The Revenant (2015)

Storyline

While exploring the uncharted wilderness in 1823, legendary frontiersman Hugh Glass sustains injuries from a brutal bear attack. When his hunting team leaves him for dead, Glass must utilize his survival skills to find a way back home while avoiding natives on their own hunt. Grief-stricken and fueled by vengeance, Glass treks through the wintry terrain to track down John Fitzgerald, the former confidant who betrayed and abandoned him.

Review

The natural landscape and some of the scenes are overwhelming and spectacular! The camera-work is so immersive, you believe are a part of Hugh Glass' journey through the wilderness and back to civilization. Also with great performances not only by DiCaprio, but also Hardy, as the unsympathetic fellow fur trapper leaving Glass behind. 

Story-wise, it is a bit thin for a 156 min picture. Glass' quest for vengeance is sometimes lost as he utters few words about his drive and is being more or less, chased himself. The story arc of the Indians quest for their daughter felt a bit out of place and strange. We also get to see the fur trappers p.o.v. that left Glass behind and the Captain way ahead of them. Which in my opinion takes a little bit of the magic of Glass' total perilous journey.

All my stars goes to the beauty, production value and performances alone! Regardless, this is one of those overlong movies one like, but would not sit out for another viewing!

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The Big Short (2015)

 

Storyline

Three separate but parallel stories of the U.S mortgage housing crisis of 2005 are told. Michael Burry, an eccentric ex-physician turned one-eyed Scion Capital hedge fund manager, has traded traditional office attire for shorts, bare feet and a Supercuts haircut. He believes that the US housing market is built on a bubble that will burst within the next few years. Autonomy within the company allows Burry to do largely as he pleases, so Burry proceeds to bet against the housing market with the banks, who are more than happy to accept his proposal for something that has never happened in American history. The banks believe that Burry is a crackpot and therefore are confident in that they will win the deal. Jared Vennett with Deutschebank gets wind of what Burry is doing and, as an investor believes he too can cash in on Burry's beliefs. An errant telephone call to FrontPoint Partners gets this information into the hands of Mark Baum, an idealist who is fed up with the corruption in the ...

Review

Reviewed by Larry Gleeson. Viewed during the AFI Filmfest 2015.

"The Big Short," directed by Adam McKay, based on the book by Michael Lewis, was adapted by McKay and Charles Randolph and made its world premiere Thursday, November 12, 2015 at the historic TCL Grauman's Chinese Theater as the closing night film for the latest edition of the American Film Institute's AFI FEST film festival.

The film's narrative is driven by four cynical, fringe Wall Street entities disgusted with the large banking institutions' overriding greed for profits. They make the decision to capitalize on the ensuing housing market calamity and the financial meltdown of 2008 upon discovering the market frenzy is being driven by worthless collateral debt obligations.

McKay chooses to inject a significant dose of humor in the early scenes to condition the audience receptors for what they are about to experience. Utilizing the Martin Scorsese docudrama style in a similar setting with "Wolf of Wall Street," a strong narrative voice dominates particular moments. Several of these deliberately break the 'Fourth Wall" in the style of "Wolfie," Jordan Belfort, as the characters, including a hilarious cameo by Selena Gomez, speak directly into the camera to explain the complexities of Wall Street finance. The overall effect adds additional humor and adds another layer in creating a sense of authenticity and truth about the film's subject matter.

After a rather lengthy dizzying, yet delightful, character introduction, the film picks up pace as the drama begins to unfold. Dr. Michael Burry, an eccentric financial analyst, with complete autonomy of an investment fund, uncovers variables in his economic forecast indicating a massive housing market collapse. He informs his higher up, Lawrence Fields, played convincingly by Tracy Letts, of his discovery and creates a financial prospectus. In essence, he creates a commodity of selling short on bundled mortgages.

The bankers laugh as they willingly sell Burry all the "insurance" he wants. Word quickly spreads of Burry's perceived madness in a after-work cocktail scene. With interest piqued upon overhearing the Wall Street gossip of the day, Jarred Bennett, portrayed by Ryan Gosling, scoops up the essence of Burry's move. Soon, he sells a group led by Steve Carell's all-too-human, Mark Baum to buy in.

As the debacle is in full free-fall, Baum struggles with disbelief as he and his group have bet against their own umbrella entity, Morgan Stanley. The final team that has uncovered the impending financial crisis, made up of two Wall Street neophytes and veteran Ben Rickert, played by one of the film's producers, Brad Pitt, also struggles with the imploding financial system caused by corporate greed and indifference.

With a mammoth cast, McKay draws on a plethora of talent in the likes of Hollywood A-listers including Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, Selena Gomez, Christian Bale, Karen Gillan Steve Carell, Marisa Tomei, Melissa Leo and Finn Wittrock. McKay and Randolph create characters with witty dialogue coupled with complementary cinematography provided by Barry Ackroyd. The soundtrack carries a similar tone of "Wolf of Wall Street," with a compilation of classic rock anthems. Nicholas Britell widely recognized for his work on Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave," where Britell composed on set the on-screen violin performances, work songs, dances and spiritual songs rarely misses a beat this time out. Much like another AFI FEST 2015 film, "The Clan," Argentina's official entry to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Best Foreign Language Category for Oscar, "The Big Short," musical score is often in juxtaposition to the the narrative and mies-en-scene adding a deeper visceral quality to the viewing experience.

In its most basic essence, "The Big Short," builds on the visceral truth of Scorsese's "Wolf of Wall Street." It depicts a not-so-long-ago present where a noble ideal, making home ownership a reality for Americans, is bastardized by the indifferent market forces of capitalism. Probably not what Adam Smith had in mind when he penned his treatise, "The Wealth of Nations." Warmly Recommended.

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Concussion (2015)

Storyline

Will Smith stars in Concussion, a dramatic thriller based on the incredible true David vs. Goliath story of American immigrant Dr. Bennet Omalu, the brilliant forensic neuropathologist who made the first discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma, in a pro player and fought for the truth to be known. Omalu's emotional quest puts him at dangerous odds with one of the most powerful institutions in the world.

Review

Concussion is a biographical picture that takes place in the early 2000's. The movie starts out by showing these players who freak out and start getting dimentia. Will Smith is a pathologist who starts doing autopsies on these players and discovers that there is a common theme, being repeated head trauma to the brain. The NFL knew about what was going on, but didn't say anything. Will Smith tries to shine light on the situation but the NFL does what it can so that the story does not leak.

This movie was a movie I had been looking forward to for a long time because I thought it was very courageous for a movie to tackle this (pun intended) especially with the NFL playoffs right around the corner. This movie certainly makes a statement, but doesn't pack the punch I was hoping to see. Now this movie is not all bad. Will Smith delivers his best performance to date, which he is already being acknowledged for a golden globes (as he should be). He is phenomenal in his role and is committed. Smith does have an accent, but after a couple minutes, you forget that there even is an accent, and you truly believe he talks the way he does. As for the other performances, they were top notch as well.

