The Matrix - Series Retrospective

Today on Rhode Island Movie Corner, we’ll be tackling a series that I’ve been meaning to cover for quite some time now. Two years ago, I was planning on doing this retrospective in honor of the first film’s 20^th anniversary, which also happened to coincide with the reveal that the series’ long-rumored fourth installment was finally going to get made. Ultimately, though, 2019 came and went and I didn’t end up doing it at that time; instead, I figured that I’d simply wait for the fourth film’s release… and yes, that’s even after it had to endure a COVID-19 forced delay just like all the other big blockbusters at that time. But now the time has finally come to tackle a franchise whose impact on pop culture practically speaks for itself, The Matrix. What started with the second directorial outing from sisters Lilly and Lana Wachowski after their highly acclaimed directorial debut Bound in 1996 quickly became a pop-cultural phenomenon that would go on to influence the film industry in numerous ways. It inspired many subsequent action films to utilize a greater implementation of wire-fu techniques that had been made famous by Hong Kong action cinema for their fight choreography (which, in turn, helped to introduce films from that subgenre to a wider audience). And, of course, there’s also the franchise’s famous slow-motion visual effect known as ‘bullet time’, which became such a popular fad in the industry that it was not only featured in hit video games such as the Max Payne series but was also parodied in numerous films such as Shrek, Scary Movie, and Kung Pow: Enter the Fist.

Thanks to the success of the original Matrix, the Wachowskis would then go on to turn it into a full-blown franchise with a pair of sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, both being released in 2003. And while neither sequel was able to attract the same level of critical acclaim as the original did, they were still major box-office hits while spin-offs such as an animated anthology film and a bunch of video games helped the franchise maintain its cultural relevancy. When it comes to the films, however, they were only intended to be a trilogy, with the Wachowskis repeatedly rejecting any plans for a follow-up. But now, nearly two decades after the original trilogy’s conclusion, Lana Wachowski brings us back into the war between humanity and the machines with The Matrix Resurrections, and today, in honor of its release, I’ll be looking at both the original Matrix trilogy and the previously mentioned animated anthology spin-off. And so, with that in mind, allow me to present you all with the following choice. If you decide to take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. But if you decide to take the red pill, then prepare to stay in Wonderland as I show you just how deep this rabbit hole goes as we tackle The Matrix.

THE MATRIX (1999)

The original Matrix is very much one of those films that’s genuinely hard to provide any new insight on at this point because its legacy and impact on both film and pop culture speaks for itself. And since I’m not even close to being an expert on philosophy, religion, and the like, this also isn’t going to be any sort of discussion on The Matrix’s deepest cinematic themes. Instead, I’ll be tackling the question of whether this film still holds up after all these years and considering all the franchise’s further developments… to make a long story short, it does. Say what you will about the following two films and where this story ended up, but as for this first film, it still stands as an impeccably directed, written, and produced sci-fi action blockbuster. The Wachowskis’ knack for visual storytelling and their passion for martial arts films and anime is fully apparent throughout the film’s top-notch action sequences, whether it’s Neo and Trinity’s rescue of Morpheus or the climactic fight between Neo and Agent Smith. It also helps that all its main leads are perfectly cast; Keanu Reeves as the reluctant audience surrogate Neo, Carrie-Anne Moss as his badass confidant/love interest Trinity, Laurence Fishburne as the poised resistance leader Morpheus, and Hugo Weaving as the cold and emotionless antagonist Agent Smith. And so, with all that in mind, it’s easy to see why The Matrix is still seen as a landmark entry in the sci-fi genre. Not only is it a, for lack of a better term, ‘cool’ film from a visual standpoint, but the Wachowskis managed to find that perfect balance when it comes to presenting a story that’s undoubtedly smarter than a lot of its genre’s peers but done in a way where it rarely becomes too complicated to the point where it would confuse audiences.

Rating: 5/5!

