Buzzkill: Ant-Man and the Wasp

There you go, Marvel fans - no more excitement until March 2019 - and I'm sorry to say not much excitement here, either. Because Ant-Man and the Wasp may well be the least engaging of all the Marvel Cinematic Universe films to date. I really enjoyed director Peyton Reed's first Ant-Man, and for the most part, I really like this cast. But it feels like there are way too many screenwriters (five) at work, and Reed's direction feels tepid and a little unengaged here.

Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) is under house arrest thanks to his involvement in the events of Captain America: Civil War, but it may be that Hank Pym's (Michael Douglas) wife - (and mother to Evangeline Lilly's Hope), the original Wasp, Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), thought to be lost in the subatomic miasma of the Quantum Realm (you still with me?)... may yet still be alive!

Ant-Man and the Wasp has a tiresome first act, and takes forever to get up and rolling. Hank and Hope are determined to voyage back into to Quantum Realm to find missing Janet, but a mysterious phase-jumping nemesis (Hannah John-Kamen) keeps getting in their way. Everyone needs Scott's help, but he's supposed to be under house arrest, and we get numerous repetitive scenes of Scott barely making it back home before the (wow, really poorly acted) F.B.I. catches him.

The cast gamely goes through their paces, and I was hoping for much more of a Thor: Ragnarok level of clever irreverence that never manifests here. Many of the scenes feel like outtakes that didn't quite work, and the whole production feels lit like a perfunctory TV movie, that's frankly surprising given Marvel's track record. Thank Heavens for Michael Peña, who brings desperately needed energy to every scene he's in. But other than some late in the game third act excitement, Ant-Man and the Wasp is a pretty tedious slog - though evidently prolonged exposure to the Quantum Realm can make it appear as though you had unnecessary plastic surgery. After the last four knockout Marvel installments, this one feels like it has a pretty dull stinger. 

Can’t He Be Our Neighbor?

A year ago, if you told me a documentary about Mr. Rogers would vault to the top of my year’s best list, I would have probably laughed at you. But I say it proudly: Won't You Be My Neighbor? is one of the best, most emotionally engaging and flat-out satisfying films I've seen in ages.

One thing we can all agree on, we live in a divisive age. Civility plummets, anger soars. These are some of the most stressful and disagreeable times I can remember living through. Hate has become normalized. Racism is on the rise. We often wonder, Who's going to save us from all this?

An example for consideration is Fred Rogers. A public figure who I'm betting most of us blithely dismiss. A figure of parody, with his sweaters and soft spoken cadence. We probably think of Eddie Murphy's Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood as evidence of how ripe for satire his persona had become.

In 1968, Fred Rogers was a newly ordained minister interested in child development who suddenly discovered television, and realized the medium could become a "wonderful tool" to communicate and help children during the most formative early years of their childhood. Rogers intuited the powerful influence that television wielded, and worried about the coarse and recklessly impulse-driven programming that was even then beginning to dominate children's entertainment. It was a medium seemingly concerned more with raising good consumers than good people. “What we see and hear on the screen is part of who we become," he explained, and set out to provide a more positive and empathetic alternative. 

Directed by Morgan Neville, Won't You Be My Neighbor? shows us the early days of development of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, as well as contemporary interviews with Rogers' surviving family members and crew. Nixon administration budget cuts were poised to gut the fledgling environment of public television. But in amazing archival footage, we learn that Fred Rogers actually went before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communication, and testified so genuinely and with such clarity – he essentially saved public television, and convinced them to continue funding. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. 

I was stunned to learn how politically reactive and ahead of his time Rogers was willing to be on a child's TV show. During a time sadly reminiscent of current events today, when African American swimmers were being kicked out of swimming pools, Mr. Rogers joins Officer Clemmons, the black policeman of their neighborhood, in taking off their socks and soaking their feet in a kid’s pool together.

There are some wonderful surprises along the way in Won't You Be My Neighbor? I don't want to spoil, but as turmoil and social issues in our country occurred, Mr. Rogers dealt with them and let children know it was actually okay to talk about them - to acknowledge their fears - even with events as disturbing as assassination and mass disaster. Rogers was a deeply religious man, but never imposed religion or dogma on his impressionable audience. 

