Spider-Man: Far From Home

Score:  B+

Directed by Jon Watts
Starring Tom Holland, Zendaya, Samuel L. Jackson, Jake Gyllenhaal
Running time: 129 minutes
Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Spider-Man: Far From Home is the latest film in the MCU superhero world, as young heroes like Tom Holland's Peter Parker look to fill the boots of RDJ and the old guard.  It works as both general, crowd-pleasing summer blockbuster and as an exciting vanguard of the franchise.  It overstretches in most areas just a bit, but that's based on the MCU's high standards; go see this whether you're an MCU devotee or simply want some summer fun in the theater.


Months after the Avengers restored order to the universe - and half its souls - society continues to adjust.  For Peter Parker (Holland), that includes strange effects on his high school, where he and many of his classmates pick up where they left off even as others - now five years older - have moved on.  He is relieved for the chance at a break via a field trip to Europe, and decides to leave his tights and web-slingers at home.  Meanwhile, however, new threats have already surfaced.  Nick Fury (Jackson) and Maria Hill find that what appeared to have been massive storms were actually attacks by elemental creatures.  These creatures came from another world in the multiverse, a byproduct of the crisis averted by the Avengers.  Fortunately, a new good guy, Mysterio (Gyllenhaal), came along with them.  Parker just wants to enjoy some quiet time, but finds himself pulled into the latest danger; soon he must decide what part to play in this dangerous new, post-Iron Man world.

Far From Home returns most of the cast from the MCU's first Spider-Man film, Homecoming, and adds one more famous name to it.  Tom Holland reprises his role as Peter Parker aka Spider-Man, and while it's his second "solo" movie, he has now appeared in five total MCU titles.  That means the audience is now comfortable seeing him - the third actor, and by far the youngest - in the famous role, yet there remained plenty of room to explore his new take on it.  The film focuses most on Parker's continued ambivalence over his role as Spider-Man, and Holland conveys this convincingly.  In his many scenes with his classmates, he fits in easily, as awkward and nervous around them as he is in battle.  He remains one of the MCU's most charismatic new stars, and has developed good chemistry with his cast mates, particularly Zendaya.  She, playing MJ, gets a significantly larger role this time, actively involved in both the action and personal moments.  While still mostly the same quiet girl with an air of indifference, MJ also breaks out of that mold here, particularly as her feelings for Parker grow.  Yet she maintains integrity of the character, something many young actors fail to do in such a transition.  Jake Gyllenhaal is a great new addition, a warm, father-like figure to Parker early on before revealing a delightfully weirder side as it goes on.  MCU mainstays Nick Fury (Jackson) and Happy (Favreau) are welcome presences; the latter gets perhaps his most interesting MCU part yet, while the former just feels a bit off.  Finally, the other students - and two teacher chaperones - get significant screentime; while amusing, they ham it up a bit too much occasionally.

Spider-Man: Far From Home definitively shows that the MCU still has plenty of creative gas left in the tank following Avengers: Endgame's epic conclusion to the first eleven years' worth of films.  It plays a similar role to the Ant-Man films - relatively light "chaser" diversions on the heels of massive Avengers adventures.  Still, while there is plenty in here for the MCU fan excited for the franchise's new direction, it is also a general crowd-pleaser, largely thanks to its coming-of-age dramedy elements.  Parker's pursuits of MJ are front and center, but even sidekick Ned gets his own romantic subplot; to go with this drama are the hijinks of a group of teenagers fooling around as tourists and their exasperated teachers giving chase.  Unfortunately, I found it to be a bit overdone, losing the subtle touch of Homecoming's school scenes.  Certainly plenty entertaining, still, but both the script and the performances almost seem to be grasping to match the intensity of the action.  This aspect, too, is amplified in comparison to the previous film.  Spider-Man and Mysterio's raging battles with elemental beasts (animated forces of water, fire and so on) are just the appetizer.  The action is best when Spider-Man is trying to save lives - stopping a building from falling down, for example - and a scene involving ever more elaborate illusions is a true highlight.  But it also drifts towards too big and too much at times, the screen becoming so busy with CGI that it begins to blur together.  Some of that busyness is a direct consequence of the plot, which is well conceived.  It's not hard to see from early on that it's going to have a major twist, but it's nevertheless a clever one.  Really, it's all good, from the plot to the action to the Parker scenes, with the MCU's typically high level of quality.  Pulling back on it all a little could have made it truly special, but it's still another strong superhero movie.