THE MATRIX RELOADED (2003)

With a game-changing sci-fi action epic under their belts, the Wachowskis soon began the process of turning The Matrix into a full-blown franchise, and to put it quite simply, calling their plans to do just that ‘ambitious’ would be a massive understatement. Not only were they developing a pair of sequels, which would end up being filmed back-to-back, but they also had plans for multiple spin-offs across various mediums. They recruited a bunch of anime filmmakers (since anime was a major source of inspiration for them when they were developing the original film) to make an anthology film set within the franchise’s universe, The Animatrix, and they wrote and directed a video game tie-in, Enter the Matrix, which featured over an hour of exclusive live-action footage featuring much of the franchise’s cast of characters. Simply put, the immense hype that was generated by the first film’s success was very much in full effect once the second film, The Matrix Reloaded, hit theaters in the summer of 2003. Upon its release, the film grossed over $741 million worldwide, which made it the highest-grossing R-rated film up to that point, besting the record that had been held for more than a decade by Terminator 2: Judgment Day and holding that spot until 2016 when it was dethroned by the first Deadpool. And while its overall critical reception wasn’t necessarily as strong when compared to the first film, Reloaded did do solidly enough with critics; however, the far more negative reception towards its immediate follow-up, Revolutions, clearly had some sort of impact on how it would be seen by many in the years to come. In other words, while Reloaded wasn’t even remotely close to being a critical dud, the first two Matrix sequels are often paired together by those who feel that the franchise lost its way when trying to follow up on the original.

And yet… I find myself amongst the crowd who feels that this film isn’t as bad as its reputation suggests. Still, it does have its shortcomings, and I think it’s safe to say that part of this is due to the more visual-heavy approach that it takes when compared to the original. Unlike the original Matrix, Reloaded and Revolutions feature a lot more CGI effects which, in their defense, was largely so that the Wachowskis could utilize the original’s iconic ‘bullet time’ effects for the incredibly ambitious action sequences that they came up with. This does, however, result in a film that feels a lot like the later installments of another trilogy that was being made around this time, the Star Wars prequel trilogy, by relying on CGI more than it probably should’ve, especially since not all these effects have necessarily aged well. And while there are still plenty of top-notch action sequences such as the widely praised highway chase scene or the early parts of the big brawl between Neo, Agent Smith, and the latter’s vast army of clones, other action sequences can get rather ridiculous whenever they become overtly CGI-based. All that said, though, the film still manages to be a solidly engaging follow-up to the original Matrix with decent bits of world-building even if there are a few times where its philosophical themes can get a bit heavy-handed to the point of dragging down certain expositional sequences. And so, with all that in mind, while you can see some of the narrative and technical cracks that were starting to form as a result of the Wachowskis’ highly ambitious sequel plans, The Matrix Reloaded is ultimately a largely entertaining follow-up to its iconic predecessor. Granted, I can’t quite say that it’s ‘as good’ as the original, but it’s certainly not the ‘disaster’ that it’s been made out to be.

Rating: 4/5

THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS (2003)

As we get into the final installment of the original Matrix trilogy, The Matrix Revolutions, I just want to start by noting that, even to this day, I’m still genuinely fascinated by the fact that Revolutions managed to hit theaters the exact same year as The Matrix Reloaded, coming out just six months later in the fall of 2003. Now, granted, like I noted earlier, these two sequels were filmed back-to-back so it’s easy to see how they could both come out in such a relatively short timeframe; still, there aren’t many examples of a film franchise that has managed to get two whole installments that are directly tied to each other released in the same year. The only other instance where a situation like this has ever occurred (at least, given what I could find, anyway…) was with the original King Kong in 1933, which was then quickly followed by Son of Kong the very same year. And no, the Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn’t count in this instance because while multiple MCU films are released in a single year, it’s not like we get two Thor or Guardians of the Galaxy films a year. Regardless, The Matrix Revolutions was set to serve as the grand finale to the story of Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, and the people of Zion’s war against the machines… but things didn’t exactly go as smoothly as before once the film was released. Whereas the equally polarizing Reloaded still managed to garner enough positive reviews from critics to earn the ‘Certified Fresh’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Revolutions ended up being a major critical dud as many ultimately found it to be a lackluster conclusion to the trilogy.

