ANT-MAN AND THE WASP : QUANTUMANIA - Tuesday 21st February 2023.

I saw 'ANT-MAN AND THE WASP : QUANTUMANIA' this week, and this M-Rated American superhero film is based on the Marvel Comics characters of Scott Lang (aka Ant-Man) and Hope van Dyne (aka The Wasp) and is the direct sequel to 2015's 'Ant-Man' and 2018's 'Ant-Man and The Wasp', is the 31st entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the lunching film of Phase Five of the MCU. As with the two previous films, Peyton Reed returns as Director for this third instalment. The film saw its Premier screening in Los Angeles on the 6th February, before its worldwide release last week, having gained mixed Reviews from critics, although it has so far earned US$288M off the back of a production budget of US$200M, making it the third highest grossing film of 2023 so far. 

The film begins with the back story of Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) trapped for some thirty years in the Quantum Realm, where one day she encounters Kang (Jonathan Majors) an exiled traveller who crash lands his craft, and who explains that they can both escape from the Realm if she helps him repair the Multiversal Power Core that is necessary for him to leave and for Janet to return to Earth to be reunited with her daughter. After many attempts to repair it have failed they one day have success but as Janet plugs in the power core she sees a vision of Kang conquering and destroying entire timelines. Kang reveals he was exiled by his own variants out of fear, which leads Janet to turn on him. Outmatched, Janet uses her Pym Particles to enlarge the Power Core and therefore render it useless.

Back in the present day and following the Battle of Earth, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) has become a successful memoirist having penned a best selling autobiography titled 'Look Out For The Little Guy' which charts his adventures with The Avengers, and has been living happily with his girlfriend, Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly). Scott's now-teenage daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) has become a political activist, resulting in her doing jail time before being bailed out by her father. While visiting Hope's parents, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet, Cassie reveals that she has been working on a mechanism that can establish a link to the Quantum Realm. 

When demonstrating how the device works, Janet panics and shuts it down, but contact had already been established so opening up a portal which sucks Janet, Hank, Cassie, Hope and Scott down into the Quantum Realm. Scott and Cassie land together and are found by natives who are rebelling against their ruler, while Hope, Janet, and Hank land in close proximity elsewhere and set off to a sprawling city to find Scott and Cassie. 

Hope, Janet, and Hank meet with Lord Krylar (Bill Murray), a former close friend of Janet's, who explains that things have changed since she left, and that he now answers to Kang, who is now the Realm's ruler. The three are forced to flee and steal Krylar's ship. The Langs, meanwhile, are told by rebel leader Jentorra (Katy O'Brian) that Janet's involvement with Kang is indirectly responsible for his rise to power. The rebels soon come under attack by Kang's forces led by M.O.D.O.K. (Mechanised Organism Designed Only for Killing), who is revealed to be Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), having survived his apparent death at Scott's hands when he was unevenly shrunken to subatomic size in the Quantum Realm and became a mutated, cybernetically enhanced individual with an oversized head. 

Scott and Cassie are taken to Kang, who has them detained in cells. He demands that Scott helps get his power core back and restore it to its normal workable size or else he will kill Cassie. Scott is taken to the core's location and shrinks down. Once inside he is overwhelmed by a mass of variants of himself, but Hope arrives and helps him gain the power core and using several Pym Particles reduces it in size. Kang, surprise surprise, reneges on his deal with Scott, and captures Janet and destroys her ship with Hank on it. 

After being rescued by his ants, who were also pulled into the Quantum Realm, they evolved rapidly, and became hyper-intelligent, Hank helps Scott and Hope as they make their way to Kang, aided in vast numbers by an army of ants, and Scott who has grown to an enormous size that he towers over Kang's domain. Cassie rescues Jentorra and they begin an offensive uprising against Kang and his army. During the fight, Cassie convinces Cross to turn sides and fight Kang, though he sacrifices his own life in the process.

