Movie Review - Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Director: Peyton Reed
Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Science Fiction
Runtime: 124 minutes
Year: 2023
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jonathan Majors, Corey Stoll, Kathryn Newton, Bill Murray
 
Description: Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) are dragged into the Quantum Realm, along with Hope’s parents (Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer) and Scott’s daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton. Together they must find a way to escape, but what secrets is Hope’s mother hiding? And who is the mysterious Kang (Jonathan Majors)?

Review: “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is the third part in the “Ant-Man’ series. Peyton Reed is again the director, having now directed the entire trilogy.

Since the Avengers are at rest, the threat and action is moved to a place where Ant-Man and his family have been before: the Quantum Realm. The ultimate threat in the film comes from one person and that is Kang, a mysterious man living in the Quantum Realm. Jonathan Majors portray him and does this so well. “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is primarily the film within the larger MCU that serves as his entrance, and this is the film biggest achievement. Otherwise, plenty happens, but it’s all not very innovative or exciting. The stakes are not terribly high, outside having to save family and loved ones, which is fairly predictable.

The performances are good, the humor is there and I just love Paul Rudd. He can do no wrong. But if it weren’t for the character of Kang, this movie was not per say necessary.

Rating: 3/ 5

Movie Review - Creed III

Director: Michael B. Jordan
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 116 minutes
Year: 2023
Starring: Michael Jordan, Tessa Thompson, Jonathan Majors, Wood Harris, Phylicia Rashad, Mila Davis-Kent
 
Description: Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) has been thriving in both his career and family life, but when a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy (Jonathan Majors) resurfaces, the face-off is more than just a fight.

Review: An underdog who keeps fighting despite many setbacks to finally walk away with the win. That is the essence of the ‘Rocky” film series, for which Sylvester Stallone wrote the script in 1976 and himself took on the role of the man also known as The Italian Stallion. Meanwhile, almost fifty years later, “Creed III” is the ninth film in this series and the part in which the torch is finally passed to Adonis Creed.

After the evens of “Creed II”, Adonis is in the prime of his life. He has since retired as a boxer and is living a happy life with his family. One day, he meets his childhood friend and boxing prodigy Damian, who has been released after a long prison sentence. Damian is eager to prove that he deserves a chance in the ring.

Sylvester Stallone has always been the heart of the series, even in the “Creed” movies where he was only a side character. Stallone is not part of “Creed III”, in any shape or form, and you can tell. You miss Stallone. And as a fan of the series, it is unfortunate that he is not featured in the film. But this did give lead actor Michael B. Jordan the chance to debut as a director and a chance to focus fully on Adonis. That certainly worked. “Creed III” is a more raw story and one in which the lines between good and evil in the form of Adonis and Damian are less obvious than in earlier films. That is one of the film’s strengths. Both sides are clearly told, which makes you understand both character’s motives.

One thing I also loved is the beautiful way they deal with Adonis’ daughter Amara, who was born deaf (as we learned in the second “Creed” movie). I love the connection between father and daughter.
I really liked how the boxing matches were designed, even though they shift in style a lot. That is something that bothered me a little bit. They should have stuck with one style to make it more coherent. The close-up shots were fantastic though.

“Creed III” is a good film that further explores the world around Adonis Creed and show him stepping out of Rocky’s shadow. But I did miss Stallone here. Which means, that Adonis Creed is not yet strong enough as a character to make me forget about Rocky Balboa.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

TV Show Review - Lovecraft Country

Season: 1
Genre: Thriller/ Horror/ Drama/ Mystery/ Fantasy
Number of episodes: 10
Year: 2020
Starring: Jonathan Majors, Jurnee Smollett, Aunjanue Ellis, Wunmi Mosaku, Abbey Lee, Jamie Chung, Jada Harris, Michael Kenneth Williams, Courtney B. Vance, Jordan Patrick Smith

Description: A young African-American (Jonathan Majors) travels across the U.S. in the 1950s in search of his missing father.