Once again, though, I don’t think that this film is as bad as a good chunk of the internet regards it as. I can totally see where some people are coming from when they say that certain routes that the story takes are disappointing or that some of the trilogy’s most notable themes and storylines aren’t explored as much as they should’ve been, but overall, Revolutions manages to be a relatively engaging and appropriately grand-scaled finale for the trilogy. Obviously, like Reloaded, Revolutions’ overt use of CGI can be an issue at times, but in this instance, it’s for an entirely different reason when compared to its immediate predecessor. Whereas Reloaded had a few too many action sequences where the characters were replaced with blatantly obvious digital doubles, Revolutions thankfully doesn’t use that visual effects method as much (or, in other words, if it did, then it hides it a lot better…). No, in this instance, the problem comes from the moments where there are so many CGI visuals on-screen that it’s sometimes hard to tell exactly what’s going on during some of the more frenetic action sequences, especially given this series’ penchant for boasting a darker color palette. Despite this, however, the trilogy’s success in endearing you to the main trio of Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus helps to keep you invested in their endeavors, which all culminates in an epic final battle between Neo and Agent Smith. And so, with all that in mind, I will admit that I do find myself amongst those who find The Matrix Revolutions to be a legitimately underrated film. Sure, you can argue over the quality of this film’s narrative and philosophical beats until the cows come home, but at the end of the day, I strongly disagree with the long-standing consensus that it’s an utterly worthless sequel.

Rating: 4/5

THE ANIMATRIX (2003)

And finally, we conclude with the project that I’ve repeatedly teased throughout this entire retrospective, The Animatrix, a collection of nine anime short films set within the world of The Matrix. A collaboration between the Wachowskis and some of the most famous anime filmmakers at the time such as Shinichirō Watanabe and Mahiro Maeda, this anthology feature properly expands upon the franchise’s lore in various ways. Some of the shorts, like Kid’s Story (in which the titular Kid, a side character from Reloaded and Revolutions who idolizes Neo, manages to escape from the Matrix on his own accord) and The Final Flight of the Osiris (in which the rebel ship Osiris learns that the Machines are tunneling towards Zion), directly address plot-points that were otherwise unseen in the films. Others are simply unique little glimpses into the universe, like Matriculated, which examines the idea of humanity attempting to convert machines to their side. It all comes together in a wholly engrossing anthology feature in which each one of the nine shorts are beautifully animated. Personal favorites of mine as far as their unique animation styles are concerned include the previously mentioned Kid’s Story, which features some particularly striking stylized visuals, and A Detective Story, with its gorgeous black-and-white noir-inspired visuals that perfectly coincide with its, you guessed it, noir plot.

Overall, The Animatrix is an incredibly well-made collection of anime shorts that is the clear result of the Wachowskis paying it forward to the medium that played such a significant role in The Matrix’s creation. And sure enough, when you combine an iconic medium with what was easily one of the newest and exciting sci-fi action franchises at the time, you get a film that successfully manages to appeal to both those who are well-versed in the world of anime… and folks like me who have little to no experience with it. However, at the risk of making an incredibly controversial statement in the eyes of this film’s fans, I don’t think that this film is ‘100% essential’ when it comes to experiencing this franchise. Now, to be clear, that doesn’t mean that I don’t highly recommend this film because that couldn’t be farther from the truth. What I mean by all this is that, ultimately, The Animatrix is primarily intended to be a source of additional context to the main films without resulting in a situation where you would end up missing out on any pivotal plot points if you end up skipping this. Anything significant to the main series that is featured here are minor beats at best such as the connection between Neo and Kid or the inciting incident with the Osiris that kick-started the events of The Matrix Reloaded and, in turn, The Matrix Revolutions. But again, I want to make it clear that, despite everything that I just said, I DO NOT recommend that you skip this because it’s one of the most unique and rewarding experiences that you could have from a spin-off of a hugely successful film franchise.

Rating: 4.5/5

And that concludes our retrospective on the original Matrix trilogy and The Animatrix. Thanks for following along and be sure to sound off in the comments below with your own personal experiences with this franchise, especially if you were a part of its target demographic when it first came out. And yes, I do plan to follow this up with a full review of The Matrix Resurrections. You can expect that post sometime soon.