Janet is able to fix the power core as she, Hank, Hope, and Cassie jump through a portal home, but Kang appears before Scott is able to make the jump and attacks him nearly beating him into submission. Hope returns and, together with Scott, destroy the power core and knock Kang into it, causing him to be pulled into oblivion. Cassie reopens the portal at her end for Scott and Hope to return home. As Scott happily resumes his life, he begins to rethink what he was told about Kang's death being the start of something terrible happening, but quickly dismisses the notion as he joins the family to celebrate Cassie's unbirthday at a restaurant, making up for all her birthday's that Scott missed. Remember to remain in your seat for the customary mid-credits and end credits sequences. 

'Ant-Man and The Wasp : Quantumania' is everything you have come to expect from a big budget, big spectacle MCU offering, with its heavy handed use of CGI to build a world and all the fantastical creatures and structures contained within it, to its use of A-list acting talent to give the film gravitas, to the introduction of a new cosmic villain that we are likely to see across multiple MCU films into the future in Kang the Conqueror all wrapped up with Scott Lang's quirky and not too serious take on his world and his new found place as an Avenger. All of that said, there is so much seemingly endless spectacle on screen here, that at times it's difficult to keep track of exactly what is going on. The story is also pedestrian and predictable and the plot is thin on the ground and seems to serve no other purpose than to introduce us to a new super villain and establish the next phase of the MCU. However, at a lean 123 minutes running time it doesn't outstay its welcome.

'Ant-Man and The Wasp : Quantumania' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK : Tuesday 9th November 2021

I saw 'THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK' earlier this week at my local independent movie theatre, and this MA15+ Rated American crime drama story is Directed by Alan Taylor whose previous film making credits take in his debut 'Palookaville' in 1995, 'The Emperor's New Clothes' in 2001, 'Thor : The Dark World' in 2013 and 'Terminator : Genisys' in 2015. In the meantime he has also Directed multiple episodes of 'Homicide : Life on the Street', 'Sex and the City', 'The Sopranos' and 'Game of Thrones'. Co-Written by and based on characters created by David Chase this film serves as a prequel to Chase's HBO crime drama series 'The Sopranos', and takes place during the 1960's and '70's in Newark, New Jersey. The film has garnered largely positive critical acclaim, has so far recouped US$12M off the back of a US$50M production budget, saw its World Premier showcasing at the Tribeca Film Festival in late September and went to general release in the US on 1st October along with a month-long simultaneous release on HBO Max. 

In 1967 a young Tony Soprano (William Ludwig) is travelling with his uncle and mentor Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola) to greet Dickie's fathers 'Hollywood' Dick Moltisanti (Ray Liotta) off a cruise ship with his new young Italian bride in tow Giuseppina (Michela De Rossi). Moltisanti in a 'soldier' in the DiMeo crime family which comprises of Johnny Soprano (Jon Bernthal) and his brother Junior (Corey Stoll) amongst others. Over dinner later that evening with the newlyweds, Dickie and his wife Joanne (Gabriella Piazza), Dickie can hardly tear his eyes away from Giuseppina. 

A few days later a black taxi driver is unceremoniously dragged out of his cab and set upon by two uniformed white Police Officers which sparks the Newark riots of mid-July 1967. One of Dickie's black henchmen, Harold McBrayer (Leslie Odom Jnr.) takes part in the riots by throwing a molotov cocktail at a Police patrol car which erupts in a ball of flame. Harold kills a young black man, Leon Overall (Mason Bleu) stealing from their business, forcing him to escape the heat to North Carolina. Before leaving, he asks Dickie for a loan of US$1,000 saying that he will repay it, but instead Dickie gives him US$500 as a gift.

Later, at a carnival, Tony witnesses Johnny and Junior being arrested. Subsequently, Johnny is sentenced to four years in prison for assault with a deadly weapon. During an argument, Hollywood Dick kicks Giuseppina down a flight of stairs in their home. Dickie, in speaking with a downtrodden Giuseppina the next day finds out. He confronts his father later that night in the garage of their house, and an argument breaks out with the pair seated in the front of the car. The argument turns into a physical altercation where Dickie repeatedly slams his fathers head against the steering wheel in a fit of rage, accidentally killing him. He moves the body into the passenger seat and drives the vehicle through the riot torn streets to one of his father's businesses, douses the lifeless body and the building with petrol and sets it alight to make it look like it was destroyed in the riots. Wracked by guilt, Dickie visits his father's twin brother, Salvatore 'Sally' Moltisanti (Ray Liotta) who is serving a life sentence behind bars for the murder of another made man in his own family. Dickie's says he wants to do a 'good deed' hence his wanting to strike up a relationship with Sally, which his father had previously always forbidden. Dickie also starts a relationship with Giuseppina as his mistress. Meanwhile Tony has been suspended from school for starting up an illegal gambling operation, and so Dickie makes him swear a pinkie promise to do the right thing and follow the rules. 

