Superhero films - 2018
| Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse | Aquaman | Ant-Man and the Wasp |
| Incredibles 2 | Deadpool 2 | Avengers: Infinity War |
| Black Panther |
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I had hesitation about even viewing this film. It sounded like pretty light stuff to me (multiple spider-people from the silly multiverse?). But after hearing lots of positive buzz, I had to see what all the fuss was about.
Our story: Underachiever, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), is bitten by a radioactive spider while graffiting a subway wall. Shortly after, Miles stumbles on a fight between his world's Spider-Man fighting the Kingpin's enforcers - a gigantic Green Goblin and the Prowler - in a particle accelerator. Spider-Man is injured in an explosion and killed by Kingpin, but not before giving a device to Miles to destroy the accelerator. The use of the accelerator creates dimensional holes which bring alternate versions of Spider-Man into Miles' universe. With their help, he is able to learn to use his new abilities and to thwart Kingpin's plans.
The good things: The story is entertaining, if a bit muddled. It was refreshing to see the different takes on the Spider-Man character. The idea that the Universe (any Universe) somehow requires a Spider-Man to resist the forces of evil, but that anyone can be Spider-Man is an attractive and inspiring idea. I loved Lily Tomlin as a feisty version of Aunt May.
Quibbles: All of the universe-spanning and the way Spider-Man trivia is crammed into this story is really something only die-hard Spider-Man nerds can truly appreciate. Some of the alternate Spider-People are downright silly (Spider-Ham? Come on.) Many have applauded the very stylistic art employed in the animation, but frankly, I thought it was so overdone that it often took me out of the action.
As mentioned before, this film will be best appreciated by serious Spider-Man fans and kids. The messages about heroism were nice sentimental touches and so were the nods to Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Spider-Man's creators who were both lost to us in 2018. It's worth seeing, but I think it's better suited to the small screen.
- JC
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It makes me a bit nervous to see another film in the same year where the public seems to love the notion of a heroic absolute ruler/king who claims his title through the ritual of physical combat to the death. What does this say about people?
Jason Momoa returns as Arthur Curry, the "Aquaman," as previously depicted in Justice League (2017). We are brought deeper into his life and origins, how his parents were a simple lighthouse keeper (Temuera Morrison) and Atlantean royalty (Nicole Kidman). How his life was, growing up feeling abandoned by his undersea heritage. He is approached by Mera (Amber Heard), an Atlantean warrior and princess, who tells him a war is coming to the surface world from the Atlanteans. Arthur agrees to help only to protect his surface world home. However, he finds he is not equal to the task and must undertake a quest to find the power to stop a war that will lay waste to the world.
Momoa is a likeable hero and is good in his action scenes. Heard is similarly impressive, both as a hero and as a romantic interest. The action scenes and the visuals of the undersea world are well depicted by director James Wan (Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring, Furious 7). Wan, coming from the world of horror and then successfully transitioning to high-octane action with the Fast and Furious franchise, now comes to superhero fantasy and again knocks it out of the park. He seems to be able to take on anything and deliver.
I have no serious quibbles about Aquaman, with the possible note that the story is probably best-suited to pre-teen boys. But, that being said, it does what it sets out to do. It presents an exciting quest-adventure story with enough stakes to keep its audience engaged but it doesn't allow itself to be overly dark, an issue DC's film universe has struggled with in the past.
For a good time at the movies, Aquaman is well worth your time.
- JC
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Mercifully lighter than Infinity War, but still with enough stakes to keep us interested. A fun time at the movies.
- Swift
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After a 14-year interval, the Incredibles return in Incredibles 2. Thanks to the wonders of animation, the Parr family hasn't aged a day, and as they spring back into action and in their familiar characters it's easy to forget just how long it's been. This may be the greatest acheivement of Incredibles 2 - we are back with these characters and in their world as if no time has passed at all.
The story: Immediately after the events of The Incredibles (2004), the family of supers has a very public altercation with "the Underminer" (John Ratzenberger) which leads to plenty of property destruction and their arrest for violating the prohibition against super-vigilantism. However, the family's re-emergence is noticed by the wealthy siblings, Winston and Evelyn Deavor (Bob Odenkirk and Catherine Keener), who have a plan to build a public relations campaign to bring supers back into acceptance. Specifically, they wish to use Helen/Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) as an ambassador for supers, largely choosing her because her record involved substantially less property damage than that of Bob/Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson). This sets the stage for a story that juxtaposes the Parr's roles from the first film. Now Helen is the one doing the bulk of the super-heroics, while Bob takes on the role of the stay-home parent with his lovesick, teen daughter Violet (Sarah Vowell), impulsive math-challenged son Dash (Huck Milner), and infant Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile), who has begun displaying an alarmingly diverse and destructive range of powers of his own. Predictably and entertainingly, action-adventure and hilarity ensue.