Besides the performances "Concussion" is a let down. By the end you will find yourself wanting more. There is so much more you wanted to learn about the matter at hand, that the movie drifts away from. The movie ends up being more about Will Smiths character than the football itself, which is fine, but not the movie I thought I was going to see. But it did take away from the balance of the movie.

In the end, As a quarterback I wanted Concussion to go for the endzone, but it ends up doing more of a button hook.

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Synopsis

 The film opens with a footage of football player Mike Webster (David Morse), showing him in action during games, as well as the man speaking in a conference. In the present time, Mike is homeless and living in his car, suffering from dementia.

Nigerian pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu (Will Smith) is giving a testimony in court over a murder case. Based on his research, he determines that the blood on the defendant's hands was not that of the victim's because the defendant is a hemophiliac and could not risk something for possibility of injury or death.

Bennet works at the coroner's office where he has an odd habit of speaking to the deceased so that he can get an idea as to what it is that killed them. He is friends at work with Gracie (Sara Lindsey) but is antagonized by Danny (Mike O'Malley). Bennet also tends to throw away knives after being used once. He is called into the office of his boss, Dr. Cyril Wecht (Albert Brooks) over this. Bennet asks Cyril if he would like it if Bennet cut his mother open with the same knife he used on a serial killer. Cyril says yes, and that he would personally ask him to do so.

Bennet is asked to provide care for a young immigrant woman named Prema Mutiso (Gugu Mbatha-Raw). He takes her to his home and offers her some money, which she appears to find offensive. Bennet explains to her that it's okay to need money and that it doesn't make her weak, but in America, sometimes it is necessary to fake it in order to get ahead.

Webster visits Dr. Julian Bailes (Alec Baldwin) over his condition. He appears to be getting worse. Webster is visited at his car by fellow football player Justin Strzelczyk (Matthew Willig), who is also suffering from a similar condition. Webster complains that he doesn't want to go to sleep, so he is seeing tasing himself to stay awake. He is later found dead.

Mike Webster's death shocks the city. His body is brought in for Bennet to examine. He observes that Webster pulled out his teeth and superglued them back together. Bennet takes a look at Webster's brain and discovers severe head trauma that led to his mental deterioration. He brings this to Cyril's attention. Bennet furthers his research by studying football videos and noticing the amount of times someone like Webster took serious blows to the head.

Bennet and Prema spend the night out and quickly fall in love. Bennet later proposes to her and they are married, and later are expecting their first child.

Strzcelczyk is seen ready to attack his wife and children, claiming that the voices in his head are telling him to kill them. His wife screams at him to get out, and he drives away. He turns up dead, and another football player, Terry Long, is reported to have died from drinking antifreeze. Bennet examines them as well and concludes that the men suffered from CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy). He presents his research to Dr. Steven DeKosky (Eddie Marsan) and Dr. Ron Hamilton (Stephen Moyer), who reluctantly agree with him. After word of this gets out, it is believed that Bennet is trying to shame football, earning him a number of enemies. He is told to retract his statements, saying that he made it all up to harm the NFL's reputation. He does, however, receive support from Julian, who distances himself from the NFL's actions.

Dave Duerson (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) is approached by fellow player Andre Waters (Richard T. Jones). Waters is suffering from a mental condition as well and begs Duerson to help him, but Duerson leaves him and walks away. Waters is later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Bennet and Julian meet with Dr. Joseph Maroon (Arliss Howard) over the matter. He chastises Bennet and thinks he is trying to destroy football, although Bennet continuously urges him to tell the truth that could prevent other football players from suffering similar fates to the recently departed.

Roger Goodell (Luke Wilson) is made the new commissioner of the NFL. Bennet is called upon to speak at a summit for concussion. However, Julian later tells him that they don't want Bennet to speak, but rather for Julian to speak since he was the NFL's neurological consultant, leading the two men to conflict. Furthermore, the FBI shows up to Bennet's job to indict Cyril on multiple charges for supporting Bennet's work, while also coming for Bennet. Bennet decides he must resign and look for work in another state.

Prema is driving by herself when she feels that someone is following her. She makes a detour and loses the car, but she experiences a problem. She is taken to the hospital and joined by Bennet, where they are told that the doctors cannot find a heartbeat from the baby. After Bennet is forced to sell his home, he breaks down, feeling utterly defeated.

Three years later, Bennet and Prema are living in Lodi, California with their daughter. Bennet is called by Julian when Dave Duerson commits suicide and requested that his brain be examined.

Bennet speaks before a group of people on his research, while also simultaneously admiring the sport of football. Talks of CTE begin flowing through the country, sparking comparisons between tobacco companies and their denial of the links between their products and bad health. Bennet is redeemed, and he is offered a job in Washington DC. In the final scene, he later drives by a school during football practice and watches as two players run head-to-head into each other.

The final text states that Bennet Omalu turned down the Washington job and remained in California with Prema Mutiso and their two children. Multiple retired NFL players filed lawsuits against the NFL for concealing information on concussed football players. The NFL settled on the condition that it would not have to disclose that it knew, and when, on the effects of concussion on football players. It was later determined that 28% of football players have or will suffer from CTE. All charges against Cyril Wecht were dropped. In February 2015, Bennet Omalu officially became a US citizen.

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)

Storyline

30 years after the defeat of Darth Vader and the Empire, Rey, a scavenger from the planet Jakku, finds a BB-8 droid that knows the whereabouts of the long lost Luke Skywalker. Rey, as well as a rogue stormtrooper and two smugglers, are thrown into the middle of a battle between the Resistance and the daunting legions of the First Order.

Review

This is a prime example of a modern movie with stunning visuals but lame writing ...not a bad way to kill a few hours whilst stuffing your face with popcorn and playing with your phone but overhaul the story had to many stupid moments that you'd have to be utterly mindless to forgive.

There's also nothing new here and the dark side are making the same stupid mistakes they were making 30 years ago. It's almost like a remake or homage to the original films.

The two main good characters are awfully skilled in lightsaber fighting and/or using the force considering they didn't even have a clue twenty minutes earlier and had no training in either. The main bad guy despite having training from the dark side appears average against the two nobody's who suddenly have discovered their remarkable skill.

Eye candy not brain candy. It's mindless fun but too mindless...more brain dead...leaving the intelligent member's of the audience thinking, what?

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Synopsis

Luke Skywalker has vanished. In his absence, the sinister FIRST ORDER has risen from the ashes of the Empire and will not rest until Skywalker, the last Jedi, has been destroyed. With the support of the REPUBLIC, General Leia Organa leads a brave RESISTANCE. She is desperate to find her brother Luke and gain his help in restoring peace and justice to the galaxy. Leia has sent her most daring pilot on a secret mission to Jakku, where an old ally has discovered a clue to Lukes whereabouts.