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019) review

In 2014, Keanu Reeves experienced a major career resurgence when he starred in John Wick, an action-thriller that was co-directed by former stuntmen Chad Stahelski and David Leitch (even though Stahelski was the only one credited by the Directors Guild of America), whom he had previously worked with on the Matrix films. In the film, Reeves played the titular John Wick, a retired hitman with a considerable legacy amongst his peers who ends up returning to his old profession when a group of Russian thugs kill the puppy that had been given to him by his wife as one last gift before her tragic death. Upon its release, the film was a big hit with critics and audiences, gaining considerable praise for its phenomenal action sequences that avoided several of the filmmaking techniques that, in the minds of many, have negatively affected many recent action films (e.g. rapid editing, shaky cam, etc.). Thus, a sequel was soon set into motion and released in 2017, with Stahelski taking sole directorial duties this time around due to Leitch working on other projects. Just like the first film, John Wick: Chapter 2 was a critical and financial success. It nearly doubled its predecessor’s run at the box-office and is generally considered to be a rare case of an arguably superior sequel. And because of the shocking incident that occurs during its finale, we now move onto the third entry of the series, John Wick: Chapter 3, which is the first of the series to have a subtitle via the Latin phrase for ‘Prepare for War’, Parabellum. It’s a film that sees its titular hero dealing with some of the toughest opponents that he’s ever faced in this series, and just like the previous two films, this all results in yet another epic action extravaganza with the legendary hitman who is known to many as ‘Baba Yaga’.

At the end of John Wick: Chapter 2, revered hitman John Wick (Keanu Reeves) ended up breaking the cardinal rule of the hitman community by killing his target, crime boss Santino D’Antonio, within the confines of the hitman safe-haven that is the Continental Hotel. Thus, without hesitation, the crime boss hierarchy known as the High Table quickly declare him as ‘excommunicado’ and place a $14 million bounty on him that is eventually raised to $15 million. Because of this, John now finds himself in a situation where he can’t rely on his usual resources while also being hunted by every single assassin that he comes across. And if that wasn’t enough, an adjudicator for the High Table (Asia Kate Dillon) takes several of his allies, including New York Continental owner Winston (Ian McShane) and local crime lord The Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne), to task for aiding him in his recent endeavors. With very few options left at his disposal, John travels to the city of Casablanca, Morocco, where he reunites with Sofia (Halle Berry), the current owner of the local Continental. Just like his situation with D’Antonio in the previous film, John convinces her to honor the unbreakable bond between them via the assassin marker that they’d set up after he had helped her in the past. Thus, Sofia reluctantly joins forces with him on his perilous journey to try and find a way to get out of his current predicament with the High Table. But as John soon discovers, he may end up having to take some truly drastic measures if he wants to get that $15 million target off his back.

One of the most impressive aspects of this series is its seamless narrative, with each subsequent installment’s plot being directly set into motion by the events of its immediate predecessor. John Wick: Chapter 2’s plot was initiated by John’s return to the hitman lifestyle, and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is the result of Chapter 2’s finale, where he broke the golden rule of the Continental. And because of this, this film presents John at what is arguably the most vulnerable state that he’s ever been in apart from when his wife Helen died. Now obviously, as these films have very much proven, John Wick clearly isn’t someone who will go down that easy. Still, because this film puts him in a situation where almost everyone’s out to get him, it arguably makes Parabellum the most intense installment of the trilogy because of its non-stop pace. Of course, just like the previous two films, this film is full of amazing action sequences from beginning to end. As always, they’re well-shot, well-edited, and impressively choreographed. All this makes up for the fact that this film admittedly has one of the weaker plots of the series so far. To be clear, it’s still a very well-written action flick that continues the franchise’s excellent tradition of gradually expanding upon its lore and the assassin underworld that it has created. It’s also worth noting, however, that this is the longest entry of the series to date at 131 minutes long, and while there’s never a dull moment in this film, sometimes it does feel like the plot is being stretched a bit thin for a franchise that has never tried to present an overly complicated narrative.           