We then fast forward four years to 1972, and Johnny is released from prison and Harold returns to Newark because the prosecuting Police Officer died and the case just dropped by the wayside. Harold starts up his own black-led criminal operation and begins by killing one of Dickie's men and stealing their protection money. Giuseppina has an affair with Harold after a fight with Dickie. Dickie and his crew locate one of Harold's crew, Cyril (Germar Terrell Gardner) in an auto repair shop late at night and torture him using an impact wrench to the mouth to gain the name of the man who ordered the hit, and then kill him. Before he died, Cyril blurted out Harold's name. In retaliation for Cyril's death, Harold and his gang engage in a drive-by shooting with Johnny's crew, during which one is killed. Harold and Dickie have a standoff, but they flee the scene when they hear Police sirens approaching.

After Tony (Michael Gandolfini) steals the answers for a school exam, the school counsellor tells Tony's mother, Livia (Vera Farmiga), that he has a high IQ and that on the Myers–Briggs scale he demonstrates the personality traits of a leader. The counsellor also tells Livia how Tony told her about a time in which his mother hugged him after his father was committed to prison and read to him from a book until he fell asleep and how it was one of his best memories ever. The next day, Livia tries to show her affection for Tony by cooking him up a burger for his dinner, but she mentions how her Doctor wanted to prescribe her antidepressants. When Tony suggests taking it, she retaliates against him. Tony subsequently asks Dickie if he could get the drug Elavil for his mother, but Dickie is reluctant.

Following the wake of Johnny's man who was shot and killed in the drive by shooting, Junior slips and falls on the rain soaked steps of the church. This results in Dickie laughing out loud uncontrollably in his face at his pain and suffering, so infuriating Junior. Dickie reconnects with Giuseppina and promises her a beauty parlour for her to run as a business joint venture between them but he acting as a silent partner and completely hands-off. This is her dream come true. During a walk on the beach, she confesses to her affair with Harold. Dickie is so besides himself with rage that he drowns her in the ocean. Dickie again visits Sally, who says that everyone close to Dickie ends up dead eventually. He goes on to say that the best Christmas present he could give to Tony, is to stay out of his life. Dickie listens to Sally's advice and begins to avoid Tony, refusing to see him or answer his calls. 

Later that night, one of Dickie's henchmen Silvio (John Magaro) encourages Dickie to reconcile with Tony, and Dickie relents and agrees to a catch-up at a local cafe the next morning at 9:00am, before the planned hit on Harold at 10:00am having learned where he is staying. However, before he can arrive home, Dickie is shot in the back of the head by an unknown assailant while unpacking Christmas gifts from the trunk of his car. Junior is seen later limping across the street to answer a ringing payphone. The voice at the other end simply says 'it's done' and hangs-up. The next morning at 9:00am Tony is waiting patiently at the cafe for Dickie to arrive, which of course he never does. At Dickie's wake, it is revealed that Dickie did acquire the Elavil for Tony, and had it in his pocket when he was killed. Tony looks despondently down at Dickie's corpse and imagines another pinkie promise with him, like the two had done all those years ago. Some time later, Harold has moved into a white neighbourhood, his organised crime operation reaping its rewards. 

