Category: Reviews

Say what you will about Tom Cruise as a person but as an actor and producer, he is one of the strongest performers in Hollywood. For the last 19 years, he has been responsible for Paramount Pictures’ Mission: Impossible franchise and has turned it into a goldmine. The fifth installment, Rogue Nation, arrives tomorrow in a combo pack from Paramount Home Entertainment just as people worry about the granddaddy of espionage franchises, James Bond.

I was not alone in feeling disappointed by Spectre, a lax story, a waste of Monica Bellucci, and boring set pieces. In comparison, the three major action sequences in Rogue Nation are fresher, more exciting, and still works on repeated watching.

Cruise set out at the beginning to honor Bruce Gellar’s creation but also add new flavors by insisting someone different direct each movie.  Brian DePalma set the stage and satisfied fans while John Wu had a misfire but then they came back with J.J. Abrams, Brad Bird, and now Christopher McQuarrie. The latter, it seems, was an uncredited writer on the previous film, Ghost Protocol and has been a frequent collaborator with Cruise so seemed a natural to become the next director. It should be noted that the film was so successful McQuarrie will be the first repeat director.

Whereas M:I 4 isolated Ethan Hunt and the IMF team because of things going awry in Russia, the new film takes things a step further, echoing Spectre’s thread that such agencies have outlived their usefulness. Without government support, Hunt cannot hope to uncover their shadowy duplicate agency, Spectre, er, the Syndicate despite the global consequences for failure.

The team is fractured as Hunt recruits Benji (Simon Pegg) to leave his dead end desk job and join him in Europe. Meantime, when Hunt and Benji go silent, IMF Chief William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) seeks out Luther (Ving Rhames) to come to their aid. In the mix is Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who may be working for the syndicate, some other agency, or out for herself. All Hunt knows is that she’s very good at what she does and comes to trust her when others remain suspicious.

The story, credited to Drew Pearce and McQuarrie, takes us around the world, uses inventive technology, and rarely lets up the pace while leavening the drama with some genuine humor and warmth between the characters. If there’s flaw, it is that Hunt remains a bit flat as a character, especially without any hint of his private life, which made Mission: Impossible III, a richer experience.

McQuarrie does a great job moving things along and the action sequences – Hunt on the airplane, the mandatory car/motorcycle chase, and the underwater computer bit – all work. While newcomer Ferguson has garnered the majority of the raves, a deadpan Alec Baldwin as CIA Director Alan Hunley should be credited with keeping things interesting. The final moments with the downfall of Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) is pitch perfect, replicating how many of the classic episodes ended.

The Blu-ray transfer is just swell, perfect for revisiting the film at home matched well with the Dolby Atmos soundtrack.

The film comes with several featurettes, all just long enough to give you the basics without getting boring. In some cases, I wish there was more, especially about the franchise as a whole but I suppose leaving them wanting more is better than boring us.

We open with Audio Commentary from Cruise and McQuarrie and you can sense how comfortable they are with one another, which transfers neatly into the film itself.

Lighting the Fuse (5:57) focuses mainly on McQuarrie’s involvement, as partner and director; Cruise Control (6:33) shines the same spotlight on Cruise’s role in the filmmaking process; Heroes… (8:06), profiles the recurring IMF agents plus Ilsa; Cruising Altitude (8:23), so how did they film that plane sequence; Mission: Immersible (6:45) is all about the underwater sequence with emphasis on the physical training required; Sand Theft Auto (5:35) explores the high speed vehicle chases; and, The Missions Continue (7:08) where cast and crew reflect on the franchise’s staying power.

The combo pack comes with a DVD and Digital HD code.

Marvel’s Ant-Man, which was an international box office smash this summer, is also a schizophrenic movie demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of working within a shared universe. Where James Gunn was given a corner of the universe to play with the Guardians of the Galaxy allowing him to be cheeky and amusing while introducing cosmic threats that will dovetail in future films, Edgar Wright’s original ideas were too comedic and “out there” to fit in the terrestrial threads already in place.

Despite Wright working on this for years and coming close to bringing his vision to the Avengers’ world, it ultimately fell apart when too many compromises were demanded in order to fit in more closely with the tone and feel of those films. Wright walked and was replaced by director Peyton Reed, best known for the fresh-feeling Bring it On.

Reed did a more than serviceable job in bridging that gap, delivering an entertaining, at time thrilling, feature film that fits nicely within the evolving Marvel Cinematic Universe.  The film is now available for live-streaming via Disney Movies Anywhere and related services with the Blu-ray combo pack coming out December 8.

Paul Rudd is well cast as Scott Lang, a convicted criminal who is having difficulties reintegrating into society since most companies won’t give ex-cons a chance. He’s in a strained relationship with his wife Maggie (Judy Greer) and her new husband, a cop Paxton (Bobby Cannavale). Of course his young daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson) is the only one to see him as the hero he is.

Lang’s family issues and struggle for a fresh start lead us to his being lured into the home of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), where we learn Pym has been keeping an eye on Lang, hoping to recruit him as an agent of change, helping him prevent his protégé, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) from making some very bad choices. Of course there is the grief felt for the missing Janet Van Dyne, the Wasp, and the strain between father and daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) that is predictable but well-delivered. This thread is engaging, emotionally-packed, and very much the origin story of a hero.