John Wick has easily become one of the most definitive roles of Keanu Reeves’ career, and just like in the previous two films, he continues to do a phenomenal job when it comes to his portrayal of the stoic assassin. The film even delves a bit into John’s backstory (namely, the events that led to him becoming an assassin in the first place) while also continuing to give Reeves more opportunities to establish himself as one of the best action stars in the industry, because just like Tom Cruise, Reeves isn’t afraid to do most of his own stunts. As usual, he’s joined by a solid ensemble cast headlined by series regulars like Ian McShane as John’s benevolent ally Winston, Lance Reddick as the Continental’s cordial concierge Winston (who even gets to partake in some of the action this time around to brilliant results), and Laurence Fishburne as the boisterous Bowery King. When it comes to newcomers to the franchise, it’s all headlined by Halle Berry as Sofia, John’s old ally from Morocco who’s always accompanied by a pair of vicious attack dogs. As far as the action is concerned, Berry more than holds her own against Reeves and their characters’ complicated relationship results in some solid banter between them, although it should be noted that she ultimately plays a minor role in the larger story. But then there’s the film’s main antagonists, and while the John Wick franchise has admittedly been hit-or-miss over the years with its villains, Parabellum’s key antagonists are some of the series’ best. First, there’s Asia Kate Dillon as the High Table’s Adjudicator, who is appropriately cold and calculating when it comes to managing the hunt for John Wick from behind the scenes. And then there’s Mark Dacascos as Zero, an assassin who is directly hired by the Adjudicator to eliminate John. Like many others in this world, Zero is a huge fan of the legendary ‘Baba Yaga’, which provides the film with some of its best humorous moments that mainly consist of Zero’s various attempts at striking up a friendly conversation with his target.

Thanks to Chapter 3 – Parabellum, the John Wick franchise has managed to pull off the often-daunting task of being a trilogy of films where each installment is genuinely outstanding. Sure, this film could still technically be regarded by some as the ‘weakest’ entry of the trilogy (which usually ends up being the case with threequels), but in this instance, that isn’t even remotely a bad thing. Just like its two predecessors, this film is full of amazing action sequences from beginning to end. And thanks to the continuously excellent direction from Chad Stahelski and another phenomenal performance by Keanu Reeves in the title role, Chapter 3 maintains the franchise’s great affinity for simple but highly effective action-thrillers, even if this one occasionally feels a bit too simplistic despite boasting the series’ longest run-time. But perhaps the most interesting part of this film… is the fact that it shows that this series is far from being over. Yes, while I’m sure that some might have expected this to be the finale to the story of John Wick, the film ends similarly to Chapter 2 by extensively setting up the next big conflict that John will be involved with, and sure enough, a Chapter 4 was recently confirmed for a 2021 release. Plus, there are also quite a few spin-offs in the works, including an upcoming TV series set at the Continental and a rumored crossover with Atomic Blonde, the 2017 action-thriller that was directed by the original John Wick’s co-director, David Leitch. And while some film franchises tend to fizzle out at this point and experience a noticeable decline in quality, it’s very much clear that the John Wick franchise is just as resilient as its titular badass.

Rating: 4.5/5

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) review

Marvel Studios’ 2015 release Ant-Man went through what is easily one of the most publicized productions of any film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For starters, the film had been in the works since 2006 before the MCU was even a thing… and yet ultimately ended up being released more than a decade later as the final installment of Phase Two of the franchise. But, of course, the biggest news story surrounding the film occurred in May of 2014, when it was announced that the film’s director was backing out of the project due to creative differences with the studio. And while the development of ‘directors leaving projects’ has always been commonplace in the film industry, the fact that the director in question was film fan favorite Edgar Wright, who had been working on it since the beginning, effectively cast a dark shadow over the film that sadly hasn’t left it even after its release. Thankfully, though, director Peyton Reed managed to fill in Wright’s spot with ease, delivering another fun entry in this legendary franchise that reveled in the endless possibilities that came from a plot about a superhero who could shrink in size. Cut to three years later and the titular superhero is back after his cameo appearance in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War with Ant-Man and the Wasp. As the title suggests, this film sees Ant-Man team up with his most famous superhero partner from the comics, the Wasp. And without the shadow of Edgar Wright’s ties to the project bearing down on him this time, Peyton Reed succeeds in crafting a superior sequel.  

During the events of Captain America: Civil War, ex-criminal turned superhero Scott Lang AKA Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) allied with Captain America in the feud that the Avengers had gotten into over the creation of the Sokovia Accords. Cut to two years later and Scott is now stuck under house arrest because of his participation in the incident. However, just a few days before his house arrest is over, Scott is approached once more by his colleagues Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), who has now taken on the superhero identity of ‘the Wasp’, and her father Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), the creator of the Ant-Man technology and its original user. Since Scott managed to escape from the microverse known as the Quantum Realm during the finale of the previous film, Hank and Hope are now optimistic about the possibility of finding Hank’s wife (and Hope’s mother) Janet Van Dyne AKA the original Wasp (Michelle Pfeiffer), who disappeared into it in 1987. This plan of theirs is furthered strengthened when it’s revealed that Scott is beginning to become ‘connected’ to Janet on a mental level, thus allowing them the opportunity to figure out where she is. Unfortunately for the trio, the process ends up getting complicated by a mysterious woman named Ava Starr AKA Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), who’s capable of phasing through objects due to an incident from her past where she was exposed to the Quantum Realm. After learning that Ava intends to use Janet to cure her condition, Scott, Hope, and Hank find themselves in a race against time to rescue Janet first when it becomes clear that Ava’s plan would result in her death.

