Despite my qualms I had with the first Venom film, I did have some high hopes with the upcoming sequel when I saw the first film’s post-credit scene.
While I have stated I am not an expert in comic book lore, I feel I know enough to know that Woody Harrelson would be the perfect actor to play the villainous Cletus Kasady/Carnage. Even with him added on to this universe, the result is still a basic run of the mill action packed CGI fest. It is a shame, since there are a decent amount of moments in Venom: Let there be Carnage that had me smiling almost like a symbiote invested entity would.
One of the key aspects of the clown prince of crime was that
we never really knew his backstory, which is why I was very hesitant (as I am
sure others also were) to here we would be getting an origin story on a
character that is possibly the greatest comic book villain ever (certainly the
most popular).
In a sort of preparation for Director Todd Phillips’ (known for R rated comedies like 2009’s The Hangover) new Joker film, I decided to revisit two films: one that was an inspiration to this current film and another that was one of the very first to galvanize the character in general. The former was Martin Scoresese’s 1976 classic Taxi Driver, about a man (played by Robert De Niro) who is basically shunned by the public despite wanting to “clean up” the garbage of the city. The second (and lesser known) was the 1928 silent german film The Man who Laughs, a story (from Victor Hugo) that tells about a man who has been surgically disfigured to always be smiling (I recently posted a picture of Conrad Veidt, the actor in the titular role, to social media, and I still got friends saying that it is eerie, even over nine decades later).
The film opens in Gotham, where we meet a struggling Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix). He works on the side as a clown, as he keeps his dream somewhat alive of trying to be a stand up comic, like his hero, talk show host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro). Arthur is indeed a kind man, but troubled to the core. We learn right away he has a certain disease (somewhat like tourettes) where he can’t stop laughing. It is clear that this laughter is desperately trying to hide unimaginable pain. Despite some nice co-workers, the only guiding light in Arthur’s life is his mother Penny (Frances Conroy), and the potential to go talk more with his crush in the apartment down the hall, single mother Sophie (Zazie Beetz).
The plot of the film is light and easy to follow, as Penny is trying to get Arthur to help her get a hold of her former boss, Thomas Wayne (Brett Cullen), who is currently running for Gotham Mayor. Yet the film is not about plot so much as it is about witnessing an tragic life event. In this case, it is the clear descent into madness that Arthur undertakes. The film will require more than one viewing, but the first viewing will undoubtedly be (as it was in my case) focused on one thing: the performance by Joaquin Phoenix.
The role of the Joker has been played by many actors over the years: Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Mark Hamill (voice only, but still brilliant), Heath Ledger, and Jared Leto. Of those, Ledger is the one who has probably had the most impact (he won a posthumous Oscar for the role he had in 2008’s The Dark Knight). It is a role that demands to have an actor who is has the ability to be give a chameleon effect in their approach, and make us realize that we are not watching an actor (think of actors like Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, and my personal favorite, Daniel Day-Lewis).
Phoenix also qualifies, and is simply astounding in this film. He even is given more work to do than Ledger had. Ledger’s Joker was already past the point of redemption, and was a sociopathic madman. When we first meet Phoenix, we can’t help but sympathize with him at times, as someone who has been shunned from society and left to the wolves.
Parents, this is not a movie for kids. While there is mild nudity (the joke book that Arthur keeps is filled with some cut outs of naked models from magazines), it more than makes up for it in the swearing and violence. That is not to mention the exuberant dark tone the film even after you left the theater. High School and above.
There is no clear cut answer to what type of mental issues that Fleck/Joker has (though it is safe to say there are many). The real question is how we react to someone with these issues. I am not trying to excuse the actions he exhibits, but trying to understand why he does them in the first place. At the core of it all, Arthur just wants some guidance, a soul to connect with (Sophie is one example). When we push those who are “different” from us away, it damages them in ways we can’t imagine.
Most of the scenes do work, but some that fail (not sure we needed another rendition of the outcome of Bruce’s parents). One that caught me off guard was when Fleck goes to try and talk to Thomas Wayne, and encounters his young son Bruce (Dante Pereira-Olson). The jury is still out for me on this scene, but I would be lying if I said it did not give me goosebumps. I am sure there are a lot of people who will find this movie to speak out to them in some political way, but I was not looking at that. I was simply watching what happens when we forget to love our neighbor.
When compared to Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Waspseems like a step back to for us to catch our breath. It is not as good as the previously mentioned films, but it is still another hit for the titan Marvel team (and an improvement from the first film back in 2015).
It is such an improvement that I am willing to sit through the original again to make sure I did not miss anything (I was not a fan). It is required to see before hand, as Ant-Man and the Wasp is one of those sequels where you will be too confused going into without prior knowledge. We pick up a few years after Ant-Man/Scott Lang (Paul Rudd, who is ideally cast) had helped in Civil War. He is on house arrest, but is still able to spend some time with his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson). Lang is only a few days away from getting rid of the ankle bracelet before he is kidnapped by Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly), now known as the Wasp. Once it is discovered that Scott had a dream linked to Hank’s long-lost wife Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer), there is the possibility of bringing her back.
Other characters return such as Scott’s ex-wife Maggie (Judy Greer) and her new hubby Paxton (Bobby Cannavale), who no longer hate Scott. There is also the return of Scott’s friend Luis (Michael Pena), who gets more into the action scenes than before.
The new characters include Hank’s old work associate/rival Dr. Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne) with his own hidden agendas, and the mysterious Ava (Hannah John-Kamen), also known as Ghost. While she is not the most memorable villain, she does become more than a match for the two title heroes. There is also Walton Goggins as Sonny, a mob man after Pym’s lab (Ghost is as well, but for other reasons).
I forgot to mention about the lab. By now, we know Hank has made the technology to change the size of any object, and his lab is no exception. How convenient it is to just carry literally not only your work, but the location as well wherever you want! He also has a collection of cars he can pick from to drive at his leisure (now that I think of it, he should have had a tank, but oh well).
The movie clearly has a lot of laugh out loud moments (most of which go to Rudd, but everyone has their fair share). Some of the moments, however, are the negative reactions I felt. The main includes Michael Pena (who is undoubtably talented). While he has many scenes with laughs, it is his one that involves “truth serum” that stretches beyond the breaking point.
Director Peyton Reed clearly knows how to meld the action with the comedy (such as the scene where Ant-Man and Wasp need to get a memento from Cassie while she is in school). We hardly think of things like special effects when they happen, because they are so good we are left only to care for the characters, which is what we should do in the first place.
Parents, as stated before, this is a much lighter movie than other Marvel films. There is swearing, action, and some kissing (one scene of extreme making out), but that is it. Middle school and above are totally fine, and even maybe down to age seven or eight.
I end by saying how Marvel movies never get enough credit for their casting choices. Very few (if any) of the casting choices have been wrong for Marvel in the past ten years (who would have thought replacing an actor like Edward Norton with Mark Ruffalo would be the better move?!) In this film, we get the sense of how much fun it was for the elder Pym’s to have been the original Ant-Man and Wasp (obviously, due to thespians like Douglas and Pfieffer). Add in Rudd, Lilly, and the others I won’t mention in the other films, and you see only a glimpse of why this universe has been so dominate, and will continue to do so.
Marvel is now just one or two movies away from me actually picking up a comic.
The Thor trilogy ends, as the other two trilogies Marvel has provided (Iron Man and Captain America) ended, with a blast. Thor: Ragnarok is not only the best Thor movie, but one of the top four or five best Marvel has ever given us to date.
Nothing else to say 