Now, as the MCU geek I am, I'll delve a little into details related to the franchise overall - so feel free to skip this, either if you're not interested or want to avoid SPOILERS!!!  As the first film post-Iron Man, Cap, and (???) Thor, Far From Home gives us some interesting possibilities while still leaving much up in the air.  The villain's mission, to manufacture artificial crises just so that he can play the "hero", makes perfect sense in a world with a major superhero vacuum.  There are still plenty out there, of course, but leaderless and recuperating (physically and otherwise).  Throughout the film, I felt there was something off about Nick Fury, so it relieved me but also horrified me when the post-credits scene showed that he and Hill were Skrulls in disguise the whole time.  I had really hoped that Captain Marvel would be the last we saw of those aliens, but apparently not.  Maybe it's just a one-off thing - but what the hell was that ship the real Fury was on?!  Finally, maybe most importantly, I'm glad that the film remembered Peter Parker is still just a teenager.  He's figuring himself out, and - despite his impressive abilities and tech - is vulnerable to clever, manipulative foes.  Obviously this is worth keeping in mind due to the other credits scene (JK Simmons is back!!!), but also something the MCU needs to replicate throughout its new chapter: the heroes just keep getting more and more powerful, from Black Panther to Captain Marvel, and they need their own challenges (perhaps even "kryptonite"), too.  But so far, so good.  Excited to see what's next for the MCU!

***

Spider-Man: Far From Home fortunately breaks a streak of disappointing sequels/spin-offs this summer, both maintaining the MCU's remarkable critical-approval streak as well as surely blowing up the box office.  We've been in uncharted waters with the MCU for years now - how it can sustain both critical and popular success while producing multiple new films each year, each of which is strongly tied to all the others - but now we'll see if it can survive the loss of its three leading/ "founding" actors.  Hollywood and theaters increasingly depend on not just the superhero genre but specifically the unprecedented success of the MCU; Endgame and Captain Marvel are #1 and #2 this year, combining for more than 20% of the entire box office.  Here's the thing: Marvel hasn't been making extraordinarily entertaining, high quality clones for these 11 years.  It's improved, taken chances, and pushed cinema to new places with its continuing narrative form.  That is a formula not exclusive to Marvel, and if Hollywood wants to survive and thrive in this new media world, it should take notes.





* By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60832103

Men In Black: International

Score:  C

Directed by F. Gary Gray
Starring Tessa Thompson, Chris Hemsworth, Kumail Nanjiani, Liam Neeson
Running time: 115 minutes
Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Men In Black: International, the fourth film in the franchise that started in 1997, has new leads Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth trying on the suits.  Unfortunately, the series' special spark has been lost along the way, and this is really more of a standard sci-fi action comedy that happens to have familiar gizmos and terminology.  Perfectly fine for a family with different expectations looking for fun, avoid this if you are drawn to it by the franchise.


Thanks to a childhood encounter, Molly (Thompson) knows that alien life is among us on Earth.  As a young adult, she struggles in vain to join the CIA and other agencies she thinks can help her find them again - until she stumbles back upon agents of the Men In Black.  Using her iron will, and lack of Earthly attachments such as a family, Molly joins the mysterious group and is renamed Agent M.  Sent to the London HQ, Agent M finds two legends of the MIB, Agents H and High-T (Hemsworth and Neeson).  The appearance of an extremely dangerous alien species known as the Hive - which the London agents once fought - throws M into the thick of the action.  And her presence, a new one in the MIB, soon becomes essential as the threat seeks to take advantage of the status quo.

Men In Black: International, at least in terms of its cast, is a reboot, with all-new performers including its two leads.  Hemsworth and Thompson have already starred together, in fact, in 2017's Thor Ragnarok.  This time it's Tessa Thompson who takes the role of 1A; she's both the newcomer to MIB, and also the one who gets the most background.  Unfortunately, Molly (or Agent M) doesn't amount to much, particularly when compared to Will Smith's original, fellow-outsider Agent J.  It's nice to have a woman lead, and a determinedly independent one at that, but she ends up feeling more like a collection of modern memes than a unique character - the thing MIB is best known for.  Hemsworth himself essentially plays to type, the overconfident hero type whose pratfalls provide much of the film's humor.  These characters match well in temperament, but due to the script and even at times their own acting, there's too much going through the motions.  Rafe Spall plays a Neville-like MIB rules nag, while Kumail Nanjiani adds a bit to the comedy voicing a tiny alien.  Liam Neeson seems born to play an MIB leader, but I would actually have preferred to see more of Thompson.