For someone who has never seen a single episode of 'The Sopranos' I was neither wowed or disappointed by 'The Many Saints of Newark', but I was expecting more development of the young Tony Soprano and the experiences, influences, motivations and emotions that made him into the character that would become the leader of a criminal organisation. Instead what we get at the end is a young mid-teenage lad Tony Soprano, on the edge of adulthood, who could go either way - down the straight and narrow, or into a life of underworld crime - the jury is still out on that one, or maybe that was the whole intention! What we do get however, is a more intimate look inside the world of Tony's favourite Uncle Dickie Moltisanti, from his rise up the ranks as a result of the death/murder of his father, the murder of his mistress, the relationship with his fathers twin brother, his clashing with Harold, to his untimely death orchestrated by Junior with only fleeting glimpses of his influences over Tony. And how does Dickie explain away the death of his mistress, known to many of his cohort, who was last seen drifting away in the ocean? As a stand alone movie this works fine, but 'Goodfellas', 'The Godfather', 'The Irishman', 'Carlito's Way' or a whole host of other American mobster films you care to mention, this ain't. Perhaps as a three or four part mini-series this could have worked better with greater emphasis placed on the development of the young and impressionable Tony Soprano. The casting is however, spot on with special mention going to Alessandro Nivola, Ray Liotta and Michael Gandolfini who really carry the film through every scene. 

'The Many Saints of Newark' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

FIRST MAN : Tuesday 16th October 2018.

'FIRST MAN' which I saw at my local multiplex this week, is an American biographical drama film based on the 2005 book by James R. Hansen titled 'First Man : The Life of Neil A. Armstrong' and is Directed and Co-Produced by Oscar winner Damien Chazelle of 'Whiplash' and 'La La Land' fame. Made for US$65M the film saw its World Premier screening at the Venice International Film Festival back in August, and was subsequently screened at the Telluride Film Festival and then the Toronto International Film Festival in early September. The film went on general release in the US last week too having received generally widespread critical praise for Chazelle's Direction, the performances of Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy especially, the score and the cinematography. Box Office receipts so far amount to US$30M.

The film charts the riveting story of NASA’s mission to land a man on the moon by the time the clock ticks over into 1970, focusing on Neil Armstrong and the years 1961-1969. Launching (literally) in 1961, we see Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) struggling at the controls as a NASA test pilot of an X-15 experimental hypersonic rocket powered aircraft that was able to reach the edge of outer space, when after a moment of weightlessness the plane inadvertently bounces off the atmosphere. Even though he successfully manages to navigate the plane to a safe landing somewhere in the Mojave Desert, his superiors air their concerns about his recent spate of mishaps, and therefore choose to ground him. Meanwhile, his young daughter Karen, has a brain tumour, and is receiving cutting edge treatment. But despite this, Armstrong is distracted and pours over books, keeps copious notes on her symptoms, treatment and searches out some possible cure. But, before long Karen passes, and as any father would be, Armstrong is gutted.

Shortly afterwards Armstrong applies for Project Gemini (NASA's second human spaceflight programme) and is accepted, requiring Armstrong, his wife Janet (Claire Foy) and son Rick (Luke Winters) to move to Houston, together with a bunch of other astronauts chosen to take part in the Gemini Programme. Here he befriends Elliot See (Patrick Fugit) and Ed White (Jason Clarke) whilst under the watchful eye of Deke Slayton (Kyle Chandler) - NASA's first Chief of the Astronaut Office. Up to this point, them pesky Russians have eclipsed Uncle Sam in every aspect of the '60's Space Race, as so Slayton states in no uncertain terms the importance of Project Gemini as a precursor to the Apollo missions and the ultimate aim of putting a man on the moon by the close of the decade. Armstrong and the chosen handful of hopefuls are put through a rigorous training regime that tests them to the very limits of their endurance . . . and beyond.

Meanwhile, Janet gives birth to another son, Mark (Connor Blodgett). After the Ruskies notch up another first by performing an EVA (ExtraVehicular Activity - a spacewalk performed outside a craft orbiting the Earth), Armstrong is advised by Slayton that he has been chosen to be the Commander of Gemini 8 which would see the first docking of two spacecraft in orbit, with David Scott (Christoper Abbott) as his pilot. Armstrong and Scott successfully launch on Gemini 8 and dock as planned with the Agena Target Vehicle in space. After celebrating their success, things go rapidly pair shaped as the docked pairing of space craft begins to spin uncontrollably. Armstrong is able to successfully undock the two craft, but Gemini continues to spin at an ever increasing rate. After almost blacking out, Armstrong is able to bring the rapidly rotating craft under control and safely aborts the mission, saving their lives in the process. Janet, however, has had the privilege of listening in to their radio transmission is none too impressed with her husbands near death experience and promptly berates Slayton saying that they are all 'just a bunch of boys playing with balsa wood models . . .  you don't have anything under control'.

