold your own and Milo does this wonderfully. You really like watching this character and pull for him to learn from Sherlock and climb higher than his social status traditionally would allow. When he argues with his mother and yells at her he plays the emotional roller coaster it sets him on with ease. You see his character grow and learn and plays a positive influence on both Sherlock and his mother. I really liked him and really succeeded in the critical role he played in the film.

Overall this movie is really good. It has a well thought out and executed story. It has really good characters and fantastic actors playing the roles. The director does a great job switching seamlessly between the different storylines and the different time periods. Set design was really good and Ian McKellen's make-up for this film was great. They made him look two different ages and if it wasn't successful the movie would have not been as believable. If you like movies and are looking for a quiet movie instead of the loud, bombastic summer blockbuster than this is the movie for you. My final rating of the film is 3.75/5.