Mr. Rogers made a point of explaining reality to children, including death. By using the innocent stand-in of puppetry, he was able to deal with complex emotions and reassure children that how they might be feeling was okay. And if they were different - if they experienced a disability - more than anything else, “I like you just the way you are.” 

He could also educate in hilariously straightforward ways, asking the audience, "Want to see how long a minute is?" - then just setting an egg timer and letting it tick for 60 seconds! 

You will get misty during Won't You Be My Neighbor? I found myself getting very emotional more than once, perhaps in large part due to the twin realizations of how much pure good this one man did for generations of children, but also in pining for how desperate the times we live in today need more of his brand of empathy and sincere decency. If everyone acted a bit more like Fred Rogers, we'd have world peace in a heartbeat, treating all of humanity as our neighbors.

Very highly recommended.

Comic-Con Friday: #SDCC2018

The firing of James Gunn pretty much dominated all nerdish airwaves today, as Disney announced it was severing relations with the Guardians of the Galaxy director, in response to offensive Tweets he authored several years ago, when Gunn admits he was trying to shock during a regrettable provocateur phase. It’s an understandable move on Disney’s part, but shocking, given Gunn’s huge success and indelible association with the characters.

Onward. CBS dropped their first full trailer for the 2nd season of Star Trek Discovery, featuring Anson Mount as legendary starship Captain Christopher Pike. The trailer evokes a deliberately lighter tone than season 1.

It’s sounds like The Disney Store will be filling the void for many of the previous Hasbro exclusive figures that were up in the air since the collapse of Toys “R” Us. Currently their “Quicksilver Baton” Captain Phasma is only available at Canadian TRU stores, where the business still operates.

More great news for collectors of Hasbro’s Black Series line, who like myself are fans of Star Wars Rebels. They are finally releasing the last two main characters in 6” figure form, irascible droid Chopper and protagonist Ezra Bridger.

Hasbro also released some more official pics of the upcoming second wave of Black Panther figures. Loving that Killmonger mask! 

That’s it for today. Tomorrow will likely see the Aquaman trailer arrive, and who knows what else might happen? 

Comic-Con Preview Night: #SDCC2018

Here we go again! The collision of sweat pants and spandex is in full gear at our beloved annual San Diego Comic-Con!

Last night was Preview Night, where toy companies reveal some of their biggest surprises of the coming year.

No surprise, but NECA continues to wow collectors, this time with the biggest surprise being a long-hoped-for depiction of John Connor fromTerminator 2. Note that the prototype on display did not feature his signature Public Enemy T-Shirt, so either the rights are still being sorted, or were too difficult to negotiate. But this was a heck of a surprise!

NECA continues their love affair with Guillermo del Toro, featuring a first-ever reveal of The Shape of Water’s Amphibian Man. Other figures from Pan’s Labyrinth and the Con-Exclusive del Toro figure himself were also on view.

MacFarlane had many of their new Stranger Thingsfigures on display, and it’s confirmed that Barb is a GameStop exclusive. She can be ordered now on their website, with a November 1st release. 

MacFarlane also unveiled the packaging for their new Star Trek line, due any day now.

One of the nicest surprises so far was Hasbro’s reveal that we will be getting a 2^nd wave of Black Panther figures, including Ulysses Klau, T’Chaka, and Ayo – though not pictured, we’ll also be seeing a Shuri figure, likely as an exclusive.

That’s just a quick peek at the tip of the iceberg, with much more to come over the next few days, with the Con wrapping up Saturday night.

A terrific start, with plenty of surprises still waiting in the wings!

Incredibles 2: The Acceptables

It's been 14 years since the first Incredibles movie, but the sequel picks up only about 14 seconds after the concluding events of the first film. Mr. Incredible and his crime-fighting family are still dealing with "The Underminer," about to wreak havoc on the city - and "Supers" are still illegal.

But all hope is not lost! A wealthy pair of tech-sector siblings (Catherine Keener and Bob Odenkirk) have a plan to change public perceptions and pass laws to make Supers legal again. Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) will be the dependable face of the campaign, while husband Bob (Craig T. Nelson) will stay home in Mister-Mom mode, taking care of new baby Jack-Jack and the rest of the ability-endowed Parr family.