In due course Ed White announces that he has been selected for the Apollo 1 Mission together with Gus Grissom (Shea Whigham) and Roger Chaffee (Cory Michael Smith). During a launch simulation test on Apollo 1 on 27th January 1967, a fire inside the cabin and the resultant explosion takes the lives of White, Grissom and Chaffee. Armstrong meanwhile is representing NASA at a White House function, when he is interrupted by an urgent phone call from Slayton, advising him of this tragedy. A year or so later Armstrong is testing a Lunar Landing Research Vehicle and is nearly killed in the process, ejecting over a field and being dragged along the ground by his parachute, while the test vehicle crashes to the ground in a ball of flame.

Shortly afterwards Armstrong is advised by Slayton that he has been chosen to command the Apollo 11 Mission with a view to this culminating in a Moon landing. His crew will be Buzz Aldrin (Corey Stoll) and Michael Collins (Lukas Haas). Collins will pilot the command module Columbia alone in orbit while Armstrong and Aldrin are on the lunar surface. Shortly after, the three astronauts hold a Press Conference where Armstrong is particularly blunt and succinct in his answers to the gathered world press, leaving Aldrin to interject with more broader and lighthearted answers.

The night before the launch while Armstrong is needlessly busying himself with packing, Janet confronts him about the strong possibility that he won't survive the Mission, and steadfastly demands that he explains the risks to both Rick and Mark - his young sons. Armstrong is evasive and is clearly uncomfortable with such a confronting and potentially emotional conversation with his two boys, let alone his wife. After a brief conversation around the dinner table before the boys bedtime, Armstrong bids his boys farewell and kisses his wife goodbye, and departs for the Moon.

The day arrives, and Apollo 11 successfully launches, and within four days of flight touches down on the surface of the Moon on 20th July 1969. Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface six hours after landing on 21st July, with those immortal words 'one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind', with Aldrin joining him some twenty minutes later. After exploring the surface for some time, Armstrong walks over to a small crater and gently drops into it a bracelet that was his daughter's - forever leaving a memento to her memory on the surface of that far away place. Having spent the best part of whole day collecting samples, taking photographs, observing the Moon's surface, and going walkabout, the pair take off to rejoin Collins aboard the Columbia and head back to Earth landing in the North Pacific Ocean on the afternoon of 24th July 1969. The crew are placed in quarantine for a month. Janet visits Armstrong and through the glass panels of his temporary isolation, the pair share a quiet moment of contemplation, touching hands through the plate glass.

The film also stars Ciaran Hinds as Robert R. Gilruth - the first Director of NASA's Manned Spacecraft Centre and Pablo Schreiber as Jim Lovell, the backup Commander on Armstrong's Apollo 11 Mission.

Here, continuing with his run of Academy Award success, Damien Chazelle has crafted a nuanced film that will be surely worthy of some Oscar consideration come nomination season. Rather than the all too common chest beating and hero worship associated with such space age films, here 'First Man' paints a picture of a an everyday ordinary man pushed to extraordinary lengths in his quiet determination to be the first man on the Moon. In equal measure we see the emotion, the joy and the tragedy of Armstrong's every day family life coupled with the errors, flaws, accidents and incidents and the all too many deaths experienced by NASA and Armstrong's fellow astronaut colleagues during the course of those Gemini and Apollo Missions. Gosling gives a stoic and reserved performance as both the troubled and completely focused on his day job at the expense of his family Armstrong; while Foy more than ably supports as the no bullshit tell it as it is supportive, caring and understanding (to a point) wife. Chazelle's attention to detail throughout the film cannot be faulted, and his recreation of the era, the inner workings of NASA, and the failures and successes of the technology of the time really make this film. Concentrating on the '60's era only and the events leading up to the first Moon landing was Chazelle's choice and who can argue with that, but perhaps an insight into the reserved man post that heroic journey to go boldly where no man has gone before would have rounded out the film more completely. Nonetheless, certainly worth the price of your ticket, and you should see this on the big screen for sure.