The First Order, led by the evil Kylo Ren, is landing stormtroopers to attack a small village, as Poe Dameron meets with Lor San Tekka in a hut. He is given a small bag containing the map to Luke Skywalker. Kylo Ren orders the stormtroopers to destroy Lor San Tekka's entire village and takes Poe captive. Captain Phasma, a stormtrooper wearing chrome-plated armor, leads the attack. Kylo Ren wears a black mask and uses a red, fiery lightsaber. Poe's X-Wing is damaged so that he cannot escape, so the pilot puts the map in a rolling droid unit called BB-8. He fires at Kylo Ren, who uses the Force to block a blaster bolt. As Dameron is captured, the troopers massacre the prisoners, but one stormtrooper FN-2187, refuses to fire. Meanwhile BB-8 rolls away across the sands, narrowly escaping capture. The droid runs into Rey, a young scavenger who is barely surviving on Jakku. Rey scavenges parts from old wrecks of Star Destroyers on the sands of Jakku, and exchanges them for food at Unkar Plutt's scrap yard. The marks on the walls of her hut indicate she's been on Jakku for a very long time. She rescues BB-8 from a Teedo scavenger. She can understand his beeps and whistles, and offers him shelter for the night.

On the First Order destroyer, Poe is unsuccessfully interrogated by the First Order. Kylo Ren is called in to use his Force powers to extract information from Poe about the whereabouts of the map. Poe resists, but ultimately divulges that the map is still on Jakku in his BB-8 unit.

Meanwhile Captain Phasma confronts FN-2187 about his behavior on Jakku. She orders him to take his unused blaster in for inspection and report to her division and ultimately reconditioning. Instead FN-2187 decides to run away. He needs a pilot to escape the star destroyer, so he rescues Poe, and the two board a black First Order TIE fighter and escape. Poe renames FN-2187 as Finn, and expertly pilots to an escape while Finn fires the ship's blasters. The fighter is hit by lasers from the destroyer and crash lands on Jakku. Finn has ejected but it appears Poe has gone down with the ship leaving only his jacket.

Finn wanders across the desert discarding his stormtrooper armor. Eventually, he arrives in Niima Outpost, the town where Rey trades scrap for food. While Finn is looking for water in the town, he sees Rey being accosted by two of Unkar Plutt's henchmen who are trying to make off with BB-8. He begins to rush to her aid, but before he gets far, Rey handily fights off her attackers using her staff. Clearly, she can handle herself. BB-8 spots Finn looking their way, and tells Rey that he is wearing Poe's jacket which they assume is stolen. Rey chases Finn down, knocks him to the ground and confronts Finn about the jacket. Finn tells them that Poe was captured by the First Order and that he helped him escape, but Poe was unfortunately killed. BB-8 is saddened and rolls off , but Rey is excited and impressed, and assumes Finn is a resistance fighter. Finn lies, telling her he is indeed with the resistance. Rey excitedly tells Finn that BB-8 is on a secret mission. Finn tells her BB-8 is carrying a map to Luke Skywalker and Rey is even more impressed, declaring that she thought Skywalker was a myth.

BB-8 returns and alerts Finn and Rey that they are in trouble. First Order stormtroopers are now looking for Finn and the BB-8 droid. Stormtroopers chase Finn, Rey and BB-8 through Niima Outpost and TIE fighters are called in and begin to bomb and strafe the town. To make their escape, they steal a "garbage" vehicle to escape the First Order. It is the Millennium Falcon. Rey takes the pilot's seat while Finn mans the guns. Neither is confident in their abilities, and their lift off is rough, destroying a substantial portion of the town as they try to get off of the ground. Finn is able to shoot down a pursuing fighter, but the guns are hit and locked in a position that prevents him from taking out the remaining fighter. Rey flies through the wrecked ships in the desert of Jakku, occasionally scraping through the sands as they try to keep low to confuse the TIE fighter's tracking. Rey takes the Falcon into one of the Star Destroyers and just as the pursuing fighter locks onto their ship, she turns the Falcon out into the open, and performs a flip which allows Finn to fire successfully at the remaining fighter, taking it down. They head off, away from Jakku, and on toward the wider galaxy. Not having flown in years, the Falcon is not in good repair, and almost immediately requires an emergency patch. Rey begins repairing the ship while Finn admits to BB-8 he is not part of the resistance, but is still able to convince BB-8 to tell them where the Resistance base is.

The Falcon is then captured and pulled into a larger ship. Finn is afraid they have been recaptured by the First Order. As the Falcon is boarded, he and Rey hide in a secret compartment, but the boarding party is actually Han Solo and Chewbacca.

Rey knows the history of the ship, and how to repair and fly it. Han is impressed, but the ship is then boarded by two more smuggler parties. Han is trying his hand at smuggling again, this time by carrying some menacing Rathtars. Han tries to talk his way out of his debts with the two smuggling groups while Rey and Finn escape. Rey tries to close blast doors to save Han, but instead opens the doors to the Rathtar containers. The Rathtars attack and eat the smugglers and almost get Finn, but Rey saves him by closing a door on the creature's tentacles, severing them. The heros escape in the Millennium Falcon and leave their attackers behind. The new-found allies travel to the green planet of Takodana to seek help from Maz Kanata, an orange skinned alien. There they are spotted in the cantina by both First Order and Resistance spies. Kylo Ren sends forces to re-capture the map. Finn, still fearful of being recaptured by the First Order, admits that he is not part of the Resistance and decides to run by joining a crew heading for the outer rim.

Meanwhile Rey is drawn to the lower floor of the cantina by the sound of a girl crying and opens a box to discover Luke Skywalkers lightsaber lost at Cloud City. When she touches the lightsaber she experiences a frightening vision. The dream has the voices of old Jedi like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. It flashes by quickly. She sees the hallways of Cloud City, a vision of Skywalker and R2-D2, a vision of Kylo Ren surrounded by bodies, thrusting his saber through the chest of a mysterious figure, a vision of herself being abandoned as a child on Jakku and finally she sees Ren pursing her in a snowy forest.

On Starkiller Base, a snowy, mountainous planet, General Hux addresses legions of First Order stormtroopers. He angrily declares the death of the Republic. The planet has a massive trench around the equator, and a continent-sized aperture. The base fires a massive red beam from the center of the planet, traveling across space, and splitting into four separate beams which destroy individual planets. We see crowds of people on populated planets look up into the sky to witness the conflagration as their planet is destroyed.

Rey is frightened by her vision and refuses Luke's lightsaber, running out into the forest of Takodana. Finn and the others look to the sky as the red beams can be seen destroying the other Republic planets. The First Order begin landing troops, including Kylo Ren's V-winged ship. Maz gives the lightsaber to Finn. As the stormtroopers attack Finn uses the lightsaber to fight back, but is knocked down by another stormtrooper (unnamed, but popularly referred to as TR-8R). The stormtroopers capture Han, Chewbacca and Finn.

Rey tries to use the blaster given to her by Han Solo, but inexperienced and frightened she fumbles with the safety and fires wild shots giving away her position. Overwhelmed she runs deeper into the forest. BB-8 follows, and she tells him to go further on while she tries to fight off their pursuers. Kylo Ren tracks down Rey in the woods. He chases her through the forest easily fending off her desperate attempts to fire on him with the blaster. She backs away, but he stops her, using the Force to hold her still. Ren uses the Force to read her mind and discovers that she has seen the map to Luke Skywalker's location. He decides he no longer needs BB-8, so he knocks her out and carries her off in his ship, as Finn watches.

