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.

Ant-Man (2015)

Paul Rudd stars in this Marvel flick, which was actually quite funny. It is more traditional humor, unlike the riskier Deadpool. Quite frankly, I think Ant-Man works better. Michael Pena is hilarious as Rudd's sidekick. And Paul Rudd, as a comedian, is naturally funny and charming whereas sometimes you feel like Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool tries too hard. What is really great about this movie is that Ant-Man is human. He is not "super" like some other Marvel heroes. And as a human, he has human problems, family problems, mundane problems. This human element grounds the film in reality. The powers come from science, which though it is unrealistic, is hypothetically believable. It does not take itself too seriously, while not being a total joke like Deadpool. 

Jurassic World (2015)

The newest installment in the Jurassic Park series is a lot like the original. It is a solid movie, but lacks originality. It understandably introduces Jurassic Park to a younger generation unfamiliar with the original. But having seen Jurassic Park, this seemed a little too safe. Even the dinosaurs were not very imaginative. The whole premise of the movie is that the dinosaurs are genetically engineered. But they still look like dinosaurs the way we know them. Where's the creativity? I guess the Mosasaurus is kind of cool. The new, terrifying Indominus Rex looked almost indistinguishable from the T Rex to me. Spielberg's dinosaurs were so lifelike to begin with that the advancements in computer technology and special effects did not produce anything that really impressed me. The original animatronics were perhaps even scarier.

That being said, it is still a fun movie, if a little predictable. There is lots of action. I particularly liked the gyrosphere ride, that lets the park attendees roam among the dinosaurs in the safety of a hamster ball. It would make for an enjoyable real ride, and it is really cool. Chris Pratt is a very likable hero  even if just two years ago I would've never picked him for a hero-type. Michael Giacchino does a good job with the score, integrating John Williams's memorable themes into his own original music.