'First Man' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard, out of a possible five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

GOLD : Tuesday 7th February 2017.

'GOLD' which I caught last week is Directed and Co-Written by Stephen Gaghan, Co-Produced and starring Matthew McConaughey and as the opening credits would indicated is inspired by true events. Those true events, are that of the biggest mining scandal of all time - associated with Bre-X Minerals Ltd., a Canadian based mining and exploration company in Calgary that was involved in a major gold mining scandal when it reported it had struck a significant gold deposit at Busang, Indonesia (Borneo). Bre-X purchased the Busang location in early 1993 and by late that same year had announced significant reserves of gold had been discovered, sending its stock price into the stratosphere. Originally a penny stock, its stock price reached a peak at C$286.50 in May 1996 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with a total market capitalisation of over C$6B. Bre-X Minerals collapsed in 1997 after the gold samples were found to be fake. This is that story derived from the Bre-X scandal for this drama adventure film, although for legal reasons the Producers deny any claim to a connection with these events, changing the names of the individuals, company's and decade in which they occurred for the purposes of our entertainment.

The film launches in 1981 with Kenny Wells (Matthew McConaughey) in the offices of clearly successful metals prospecting and mining company (Washoe Mining Corporation) owned by his father Kenny Wells (Craig T. Nelson), strategising about a suspected minerals deposit and whether or not to jump in headlong to its exploration. Kenny Senior gives Kenny Junior the thumbs up, and as dad gazes out of his office window Scotch Whisky in hand, so son beams a smile that says 'I love you dad'! Fast forward seven years, and Kenny Junior has inherited the company from his father who died back in 1981 and who built up the company from his Grandfather. But the economic downturn has seen the company land on hard times and now operating out of bar where Kenny's girlfriend, Kay (Bryce Dallas Howard) works. Kenny has also lost his home and resides with Kay, and the financiers whom Kenny courts for capital funding won't give him the time of day.

Down on his luck and quickly running out of money, one night Kenny has a whisky induced dream of hitting a substantial gold strike in some faraway verdant jungle. He digs out the business card of a once before met guru geologist who has an ability to sniff out precious metal deposits where no on else can, and so travels to Indonesia to meet with Michael Acosta (Edgar Ramirez). After an initial frosty meeting in which Acosta claims to have heard it all before from Kenny, the couple pair up and head up river. They then trudge through the lush jungle undergrowth until Acosta determines the spot where there's gold in them thar hills! With hired help in the form of the willing locals they set up a makeshift mining camp with a drill and begin to take core samples, sending the fruits of their findings off for testing. This goes on seemingly for months in the hot sun drenched tropical forest, with those core samples drawing up blanks time after time.

In between time Kenny returns home to the US to raise more funds to underpin their ongoing search for the elusive gold deposit, and then returns to join Acosta at the mine site. But samples, wages, infrastructure and the location all costs money and quickly their finances are slipping through their fingers. To make matters worse Kenny catches a dose of malaria and is holed up in his jungle home on a camp bed for weeks, while his local mining crew up sticks and leave because of non-payment of wages and doubtless various other gripes associated with their working conditions. Emerging from his malaria stupor seemingly recovered, he is greeted by the news from Acosta that they have struck gold, and it's on!

Meanwhile back on Wall Street, investment banker Brian Woolf (Corey Stoll) gets wind of this gold strike and hastily engineers a meeting with Kenny and Acosta at their plush city offices. Kenny refuses to succumb to the allure of instant wealth at the hands of the investment bank and commands that representatives from the bank travel to the deepest darkest Indonesian jungle to see their stake for themselves first hand. This they do, and whilst they don't witness any gold coming out of the ground, they do pan for nuggets in the river upstream, and strike it lucky - providing all the evidence needed to satisfy themselves that there is indeed gold in them thar hills! Soon afterwards there's an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange that sees the stock value in Washoe skyrocket on its opening day of trading and as a result Kenny and Acosta's fortunes are reversed overnight, and they become the darlings of Wall Street with investors falling over themselves to buy in on what is described as the 'biggest gold find of the decade'!