The Resistance X-wing fighters arrive, finishing off the last troops. A troop ship lands carrying General Leia Organa and C-3P0. Han and Leia are reunited, but their relations are tense. It is revealed that Kylo Ren is actually their son. The heroes return to the Resistance Base, where Finn is reunited with Poe Dameron, who was not killed by the crash on Jakku. BB-8 is reunited with R2-D2 and C-3P0, but R2-D2 has been in shut down since Luke left many years before.

The Resistance fighters begin to plan an attack on the Starkiller Base to avoid being wiped out. Finn wants to rescue Rey, and claims he once worked at Starkiller Base and knows how to knock out the shields. Han and Leia say their goodbyes as the X-wings led by Poe Dameron prepare to attack a weak point on the base. As they part Leia asks Han to bring their son home if he sees him.

On Starkiller Base, Rey wakes to find her self locked in an interrogation chair like the one we have seen earlier in Poe's interrogation scene. Kylo Ren and she converse, and he removes his mask, revealing his face to her; he is a young and handsome man. Ren uses the Force to read Rey's mind. He senses her lonely life on Jakku, her dreams of a far away island and the closeness she feels towards Han Solo. She reacts with hostility but seems unable to keep him from reading her thoughts.

When he tries to extract the information about the map from her mind, however, he runs up against an unexpected barrier. Rey is not only able to resist his further probing, but pushes back into Ren's mind, and tells him that he is afraid that he will never be as strong as Darth Vader. Ren is shaken by this and by her obvious strength with the Force, and he runs away to meet with Snoke in search of guidance on how to proceed.

Kylo Ren and General Hux are scolded for not retrieving the droid, and Ren's inability to crack Rey's mind, by the Supreme Leader, who is only revealed as a massive hologram of an old and scarred man seated on a throne towering over them.

Rey now understands that she has some Force talent, and uses the mind-trick power to escape from the stormtrooper guarding her cell. She sneaks through the Starkiller Base to the hanger to escape. Meanwhile, Han and Chewie come out of hyperspace on the planet in order to evade the shields, and crash land in the snowy forest. Finn reveals he does not know how to disable the shields; he only came back to rescue Rey. They capture Captain Phasma and force her to lower the shields.

Finn, Han and Chewbacca head off to find Rey, but quickly discover that she has freed herself when they spot her scaling a wall of the base. They rush to meet her. She is surprised that they would come back for her, and embraces Finn when she learns from Chewbacca that it was Finn's idea that they come to the base to save her.

Poe and the X-Wing fighters arrive and begin to land torpedos on the weak point, but it is not enough. Han and Chewbacca improvise a plan to plant explosives to blow it up instead. They split up to lay explosives in separate locations. Kylo Ren finds that Rey has escaped and is very angry. He searches the base for Rey. He stalks off onto a catwalk where Han spots him. Han approaches him on the catwalk, calling him Ben. He asks his son to return with him, and Ren offers his lightsaber, but then activates it and kills his father, pushing him off into the pit. Chewbacca, having watched the entire conversation, fires on Ren, hitting him in the side, and then detonates the explosives.

Kylo Ren confronts Finn and Rey in the snowy forest. Ren is bleeding from his wound, but ignites his red fiery saber to fight. Rey raises her blaster to fire on Ren, but he throws her against a tree with a Force push and she lies unconscious in the snow. Finn rushes to her aid and then uses the blue lightsaber to fight Ren. Finn quickly finds himself outmatched. He manages to touch Ren with the saber, but this only enrages him.

Rey is revived by the sound of Finn's screams as he is burned by Ren's saber. Ren easily disarms Finn, tossing the saber off into the snow. He then uses the Force to pull the lightsaber to himself. It hurtles towards him but then flies past. Ren turns to discover the saber in Rey's hands. They begin to fight. Rey initially fights unsuccessfully and desperately, and begins to run from Ren. He pursues her and pins her against the edge of a cliff. Ren offers to teach her the Force, but this only ends up reminding her to tap into its power. She closes her eyes for a moment of meditation and then attacks Ren with a new vigor and power. She rapidly gains the upper hand, extinguishes Ren's saber and cuts him on the arm and across the face.

Meanwhile Poe Dameron and the X-Wing pilots fly into the Star Killer base trench, destroying the rest of the base. The planet begins to collapse and explode. A chasm opens between Ren and Rey as the planet continues to fall apart. Chewbacca arrives in the Millennium Falcon to pick up both Finn and Rey. The Falcon and X-Wings escape as the Starkiller Base explodes. Back at the Resistance base, Leia and Rey embrace in sadness, standing apart from the celebration of the rest of the Resistance base.

Back at the Resistance Base, R2-D2 awakens and reveals the missing part of the map to Lukes location. Finn is still unconscious, and Rey tells him goodbye while he rests. Rey and Chewbacca leave in the Falcon, Rey taking the pilot's seat. They fly to the planet indicated by the map, where Rey carefully climbs a rocky island. When she reaches the top, she finds an old cloaked and bearded Jedi with a metal hand. It is Luke Skywalker. Rey wordlessly offers him the lightsaber.  

Spectre 007 (2015)

Storyline

A cryptic message from the past sends James Bond on a rogue mission to Mexico City and eventually Rome, where he meets Lucia, the beautiful and forbidden widow of an infamous criminal. Bond infiltrates a secret meeting and uncovers the existence of the sinister organisation known as SPECTRE. Meanwhile back in London, Max Denbigh, the new head of the Centre of National Security, questions Bond's actions and challenges the relevance of MI6 led by M. Bond covertly enlists Moneypenny and Q to help him seek out Madeleine Swann, the daughter of his old nemesis Mr White, who may hold the clue to untangling the web of SPECTRE. As the daughter of the assassin, she understands Bond in a way most others cannot. As Bond ventures towards the heart of SPECTRE, he learns a chilling connection between himself and the enemy he seeks.

Review

I went into this movie blank.I had never seen any trailer, or read any of the reviews about it. But I was bored throughout the entire movie.I felt i was watching one of those 60-70's bond with the dated lines and the tiresome old clichés.And they are endless. As someone else in her put it,you feel like you're watching Austin powers instead. I mean you understand from the very beginning that his new boss is working for the enemy. And when the bad guys always find him wherever he goes,you sort'a know right away it's the tracker MI6 put in his body,that helps the bad guys. I felt I was watching a kid movie,with a plot written by a dilatant. Go watch true lies instead,much better movie,with better action. After watching this I get why Craig is tired of bond,cause this script is really bad.

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Bridge of Spies (2015)

Storyline

In the cold war, a lawyer, James B. Donovan is recruited by the CIA and involved in an intense negotiation mission to release and exchange a CIA U-2 spy-plane pilot, Francis G. Powers. The pilot was arrested alive after his plane was shot down by the Soviet Union during a mission and stays in the company of a KGB intelligence officer, Rudolf Abel, who was arrested for espionage in the US.