Men In Black: International is a decent enough entertainment - particularly for those new to the franchise - but also a reminder of how even unique brands like this one can become stale.  On the surface, MIB: International has a rock-solid premise in both its plot and its new characters.  The series gets a change of scenery, from London to Marrakesh to Paris, and as mentioned the leads are among today's most appealing talents.  But for one reason or another, this turns out to be a fairly generic sci-fi action comedy with few if any memorable scenes or other elements.  Other than your typical, lazy blockbuster writing (and even a bit of pedestrian acting), I blame this on three main issues: focusing on plot over style and atmosphere; focusing on action over comedy; and allowing the leads to play themselves rather than stretch into weird new characters.  Yes, the original MIB had its share of action, but most of it was pretty silly.  With the sheer amount of action and CGI in sci-fi movies that have come along since then, we really needed more of the original's bizarre feel and more dirty, gritty visuals that actually felt more real precisely because they didn't rely so much on CGI.  The plot also becomes overly complicated, and yet a key twist is so obvious that the attempts to disguise it worsen the situation.  After all that, it's really not as terrible as I've just made it sound.  The dialogue, while not great, at least isn't cringe-worthy; some of the action is fun, there are clever new aliens, and there's some good humor, too.  But this is certainly not a film for fans of the original; it is much better suited to a family audience, one more familiar with Will Smith as a Genie than a Man In Black.

***

Men In Black: International is a generically disappointing sequel in its content, but also represents some interesting trends in the summer's movie landscape.  The box office has simply imploded - with Avengers being the one, massive exception - as sequels like this, Dark Phoenix and Godzilla have found poor critical reception and an audience that is perhaps even more jaded and uninterested.  It's also part of the debate over whether it's better to create a continuing narrative line through a franchise - represented by Marvel's Avengers, of course - or start with fresh stories and new actors within an otherwise familiar world.  International is a bit of a hybrid, though with its new cast - and perhaps even more importantly, different tone and style - it's more like the latter.  Above all, though, Hollywood studios will hopefully get the message that a handful of franchises are creatively worthy of continuing - e.g. Avengers, Toy Story - while most of the rest should just lie dormant for a while in favor of *gasp!* new ideas.




* By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59441109

Late Night

Score:  B-

Directed by Nisha Ganatra
Starring Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, Reid Scott
Running time: 102 minutes
Rated R

Long Story Short:  Late Night teams up two stars of different generations - Thompson and Kaling - in an intriguing premise about a faltering late night host and her new writer, respectively.  Kaling is still struggling to adapt to the feature film format, both as an actor and a writer, but Thompson is brilliant and carries it easily.  Not as funny as it should be, but still fun.  Recommended if you're in the mood (once it's on Amazon Prime).


Katherine Newbury (Thompson) has become a victim of her own success.  The only woman host of a network nighttime talk show, Newbury has been showered with awards and commands respect from her peers.  But while she sticks to her guns, modern tastes have evolved and her ratings, trickling downward for years, reach a new low.  After a confrontation with a network executive, Newbury half-heartedly tries to change things up on her show, particularly behind the scenes - including the rare hiring of a female writer, Molly (Kaling).  With competition and ratings pressures breathing down her neck, Newbury struggles between a desire to return to the top of the industry and a need to remain true to herself.  Both new (Molly) and old (her husband) do their best to convince her those need not be mutually exclusive dreams.

Late Night has significant roles for only its two main players, with a handful of supporting characters sprinkled in.  Emma Thompson plays the late night show host Katherine Newbury, and her performance is the best part of the film.  She effectively conveys a sense of power and control, crucial for a part that is the center of a little universe.  By definition, she is an almost larger than life persona, but still conveys both Newbury's strengths and weaknesses - with real subtlety.  When personal drama rears its head, things could easily have soured if not for her steady and authentic path from pain and regret to release.  Perhaps because Thompson is so good, Kaling comes off as not quite ready for Hollywood prime time.  She is likable, but unable to assemble a coherent character from her individual scenes.  Partly this is because of the script (which, well, she wrote), but it felt to me like she was perhaps trying to disappear into her previous, TV roles rather than to treat this one as a distinct entity.  Most of the supporting characters are Molly's fellow writers, the best of whom is played by Reid Scott, even though it again plays a bit too much like Kaling's male companions on her TV shows.  John Lithgow also appears as Newbury's husband and does very well, particularly in developing a deep, genuine personal background for her.