There have been some complaints that Incredibles 2's villain reveal was predictable, but I'm not inclined to be that picky. There were adequate twists and turns in the plot to still create some "aha" moments. The main focuses of the story are Helen taking the lead as the hero and Bob finding his legs as a Dad with an unusually challenging family, even though both charaters have moments where one can see they still feel attached to their previous roles. There have also been complaints that the "Mr. Mom" story is unoriginal, but putting the "super" spin on it keeps it fresh. Besides, anything the story might have lacked in inventiveness is made up for in execution.
It was also a nice touch that Violet's character is given a bit of an arc as her character is allowed to mature beyond her adolescent self-centeredness by the end of the story.
All in all, Incredibles 2 delivers on excitement and laughs and is good popcorn faire. Hopefully, we will get to see an Incredibles 3 in years to come.
-JC
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The coolest thing I learned from Deadpool 2: In a world of really dumb superpowers, "luck" is a pretty good one to have.
Ryan Reynolds returns as the inappropriately-irrevent, cherubic, nigh-indestructible, "merc-with-a-mouth," who favors sword dismemberment mixed with bullets to the head - Deadpool. In this followup to Deadpool (2016), Reynolds' take on Deadpool is, as before, somewhere between a generic hero type and Jim Carrey - reasonably believable superguy crossed with over-the-top goofball. It's entertaining enough in small doses, but I wouldn't want a steady diet of it. Coming less than a month after Avengers: Infinity War, it's both a relief and a little strange to laugh through a superhero movie.
Deadpool 2's story revolves around our "hero" dealing with a bad series of events and taking a shot at redemption by protecting a young mutant from Cable (Josh Brolin), a cyborg warrior from the future who has come to the here and now to eliminate a future threat before it can become one. Cable's no-nonsense grimness helps balance out Deadpool's goofiness and keeps the story on track.
Deadpool 2 is full of fourth-wall breaking jokes directly to the audience, poking fun at X-Men, Marvel, DC, James Bond, and all movies in general, in its trademark tongue-slicing-through-cheek way. (There is even a Brad Pitt cameo - catch it before he "vanishes.") This film wouldn't be a bad one for Deadpool to end on, but I'm sure the money will bring him back.
-JC
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Avengers: Infinity War finally gives us the confrontation that Marvel's films have teased us with since The Avengers in 2012 - the Avengers and their allies vs. Thanos, as he seeks to acquire the sum of the six Infinity Stones that will lead to giving him near omnipotence. Brothers Anthony and Joe Russo, co-directors of the second and third Captain America films (Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Captain America: Civil War (2016)), return to take on the prodigious task of telling this story, from a screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.
The Story: The action occurs almost immediately after the ending of Thor: Ragnarok (2017). Thanos' ship has taken the vessel with the last Asgardian refugees onboard, as part of his continuing quest for the Infinity Stones. Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his warriors are able to overpower all of the Asgardians as well as the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), killing several and leaving the rest for dead. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) survives and is found by the Guardians of the Galaxy, led by Starlord (Chris Pratt). The Hulk, returning to his Banner form, is teleported to Earth to warn of Thanos' arrival. He crash lands in the Sanctum of Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and calls Tony Stark / Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) to call in the Avengers. Peter Parker / Spiderman (Tom Holland) moves into action upon catching sight of an alien ship over New York City and assists Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and Wong (Benedict Wong) in keeping Thanos' warriors from obtaining the Time Stone in Strange's possession. When Strange is taken captive on the ship, Iron Man and Spiderman board the ship as it leaves Earth and Banner contacts Steve Rogers / Captain America (Chris Evans) for help. As the story progresses, the core trinity characters of the Avengers - Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, pursue different ways of stopping Thanos - Iron Man fighting him in space, Captain America fighting him on Earth, and Thor in search of a weapon strong enough to defeat him with.
Good points: I, as well as many others, had concerns about how badly a story with so many characters could become a jumbled mess. But to my pleasant surprise, the writers and directors did a very nice job of depicting these groups of characters acting credibly and with humanizing amounts of imperfection to the deadly threat they are suddenly faced with. It is worth noting that the Avengers and Doctor Strange had not been aware of Thanos prior to this (though the Avengers knew someone had backed Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in his attempted invasion of Earth in The Avengers). And while the Guardians were aware of Thanos, they were unprepared for his attack at this time. There are a number of very well choreographed action scenes through the film. In each confrontation, one is well aware of the stakes, and the players. Thanos and his warriors are a credible threat. Their pummeling of the Asgardians and their allies right from the start make it clear that everyone is clearly at risk of dying at their hands. Thanos himself, is particularly dangerous - strong, fast, and diabolically intelligent. The storytellers also go to the trouble of making him seem to think he is actually doing the right thing for the Universe by ridding it of its surplus population.