Review

Bridge Of Spies is a historical drama film starring Tom Hanks, co-written by the Coen brothers, and directed by Steven Spielberg. Even though its subject matter of the Cold War is something I know very little about, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I am now more interested than ever to learn more about it. I rank it among the best of Spielberg's most recent movies.

In 1957, tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War are at their peak. Spies from both the American CIA and Soviet KGB are a major threat to the security of both world powers and each side often resorts to hasty measures to stop any classified information from being leaked. In Brooklyn, New York, Rudolf Abel is arrested under the suspicion of being a spy. James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks) is assigned as Abel's defence lawyer. However the idea of defending a potential Soviet spy proves to be an unpopular and difficult task for Donovan. Meanwhile, over in the Soviet Union, an American spy plane pilot Francis Gary Powers is shot down and captured by the KGB. As a means to ease tension between the two warring countries, Donovan proposes a swap between the two prisoners of war, Abel for Powers.

Despite containing barely any action scenes and being almost entirely made up of talking, the film never feels boring or slow paced. This is most likely due to the Coen brothers' clever screenplay and Steven Spielberg's creative direction. There were many suspenseful moments where it felt like the prisoner negotiations would go horribly wrong and that kept me on the edge of my seat. Tom Hanks also gives another memorable performance as James B. Donovan, once again proving his versatility as an actor.

I rate it 8.5/10.

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The Martian (2015)

Storyline

During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring "the Martian" home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible, rescue mission. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney's safe return.

Review

During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring "the Martian" home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible, rescue mission. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney's safe return.

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Sicario (2015)

Storyline

When drug violence worsens on the USA Mexico border, the FBI sends an idealistic agent, Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) on a mission to eradicate a drug cartel responsible for a bomb that had killed members of her team.

Review

"Sicario" describes, with surgical precision, the fatal and bloody desecration of Mexico as a result of its decades long cartel war. And it does so by compressing this almost endless tragedy into a two-hour tour-de-force of filmmaking.

At its center we find idealistic FBI-Agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt), who is recruited to pursue a Mexican drug-baron. She is being guided by a seemingly untouchable covert assassin named Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro). Their investigation and methods are pushed further into unknown territory where justice and morality are no longer valid. The end not only justifies the means, it requires them.

Denis Villeneuve's masterful piece exemplifies not only filmmaking of the highest order, but carves out a place alongside the terrible news reports as a deeply regretful, angry and at times almost unbearable look into the abyss of a socio-political nightmare that is fueled by first world-habit and global economics.

Through the powerful performances by Blunt, Del Toro and Josh Brolin in the leads as well as the excellent supporting cast, do we get a sense of the human cost (physical and psychological), which the war on drugs has caused.

From an exploding prison population, to the destruction of Mexican agriculture, to refugees and a cycle of violence that is beyond barbarity; the pull that "Sicario" exerts over the viewer is undeniable and by skirting the limits of bearable tension, without ever becoming exploitive, it is never giving an inch concerning its subject matter.

Few movies this year will have such a clear and defined structure and unflinching approach towards a situation that appears to be beyond salvation, while showing at the same time that life nevertheless continues.

Taylor Sheridan's script doesn't miss a single beat and without sidestepping anything frees itself from beaten movie conventions by using them in an extremely skillful manner.

All these themes, stories and characters are captured through the lens of veteran Roger Deakins (Skyfall, No Country for Old Men) who lets us always know how the micro- and macro-particles of any conflict are inextricably intertwined. We share the vistas of beautiful sceneries while having to witness their downfall.

Whatever ideals the likes of Emiliano Zapata once had, their country has now, as it is described in the movie, become „the land of wolves".

Fifteen years ago Steven Soderbergh's „Traffic" which earned numerous Oscars, not the least of which went to Benicio Del Toro, made a clear statement about the various strands the drug trafficking business touches. Now, all those years later we see in „Sicario" that even the faintest of hopes that „Traffic" held onto have been eviscerated.

What now? One might ask.

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Synopsis

In the opening shot, there is a text that explains that the origin of the word "sicario" comes from the Roman zealots that occupied Palestine. In Mexico, the word means "hitman".

Chandler, Arizona.

A SWAT team moves in toward a house where they suspect there to be hostages held by Mexican cartel leader Manuel Diaz (Bernardo P. Sacarino). Kate Macer (Emily Blunt), an American FBI agent, and her partner Reggie Wayne (Daniel Kaluyya) move in with their rescue team and burst in through the house with the van. They capture a few suspects, while Kate kills a man that tried to shoot her. The team then finds dozens of bodies stuffed into the walls with bags over their heads. Most of the team goes outside to puke. Kate's superior Dave Jennings (Victor Garber) calls her inside. Outside, several officers notice something from a nearby shed. A bomb goes off, killing two officers.

At the station, Kate is brought in to meet Matt Graver (Josh Brolin). He is brought in to help catch Diaz, along with a mysterious Mexican federal agent who introduces himself as Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro). Kate is asked to join the team, which she only agrees to so she can catch the men responsible for the deaths she witnessed that day.

Elsewhere in Mexico, a man named Silvio (Maximiliano Hernandez) is in his kitchen. His son tells him that he has a soccer match later that day. Silvio goes through his daily routine before heading off to work. He is wearing a police uniform as he walks to his car.

Kate initially believes the team is going to El Paso, but they end up going just across the border to Juarez, Mexico. Once there, the team rolls with a whole squad of agents and Delta Force soldiers in black SUVS led by Steve Forsing (Jeffrey Donovan) through the city. They recover a prisoner from a jail and return to the border. Alejandro tells Kate to watch out for Mexican State Police. They drive up to a crowded parkway and come to a halt short of Customs. Alejandro spots two cars with gang members and he notices they have itchy trigger fingers. The cops slowly move out of their vehicles and approach the gang members. One of them gets out of their car slowly as well, gun in hand. The officers tell him to lower his weapon, but he reacts quickly, getting himself and his buddies shot to hell. The other gang members suffer the same fate when one of them tries to draw his weapon on the cops. Kate also shoots a bandit sneaking up on her vehicle.

On the U.S. Side, Kate argues with Matt on the actions taken on the parkway, as well as the whole way that they are leading this mission. The stress has even caused her to take up smoking again.

Matt watches as Alejandro tortures the prisoner, a local gang leader.

The team drives to El Paso to question buses filled with immigrants. Alejandro wants the ones caught near Nogales. They question the men to determine where a secret tunnel to cross the border can be found.

Next, the team is surveilling a bank where they believe they will find a woman depositing money tied to the Mexican drug cartels. They arrest the woman and in their search, the team finds bags of money to be laundered and wrapped in blue-pink wristbands. The bank manager shows the Feds that the cartels are just repaying loans, which are not tracked.

Some of the team goes out for drinks later that night. Reggie introduces Kate to an acquaintance, Ted (Jon Bernthal), a local cop off duty. After a few drinks, Kate goes back to her apartment to hook up, until she notices he took out from his pocket a wristband similar to what they found earlier. Kate tries to get away, but a struggle ensues as she tries to reach for her gun. Ted starts to strangle Kate until Alejandro walks in and points his gun in Ted's face, making him release his grip on Kate.