Late Night is a fine dramedy, but one that coasts on its premise and lead performance while failing to realize its comic potential.  This really is Mindy Kaling's film; not only did she write and star in it, but the premise is semi-autobiographical (she, too, started her career as a "diversity" hire).  It's ironic, then, that the strongest aspects of the film are Emma Thompson's late night host and the twists and turns it takes as she attempts to make her show relevant again.  As mentioned, Thompson's acting is just magnetic, and without it the film would have floundered, perhaps fatally (she also happens to be by far the funniest person in the cast).  There are plenty of social media cliches thrown around, but also some interesting maneuvering, such as Thompson's cat-and-mouse game with her lunkhead potential replacement (played by Kaling-collaborator Ike Barinholtz) and an impromptu stand up performance to blow off steam.  Kaling, in terms of her on-screen character, fails to hold up her end of the bargain, though.  The film tries hard to establish the writers' room as the other main element, but Kaling just fails to shine through and there are no saviors to be found in the supporting cast.  She writes her own scenes as if they were for her TV characters, and that simply doesn't work in a feature film, on the big screen.  The Thompson parts, which are new to her, are not affected by that frame of mind (for the most part).  In spite of its unique premise, the film follows a familiar formula, with Thompson and Kaling's characters parting ways before reuniting at the end.  But even if it's forgettable, it's at least pleasantly done.

***

Late Night, considering its intriguing premise and talented creators, is disappointing yet still a fine watch.  Not only is it Mindy Kaling's first major foray into the movies, it's also distributed by Amazon Studios.  While some of Amazon's first tries have been big successes - Manchester By the Sea, The Big Sick - Late Night seems clearly better suited to Amazon's Prime streaming service rather than as a feature on the big screen.  Mindy Kaling is very talented and I like when studios give people like her chances on neat ideas like this.  But Late Night probably would have benefited from some assistance from a few more seasoned film veterans, too.  I'd recommend this one, but only once it comes to Prime and you're looking for something a little different from the comfort of home.




* By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60628920

X-Men: Dark Phoenix

Score:  B-

Directed by Simon Kinberg
Starring Sophie Turner, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jessica Chastain, et. al.
Running time: 114 minutes
Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Dark Phoenix brings the longest (semi-)continuously running superhero franchise, the X-Men, to a close.  While the same characters and actors are here, Sophie Turner's Jean Grey gets a promotion to lead, resulting in some interesting psychological drama that nonetheless struggles to connect to the others.  Despite some bland characters (esp. Chastain's villain) and some awkward writing, stalwarts McAvoy and Fassbender keep it interesting, with some fun action to boot.


In 1992, a space shuttle launch goes awry, and the world looks to the X-Men for help.  After a long, difficult struggle, Professor Xavier, or "X" (McAvoy) has turned public opinion of his fellow mutants to the positive, and so he sends out his team to make good on this perception.  The team finds a strange cosmic "cloud" near the shuttle; while they manage to save the crew, Jean Grey (Turner) ends up absorbing this cloud and somehow survives.  Returning to their home, Grey finds that the force inside her has heightened her psychic powers - but also overwhelms her at random moments, at the same time resurfacing dark, dormant memories.  Fearful of her own new strength and unpredictability, Grey flees the mutant school.  With her mutant peers unable to help her and regular humans hunting her, hidden visitors from another world seek the force that haunts Grey - to use for their own nefarious ends.

Dark Phoenix returns the main cast of X-Men heroes from the most recent films - though it juggles their roles a bit - and adds a few well-known faces to the mix.  Sophie Turner, just introduced as a young Jean Grey in the previous film, Apocalypse, is the lead.  Although relatively new to this franchise, Turner has plenty of blockbuster experience through her role as Sansa in Game of Thrones. With little to work with in established character, the film focuses on her distress at the emergence of long-suppressed, tragic memories.  Turner communicates this pain effectively, but unfortunately isn't able to make up for lost time in developing chemistry with her cast mates.  This works in her favor ultimately, though, as she is truly an outlier, and thus a stranger, even among her fellow mutants.  McAvoy and Fassbender continue to be great in their roles as Professor X and Magneto, respectively. Fortunately, we get little of their traditional conflict.  Instead, McAvoy is adept in showing first defiance, then growing acceptance of a grave past mistake; Fassbender's role is much more restrained this time, and more interesting for it.  The other mutants are less impressive.  Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique has a brief part (you can almost feel her back pedaling out of the franchise), and Nicholaus Holt's Beast is still pretty generic.  Jessica Chastain, similar to Apocalypse's Oscar Isaac, is an astounding waste of tremendous talent on an incredibly flat villain role.