Some of the film's best scenes involve the Daddy Daycare adventures of Bob trying to deal with the roulette wheel of Jack-Jack's emerging powers, while running the mundane household on virtually no sleep. But the idea of a blusteringly ineffectual stay-at-home dad feels pretty dated, and Bob's fatigue escalates into strident anger that's a little off-putting. Come for the awesome Sarah Vowell, as adolescence-navigating daughter Violet, stay for Jack-Jack's smack-down with a cantankerous neighborhood raccoon.

What's not so great is...well, the plot. Hunter is fantastic as Elastigirl, but you see the movie's bad guy from about a hundred miles away. Bird is a wonderful talent, forever enamored with sixties style and design. While I give up mad props to the Johnny Quest and Outer Limits references, after 14 years, I wish we had a better story, a fresher antagonist and more comedy. The picture is filled with big, explosive action set-pieces that dominate in hyperbolic tedium, when more laughs and unpredictability would have been so much more satisfying. Much more time seems to have been spent on design aesthetics than story. If you liked the first Incredibles, odds are good you're really going to like this one, because it's basically a re-do of the first film - except without the novelty. A group of other eager-to-emerge Supers are meant to evoke the satiric eccentrics of The Tick or Mystery Men, but end up feeling like a pale imitation of Watchmen.

Most disappointing to me was the brevity of Edna Mode (Bird, voicing). When Edna's on screen, the movie soars with humor. I wish Edna had been a key element of the larger plot, and a much more visible part of the dynamic. Sadly, she's woefully underutilized, dahling.

Incredibles 2 is one of those movies you feel a little silly finding fault with, as most audiences are going to find it a tremendous, perfectly acceptable crowd-pleaser, as it totally serves up what you're expecting. But be advised - the Parr family is serving leftovers.

Jurassic World: Fallen Screenplay

Mild spoilers abound: 

First the good news: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has a crackerjack opening sequence. 

A moody, undersea mission to plunder skeletal dinosaur remains – and the unexpected encounter with some that are still very much alive. I love dinosaurs, and was thoroughly entertained by Colin Trevorrow’s 2015 Jurassic World - it was crisp and epic and viscerally enjoyable, despite the occasional silliness. Unfortunately, director J.A. Bayona (The Orphanage, The Impossible, A Monster Calls) fares less well with this sequel, in large part due to a muddled script (Trevorrow, with Derek Connolly) that paints in broad strokes and strains disbelief time and time again.

It seems the dino’s home of Isla Nublar was actually a dormant volcano (who knew?!) that now threatens to make all dinosaur life on the island extinct. It turns out that original park impresario John Hammond had a partner (who knew?!), Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell), who summons Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) to his vast Gothic mansion to convince her to lead a covert rescue mission to the island to save as many dinos as possible. But first, she needs to convince Raptor-whisperer Own Grady (Chris Pratt), to stop building his house and join her, being the only one who can contain Blue, the last surviving Velociraptor. Their characters are even less pronounced this time, and have an uncomfortable lack of charisma together. A scene in a bar where Howard tries to persuade Pratt to go with her was reminding me of the infamous animal cracker scene in Armageddon. Plus, the ham-fisted product placement has them drinking Becks. I mean, this guy’s a supposed man’s man, house-building, wild-dinosaur wrangler in the age of craft beer – he’s not having Becks! He’d spit it out! Point being, I shouldn’t even be noticing the bogus beer choice. Pratt’s a wildly entertaining presence, but he seems neutered here, seldom getting to do anything funny. He’s wasted, stiffly running away from volcanic ash clouds like Ben Affleck in Batman v Superman.

Pratt and Howard are accompanied by two young assistants (Daniella Pineda and Justice Smith), and a suspicious gang of mercenaries led by “Put the lotion in the basket!” Ted Levine. Because guess what (who knew?!)? It’s all a sham! The dinos are being “rescued” to be weaponized to the (literal) highest bidder! Pratt and his gang have been hoodwinked! Now they don’t just need to save them from volcanic extinction, but save them from the evil that men do! The whole bestiary is crammed onto a single ship that looks like it could barely contain one or two – yet somehow this ocean-going clown car manages to contain dozens of poached dinos. 