Ted is taken into custody. Alejandro enters the car with him and beats his face until Ted tells him what he can say regarding his business with Diaz, and reveal other corrupt cops.

Matt decides to attack a tunnel and make the drug cartel react. They gear up and head towards the tunnel location. Matt tells Kate to stay out of the way as she is only there because the CIA can only work in the U.S. as being attached to a domestic agency.

The team succeeds in taking away a substantial amount of money from Diaz's account, forcing him to make his return to Mexico. Following that, the team attacks a tunnel at night and Alejandro and the Delta team lead a running gun battle, Kate and Reggie follow nervously. On the Mexican side Kate sees Alejandro find Silvio and hold him at gunpoint. Kate aims her gun at Alejandro, but he shoots her in her vest and tells her to never do that again. He takes Silvio and makes him drive away in his police car.

A while later back on the American side Kate punches Matt but he calms her down. She learns that Alejandro is not a Mexican federal agent, but an assassin originally from the Colombian Cartel being hired by the CIA to catch Diaz's boss, Fausto Alarcon (Julio Cedillo), the local head of the Mexican Cartel. The Mexicans had decapitated Alejandro's wife and threw their daughter into a vat of acid. The CIA thinks they can control drugs better if the Colombians are in charge.

Alejandro forces Silvio to drive until they see Diaz's car. Alejandro makes Silvio pull Diaz over and force him to step out of the car. Silvio walks out to confront Diaz, only for Alejandro to shoot and kill Silvio and shoot Diaz in the leg. He forces Diaz to drive to his boss's house, Alarcon.

Alejandro arrives at Fausto's home and kills all of his guards. He walks outside to find Fausto having dinner with his wife and two sons. He aims his gun at Fausto and tells the wife and boys to continue eating and to stay calm. Fausto tells Alejandro that his wife wouldn't like what he's become, a lawyer-turned-hitman. Alejandro brings up his daughter. Fausto says it was nothing personal, but it was to Alejandro. He says in Spanish, "Time to meet God". He shoots the wife, then the two boys dead, to Fausto's horror. Alejandro tells him to finish his meal, moments before he shoots Fausto dead.

Kate finds Alejandro in her apartment. He hands her a document for her to sign to confirm that everything they did was by-the-book. Kate refuses to sign it. Alejandro holds a gun under her chin, stating she'll be committing suicide if she doesn't sign. He wipes tears away from her cheeks while never removing the gun. Kate reluctantly signs. Alejandro leaves and tells her to go to a smaller town where the rules of law still apply. Kate grabs her gun and aims it at him from her window. He turns around and waits for her to pull the trigger, but she just slowly lowers it and lets him walk away.

In the final scene back in Mexico, Silvio's son stands over his father's empty bedside, almost as if he knows his father won't be coming home. His mother takes him to his soccer match. During the game, everybody hears gunshots in the distance. They quickly carry on with the game.  

Everest (2015)

Storyline

On the morning of May 10, 1996, climbers from two commercial expeditions start their final ascent toward the summit of Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. With little warning, a violent storm strikes the mountain, engulfing the adventurers in one of the fiercest blizzards ever encountered by man. Challenged by the harshest conditions imaginable, the teams must endure blistering winds and freezing temperatures in an epic battle to survive against nearly impossible odds.

Reviews

This is the true story of two different expeditions in 1996 who attempt to scale Everest but encounter massive storms on the descent down the mountain. Everest is a stunning looking film that you come away from , feeling totally exhausted. Because it is so realistic you do feel you are with the climbers at times. Sure , it's a stock disaster movie but because of the nature of the true story behind it , you feel more connected. The special affects are amazing and the performances from Jason Clarke and Keira Knightley are great too. I watched this in 3D but ended up taking the glasses off because it was so annoyingly dark so i recommend watching it in 2D instead. It's a staggering statistic that 1 in 4 people who attempt to get get to the summit of Everest , dies. Why do people do it? that question is asked in this film but apart from the stock answer of " Because it's there" it is never really answered . Perhaps there isn't one?

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Black Mass (2015)

Storyline

Based on a true story of James "Whitey" Bulger, an Irish Mob godfather and FBI informant who had a "secret trading" deal with his brother, William "Billy" Bulger, a state senator and a Boston public figure, and John Connolly, an FBI agent. They planned to take down the Italian mob and mafia in Boston, which went awry and things turned massively violent. When the credence for each other began fading out, drug dealing, murders, and extortion started to rise, and forced the FBI's Boston office to confirm that Whitey Bulger was one of the most notorious criminals in US history and also one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List criminals.

Review

If you like slow, plodding movies full of unlikeable characters, by all means gear up for this sleep inducing film. Goodfellas is an action movie compared to Black Mass.

There are a few good qualities here: top shelf production, excellent acting, a clear, concise story of characters making poor choices - leading to predictable consequences.

But who cares? There's no entertainment here! None of these characters are worth giving a damn about, and the few sporadic scenes that offer any true value sit like islands on a still horizonless sea.

But I learned something... Really? This might be the number one reason to sit through this boring expanse, and the info is not worth it. The scumbags are scumbags, the protagonist is a weak, shallow excuse for a law enforcer, and the other surrounding characters are bland at best (including Benedict, who for all his talent, brings nothing of note to an already white bread affair). Speaking of white bread - No culture what-so-ever, and often these fat, out of shape gangsters look absurd in their early 80's sunglasses and attire. There will be no awards given for costuming or make-up here. True Depp is transformed with prosthetics, but as a friend and I joked - his character is far exceeded by the likes of Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder.

If you've seen the trailer, you've been robbed of one of the films three or four memorable moments. Interestingly, all of these good scenes are just spice to the meat of the film. This is not a good thing! When the main arc is dull, the violence (while realistic) lacks stylistic punctuation, and the constant voice overs are delivered with apathy... one wonders what the hell the director was thinking!

Waste of time, even for fans of actors involved.

my score? a disappointingly average 5 out of 10.

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Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)

Storyline

CIA chief Hunley (Baldwin) convinces a Senate committee to disband the IMF (Impossible Mission Force), of which Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is a key member. Hunley argues that the IMF is too reckless. Now on his own, Hunt goes after a shadowy and deadly rogue organization called the Syndicate.

Review

I saw this film on an IMAX screen and I'm glad I did. Although IMAX cameras were not used in the filming, I think the larger screen creates a more immersive experience and the sound was spectacular. But this film would be great in any format.

"Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation" is one of the best action films I have ever seen. The story is clever and action packed. The photography is amazing and the music is fantastic.

Much has been made of the stunt work, especially that done by Tom Cruise himself. It did not disappoint. And the action and chase sequences are as exciting as any I have seen.

We can thank the writing for the well-defined and engaging characters. Some Bond films have villains that are rather cartoonish, but in MI:RN the danger feels real, helping to drive the suspense.