So… seeing how we’re twenty films into the MCU at this point, I’m not going to bore you with the same points about this franchise that I’ve brought up in almost every single MCU film review that I’ve done. Thus, let’s just get it out of the way now… great action sequences, awesome visual effects, plenty of great humor while still finding enough time for some highly effective emotional moments for its characters, yadda yadda yadda, moving on. The main thing to note about this sequel is how it showcases a greater sense of confidence from Peyton Reed as a director. Obviously, in the case of the first film, he was brought on to fix the situation that Marvel Studios had gotten themselves into after the rather scandalous departure of Edgar Wright. And while Reed certainly managed to deliver an entertaining superhero film against all the pressure that he was clearly being put through by those who weren’t too happy about Wright’s departure, this film shows that he has improved on practically everything that he did with the first film. The action sequences are more kinetic, the humor and writing are both sharper, and the film in general benefits from stronger pacing whereas the first film admittedly took a while before it truly got going. But just like the first film, this film spends plenty of time having fun with all the various situations that Scott and Hope get into with their shrinking abilities, like whenever they blow up a tiny object to gigantic size (e.g. a PEZ dispenser). And, of course, we can’t forget about Ant-Man’s new ability to grow large himself (as previously witnessed during what is arguably the most iconic moment from the airport battle in Captain America: Civil War), which is also utilized perfectly here. Simply put, the Ant-Man films have boasted some of the MCU’s most creative action sequences which, given this franchise, is saying a lot.

Paul Rudd is phenomenal once again in the lead role of Scott Lang AKA Ant-Man, with arguably some of the best comedic timing of any lead in the MCU while also continuing to maintain Scott’s general likability as a well-meaning family man who tends to screw up a lot. But, of course, the most hyped member of this film’s cast is Evangeline Lilly, who finally gets the chance to get into all that great superhero action as the Wasp after it was built up in the first film’s mid-credits scene in which Hank gives Hope a new prototype of Janet’s old Wasp suit. And simply put, she kills it in the role; in fact, it could very well be argued that she even outshines Rudd. Still, the film does do a nice job of balancing out their roles in the story and the two do sport excellent chemistry, something that was only briefly covered in the first film. Speaking of the first film, all the major returning players who return for this film are great once again. As Hank Pym, Michael Douglas continues to be an absolute pro when it comes to delivering snarky quips, especially whenever he’s paired with Rudd. There’s also the returning trio of Scott Lang’s ex-thief pals (or as Hank calls them, ‘those three wombats’), who ironically now run their own security company. While T.I. and David Dastmalchian don’t get as much to do this time around, they still have their moments as Dave and Kurt, respectively. And, of course, we can’t forget about Michael Pena as the always-hilarious, happy-go-lucky Luis, the first film’s biggest scene-stealer. Sure enough, Pena once again gets a lot of this film’s best lines.  

As for this film’s newcomers, quite arguably the most prominent is the official debut of the original Wasp, Janet Van Dyne (not counting her cameo appearance in the first Ant-Man during a flashback). And without spoiling anything, the term ‘cameo’ applies to her role here as well as she’s only in it for about ten minutes. Still, for what it’s worth, Michelle Pfeiffer makes the most out of her limited screen-time and I’m confident that we’ll be seeing more of her in future films. DC Extended Universe transplant Laurence Fishburne also makes the most out of a rather small supporting role as Hank’s old partner Bill Foster, who fans of the comics will recognize as one of several who took on the superhero mantle of ‘Goliath’. Finally, when it comes to this film’s villains, there are two major threats who clash with Scott and Hope. While this does mean that they don’t necessarily stand out as much as other recent MCU villains, they’re still both solid enough in the context of this film’s story. First, there’s Walton Goggins as Sonny Burch, a black-market criminal who tries to steal Hank’s technology. It’s a minor role, for sure, but Goggins’ Southern charm helps a lot in the long run. And then there’s Hannah John-Kamen as Ava/Ghost, one of the MCU’s more ‘sympathetic’ villains given her tragic backstory. Thus, instead of just being a typical villain trying to take over the world, she’s just trying to find a cure for her condition, unaware that her plan to fix it would negatively affect several people. John-Kamen (who’s been having a breakout year after appearing in other blockbuster projects like Tomb Raider and Ready Player One) handles the role excellently and the effects used to create her phasing ability pave the way for some awesome visuals and action sequences.   