Somehow this entire colossal operation happens without a single journalist’s camera being on the scene – despite earlier CNN coverage of the island’s nascent eruptions – as it’s the seismic event of the century – yet not a single press helicopter is there to witness the sauropod skulduggery. 

You’ve got several hundred tons of dinos? Where do you keep them? Why in the gigantic subterranean research lab/garage beneath your Gothic manor, that’s where! Poor James Cromwell has been duped by his nefarious jack-of-all-Ops guy (Rafe Spall), an oily suit who makes one long for the subtler villainy of Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber. You know Spall's a bad guy because he yells at children!

The thing is, Bayona is clearly a really good director. Working with DP Oscar Faura, Bayona captures some really fantastic images and knows how to stage a dynamic set piece. There's a lot of good material in Fallen Kingdom, but it's undermined by a tepid script with a plodding 2nd act. It's also frustrating to have the dinosaurs spend half the movie sedated and confined. You yearn for them to bust loose, and when they do, it's exciting as hell. Bayona loves classic Gothic atmosphere, and there are some great moments where he turns the film into a demented Hammer horror film. I just wish the script had let him go even crazier, as he understands the terrain between catastrophe and mortal dread very well.

When the inevitable 3rd film comes out, get some more apex predators in the screenplay department and please give Chris Pratt material that plays to his strengths. There's a bit where he's been tranquilized and desperately tries to escape rivers of encroaching lava - more of that! 

At the end of the day, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is pretty much review-proof. If you like dinosaurs and thrills, I'd still say go see it in the theater. I just wish the script had as much teeth as the carnivores it depicts. 

Annihilation's Realm of the Senses

Alex Garland's been a prolific sci-fi screenwriter, with 28 Days Later, Sunshine, Never Let Me Go and Dredd among his films. But it was his debut film as a director, 2015's phenomenal A.I. thriller Ex Machina, that really made his bones. That was no fluke. With Annihilation, Garland firmly establishes himself right alongside director Denis Villeneuve as one of the top visionaries in the genre working today.

Adapted from Jeff VanderMeer's novel (the first of a trilogy), Annihilation is a strange experience. A remote area of the southeastern U.S. has undergone some kind of strange transformation. Surrounded by a mysterious barrier, it's been cut off from the world at large, now dubbed "Area X." The government's sent in teams to explore it that have never returned - until one man does. The book was a surreal read, written in a sensory-disrupting style that had me rereading some pages three or four times before I felt I'd managed to really see what was happening.

Effective as the book was, Garland's improved on it dramatically, bringing more depth and definition to the characters, more tangible dread to the environment beyond "the Shimmer," and more intriguing hints about what may be behind this catalyst of mutating flora and fauna.

Natalie Portman is the biologist member of a small expedition - all female this time - who venture into the zone looking for answers. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tessa Thompson (Thor: Ragnarok) are the more high profile members of the team, all well-drawn characters, all full of trepidation about the task at hand, all woefully under-prepared for what they'll find there. Oscar Isaac is the man who came back.

The less I say about particulars, the better. But know that this is intelligent science fiction that doesn't go for cheap shots, and isn't afraid to unnerve and disturb. Like Villeneuve's Arrival, Annihilation depicts life beyond our known experience as something our conventional senses may have a hard time processing - or even sanely perceiving. The film evokes other pictures like Ridley Scott's Alien, Altered States, The Mist and The Ruins, but retains a unique and original atmosphere throughout. Garland and his Ex Machina cinematographer Rob Hardy do a remarkable, painterly job of staging the bizarre, visionary mutations and landscapes that the expedition encounters. There's also refreshingly little explanation or exposition to reassure the audience. Sound and music are used particularly well to influence mood and unbalance the viewer.

I'm kicking myself for missing this one in the theater, as it's so uniquely immersive and visual. Really striking, original science fiction films are few and far between, and if you're game for a challenging, unsettling look into a realm of haunting beauty behind the chaos of nature, Annihilation is a fascinating experience, well worth seeking out.