Review: First, let’s talk about H.P. Lovecraft, a very influential American horror author who in the 1920s and 1930s wrote classic stories and novels around a mythology he developed himself, in which an unfathomable and ancient evil lurks beneath the surface of life in New England. Lovecraft died in 1937, before his work became successful.  
In 2016, Matt Ruff wrote the novel “Lovecraft Country”, win which horror with an unmistakable Lovecraft touch is used in a story about a road trip through the segregated America of the fifties as a background. Here, two types of horror are captured in one worldview.
And now it’s a TV series on HBO. The screenplay is by Misha Green and is produced by big names like J.J. Abrams and Jordan Peele.
It’s a creative way of combing the horror theme of Lovecraft’s world with the terror that African Americans had to deal with in the 1950s. It’s brilliantly done. Nothing is what it seems and anything goes. It’s a surprising series, it’s bloody, exciting and it looks amazing. And the performances are also rock-solid. It’s not a series you can easily binge, it’s better to watch an episode at a time and take it in.
Even though I loved this series, I don’t think it needs another season.

Movie Review - Da 5 Bloods

Director: Spike Lee
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 154 minutes
Year: 2020
Starring: Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Mélanie Thierry, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Walter Hauser, Jasper Pääkkönen, Johnny Nguyen, Jean Reno

Description: Four African American war veterans battle the forces of man and nature when they return to Vietnam seeking the remains of their fallen squad leader and the gold fortune he helped them hide.

Review: Spike Lee goes in search of the African-American experience of the Vietnam War. The result is and extremely subversive film that turns the genre upside down. At the same time Lee manages to shed light on the underexposed history of many young black men who fought for America in several wars. “Da 5 Bloods” is a strong indictment of imperialism, capitalism and institutional racism in the United States. Which make this film extremely topical and it looks like Lee made this film only last week.
At the end of his previous film, “BlacKkKlansman”, Spike Lee drew and emotional parallel with the United States of the present with his bizarre historical narrative. In “Da 5 Bloods”, Lee does the opposite; the film is set in the present, but goes back to different figures and events from the complicated past of the U.S. in “Da 5 Bloods”, four African-American veterans return to Vietnam to collect the remains of Norman, their squad leader for the soldiers at the time. It soon turns out that the four men have yet another motive to visit the jungle of Vietnam. During the war they found a chest of gold bars, which they buried in the jungle. The prospects of the riches threatens to drive the group apart more and more.
“Da 5 Bloods” is a wild journey through the jungle. The aspect ratio changes several times during the film. Again and again this results in a different aesthetic experience. The ratio changes for the first time during a flashback shot with an old camera. The nice thing about these flashbacks is that the actors play their younger self, but they don’t use any rejuvenation effects. And it works very well. Archival footage is used several times as well, for recorded speeches of people like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Each time a historical figure is discussed, it is highlighted with a photograph.
Do not expect an epic “Apocalypse Now”-lie tale of the war. The film contains action scenes, but it focusses more on the characters and the story. The strength of the film lies in the depth the film seeks and the great acting. Especially Delroy Lindo is great, as the war traumatized and guild-ridden Paul. One of the highlights is seeing Paul trek through the jungle with a Trump cap on his head, while he increasingly loses himself in paranoia and delusions.
“Da 5 Bloods” is not an easy watch and a long sit. There are some moments that are hard to stomach. Specifically one archive photo of an infant, that will definitely stay with you for a while. Lee doesn’t hold back and show everything. And aside from “Da 5 Bloods” being a really good film, is had humor, fantastic cinematography and exciting scenes. And Lee wouldn’t be Lee if he didn’t use his political agenda, which also happens to be a strength of the film. “Da 5 Bloods” is therefor an important film that offers a different perspective on the Vietnam War. Or as Paul puts it: “we fought in an immoral war that was not ours, for rights we didn’t have”.

Rating: 4,5 / 5