Quibbles: My biggest complaint about this film is a bit of a spoiler, so if you want to go in blind, stop reading.....
In 2014, the third and fourth Avengers films were announced and titled Infinity War Part I and Infinity War Part II. Then, in 2015, it was announced that though the films had shared elements they were not actually just parts of a single story. As of this writing (4/27/2018), there has still been no title announced for the second film, projected to open in May of 2019. Let me be very clear about this: Given the cliff-hanger ending of Avengers: Infinity War and the setup for the next film, these are not two separate films. This is a two-parter and anyone saying otherwise is either deluded or lacking in honesty. I had taken Marvel/Disney at their word, that the stories weren't that closely connected and there were several points at which the story could have been wrapped up. However, in my opinion, the assurances that this wasn't really a two-part story were for two reasons - (1) to create a true sense of shock at the way this film ends and (2) to make sure people don't put off going to what is simply a "part I" and wait for the "real" conclusion. Both the Harry Potter and Hunger Games franchises took some hits for cutting their last film in two and having the first half of said conclusion suffer from dreary and slow storytelling. I give Disney credit for good storytelling most of the time, but they have an even better instinct for making money. I think the marketing of this story was deliberately deceptive and primarily for their benefit.
The quality of this film is undeniable. The characterizations are spot on and the action scenes are riveting. I will definitely want to own this film on disc. However, I am disappointed with the deceptive way the story was marketed.
-JC
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Black Panther is the eighteenth film in Marvel Comics' cinematic universe (MCU). It centers on the character T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), introduced in Captain America: Civil War (2016), as he returns to his home of Wakanda to assume the throne after his father's death. This film has drawn enormous attention, partly due to its relationship to the Marvel film series, but even more so, due to the cultural aspects of the character. Black Panther is not the first cinematic black superhero - Blade(1998), Spawn (1997), Steel (1997), all preceded him - but he is the first with a specifically African heritage which is an integral part of his character.
The back-story: Centuries ago, an enormous meteorite containing vibranium was discovered by a group of warring African tribes. The metal's properties were miraculous, allowing for the development of technologies well in advance of most of those of the outside world. Among the metal's most well-known properties are its ability to absorb impacts and its mutagenic properties, which account for the "heart-shaped herb" which the members of the panther tribe used to enhance their abilities. [While the panther tribal legend attributes its power and wisdom to the panther god, Bastet, it may have been their proximity to the mutagenic vibranium, speeding their evolution. My theory.] Given the value of this resource, Wakanda might well have been in a position to have to defend it from the rest of the world or have become conquerors themselves. Instead, they chose to reap its benefits but stay hidden from the outside world.
The story: T'Challa is crowned the King of Wakanda after going through some rather barbaric tribal rituals, including challenge by combat. We are introduced to a splendid array of supporting characters: spy and ex-girlfriend, Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o); the head of the king's bodyguards, Okoye (Danai Burira, "Michonne" on The Walking Dead); border tribe leader and friend, W'Kabi (Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out); T'Challa's genius teen sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright, from Black Mirror's "Black Museum"); leader of the mountain tribe and rival, M'Baku (Winston Duke); T'Challa's mother, Ramonda (Angela Bassett); and advisor, Zuri (Forest Whitaker). Wakanda has enough factions and intrigue to remind one of Game of Thrones though on a somewhat smaller and less treacherous scale.
T'Challa's first mission as both king and Black Panther is to retrieve Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis), an old adversary, as well as a quantity of vibranium he plans to sell on the black market. This kicks off a struggle between T'Challa, Klaue, the CIA in the form of Everett Ross (Martin Freeman), and a terrorist with a bone to pick with Wakanda, "Killmonger" (Michael B. Jordan).
This is a movie worth seeing, but it doesn't bear the cultural weight of a true literary classic like Roots. Wakanda is one of the Marvel Universe's fantasy lands, no less so than Thor's Asgard or the Inhumans' Attilan. But African people are just as worthy of being advanced by alien influences as those of any other continent. It is interesting to see the writers' spins on how these advancements affected these people and how they chose to mix tribal traditions with tech that goes off the charts. It reminds one of what we may see in our own culture. We have become smart in so many ways while we choose to remain dumb in others.
As for sheer entertainment, there is much to love here. The action scenes are aplenty, in spite of what some other reviewers have griped about. In terms of characters, this film boasts nearly a who's who of black actors working today, and young director Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, Creed) seems to have brought out the best in all of them. Serkis and Freeman also stand out equally well, representing the worst and the best, respectively, of the outside world. Coogler and Joe Robert Cole's script present a story where Wakanda's loyal and those opposed to the path of its rule are all well-represented, with T'Challa, the good man who is now king, struggling to balance tradition, his father's choices, the needs of his people, and the needs of the world.
So, I can recommend Black Panther as good popcorn fare for its action and humor. But its moral and political issues also give viewers things to think about.
-JC
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