Dark Phoenix is indeed one of the more somber blockbusters in recent memory, one that falls short of the franchise's standards yet still has a variety of strengths to boast.  Taking place a decade after Apocalypse (there's little effort to age the characters, including actors who've played them now for 30 "movie" years, but it didn't bother me), there is a feeling of foreboding from the very start.  Partly this is from an intro of a car crash involving a little girl (who survives); partly this is from the soundtrack (by the famed Hans Zimmer), which is good but not very subtle.  Even the X-Men themselves are curiously anxious before going on the space rescue mission - one that seemed fairly tame compared to the incredible violence they experienced in Apocalypse.  Still, the film is based on a solid idea: while the stakes are predictably high, it largely hangs on personal drama - how one mutant deals with her traumatic memories, and the way her mutant family responds, always well-intentioned but often backfiring.  The villain is as bland and uninteresting as in the previous film, but Dark Phoenix wisely puts much more focus on the X-Men themselves.  While it is largely missing the franchise's usually good, wry sense of humor - due to its absence rather than failed attempts, fortunately - the action is also improved, and it's (mostly) more restrained.  The space shuttle rescue is exciting, and several sequences in the middle of the film - of the X-Men trying to rescue/capture Jean Grey - are more effective because of their brevity.  The final battle goes longer, but its theme of fighting for each other - more than against an enemy - also makes it more engaging.  It's difficult to ask a character/actor who was previously a mere supporting player to carry her own film - much less a franchise's finale - and while Dark Phoenix struggles with this, at under two hours long, it doesn't push it, either.

***

Dark Phoenix is not among the top X-Men films, but as I have written this review, I've realized it's also not half bad, either.  Critics are scornful of it, with a 23% Rotten Tomatoes score, but I think it is far, far better than Apocalypse, which managed a 47%.  Frankly, it's even better than the MCU's Captain Marvel (78% on RT) from earlier this year.  And when you consider that this went through significant production development hell, the results are even more impressive.  As a finale to the X-Men franchise, starting way back in 2000 and comprising ten films (not including Deadpool, which to me is its own thing), is it satisfying?  Not entirely; the franchise has seen far higher quality, and the dark mood dampens any triumph.  Still, its modest, fairly quiet ending is also appropriate and even positive in many ways, particularly the last scene between McAvoy and Fassbender bringing back memories of Stewart and McKellen.  Certainly give this a try in theaters if you've been following the franchise; even if you're just in the mood for some good action, you could do far worse.



* By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60081715

John Wick Chapter Three: Parabellum

Score:  B

Directed by Chad Stahelski
Starring Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishbourne, Halle Berry
Running time: 131 minutes
Rated R

Long Story Short:  Chapter Three is the latest entry in the increasingly popular John Wick action franchise starring Keanu Reeves.  Parabellum gives us more of just about everything we've come to expect from these films, for better and worse.  The action is even more wildly creative than before, yet eventually keeps going too long; the crime world mythology gets intriguingly disrupted, yet finds some dead-ends, too.  If you're looking for a good action movie, though, look no further.


Excommunicated from the criminal underground, hitman John Wick (Reeves) begins this chapter on the run, with one hour before a $14 million bounty on his head goes into effect.  Even with his impressive skills and numerous old friends, he realizes that he must flee from his home of New York City.  He believes his one chance for survival is to bargain with the mysterious head of the criminal High Table, known as the Elder.  With the help of an old friend in Casablanca, Sofia (Berry), he hopes to turn the tables on his supposedly rule-bound, but ultimately self-serving overlords.  Those shadowy forces, meanwhile, have come to New York to exact punishment on Wick's friends, setting up a bloody showdown when the Boogeyman - Wick - returns.

John Wick Chapter 3 returns prominent figures from the franchise's first two films, and adds a few interesting new characters to the mix.  Keanu Reeves reprises his role as legendary hitman John Wick, a cool, detached, slightly tongue-in-cheek hero he seems to have been born to play.  If you've seen the first two, you know what to expect: above all else, a great physical performance as the action hero, and he's pushed even further this time.  Apart from a brief but stirring part with members of his Belorussian past (and implied blood ties), we get little further personal development for Wick, but his breathtaking stunt work makes up for it.  Ian McShane gets a larger role this time as the crime hotel/ HQ manager, who finds himself no longer at the top of the bad guy food chain.  Less is really more with this role, even though he does a good job anyway.  Halle Berry, the most prominent new actor, gets a fairly cliched (and quite brief) role as Wick's old friend with a - surprise! - vaguely complicated relationship.  Far better is Asia Kate Dillon's "Adjudicator", an almost robot-like messenger for unseen puppet masters, who nevertheless seems to subtly take things more personally as she upsets the apple cart and things get messier.  Lance Reddick and Laurence Fishbourne, as hotel concierge and spy master, respectively, are welcome returnees in small roles.