While some felt that the first Ant-Man didn’t add much to the larger world of the MCU, I’d argue that it had a different goal in mind; to serve as a much-needed change of pace after the large-scaled (no pun intended) affairs of Avengers: Age of Ultron, which came out just a few months prior. Sure enough, Ant-Man and the Wasp fulfills that same purpose in arguably an even greater fashion. I mean, let’s face it, after all the craziness that we went through with Avengers: Infinity War, it’s great that this film scales things back for a much more light-hearted adventure that once again highlights how solo films are still vital to the growth of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (though, for the record, without spoiling anything… this does address Infinity War). At the same time, the film also manages to be a superior sequel to what was already a solid entry in this franchise. No longer undermined by the question of ‘What would Edgar Wright have done?’, this film gives Peyton Reed the chance to make an Ant-Man film all his own, resulting in a sequel that boasts a sharper screenplay and more elaborate visuals and action sequences that don’t lose sight of the best parts of the first film. Plus, there’s also the immense satisfaction of getting to see Evangeline Lilly’s Hope Van Dyne finally get the chance to shine as one of the MCU’s greatest female heroines yet, something that Lilly undeniably revels in. Because of all this, Ant-Man and the Wasp is yet another success for Marvel Studios, who have now reached the unparalleled milestone of having 20 feature films that have all been positively reviewed by most critics and audiences. Admittedly, I wouldn’t call this the best MCU film to date (or even the best MCU film that came out this year, for that matter), but it’s still loads of fun to watch.

Rating: 4.5/5

John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) review

In 2014, former stuntmen Chad Stahelski and David Leitch teamed up to direct John Wick, starring Keanu Reeves as an ex-hitman who finds himself forced back into the business when a group of Russian mobsters attack him, steal his car, and kill his dog, the latter of which was a gift from his wife before she died to help him cope. The film was a solid commercial success upon release, grossing over four times its modest $20 million budget. It also did great with critics and fans of the action genre, who praised the film for its incredibly shot and choreographed action sequences in an age of rapid-edit, ‘PG-13-friendly’ action. And this year, the legendary ‘Baba Yaga’ is back for another round of vengeful, but also stylish, gunplay in John Wick: Chapter 2. Reeves, of course, returns in the title role as does director Chad Stahelski, though this time around, David Leitch is only serving as an executive producer. Then again, only Stahelski was credited as director for the first film by the Directors Guild of America, even though both directed it. Plus, Leitch went off to work on the upcoming spy thriller The Coldest City and is also being primed to helm the sequel to Deadpool, so I think it’s safe to say that he was just tied up with other projects. But, thankfully, this doesn’t affect John Wick: Chapter 2 too much because, oh boy, this film is one epic action sequel. And that’s because it does two great things at once. Not only does it maintain plenty of the same great elements of the first film, particularly in terms of its action sequences, but it also feels like a natural follow-up, upping the ante in all the right ways without losing the badass aura of the original.

At the end of John Wick, the titular ex-hitman (Keanu Reeves), known by many in the assassin community as ‘The Boogeyman’, successfully avenged the death of his dog Daisy at the hands of the Tarasov family. And after finally getting his vintage 1969 Mustang back as well, which he retrieves from the chop shop owned by Viggo Tarasov’s brother Abram (Peter Stormare) in this film’s opening sequence, John prepares to retire once again, having picked up a new dog (which isn’t given a name in the film) from an animal clinic at the end of the first film. However, he is soon approached by another old associate of his, Italian crime lord Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), who has come for payment over a blood oath that he and John made years ago, in which the former helped the latter retire from the business. John initially declines the offer, saying that he is ‘retired for good’, but when Santino destroys his home as payback, he quickly finds that he has no other choice. To fulfill his side of the bargain, John is directed to Rome, where he is tasked with taking down a high-value target so that Santino can take their place on the council of crime lords known as ‘the High Table’. But even after John pulls off this job, Santino then betrays him and places a $7 million bounty on his head. News of the bounty attracts the attention of every major assassin in New York, putting ol’ ‘Baba Yaga’ on the run as he goes on his own path of vengeance against Santino.