Wright’s influence remains in the other half of the film, led by former cell mate Luis (Michael Peña) and assorted misfits. They provide a lot of the comic relief in the film but every time they are on screen, it feels like an entirely different film and this half does not satisfactorily mesh with the other half as we build to the climax.

The “Marvelization” of Ant-Man is also evident in how many of the story beats between Pym and Cross are replicated from the Tony Stark and Obadiah Stane beats seen in the first Iron Man, right down to the Ant-Man versus Yellowjacket battle. What saves it, though, is the visual verve brought to the battle in Cassie’s room as we go from terrifying objects being hurled to a real scale vision of a toy train harmlessly smacking against a wall. Overall, it needed to be fresher.

Where the creative committee’s contributions are welcome is found in the opening scene showing a younger Hank Pym quitting his Ant-Man work for S.H.I.E.L.D. with Howard Stark (John Slattery) in place, fitting this in with the overall timeline. Also, Anthony Mackie’s lighthearted turn as the Falcon also established this as being a piece in the Avenger’s overall arc.

The visual effects are top-notch, giving the world of the Ant-Man and the microscopic world he finds himself trapped in are simply wonderful. So the various parts are largely fine, but taken together, creates an unevenness that ultimately disappoints. With luck, the recently announced Ant-Man and the Wasp sequel can find fresh ground to tread.

The Digital HD version reviewed looks great and sounds equally fine. Obviously, this deserves to be enjoyed on a big screen with a good sound system.

There are an assortment of special features that are interesting but not compelling. We start with Making of an Ant-Sized Heist: A How-To Guide (14:34), which is a too-brief look at the film’s background; Let’s Go to the Macroverse (8:06), exploring the technology behind the effects; four WHIH NewsFront — Promo (1:21), Vista Corp Heist (1:49), Darren Cross Interview (2:36), and Scott Lang Live (3:25) – all with reporter/anchor Christine Everhart (Leslie Bibb, last seen in Iron Man 2); pay attention to the ticker at the bottom; Deleted & Extended Scenes —  Fixing the Cable (3:11), Hank Vaults the Suit (0:31), Paxton and Gale (0:22), Qubit Defense Matrix (0:31), Scott and Cassie (0:40), Wish Fulfillment (0:24), The Future of Pym Particles (1:38), and The History of Ant-Man (1:19), all with optional commentary by Reed and Rudd; and of course the Gag Reel (3:25).

Not part of the digital streaming is Reed and Rudd’s audio commentary, which can be heard on disc.

Every time a four-color property moves from print to other media, changes are made, mostly a result of the different medium being employed. Sometimes the changes stagger the imagination while others are subtle and acceptable. Warner Animation has more often than not been incredibly faithful to the source material, resulting in some of the most satisfying comics-to-screen adaptations.

As a result, the anticipation for a Blu-ray release of the excellent Justice League Unlimited has been high and finally, last week, Warner Archive released the show in a three-disc collection. The series, which ran July 31, 2004 – May 13, 2006, is the follow-up to the equally wonderful Justice League.

While the original series focused on the traditional original members of the JLA, the new series expanded its roster to just about every hero from the DC Universe. For many viewers, it was the first time they were exposed to many of these colorful characters. For we fanboys, it was a sheer thrill to see the obscure (Aztek) to the fan favorite (Doctor Fate) finally make it to television.

The episodes were entertaining and were largely standalone as we saw varying combinations of heroes go into action while the backgrounds were filled with cameos galore. The orbiting headquarters felt like a club for heroes, a chance for them to relax between fights. There was the occasional meta-arc such as the shadowy Project Cadmus (thank you Jack Kirby) and the how-could-they-not Secret Society of Super-Villains.

Thankfully, the series benefitted from a stellar array of voice actors who brought verve to the characters, anchored by Kevin Conroy’s Batman but scanning the credits its fun to see who was popular in geekdom when the shows were produced. Today we see Morena Baccarin on Gotham but back then the Firefly actress was also busy voicing Black Canary giving her deeper ties to DC Comics. And Adam Baldwin double-dipped in both well cast parts as Hal Jordan and Rick Flagg.

What we didn’t know was that this would be the final series set in the expanded, semi-interconnected animated universe and we can look back on those shows with great fondness and boy, do they hold up well. Credit for that starts with Bruce Timm and Alan Burnett, aided and abetted by an army of writers, artists, and animators. It helped tremendously that comic book veterans were recruited to pen episodes, so the adaptations were less jarring.

Some of the best loved comic stories made it to the screen, such as J.M. DeMatteis’ adaptation of Alan Moore’s “For the Man who has Everything”. And the animated series did not shy away from some mature themes, such as drumming Huntress out of the league for attempting to kill a man, regardless of her justification. Hawkgirl’s return, after betraying her teammates in the previous series, is back and has to deal with the repercussions of her actions. The stories span time and space, switching from action-packed to light-hearted to downright romantic. It also tied up loose ends from other series in the brilliant “Epilogue”, which closed out the second season, touching on Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, and the JLU.

The transfer to high definition is clean and crisp with excellent sound. The special features which appeared on the previous DVD releases are back here including creator’s commentary on the episodes “This Little Piggy” and “The Return”; “And Justice for All”: a featurette on the process of revamping the series with new characters and a new creative direction; “Cadmus Exposed”: Mark Hamill and series creative personnel discuss this popular series story arc; “Justice League Chronicles”: The series’ writers, producers and directors discuss their favorite moments among final season episodes.

If you haven’t experienced these you should. If you watched them previously, you want these.