Spider-Man Far From Home

Spider-Man: Far from Home is a fun road trip movie with raised stakes. Homecoming is still my preferred Spider-Man film (I mean, they got the Vulture right), but this is also pretty good.

Nick Fury does not seem to be his usual, in charge self. But all gets revealed. Partially due to being 5 years behind in intel. Partly.

The school trip aspect gets Peter to places attacked around the world while still keeping his classmates around. Who all just happened to be snapped away by Thanos, so they are still the same age.

For the plot, Elemental monsters appear and attack various spots around the globe. The Avengers do not appear to be around. Iron Man and Black Widow are dead. Thor is offworld. Cap is retired. Nick Fury turns to Spider-Man to help. We get introduced to a new hero, Mysterio. He claims the Elementals are monsters from his reality that destroyed his Earth and will do the same to the 616 Earth.

Spidey and Mysterio team up to fight the Elementals and save the Earth. Hopefully in time for Peter to confess his feelings to MJ.

Spoilers ahead.
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John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

John Wick Chapter 3 opens right after the events of John Wick Chapter 2. Chapter 3 further explores the consequences of John’s decisions in the world he left behind and reluctantly rejoined.

We see more of the resources of the High Table in play and that no one is safe from their attention. Everyone plays by their rules or by their leave.

As John works to see one who stands above the High Table, an Adjudicator for the High Table comes to New York to pass Judgement on everyone who has helped John. Bonus, we do get some of John’s origin as well.

John’s quest takes him to Casablanca where we get to see an amazing battle scene with people getting shredded in a coordinated attack by a person and a dog. Repeatedly.

While John is out of town, the Adjudicator’s people work through John’s former support system in New York.

It all comes to a head at the New York Continental and a massive battle against heavily armored troops. We are left open for john Wick 4 – confirmed for a 2021 release.

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, Mark Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Lance Reddick, Tobias Segal, Anjelica Huston, Saïd Taghmaoui, Jerome Flynn, Randall Duk Kim

Ant-Man and the Wasp

I loved Ant-Man and the Wasp. I think it is better than the original – especially villain-wise. Ghost turns out to be a somewhat sympathetic villain. I like sympathetic villains. Villains that have more depth than a cookie-cutter villain.

Like Ant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp brings some laughs and fun back into the MCU.

We see Scott Lang almost finished with his house arrest he has been under for 2 years since Cap: Civil War. (This movie does take place right before the end of Avengers 3.) He’s playing with his daughter, doing work with his friends from the first movie. They have built a security company named X-Cons. Then he gets a weird dream/vision of Janet van Dyne playing hide and seek with a young Hope. He gives them a call and it becomes a race to rescue Janet.

This is where Ghost comes in. She needs the tech the Pyms are using for the Quantum Realm for her own ends. We also have a shady tech/arms dealer in the mix as well.

You do need the mid credits sequence. But the after credits sequence has no narrative impact – and it is in the trailers.

Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña, Walton Goggins, Hannah John-Kamen, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Abby Ryder Fortson, Tip TI Harris, Randall Park, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Douglas, David Dastmalchian

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Incredibles 2

Incredibles 2



Worth the 14 year wait. It may have a lot of Comic tropes in it, but they were done exceedingly well.

The sequel focuses on Elastigirl in a similar manner as the first focused on Mr. Incredible. Of course, it takes the family coming together to solve the crisis at hand. :)

The movie starts out with the Underminer incident that began at the end of the first movie. The fallout from this causes the government program overseeing former Supers to be closed down. A pair of siblings come in to offer a way for Supers to be made legal again. The brother runs their fathers company while the sister invents tech for it. They sponsor Elastigirl with a new bike and suit (Edna was really not a fan) for her to fight crime to help get support for Supers back.

The scene where they tell Elastigirl, Mr. Incredible and Frozone why they chose her to be the inital face of the movement was perfect. The cost-analysis of all the property damage that occurred during a Mr. Incredible incident was the icing on the cake.

While Elastigirl is fighting crime, we see Mr. Incredible being the stay at home parent. Taking care of the baby. Helping with Math homework. “Helping” with relationship problems.

The Big Bad’s major plan to deal with Supers comes along and it takes all of the Incredibles, Frozone, and some new Supers to fight it.

Warning for the short preceding this movie, Bao. You will need tissues.

Starring: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Huck Milner, Catherine Keener, Eli Fucile, Bob Odenkirk, Samuel L. Jackson

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Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom



Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is an entertaining, emotional film.

Children in the theater were scared at some points. Adults and kids were tearing up at others (myself included). This movie was an excellent follow-up to Jurassic World and it leaves it open for sequels or side story movies as well.

After the events of Jurassic World, the island has been deserted and the dinosaurs left to live. But the volcano at the center of the island has recently become active and threatens to re-extinct the dinosaurs.

We see some congressional hearings on the rights of engineered animals. We see activist groups lobbying. Claire is actually running on such group. She gets a call form someone working for a Mr. Lockhart – a former partner of John Hammond.

They have a geographically isolated island ready to evacuate the dinosaurs to. They just need Claire’s help to get into the system at the park and Owen’s help to wrangle Blue.

Unfortunately, the operation is not as innocent as it seemed. Claire and Owen’s team get double-crossed and left on the island as the volcano pops its top. Turns out the dinosaurs are going to auction – not the Sanctuary island.

They just barely make it off the island and to the Lockhart estate in time to throw monkey wrenches in the auction.

There is a new engineered dino on the loose. Cloning ethics. Murder for money.

I’m not sure where the franchise goes from here, but I am looking forward to it. This was definitely the darker toned middle chapter of a trilogy – like Empire Strikes Back.

Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, James Cromwell, Toby Jones, Ted Levine, Isabella Sermon, BD Wong, Jeff Goldblum

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