John Wick Chapter 3 is an entertaining action film that boasts many of the strengths of its predecessors, but ultimately pushes it all a little too far.  The chief (guilty) pleasures of this franchise are the incredibly violent yet gorgeously, balletically-choreographed action scenes; Wick makes downing bad guys an art form.  As many franchises feel obliged to do, this third installment has more, longer, and increasingly extreme versions of this.  Particularly at the beginning, Reeves and his second unit are at the top of their game, starting with a brutal brawl in a library (!) against an enormous villain, the actor an actual NBA player (!!).  Moments later, there is a wince-inducing (yet amazing) knife battle and then a brilliant NYPD horse scene (no animals are harmed - they do the harming).  Yet later, the action becomes excessive: as ideas, the Halle Berry + attack dogs; armored superbaddies; and final martial arts showdown are also great, but they just keep going and going and going.  This is what deleted/extended scenes on the disc/download were made for!  Along with the action, the Wick franchise benefits from an intriguing crime-world mythology, placing the hero in a distinctive, rule-bound setting.  It's great to have the bosses from previous films (McShane, Fishbourne) suddenly find themselves in the crosshairs, particularly via Dillon's great performance.  But Wick's Casablanca detour doesn't really work well, and the ending's twists are rushed and felt a bit out of place with the franchise's style.  As exhilarating as much of the action in Parabellum is, unlike after the cliffhanger ending of the second film, I'm not starving for more just yet.

***

John Wick Chapter Three is an enjoyable film that, while representing a small dip overall, puts the franchise among the better, enduring action universes.  Clearly, Reeves and the team behind the action have both plenty of creative ideas to express as well as the skill and effort to execute them.  My primary advice would simply be to keep their ambitions in check, both in the sheer length of its incredible action scenes as well as in the continued development of the crime world plot.  Chapter 3 had the potential to be the best one yet, I would argue, if they simply tightened up the action and reworked the resolution a bit, shaving 15 minutes or so off the running time.  Still, this film and the franchise itself offer great lessons for Hollywood's action films in making high-quality, exciting and interesting cinema.  Recommended.




* By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59676695

Avengers: Endgame

Score:  A+

Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo

Starring Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlet Johansson, Josh Brolin, et. Al.

Running time: 181 minutes

Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) concludes an 11-year, 22-film, 3 “phase” adventure with Avengers: Endgame.  Some might think its three-hour run time and huge cast of characters too big a barrier for the non-MCU fan to enjoy, but with good pacing, humor and a plethora of strong performances, it’s fun for all.  For my fellow MCU nerds, Endgame is nirvana, a highly entertaining and moving end to the franchise as we’ve known it thus far.  Bravo!

**SPOILER WARNING! There’s no way to write anything interesting about this movie without including enormous spoilers, so please read on only if/when you’ve already seen it or otherwise don’t mind!**

Following immediately on Infinity War, the effects of villainous Thanos’s victory (the “snapture” - after collecting the six infinity stones, he wiped out half of all life in the universe with a snap of his fingers) reverberate through the universe.  Even when a new hero, the powerful Captain Marvel, unites with the remaining Avengers, they are helpless to reverse the calamity.  That is, until the literal smallest hero, missing for five years, reappears.  His miracle is the spark that gives hope to the heroes  that their failure may not be so permanent after all.  Still, the odds are long, and Earth’s mightiest defenders will be pushed to the absolute limit before all is said and done.

Before getting to the MCU-specific elements of Endgame, it’s worth noting that despite a three-hour long running time, the film flows quite smoothly.  The movie is more or less divided into three sections.  The first is somber but stylish, but before too long both a sense of hope and of humor begin to emerge as it transitions to the middle.  In a long movie this is a danger zone, but its quirky and zippy time travel scenes effectively inject more energy rather than take any away.  Avoiding another common pitfall, there is little build up to the climax; it’s just suddenly there and spirals in scope with increasing excitement.  Finally, we get just a few minutes at the end to send off our favorite heroes with appropriate respect.  For MCU fans, it all adds up to a whirlwind, losing track of time completely; I suspect that non-MCU fans will still find the running time well balanced and well beyond blockbuster standards.