Just like the first film, John Wick: Chapter 2 features some incredible action sequences that highlight all the great camerawork, editing, and stunt choreography that went into making them. Heck, being that it’s basically set not too long after the events of the first film, this film comes right out the gate with an awesome sequence in which John fights through a bunch of goons to get his car back. There’s that, a big shootout within Roman catacombs, a fight in the New York City Subway, a fight within a hall of mirrors, etc. Bottom line, just like the first film, there’s plenty of standout fights in this film, so much so that it’s admittedly hard to pick just one as a favorite. And as for being a sequel, this basically does the best thing that any good sequel should do; it ups the ante of the story’s stakes without losing sight of what made the first film work so well. As I noted in my review of the first film, I really admired the simplicity of its plot execution. John’s motivations are clear throughout and the set-up of the assassin world is excellent without going into too much detail. From the ‘honor system’ that’s set up at the Continental Hotel, which caters to the criminal underworld but maintains the ground rule of not having one’s business occur on property, to the montage in which John meets with various people in Rome (e.g. a tailor, a ‘Sommelier’ (Peter Serafinowicz), etc.) to acquire his supplies before he goes on his latest mission, these films set up a cool world in which assassins go about their business in a graceful manner. All that, of course, was there in the first film and in this film, writer Derek Kolstad does just enough to further expand this universe without losing the narrative’s charming simplicity.

John Wick… is a badass; simple as that. And Keanu Reeves is badass in the role. From doing his own stunts (while in his 50’s, no less!) to just maintaining a calm and collected persona throughout, a perfect representation of Wick’s highly-effective and tactical approach to everything he does, this may arguably be Reeves’ greatest role to date when it comes to his forays into the action genre. In other words, he was just a perfect fit for this role. And of course, like the first film, he’s got a nice cast of highly memorable supporting characters to back him up. There are some of the returning characters from the first film, like Ian McShane as the diplomatic owner of the Continental Hotel in New York and John Leguizamo as Wick’s friend and chop shop owner Aurelio. And then there’s also some of the new additions to the cast, like Common as Cassian, the bodyguard of John’s high-value target who becomes more of a ‘rival’ to him once John takes out the target, and Ruby Rose as Santino’s mute henchwoman Ares, who John crosses paths with numerous times over the course of the film. Plus, fans of The Matrix will no doubt get a kick out of the scene where Reeves is reunited with Morpheus himself, Laurence Fishburne, who plays a New York crime boss known as the ‘Bowery King’. But, once again, I find that the main villain, Santino, is the weakest link of the film. Again, like Viggo and Iosef from the first film, he’s not a ‘bad’ villain’, per se; he’s got nice set-up in terms of his relationship with John and all. But, also like Viggo and Iosef, he tends to get overshadowed by all the supporting characters.

John Wick: Chapter 2 is one of the best action film sequels of all-time. Of course, that’s also benefitted from the fact that it’s a sequel to one of the best action films of the past decade, the original John Wick. Like its predecessor, Chapter 2 features excellent action sequences that are well-shot, finely-edited, and wonderfully choreographed. But then, of course, the film must deal with the fact that it’s a sequel, and overall, it handles that aspect brilliantly by feeling like a natural follow-up to the first film. The ways in which the story and action are built up from the first film are incredibly well-handled. In other words, the film still manages to maintain the simplistic charm of the first film while also upping the ante in terms of the action sequences as well as raising the stakes for John. On that note, without giving anything away, the way in which this film closes provides us with an awesome set-up for the third film. It ends on such a bold note that I think it’s safe to say that fans of this series will be eagerly awaiting John’s next adventure, whenever it comes out, to see how it all ends. But now, the big question is this; did this film also manage to outdo its predecessor? Well, while I do think that both films are great in terms of how they film their action and for the nice, simple execution of their stories, I think I do have to say that John Wick: Chapter 2 is a superior sequel to what was already a great action film.   

Rating: 4.5/5