A Quiet Place Is The Years Most Breakthrough Horror Flick

      In a year where the most dominating movies at the box office happen to all be comic book films, it's nice to see a smaller budget film that's ambitious and totally confident in it's storytelling abilities breakout and become a success of its own both commercially and exceeding expectations in terms of how good it can be. A Quiet Place happens to be one of the years breakthrough hits and is sure to end up being one of 2018's greatest success when the year draws to a close. Easily the most successful horror film since last years IT, A Quiet Place is a horror flick that not only is entertaining to watch but surprises on many levels with how well done and crafted it is. It's nice to see a horror film come around that exercises both brilliance and creativity while showing an actors true talent both as the star of the film as well as being the director  and co-scriptwriter with John Krasinski hitting a home run with A Quiet Place.

      A Quiet Place is a horror film that's exciting from start go finish while moving at a brisk pace while allowing you to be drawn into the films nightmarish world while becoming emotionally invested in it's characters. A Quiet Place is a combination of films such as 10 Cloverfield Lane mixed with a touch of Signs mixed with The Road with all three influences morphing into it's own story that deserves major points for creativity, imagination, brilliance, cleverness, and ultimately managing to be surprising to the audience with it's twist and turns. The story for A Quiet Place takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where a family is forced to live in silence while hiding from monsters with ultra-sensitive hearing. The concept of a creature with extra special hearing searching for people while forcing them to use sigh language to communicate is both an original and genius concept that actually manages to bring something new to the horror genre. While it can be argued that the post-apocalyptic aspect of the story is a tad familiar to audiences as it's been done before with numerous other movies, A Quiet Place takes an already familiar setting yet delivers an engaging twist to the genre while allowing it's cast and filmmakers to rise to the occasion with their creative skills. John Krasinski shows audiences that there is much more to him than just a comedic actor and can actually craft a striking horror film that makes the audience think while placing them in the scenario presented in the story.

      As far as performances go, Krasinski is terrific here as he shows a great deal of emotional depth to his role as a father both dealing with grief while trying to protect his family from the outside forces pursuing them. Emily Blunt is terrific in the role of the wife and mother also dealing with grief and struggling to keep her family together while dealing with her pregnancy. The young child actors deliver strong performances bringing both believability to their roles while making you care about their safety during scenes where they come into contact with the creature. The films opening sequence beautifully sets up the tone for the rest of the film establishing the post-apocalyptic nature of the story as well as the silent family sticking together while being forced to communicate through sigh language, and the opening sequence ending with a shocking revelation that commands the audiences attention by the time the main title appears.

       In terms of writing and directing, John Kransinski writes the film beautifully in a way where not too much information is given about the backstory of the family nor what's happening, he gives the audience just enough information through news clippings and selected dialogue to make everything clear while forcing the audience to never take their eyes off the screen when the actors communicate through silent language. Such a move would normally prove to be a risky one by Hollywood's standards but here it's presented in a way that it's essential to the storyline and is done exceptionally well showcasing brilliance on the filmmakers end as well as their firm grip on the story. The films Cinematography and Art-Set Decoration is effective enough to convince the audience that the world their seeing has been overrun by monsters with enhanced hearing making the scenario both frightening and never tiresome to watch. The best thing that can be said about this film outside of it's stellar performances and solid production values, is the level of brains and intelligence that was poured into telling this story. What could've easily ended up being another generic horror film or been there and done that post-apocalyptic tale turns out to be that of a pleasant surprise that shows the horror genre still has some tricks up it's sleeve while being inspirational to other filmmakers in showing that creativity is not fully absent just yet.

       In an era where most breakthrough films or blockbusters are normally sequels, comic book movies, and franchises, it's nice to see a film with a reasonably creative concept with a healthy dose of originality take the center stage in showing that there is still room for smaller stories that can have a significant impact on it's audience long after the credits roll. Despite the movie being only 90 mins, the film does a very good job of pulling the audience into this world and bringing them along the journey this helpless family endures while making them become invested with them while generating some solid squares and suspense. The creatures intelligent feature is a clever twist with the family forced into being silent proving to be an ingenius twist that is done exceptionally well. A Quiet Place is a horror take that's beautifully written, directed, and acted in a way that makes it feel artfully done. Whereas most horror movies in today's generation rely on jump scares and gore, A Quiet Place shows that you don't need those elements to make a movie scary and sometimes the silence of the moment can genuinely be just as creepy or more. The film is a triumph in the sense that it successfully manages to make the audience care about the characters while making the story both tense and exciting to audiences despite the lack of dialogue. Easily one of the years best films thus far and could actually be good enough to warrant some attention come awards time. For horror fans and audiences, it's the films originality and level of thoughtfulness that went into making it that makes it a unique yet special experience for them. Hopefully the talent that John Kransinski brings to the table with this film both infront and behind the camera will encourage other actors and filmmakers you would least expect to test and discover their own potential.