How do you begin what is supposed to be one of the most epic films in decades?  The MCU subverts expectations, eschewing Infinity War’s thrilling opening and instead showing an average day in Hawkeye’s quiet country life - average, that is, until the snapture upends it without a whisper, sending chills down the spine.  The film respectfully takes the time to show a sample of the effects of the snapture in this first section, from dilapidated cities to monuments to the disappeared to group therapy.  Of course, we also only have half the heroes to follow, a clever byproduct allowing the film to focus on the originals: Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Black Widow, and a few others.  Before long, others add a light-hearted comic element as possible solutions stir: Ant-Man, the unexpected, optimistic catalyst; a bizarre, chill Hulk/Banner hybrid; and most uproariously, fat Thor Lebowski.

What is the solution?  The film early on took the heroes to confront Thanos directly, despairingly to no avail.  So they go the time travel route, which ends up a brilliant choice in my opinion, for three reasons.  First, the present time has literally no options available; second, it allows the Avengers to humorously (and at times poignantly) revisit their own past adventures; and third, it gives the film freedom to accomplish a few other crucial things through the vagaries of time travel.  Those who want air-tight logic will be disappointed, and these things often bother me, too.  Ultimately, though, it worked for me just fine.  I think mainly that’s because the trip down memory lane is so well fused with the urgent, specific needs of going there.  Thor gets a crucial, personal moment, while Nebula’s unfortunate timing brings Thanos back into the mix.  Stark and Rogers’ trip to NY, then back to 1970, is more nostalgia-tinged, but it also gives the opportunity to wrap up their impressive backstories.  It does all pass almost like a dream, and I for one got the restless feeling that it was all too easy.  That is, until...

... what is perhaps the most impressive concluding battle scene I’ve witnessed!  Thanos, the Avengers’ most formidable foe, doesn’t just allow for a neat happily-ever-after.  Round one is a jarring three- (Iron Man, Cap, Thor) -on-one slugfest that had me gripping the seat of my chair.  Just as it seems Thanos will once again prove the inevitable victor, though, Sam/Falcon whispers “on your left” to Cap.  As another shiver ran through me, the un-snaptured heroes return to reinforce the beleaguered three, commencing a jaw-droppingly huge battle.  Of course, CGI stunts abound in what follows, but there remains a clear focus on the individuals in the fight and their specific goal (once again, those damned stones).  The tension remains high - despite reinforcement, good is still fighting an uphill battle.  Even with a field full of worthy warriors, though, it’s both special and bittersweet when the one who started it all is also the one to end it with his sacrifice.

It’s no secret that Endgame was intended as the final film for the Avengers to this point; more specifically, a conclusion for the Big Three and the infinity stones overarching narrative.  It also has callbacks to earlier films sprinkled throughout - beyond the overt time travel to several of them - that are both cleverly done and also move them forward.  These range from funny ones like Cap ending up in an elevator full of Hydra agents again (from his second solo film) to some of the most powerful ones such as Cap’s becoming “worthy” and wielding Thor’s hammer in the nick of time, and Stark’s final, triumphant proclamation of “I am Iron Man.”  This is where the film is most catered to the MCU devotees, and for us, they’re golden.

Endgame leaves its three main heroes (we’ll talk about the others another time) in just the right ways.  Thor, in fact, may not be done with the MCU at all, but rather joining up with his newfound Guardians buddies.  Even if he doesn’t continue on, though, Endgame completes his evolution to a new kind of hero, not the boring, traditional one he started as.  He’s, well, weird (maybe not the strongest Avenger, but perhaps the silliest?), and has accepted that; and prone to fairly un-herolike moodiness.  Steve Rogers/Cap gets the fairy tale ending, but in a cool new way.  Thawed from the 40s, he was never truly at home in the modern world, though of course he did his duty in defending humanity.  One final time trip both ties up the stones loose ends, and allows Rogers to live the life he was meant to, touchingly symbolized by Steve’s dance and kiss with Peggy in the last frame.  Finally there’s the biggest of them all, Tony Stark/Iron Man.  His ending is really in two parts:  the family he’s built in the five years following the snapture, and his defeat of Thanos for good.  Tony was the least natural hero in the beginning, and his sacrifice completed his long journey.

***

As you can probably tell, Endgame meant more to me than any other movie I’ve seen for years.  As the culmination of an 11-year journey, how could it not have?  It’s most important to me that I was personally happy beyond expectations with how it turned out, but it’s also been fun to see how the rest of the world has embraced it.  In addition to near-unanimous critical approval (94% on RT), it completely obliterated opening weekend records at the box office and it’s all but guaranteed to become the top global movie and second domestic (to Star Wars) all time.  The MCU has clearly been the defining cinematic experience of the last decade, churning out an average of two high entertainment (but also high quality) films each year.  I plan to write another blog post this summer, though the MCU will surely continue on, in a hopefully interesting new direction.  I would say it was worth the wait, but the adventure has been fun each step of the way, and Endgame merely provided an equally fulfilling conclusion.  Excelsior!

