The Mule (2018)

I admit I missed the first ten minutes. But I think I got the gist. Clint Eastwood plays Earl, an old man who was never there for his family. As a result, he is estranged from his family. His good driving record allows him to become a drug mule for the cartel. And no one ever suspects this crazy old gringo that's just trying to enjoy life. His family wasn't what gave him joy in his earlier years. And he realizes he was wrong. The movie is actually quite enjoyable. Clint Eastwood is intense. His acting is effortless; he basically variations of the same character in all of his later movies, but you suspect that's just him playing himself. He's not charming like Robert Redford, he's more stereotypical old white guy. Nonetheless, the story is engaging as we just wait in anxiety for the law (or the outlaws) to catch up to him.

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

It's fine. I liked it just fine. It's breezy fun but the plot is sort of thin. Paul Rudd's character is under house arrest due to external conflicts from Avengers: Civil War. The mid-credits scene alludes to the Avengers too. But the central conflict within the film has three sides, Ant-Man vs the ghost vs a common black market dealer. The dealer's presence in the film is seemingly insignificant in the grand scheme of thing. The ghost is a sympathetic villain. But by the time we get to the resolution of the plot, we see that the antagonism between them was moot. Paul Rudd is fun though.

Passengers (2016)

I was overall unimpressed by this movie. The coolest thing is the production design. There is a stunning anti-gravity scene in an infinity pool in space. The design of the bedrooms and the whole ship are imaginatively futuristic. The story is extremely unrealistic, even for a science fiction film. It is not believable at all. I know the tag line is "they woke up for a reason" but the reason is actually just not very compelling. The most interesting plot point is Chris Pratt's ethical dilemma. Though it does not actually fit into the "they woke up for a reason" motive of the film. This gap in the plot is inexcusable. This is not Jennifer Lawrence's best work. 

The Matrix (1999)

I saw this sci-fi classic for the first time on the plane. It is confusing at first but the philosophy is compelling. There are allusions to Plato's Allegory of the Cave in which the learned awaken the masses to reality. The Matrix is a simulated reality, an intricate computer program controlled by machines that we all live in. They create a whole world of mystery. I love the concept--it's mind blowing stuff. The production design is excellent (very computer-like) even if it looked a little dated, but it has been almost two decades. The bullet time effect is original and clever; I guess just seeing it in 2016 makes it look a little cheesy.  It is an action sci-fi movie and the fight sequences are filmed in an innovative way. The fight sequences are excellent, influenced by Hong Kong martial arts movies.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

There were very high expectations for this film, and I think it fell short. The first hour and a half of the movie is a total mess. It is a series of short vignettes (for an hour and a half!) of seemingly unrelated themes. It relies on you knowing the back story to draw connections between the vignettes on your own, but on the whole they do not really contribute to the overarching story in the film. Speaking of overarching story, there seems to be scenes missing or rather the movie simply skips over the explaining parts and just assumes that you know what's going on. My biggest qualm is that the movie removed these useful scenes, while keeping the useless ones that simply set up more sequels without resolution--such as that inexplicable dream sequence.

The music seemed a little stale. Hans Zimmer is usually a master of the superhero soundtrack. He rightfully recognized that this would be his last superhero movie, claiming that he has run out of ideas. His Man of Steel soundtrack was quite good. I think it might have worked better to have more "Man of Steel" music and less new stuff.

Ben Affleck plays a Batman that is fundamentally different from the Christian Bale Batman that we have come to know and adore. He really plays up the vigilante side of Batman--a back-to-basics of sorts. It is not a bad thing, just different. And I like that the Batcave is underneath Farnsworth House. Actually, more difficult for me was seeing Jeremy Irons as Alfred; for me Michael Caine will embody Alfred always. Wonder Woman was left very mysterious. There weren't really any answers and she appeared out of nowhere. If Gal Gadot's job was simply to be mysterious, then she did it well.

And if you were wondering why are Superman and Batman fighting then you were right to wonder. Don't let the super fans scold you for asking the right question. They shouldn't be fighting. They're on the same side.

And there were no extra scenes in the end credits! What kind of superhero movie is that?

I saw this movie at the historic Senator Theater in Baltimore. It is a gorgeous old movie house and it made the movie going experience well worth it.