                                                                                                                     Final Verdict: See It

     

Ant Man And The Wasp Is The Much Needed Dessert After Infinity War

For Marvel fans as well as the studio itself, 2018 has proven to be both a groundbreaking and defining year for the MCU as the universe has reached it's full ten years of functioning. With it's tenth year currently two thirds finished, the results have been nothing short of phenomenal with Marvel's Black Panther scoring both critical and box office success and Infinity War becoming the most successful Avengers film to date while also marking a massive improvement over Age Of Ultron. With Last years Spiderman Homecoming and Thor: Ragnarock proving to be giant hits along with Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, the expectation is there for Ant- Man And The Wasp to deliver a similar splash with audiences both in terms of box office success while living up to the standards set by Marvel's recent phase of movies quality wise. Having seen Ant-Man And The Wasp, one can safely say that the sequel to the 2015 smash hit doesn't disappoint but it also doesn't reach the cinematic heights of the previous Marvel films released earlier this year.

      Ant-Man And The Wasp is a solid sequel to the first film that feels like it carries much more freedom with it in regards to creativity and also serves to be a lighter and more colorful Marvel film that what was dished out to audiences earlier this year with Black Panther despite being awesome, dives into important social themes and Infinity War carrying an Empire Strikes Back feel to it with an insane climax. For those who were still recovering from the latter films closing sequence, Ant- Man And The Wasp was the appropriate antidote needed to help recover from the shock of that film's revelation. The plot for Ant-Man And The Wasp centers around the character of Scott Lang played by Paul Rudd, find himself balancing two different lives with the first being a Super Hero with the other being a father figure. He soon finds himself being presented with an urgent new mission by Hope Van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym, that places the Ant-Man teaming up with the Wasp to uncover secrets from their past. Much like the first Ant-Man which was enjoyable though not thought-provoking nor deep in regards to carrying social themes, the sequel retains the same kind of lightheartedness the previous film had while carrying with it a Honey I Shrunk The Kids feel to it. Both films are hands down a joy to watch on the big screen with them both being solid yet light entries in the expanding Marvel universe with the films mainly working thanks to the strong writing which also includes Paul Rudd's input as a screenwriter much like Ryan Reynolds with Deadpool, and the easygoing chemistry that the films main cast shares.

      As far as the casting goes, Ant-Man thrives off the performances of it's main leads with Paul Rudd once again proving to be the perfect choice for the title role with him blending both comedy and heart with his performance with perfect comedic timing. Evangeline Levy does a solid job playing Hope Van Dyne with Michael Douglas turning in a strong performance as her father Hank. Michael Pena once again shines in his supporting role as well as Michelle Pfeiffer as Hopes long lost mother and Hanks wife. What makes the cast work so well in this film is the fact that they all share charisma together. Rudd and Lily make a perfect superhero duo and love interests with Hannah John-Kamen shining in her supporting role along with Walton Goggins as the films antagonists. It also helps that the films source material allows for the actors and actresses to have fun playing their parts as the audience can clearly see and feel the energy that is poured onto the screen from the performances.

       The scriptwriting by Gabriel Ferrari, Andrew Barrer, and Erik Sommer works effectively in regards to the films main plot being fun-spirited and never taking itself too seriously. Given the emotional investment that audiences had with Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, perhaps its refreshing that the MCU has a film that is all heart and is made with the intention of just being playful for the fans with no emotional ties required. The film mainly consists of laughs and impressive action sequences requiring impressive CGI surrounded by the effects of Paul Rudd's characters suit that allows him to both shrink and double in size. As far as the films technical aspects go, the visuals once again dazzle which is the expected norm when dealing with an MCU film with the Cinematography giving it the look of a comic book movie brought to life. The makeup effects are often quite impressive particularly when Michael Douglas character is shown to look much younger for key flashback sequences.

       Perhaps the fact that both this film and Ant-Man are too lighthearted for the MCU given their recent movies have delved into deeper themes, is ultimately a factor that works against them as these films while being a great deal of fun as well as harmless, don't have the same kind of impact the recent Marvel films have on audiences. Despite that shortcoming, the first Ant-Man as well as Ant-Man And The Wasp work great together as their own story within the MCU. Perhaps alittle fun for the fans was needed after being taken on an emotional journey with the previous films that stayed with the audience long after the credits finish rolling. If one was to look at Ant-Man And The Wasp through those lens, it could very well be described as being the sweetest dessert for the audience after enduring Infinity War. It was the palate cleanser the MCU needed to make it's fans laugh and be hopeful again after what they experienced with the previous two films. Perhaps with the scope of the MCU universe, Ant-Man And The Wasp being just a simple superhero movie with funny laughs and solid action sequences may seem like a step back given how much more mature and serious the universe has come with incorporating serious themes into it's stories, but given the wild ride that Marvel has put it's fanbase through as well as the general moviegoing audience, one cannot help but feel Ant-Man And The Wasp was necessary in order to change up the current flavor. As a sequel to the original, it's solid and holds it's own as being just as good as the original, however much like that film, it doesn't go beyond both movies amounting to just being fun experiences with the occasional nod to the rest of the MCU.

                                                                                                      Final Verdict: See IT