The female lead, Rebecca Ferguson, deserves special mention. Her portrayal of Ilsa Faust is a wonderful blend of intelligence, beauty and strength and definitely one of the best in any action film. I can only hope she shows up in the next installment. some of the credit goes to the writers who created the character.

In all, this film offers everything you want in an action film and deserves a "10" for its place in the genre.

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Synopsis

Impossible Missions Force Agent William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) is directing two members of his team, Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), in an attempt to retrieve a package from a cargo plane that's about to take off in Minsk, Belarus. Luther is connecting Benji to the plane's electronics by hacking a Russian satellite, which is likely to get them into trouble -- and Brandt reminds them that they're already under investigation for misconduct. As the plane rolls onto the runway, Benji finds that most of the plane's systems are secured -- he can't shut down the fuel pump, the electrical system, or the hydraulics. Just then the missing member of the team, IMF Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), sprints over a hill by the runway and leaps onto the plane, demanding that Benji open the plane's door. By the time Benji gets the right door open the plane is up and away, but Ethan escapes with the package -- many canisters of toxic nerve gas, conveniently prepared for a parachute drop.

The nerve gas was being sold to a terrorist group, but none of the people who sent it from Belarus had the means to obtain it. Ethan is convinced this trail will lead him to the Syndicate, an international criminal consortium whose very existence has been in doubt. Reporting to an IMF substation that's disguised as a London record shop to receive his next orders, Ethan is captured by the Syndicate and watches in horror as a Syndicate agent kills his contact. He wakes up in a torture chamber, where he observes some discord -- Syndicate operative and disavowed MI6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who's preparing to interrogate Ethan with drugs, is forced to step aside by her colleague Janik Vinter (Jens Hultén). He's called the Bonedoctor and has a case full of scary instruments to prove his right to the nickname. Ethan escapes with help from Ilsa, but she refuses to go with him.

Meanwhile, Brant appears with CIA director Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) before a Senate oversight committee. Brandt must respond to every question by refusing to confirm or deny anything without permission from the secretary (of defense, presumably) ... which he cannot get because there is, at the moment, no secretary in office. This allows Hunley to have his way with the committee. At his request the IMF is disbanded and absorbed into the CIA, guaranteeing that Ethan -- who Hunley thinks has gone rogue -- will be captured within the day.

Six months later, Ethan is still on the run. Unable to find the Syndicate without help, he enlists his former colleague Benji, who's happy to take a break from the CIA -- Hunley is sure Benji knows how to find Ethan and subjects him to weekly polygraphs (which Benji beats handily). Ethan arranges for Benji to attend Turandot in Vienna to search for Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), who Ethan suspects is the leader of the Syndicate. Although Ethan and Benji thwart three snipers at the opera (one of whom is Ilsa), the Austrian chancellor (Rupert Wickham) is killed by a car bomb. Ethan reveals to Benji that the Syndicate has been assassinating minor world leaders for some time; the murder of the chancellor of Austria is an escalation and a signal that the Syndicate is stepping out of the shadows.

Brandt recruits Luther to help find Ethan and prevent Hunley's team from killing him. Using a likeness of Ilsa left by Ethan, Brandt and Luther are able to track Ethan, Benji, and Faust to Morocco, where they're infiltrating a secure server underneath a power station. Their target is a well-protected ledger containing the names of all Syndicate agents and information on where the Syndicate keeps its money. The three of them execute an elaborate scheme in which Ethan is nearly drowned. As soon as he starts breathing again, Ilsa whacks Benji and takes the drive holding the ledger. During the ensuing chase, Brandt and Luther catch up with Ethan and Benji, while Ilsa joins a team of Syndicate motorcycle goons just long enough to get a bike of her own. Ilsa manages to escape, but Benji reveals he had already made a copy of the data.

Ilsa returns to London and attempts to pass the drive containing the Syndicate ledger to her handler, MI6 Director Attlee (Simon McBurney), who compels Ilsa to return to the Syndicate and finish her mission. She returns to Lane, only to find that Attlee has wiped the drive, which in fact contained an encrypted "red box." A red box is a data safe programmed by the British government; unlocking it requires the prime minister's biometrics. The former IMF agents confront Ilsa, but when Lane's men abduct Benji, Ethan and company are told they must deliver a decrypted copy of the drive to Lane.

Brandt contacts Hunley and reveals their location. At a charity auction, the two try and prevent Ethan from attacking the prime minister, whom they and Attlee take to a secure room. Ethan, having posed as Attlee, reveals himself and has the prime minister confirm the existence of the Syndicate, a classified project to perform missions without oversight (though the prime minister insists that he cancelled the project while it was still in the planning stages). When the real Attlee arrives, Ethan subdues him and he admits that he had been covering up the existence of the Syndicate since Lane hijacked the project and went rogue.

Luther discovers the file actually contains access to billions of pounds. Ethan memorizes the data and destroys the file to force Lane to release Benji and Ilsa in exchange for what he knows. He goads Lane, drawing him into the open and luring him into a bulletproof cell where he is taken into custody. Ilsa drives away, telling Ethan, "you know how to find me."

Some time later, Hunley and Brandt return to the oversight committee, where Brandt once again refuses to confirm or deny anything without permission from the secretary. Hunley secures the reinstatement of the IMF, claiming that his previous efforts to have it disbanded were all to allow Hunt to go undercover. The committee, though skeptical, approves, and on the way out Brandt addresses Hunley as "Mr. Secretary." 

 

Ant-Man (2015)

Storyline

Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, con-man Scott Lang must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

Review

AntMan is a lesser know character of marvels but by no means does that effect the quality of this movie. First off I thought that the casting of this film wasn't going to work, that been Paul Rudd mainly, just because I have read a few of the AntMan comics and didn't think it was going to work, I was wrong he is brilliant, hilarious and believable, all of the jokes he made actually made laugh out load which doesn't happen much. Michael Pena was great in this film, he plays the same kind of character he always seems too, but it really works, especially the story telling scenes were hilarious. This was a all round well cast film.

The action and CGI Was great, on first thoughts I thought when AntMan shrinks down that the CGI would take you out of the movie but let me tell you it doesn't, it's awesome! Especially seeing the world from that size and scenes where AntMan is shrinking and enlarging when fighting i thought would get a little too much but the honestly don't.

All around I AntMan felt different to all the other MCU movies that have come out, but a good different.    A well cast,directed and acted film that will be a welcome addition to my marvel collection.

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Synopsis

In 1989, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) resigns from SHIELD after realizing that Howard Stark (John Slattery) had been trying to replicate his shrinking technology.

In the present day, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) has just served his last day at San Quentin State Prison. Waiting to pick him up is his old cellmate, Luis (Michael Peña), who offers to let him stay at his apartment. Scott is unable to find a legitimate job with his criminal record. He had found out that the company he worked for had been overcharging their customers, so he hacked into the system and transferred millions of dollars back to the customers. Luis introduces him to Dave (T.I.), a getaway driver, and Kurt (David Dastmalchian), an identity theft specialist. Luis has a tip about a robbery they could do together.