Against this back drop we have the ongoing romance between Kay and Kenny that hits hard times as Kenny's rise to riches and fame take hold, and Kay struggles to reconcile this with her simple life back home. It all goes pear shape at a lavish dinner held in their honour after the floating of their company, and Kay walks out on Kenny claiming that he cannot see that he is being taken for a ride by the Wall Street powerbrokers who all want a piece of the action and will take no prisoners in doing so.

Enter Mark Hancock (Bruce Greenwood) a gazillionaire mining company owner who with the help of Brian Woolf offers Kenny US$300M for his company, walk away, never worry about money again for yourself, your children and your children's children! Kenny declines the offer when he notices on the draft contract that Washoe's name doesn't appear anywhere, and nor does Kenny's or his 50/50 partner Acosta. Having unceremoniously turned down the offer, he heads for his own office where he receives an urgent telephone call from Acosta at the minestite saying that the Indonesian authorities have seized the camp, evacuated all the workers and revoked their license to mine. The share price plummets, and any wealth that Kenny and Acosta had is now all gone, in an instant, whereas 24 hours earlier they could have been richer to the tune of US$300M. Gee, life sucks!

At this point the FBI arrive on the scene and seize all company records and documents smelling the proverbial rat given the billions of dollars that have been lost by thousands of now very angry investors. Paul Jennings (Toby Kebbel) heads up the investigation interviewing Kenny overnight in his hotel room. Meanwhile, Kenny is awarded the golden pick axe - the highest accolade that can be bestowed upon any prospector/miner by the #1 industry magazine. He attends a lavish awards ceremony, collects his gong, makes a speech honouring his father and his grandfather before him, at which point Acosta slinks out of the room, never to be seen again except in flashback as Kenny recounts his story.

It seems that Acosta had a plan to gain back a stake in their mine by infiltrating President Suharto's estranged son. A deal that would give back the lion share to Indonesia with Kenny and Acosta retaining a 15% stake in their company, and a deal that would demonstrate to the President that his son could broker a good deal that was good for the Government, good for the country and good for them personally. When news of this deal hit Wall Street, the share price instantly rebounded. But when proper due diligence was conducted around the site the gold claim was found to be fraudulent and therefore in fact no gold deposits existed, and nor had there ever been. A fact known to Acosta who quickly dumped his shareholding for a cash windfall of US$164M, thanks very much. Kenny maintained his innocence throughout this and claims that he was also duped on a massive scale by his partner whom he trusted and whom he thought he knew, despite the evidence that the FBI confronted him with. Acosta returned to Indonesia and wound up very dead (allegedly) having 'jumped' out of a helicopter at a thousand feet, only to be eaten by wild pigs and discovered days later. In the final analysis Kenny is allowed to walk free absolved of any criminal intent and as broke as the day he started . . . although there is a silver lining!

McConaughey for his role transformed himself once again with a pot belly piling on 47lbs, balding comb over and crooked teeth demonstrating his commitment to his craft once more following his dramatic weight loss for 'The Dallas Buyers Club'. Here he dominates every scene with his larger than life, greed is good, shit or bust attitude to life. When he doesn't have a cigarette in his hand, he's downing a glass of Whisky whilst chewing up his lines and bringing real life grittiness to his character. But he overshadows all other players, including his number one guy and partner Edward Ramirez, and Bryce Dallas Howard as Kay is left wanting on the sidelines and under utilised, as is Toby Kebbel's investigative FBI Agent. The film for all its based on real life events, is an enjoyable caper portrayed by loveable rogues but the movie lacked any chemistry between the principle Actors and plodded along predictably playing out as one would expect from these couple of unlikely lads chasing their hopes and dreams and suffering the consequences as a result. Stacey Keach and Rachael Taylor also star.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

'ANT-MAN' : Monday 20th July 2015.

