Ant-Man

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CinemaSins         Movie Reviews

Yet another superhero origin movie. Guess why he’s called Ant-Man? Yup, he can get really really tiny.

I had an afternoon to kill and, as I usually do, a free movie pass, so I decided to go see this in the theater. And I was not sorry I did.

The previews had looked smart and funny, but we all know that movie trailers are psychologically tailored to be as attractive as possible to the widest possible audience whether or not they will actually enjoy the film…I’ve been burned fairly often by awesome trailers that make me go to awful movies (yes, you have too, True Fan, I know it to be true.)

So I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this was fast-moving, funny, and full of good action sequences. The main character (Ant-Man) is mouthy and sarcastic (reminiscent of The Star Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy) and the plot, aside from the obvious problems the Physics Police will have with size and mass, is good.

An enjoyable romp, the Otter recommends it for just plain fun.

Taken 3

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Liam Neeson has to kick ass and take names yet again.

I was at the Red Cross doing apheresis, and, anomalously enough, I had not brought a movie with me. I went through their many cabinets of dvds, and this was the only thing I saw that I hadn’t seen and that looked remotely interesting.

And…well, it was. Remotely interesting. Neeson is always fun to watch, and there was a lot of action, and Forest Whitaker is good…but really, it’s the second sequel to a movie that needed no sequels. You know all the way through that he’s going to find out who killed his ex-wife and framed him for it, and his buddies will be there to help him, and he and his daughter will be together at the end.

So sure, a full measure of brainless action, lots of witty taglines and butt-kicking, not so much on compelling plotline.

Inside Out

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CinemaSins         Movie Reviews

Riley and her parents move from a house and yard in the Midwest to an apartment in San Francisco, and she has to deal with the changes in her life.

Which doesn’t sound very exciting, until the viewer finds out that the real characters in this movie are Riley’s emotions, acting and reacting to what happens to her and goes on around her.

This colorful and clever Pixar movie was really good; there must have been a temptation to make it cutesy, but the emotions (Fear, Joy, Anger, Disgust and Sadness) are well portrayed, and the story of them trying to fix a problem that Sadness has caused is good.

Sure, there’s Benji-peril; you know it’s going to come out all right, but there has to be some danger involved. There are jokes for the grownups in the theater, and some gross stuff for the kids. But really, this movie was smart and funny and more enjoyable than many of the animated movies I’ve seen. Rent it, you won’t be sorry you did.