Hank gets invited to a presentation at the company he founded, Pym Tech. He runs into his daughter, Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), and his former protege, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), who shows him a prototype of the Yellow Jacket suit, modeled after the Ant-Man suit that Hank wore. Darren has not had success at shrinking living tissue.

Scott borrows Luis' van and drops in on the birthday party of his daughter, Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson). He runs into Cassie's soon-to-be stepfather, Officer Jim Paxton (Bobby Cannavale) , who is not happy to see him. His ex-wife, Maggie (Judy Greer) tells him that he has to find a legitimate job and pay off his delinquent child support before she'll allow visitation with Cassie. Jim and his partner, Gale (Wood Harris) insist that Scott leave the party after saying goodbye to Cassie.

At Pym Tech, Hope and Darren are trying to shrink sheep to microscopic size. Their experiment fails, and a sheep is killed. Darren insists they press forward with another sheep.

Scott realizes that it will be more than a year before he can see Cassie again if he takes a minimum-wage job, so he takes up Luis on his offer. Luis' cousin, Ernesto (Nicholas Barrera) had a friend, Emily (Lyndsi LaRose), who was a housekeeper and was dating Ernesto's friend, Carlos (Carlos Aviles). She told Carlos that the man whose house she was cleaning has a giant safe that's sure to be holding valuables. Scott agrees to help them with the robbery.

Luis picks up supplies for the break-in, and Kurt steals a communication technician's uniform. That night, Kurt climbs up a pole outside Hank's house and blocks the electrical circuit, cutting off all phone communication. Scott climbs the fence and takes out the window sensors, then pries open a window and heads to the basement. He unlocks the basement door only to find a second door that is fingerprint-coded. Using tape, he lifts Hank's print and opens that door. When he gets to the safe, he realizes that he'll need some ingenuity to break the steel door. He drills small holes around the lock, then squirts in water and uses nitrogen to freeze it. The frozen water warps the steel and causes the bolts to shoot out. When he opens the safe, the only thing inside is a weird-looking body suit and helmet. He grabs that and heads out. Meanwhile, Hank has been watching the whole episode upstairs.

Dejected at not having gotten anything valuable, the group heads back to Luis' apartment. Scott goes into the bathroom and examines the suit he stole, wondering why it was so heavily guarded. He notices tubes full of red and blue liquid. Out of curiosity, he puts it on and steps into the bathtub to get a better look at himself in the mirror. Noticing a red button on the glove, he pushes it and instantly shrinks, becoming a half-inch tall. Luis comes into the bathroom and he turns on the water in the tub, which is like a tidal wave for tiny Scott. He hears a voice coming from an earpiece in the helmet. He tries pushing a blue button to return to normal size, but it's broken. Panicked, he jumps away from the water and finds himself sailing across the room. He lands in a crack and falls through to the apartment below. In that room, there's a party going on, and Scott realizes he's on a record player, with the needle moving toward him. He jumps free and lands on the floor where people are dancing. Avoiding the giant footsteps, he gets under the door and into the hallway, where he is promptly sucked up into a vacuum cleaner. When the dust bag gets emptied, he jumps again, this time landing on a rat. He runs away, but lands on a mouse trap. When it's triggered, it sends him flying out through a window and into the rainy night. He sees raindrops as big as his head, before landing on a car. The impact jarred the blue button free, and he grows back to normal size.

Scott races home and takes off the suit. Realizing that someone had been tracking him all along, he decides to return the suit to Hank's safe. He easily breaks into the house again and puts the suit back. But when he gets out, he's surrounded by cops. He is arrested and brought to prison, where Paxton is waiting for him. Gale tells Paxton that Scott's lawyer is there. Confused, Scott goes to see the lawyer that he hadn't asked for and doesn't know.

The "lawyer" waiting for him is Hank. He offers Scott two choices, life in prison or follow his instructions. Scott is thoroughly bewildered, so Hank tells him that he allowed him to steal the suit. Scott is taken back to his cell, and an army of ants brings him back the suit. He puts it on and shrinks, and then quickly escapes from the prison. One of Hank's ants spreads its wings, and Scott climbs on and flies over the city.

Hank tells Scott that he invented the suit, but was afraid it would be misused, and so he had locked it away. Darren had found out about the shrinking technology, but when Hank wouldn't give it to him, Darren forced Hank out of Pym Tech. When Hope realized how dangerous Darren was, she teamed up with Hank to stop him. Hank tells Scott that he needs him to become "Ant-Man" to stop people like Darren. Scott realizes he has a chance to become a true hero, the kind of father his daughter deserves.

Scott gets trained in martial arts and how to lead the ant colonies. He practices his timing with shrinking and growing back. Hank tells him that one piece of technology he'll need to steal the suit from Darren is in an abandoned SHIELD building. When Scott flies to the building, he sees that it's the current Avengers' headquarters. Pressing forward, Scott lands on the roof, triggering a sensor. Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) arrives to investigate, and he can see Scott even at small size. A battle ensues, with Scott going inside Falcon's jetpack and causing it to short out. Scott escapes with the equipment he needs.

When Scott returns, Hank explains the truth about how Hope's mother died. There was an ICBM that had been launched at the U.S., and Hank was trying to stop it, but even at ant-size, he couldn't get inside. She had a similar suit, called the Wasp. She decided to shrink to sub-atomic size and was able to stop the missile, but she couldn't return from that size and was lost in the quantum realm.

Darren Cross finally has success at shrinking a lamb. He envisions himself taking over Pym Tech. He invites Hank to the grand unveiling, then calls Hope and tells her that he has increased security, including covering all the vents with microscopic mesh. They realize the job will be harder than they thought, and they'll need more people. Luis, Kurt and Dave are brought in. Luis poses as a security guard and lowers the water pressure so Scott can get in through the pipes. Scott plants explosives throughout the building, but when he tries to steal the suit, he gets caught in a glass cage by Darren, who had anticipated the burglary. Darren plans to sell the technology to HYDRA. Scott breaks free and takes out the Hydra agents. Darren gets into a chopper on the roof and escapes just before the building blows up. Hank and Hope break out by turning a tiny tank to full-size, and ride it out the side of the building.

Darren puts on the Yellow Jacket suit, and he and Scott fight inside the helicopter. After they both fall out, Scott is able to trap Darren inside a bug zapper, but Jim Paxton shows up to arrest him before he can destroy the suit. Darren goes to Jim and Cassie's house and threatens their lives, hoping to draw Scott in. Scott arrives and they fight. The only way Scott can get inside Darren's suit is to shrink to sub-atomic size, and he causes Darren to shrink into nothing. Lang is trapped in the quantum realm, but hearing Cassie's voice, he manages to rewire the suit, reversing the process and returning him to normal size. Following the battle, a grateful Paxton covers for Scott so he would not have to go back to prison. Hank wonders if Hope's mother is also still alive somewhere. Luis tells Scott that the Falcon is looking for him.

Hank shows Hope a new version of the Wasp suit, and tells her that it was made for her. Captain America (Chris Evans) and Falcon have trapped the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), and are trying to figure out what to do next. They decide not to tell Iron Man, and Falcon says he knows who to contact.