I like a Marvel film, and so I saw the latest offering in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the just released 'ANT-MAN' earlier this week. Introducing us to a not seen before comic book hero but referencing many a character from the MCU that we have come to know and love, this film stands alone from the eleven films that have gone before but ties in to those that we have so far followed, and it does so well. Made for US$130M and at the time of writing has brought in US$120M this film has been a long time in gestation having been in development since early 2006 when Edgar Wright was hired to write a script with Joe Cornish. Fast forward to late 2013 and the film went finally into pre-production with Edgar Wright Directing and Paul Rudd set to play Scott Lang (aka Ant-Man). By May 2014 Edgar Wright had left the Director's chair citing creative differences with the Studio. The next month Peyton Reed was introduced as the new Director, with Wright & Cornish still gaining a storyline and screenplay credit.

The film opens in 1989 when a young Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) quits S.H.I.E.L.D. as Howard Stark (John Slattery) makes attempts to replicate his Ant-Man shrinking technology for other means. Vowing to keep his technology a secret until his dying day we fast forward to the present day and Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), a former protege of Pym has forced him out of his own company with designs on finalising his own shrinking technology - and it seems that Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), Pym's estranged daughter, is part of Cross' grand plan to militarise the technology.

Meanwhile Scott Lang is about to be released from a stint in San Quentin prison where he served time for robbery. His ex-wife Maggie (Judy Greer) and young daughter now live with Paxton (Bobby Cannavale), a police officer, who are both reluctant to let Lang access to his daughter until he gets a home, gets a job, gets a life and gets the means to support his young daughter. Trying to get on the straight and narrow and leave his cat burgling life behind, after a string of failed jobs in his wake he agrees to a home robbery that should be an easy bust. But of course it's not, and this 'robbery' is in fact a set-up by Hank Pym to snare Lang for his own means, and whom he has been watching for sometime now. During the household heist however, Lang recovers what looks like an old motorcycle suit & helmet.

Back home, Lang out of curiosity tries on the suit, presses a few buttons and in an instant is shrunken to the size of an insect. What follows is a montage of a tiny Scott Lang battling all the elements of a suddenly very big world - getting trampled underfoot, washed down a drain, and other terrifying larger than life experiences that he would rather forget. These effects by the way are handled very well with just the right amount of humour to add levity to the action, and create a degree of realism to the new world that Lang is confronted with.

This in turn leads to Lang's introduction to Pym, at which he is given the low-down on the shrinking suit, the ins & outs of the technology, the do's and dont's of the outfit, and what it is that Pym wants of Lang. The bottom line is that Darren Cross is developing his own shrinking technology and is inching ever closer to perfecting the procedure. Cross has developed a 'yellowjacket' suit which he has weaponised and militarised and is seeking to sell to the highest bidder once his own technology is perfected . . . but for now Pym has the upper hand for a short while longer.

With a sequence of 'training' that is conducted by Pym's not so estranged daughter Hope, who is using her estrangement as a front to win the confidence of Darren Cross, we see the new Ant-Man put through his strength paces, his at will shrinking ability, and his control of the ant kingdom to use as necessary to thwart the enemy foe. When Lang is able to control his new found abilities and his ant colleagues at will, he is given his mission to infiltrate Cross HQ, overpower him, and prevent him from using the 'yellowjacket' suit, but Ant-Man is just too late, leading to the final showdown.

As Ant-Man and Yellowjacket collide in both large and small form with an impressive enough fight sequence coupled with some laugh out loud moments that largely take place around a Thomas the Tank Engine train track, it all comes down to survival of the fittest, fastest and smallest. As good conquers evil, the little guy kicks the big guys ass, and old tech beats new tech so all's well that ends well. As the credit's roll stay seated for the mid-credits scene that help sets up the next instalment and then stay seated until the end credits for The Avengers 'The Falcon' and 'Captain America' leading us into the upcoming 'The Avengers : Civil War' . . . maybe!

Ant-Man is a welcome addition to the Marvel big screen canon and is certainly worth the price of your ticket and worth catching on the big screen.

  

-Steve, at Odeon Online-