ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (Malaysia, 04 Jul 2018)

Genre: Action / Adventure

Running Length: 2:00

Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, Hannah John-Kamen, Walton Goggins, Michael Pena

Director: Peyton Reed 

Screenplay: Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers and Paul Rudd & Andrew Barrer & Gabriel Ferrari 

What's the movie about?

As Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Rudd) is under house arrest for 2 years following the events of Civil War, Hope van Dyne (Lilly) and Dr. Hank Pym (Douglas) present him with an urgent new mission. Shy of two days from completing his sentence, he is tasked to go into the quantum realm to save Hope's mom Janet van Dyne (Pfeiffer) who is stuck in there for 30 years. 

Highlights!

• This time round, we have a good balance of Rudd, Lilly and Douglas. They share almost equal screentime which I feel is a nice approach. 
• Similar to the first Ant-Man, Michael Pena steals every scene he is in!

Lowlights

• After the recent grandeur of Avenger: Infinity War this movie feels like a very small movie (no pun intended). The narrative is almost made for Netflix kind, just that the effects and action pieces are more polished thanks to a big budget. 
• The villains here have very little purpose beyond providing roadblocks to our heroes' mission to save Janet.
• Not too sure if it's because of Paul Rudd's laid-back personality or just the fault of the writing team, this film lacks energy. It gets pretty boring at times even during the action sequences.    

In summary

As fun as it gets, this movie is somewhat pointless. The only scene that got me excited is the first post-credit scene (the second one which is right at the end is rubbish) which leaves behind a clue to what's going to happen in Avengers 4. 

RATING: 6.5/10

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (2017)

Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Running Length: 1:54
Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley, Leslie Odom Jr., Josh Gad, Willem Dafoe, Penelope Cruz, Johnny Depp, Judi Dench
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Screenplay: Michael Green, based on the novel by Agatha Christie

Knowing nothing about MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (which includes the book and the earlier movie/TV adaptation) is probably the best way to watch this updated version. Despite the dialogue heavy and at times slow pace, the final reveal and its implications were extremely satisfying.

Narrative wise, I felt like I was reading one of those good old fashioned murder mystery novels. There's just something very old school about this film's approach which I don't think Hollywood would ever churned out these days (probably, that's why they needed so many star power packed in one film just to get today's movie goers to watch this film).

Although the filmmakers employed interesting camera angles to tell the story and a sweeping melancholic soundtrack to accompany it, what really made this a compelling watch are the characters. It's like watching a well acted stage play. All the performances here are top notch but the two that really stood up was Branagh as our lead detective and Michelle Pfeiffer. Oh, there are so very good here!

What I learned from this movie:
"Humans are irrational and unpredictable creatures. So who am I to judge another when I too...walk imperfectly."

RATING: 8/10

 

mother! (2017)

Genre: Horror / Thriller
Running Length: 2:01
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Brian Gleeson, Domhnall Gleeson, Kristen Wiig
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Screenplay: Darren Aronofsky

mother! was a very difficult film for me to sit through. It was maddening especially its last 30 minutes. There were many times during the course of it I just felt like shouting out angrily in the cinema hall, "WHAT THE F**K IS GOING ON?!?" This film reminded me of my non-appreciation of abstract modern art. Everytime I come across a modern art museum, I would give it another go - to try to understand the displays. But after 15 minutes or so, I would usually give up and just walk out.

The only difference with mother! is I can't walk out of it. Firstly, it's because I've never walked out of a movie hall before no matter how horrible the film was. But to be fair, whatever was unfolding in front of me was pretty captivating. There was a deep sense of dread throughout so I waited and waited for that release but it never did come.

Here's the plot. A young woman (Lawrence) lives with her much older husband (Bardem) in a decaying large home in the middle of nowhere. She took it upon herself to restore the house. One fine day, two uninvited guests (Harris and Pfeiffer) showed up at their doorstep and decided to stay in their home. And from then on, things just got more claustrophobic, bizarre and twisted.

So, is the film any good? Well, upon exiting it, I was prepared to hate it. But after a few hours to a day of reflection, I have to admit this movie stayed with me and definitely drove me to forums to find some kind of meaning to the many nightmarish images that was thrown at the viewers. Just like modern art, in order to appreciate it, I needed context.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead. Stop reading if you're intending to watch this movie. 

And when I found the context, my verdict is: I acknowledge Aronofsky's courage to make this film and appreciate Paramount for releasing it widely. I get what the director is trying to preach using allegory as an art form. But I cannot accept his take on God and His relationship with mother earth. That said, if he would have just excluded his lecture on Christianity but instead focused on the horrible ordeal on the "rape" of mother earth, I reckon it would be a much more powerful and accessible piece of art (albeit still a difficult film to watch)

RATING: 3/10