*By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59301815

**PS: Writing this on an iPad was incredibly frustrating.  Get your act together, Google/Apple!!!

Shazam!

Score:  C+

Directed by David F. Sandberg
Starring Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Mark Strong
Running time: 132 minutes
Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Shazam! is DC Film's latest effort to pivot to lighter superhero adventures.  While Levi's hijinks as a teen in an adult superhero body are enjoyable, there's just not enough going on around that to keep it interesting.  Along with the weak acting of the younger leads, there's little to entice the regular superhero fan, instead relying on typical genre fireworks to capture its younger, family-oriented audience.  If that's not you, just wait for the real show, Avengers Endgame.


Billy Batson (Angel), a teenage foster kid, is unable to adjust to his new families, continually searching for the mother he remembers as a young child.  His newest home, where he is joined by five new siblings, seems like more of the same, although Freddy (Glazer) does his best to help him fit in.  When Freddy is attacked by bullies at school, Billy intervenes and ends up fleeing - but suddenly finds himself in a whole new world.  He meets a wizard there who searches for a champion to take on his powers.  Billy is transformed into an adult superhero (Levi) with powers, and when he returns home he giddily shares the news with Freddy.  However, Billy and Freddy are not the only ones who know the source of Shazam's powers - and others have less innocent intentions for them.

Shazam! has a fairly large cast and some familiar faces, with mixed results.  Zachary Levi, best known as TV's Chuck, is a lot of fun as the adult superhero version of teenaged Billy.  Similar to the stars of the Jumanji reboot, Levi clearly has a blast literally acting like a kid, and his style is even more exaggerated than that film.  All of his moods are highlighted in neon - typically glee in testing his powers, but at times fear, annoyance and others.  Still, the film is at its best with Levi on the screen.  The young actors struggle, ranging from mediocre to poor.  Asher Angel in particular comes off as practically a novice, overacting at every turn and rarely seeming natural.  Grazer does a better job as Billy's disabled superhero fanatic of a brother, but he also often tries too hard, perhaps a bit competitive with his costar.  The other siblings have bit roles, with Faithe Herman by far the most charming of the group.  Mark Strong is the villain, a role he's well acquainted with, but he is either phoning it in or just hamming it up too much.  Djimon Hounsou is a waste of talent for such a small part as the wizard, but he at least plays it up more effectively than Strong.

Shazam! is a reasonably entertaining superhero film targeted at a younger audience, but mediocre execution and some bizarre narrative choices hold it back.  The film starts with a solid premise with its teenage lead acquiring superpowers not directly, but by actually inhabiting a different, adult body.  Jumanji demonstrated the potential in this, particularly for humor, and the film is most fun when Billy is exploring his new powers, using them how you might expect a young person to.  Unfortunately, there's only a modest amount of this, and the surrounding elements are not particularly interesting.  Of course there's the fantasy part, including another dimension (essentially a large, dark hall) and the bad guy and his plans.  Pretty typical stuff, perhaps cornier than usual - with an occasional wink - but also with a few scenes more violent than expected, as when Strong's character attacks his tormenting father.  The film really prefers to focus on Billy's normal life as a teenage foster kid.  Unfortunately, as already mentioned the young actors just aren't up to snuff.  There are some potentially interesting themes to be explored, particularly the sociology of the foster home, but it's oversimplified and blurred with more typical coming-of-age elements.  Also - spoilers! - for some reason they let Billy finally find his mom... only to find out that she intentionally left him, and doesn't want him in her life even now.  Obviously, this is something that (tragically) happens in real life, but was entirely unnecessary for the story and inappropriate to the tone and audience.  Finally, the action is fine, but if you watch action movies, you've seen it all before, and done better.

***

Shazam! is yet more proof that DC is to Marvel as DreamWorks is to Pixar.  Sure, it's fun at a certain level, but in a generic, forgettable way - without the signature style and level of quality of Marvel (or Pixar).  I'm rather stunned that it has a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  I suspect either critics are just so desperate for something positive out of DC, and/or they are so sick of the genre that they are automatically attracted to something that even clumsily satirizes the genre.  If you have young kids or teenagers, this is a fine choice for a family outing.  But I hope that DC begins putting more effort into their films, going beyond an interesting premise and a Marvel-imitating lighter tone.  Outside of the family audience, if you haven't seen this yet, just wait another few weeks for the must-see event: Avengers Endgame.




By Warner Bros. - Warner Bros., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60344684