Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton
Week of October 15, 2018
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Rated PG-13 for some sci-fi action and violence
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%
Available on Disc and Streaming
With the moderate success of Ant-Man, Marvel added a second feature, this time with his new side-kick and love interest The Wasp. Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly star as the titular team, along with Michael Douglas as the dad/boss as they go searching for The Wasp’s mother, and original Wasp, played by Michelle Pfeiffer. Her you get a healthy dose of back story and a somewhat fun adventure to bide your time in between the big Marvel tentpoles. As you’d expect, the film has some exciting and rather funny big set pieces with lots of humor and mild drama thrown in the gaps. Paul Rudd has always been the perfect choice for this role and any lack of substance is quickly made up with his charm and wit. And while I love Evangeline Lilly, her role here is too much the straight man, which is especially sad since the film is basically about her. The film just feels like a minor movie and definitely not quite the blockbuster type. But it did make an impressive amount of money at the box office and it has certainly won over a lot of fans, so they are obviously doing something right. B-
The Evil Dead 4K
Not Rated but would be strong R
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%
Available on Disc and Streaming
Just in time for Halloween is this 4K restoration of the classic 1981 horror film by Sam Raimi. The ultra low-budget film which started the franchise stars Bruce Campbell as he and classmates make an unplanned stopover gone wrong at an abandoned cabin in the woods. The film came to notoriety due to its humor mixed with gore, which later led to the sequels and television series which got even funnier and twistier over the years. The new 4k version looks and sounds as good as it can (it was originally shot on 16mm after all) but the fun and horror will bring back fond memories for some and maybe even find some new fans. Also available this week is the complete collection of the Ash vs Evil Dead series from Starz which furthers the adventures of Bruce Campbell’s character, Ash, as he attempts to save the world from the evil within. A-