Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Yesterday, now that basically the entire world, except for Portugal, China, and Japan (according to IMDb), has seen Ant-Man and the Wasp, Marvel's latest film finally hit theatres in my shithole country and since I love Marvel, I got the 9pm ticket hoping that I would not fall asleep in there (backstory, I wake up a 5am every day and I haven't been getting a lot of sleep in the past few days).

Set after the events of Captain America: Civil War but before those of Avengers: Infinity War, the film finds Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) under house arrest as he struggles to entertain himself. When he only has days left of confinement, Scott has a strange dream and decides to call Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Pym and his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) then approach Scott with an urgent new mission and Scott must put on the Ant-Man suit to face a new enemy.

Pretty much like every single Marvel movie out there, Ant-Man and the Wasp too has a very simple and rather predictable plot. And it isn't particularly compelling either as it lacks exciting plot points, solid twists and real complications as the obstacles are overcome way too easily. Also, there are several subplots that don't add much to the film, like the romantic subplot between Ant-Man and the Wasp, which deserved way better than this, and the worn out father and daughter subplot that is heartwarming as it's still a lovely relationship between a dad and her adorable daughter, but isn't properly developed.

The characters are kind of a mess too. The returning characters, Scott Lang, Hope van Dyne, Hank Pim, and Luis, are pretty thin; the new ones, specifically Hope's mother, Janet van Dyne, not only lacks development but doesn't have anything resembling characterization. Despite these flaws, I found myself caring about them and wanting them to succeed.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Which wasn't that hard since Ant-Man and the Wasp easily has some of the worst villains in Marvel's latest movies. Walton Goggins's Sonny Burch is completely useless as he doesn't have any motivation whatsoever and doesn't even work for humour. The worst though is Hannah John-Kamen's Ava Starr/Ghost. She is a really interesting addition to the film, we are given some backstory and her motivations. Unfortunately, she isn't particularly developed and soon the film gives up on her. And John-Kamen's performance makes the character even more forgettable.

All of that being said, Ant-Man and the Wasp still is an entertaining and enjoyable film, the main reason being some of the main actors. While Michael Douglas, but especially Laurence Fishburne and Walton Goggins are wasted in the film, Paul Rudd, who basically plays Paul Rudd, is wonderful as always, and once again makes for a strong and entertaining lead as he delivers plenty of humour. But it's Evangeline Lilly who steals the show every time she is on screen.

The film has pretty good humour too. While some of the jokes and gags fall flat --there'll still be that one person who laughs at every single joke though--, it is overall funny. Also, the action sequences and special effects, although they are pretty much copied from the previous film, are pretty awesome, and the soundtrack fits the film quite well.

Tomb Raider (2018)

I never cared much about Lara Croft. I never played the video game and I never even bothered with Angelina Jolie's movies. I do like Alicia Vikander though (and I'm tremendously jealous of her for marrying Fassbender) so I decided to check out this new Tomb Raider movie. Having read some brief reviews, I was expecting it to be bad but I wasn't expecting it to be as bad as it turned out to be. 

Lara Croft (Alicia Vikander) is a fierce and independent young woman whose father (Dominic West), an eccentric adventurer, vanished when she was barely a teen. When forced to handle her father's global empire, she decides to leave everything she knows behind in search of her father's last-known destination, a mythical island somewhere off the coast of Japan. Needless to say, her mission won't be an easy one.

And needless to say, the plot is tremendously weak, unappealing and boring. It is filled with holes as big as moon craters, a pretty much useless father and daughter subplot, and basically, all that happens before Lara reaches the island is completely useless. There's also an intriguing twist at the end, but it falls flat completely.

The main character is just as dreadful and uninteresting. Lara Croft comes out only as a rich and spoiled child who is looking for daddy. She doesn't learn anything, she doesn't grow. Basically, nothing happens to her. It feels like the writers didn't care at all about the character, as if trying to make Lara Croft interesting was too hard, required too much effort. In a scene, she has pretty intense eye contact with another woman --they are basically eye-fucking. Sure, there's a gay twist everywhere nowadays but it could have made the character more interesting. Instead, they drop it and we never see that woman again. 

Warner Bros. Pictures

Vikander's performance is in line with the rest of the film. While her physical transformation is truly impressive as she gains a lot of muscle to fit the role, her performance is flat and wooden. She doesn't convey a single emotion. All she does is shout and groan, but she's terrible at those too. Frankly, I can't believe some "men" complained about her boobs being too small instead of complaining of all the above mentioned. 

The supporting characters too are one-dimensional, their motivations aren't really explained and make no sense whatsoever, which, of course, results in dreadful performances from the rest of the cast. Nick Frost makes a brief slightly funny appearance though. 

Tomb Raider doesn't work that well as a dumb action/adventure flick either. The action sequences aren't that exciting, the CGI is average --it is nice in the darker scenes but doesn't look very good in daylight--, and the sound isn't particularly good either --the volume was too loud in some scenes. The purpose was to add drama but it didn't happen.