Tim joined Jordana Green Tuesday to review the original series “Hawkeye” (Disney+) and “True Story” (Netflix) on the “Paul and Jordana” show on WCCO-AM. Click to listen below. The segment is brought to you by Michael Bryant and Bradshaw & Bryant.
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for “The KQ92 Morning Show” with Tom Barnard on KQRS-FM, “Paul and Jordana” with Paul Douglas and Jordana Green on WCCO Radio, “It Matters with Kelly Cordes” on WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “Let’s Talk Movies with Tim Lammers” with Tim Matthews on KRWC-AM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere, and reviews streaming programming on WCCO Radio’s “Paul and Jordana” as well. On TV, Tim has made hundreds of guest appearances on NBC affiliate KARE on the news program “KARE 11 News at 11”.
Tom Holland is back in his second webslinger solo film in “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” a very entertaining follow-up to “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and first chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe post-“Avengers: End Game.” Fans will almost instantly feel that the new “Spider-Man” movie is considerably lighter feels more comic book than the momentous “Avengers: Endgame” and its predecessor “Avengers: Infinity War.”
While “Endgame” bid farewell to some pivotal team members including Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), those team members, “Far From Home” reminds us that while they are gone, they’re definitely not forgotten. “Far From Home” picks up, naturally, after the events of “Endgame,” where “the blip,” as everyone is deeming it, brought back the half of humanity that Thanos destroyed with a snap of the fingers at the end of “Avengers: Infinity War.” Among those returning after five years in cosmic limbo is Peter (Holland), who came back in time to help defeat Thanos, but saw Tony sacrifice himself to destroy the omnipotent enemy and his dark forces.
AUDIO: Listen to Tim’s review of “Spider-Man: Far From Home” with Paul Douglas and Jordana Green on “The Paul and Jordana Show” on WCCO-AM. Segment brought to you by Mike Bryant and Bradshaw & Bryant.
Still struggling with the loss of Tony in “Far From Home,” Spider-Man learns that there are still threats in the world that need superheroes like him to defend. Peter, for the time being, though, would rather ignore those threats and enjoy a simpler life, and take a class trip to Europe instead so he can tell MJ (Zendaya) how he really feels about her. He even wants to leave his Spider-Man suit behind, but Aunt May (the always wonderful Marisa Tomei) makes sure that doesn’t happen and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), also feeling a huge hole left in his life by Tony, is just a phone call away.
Also reminding Peter that he has obligations is Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who purposefully interferes in the teen superhero’s plan to take on the destructive villains the Elementals, which appear to take shape of the natural elements to wreak havoc in different parts of the world. Fury has already joined forces with Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), a mysterious, crimson caped crusader from another dimension on Earth, who no doubt possesses strong capabilities, yet could use someone the caliber of Spider-Man to end the Elementals threats for good. While he reluctantly takes part with Mysterio in the battle against the Elementals’ Molten Man, Spider-Man realizes that he shouldn’t have been so lax in upholding the justice around the world the way he should have, especially since Tony willed him a powerful tech weapon that could spell disaster if it falls into the wrong hands.
If you’re steeped in the “Spider-Man” comic book lore, it shouldn’t surprise you that not everything is as it seems in “Spider-Man: Far From Home” – and to that end, the more familiar you are with the comic book franchise, the quicker you’ll catch on to which direction the film will go. On the flip side, if you’re a casual fan of the series not necessarily versed in the webslinger’s stable of characters, mostly what you see in “Far From Home” will seem status quo until some big reveals in the third act which catch you by surprise. Either way, serious and casual fans should be entertained just the same when all is said and done, it’s just that diehards have a slight advantage with their knowledge of the material going in.
“Spider-Man: Far From Home” is strong on all fronts, and while Holland is charming, Gyllenhaal is impressive as usual and Jackson is his usual, entertaining badass self, director Jon Watts can’t help but put the trio in the middle of explosive third act that’s loaded with all the CGI that the film can muster. That’s not to say the visuals aren’t incredible (they’re in fact, refreshingly trippy at some points as Spidey enters different dimensions), it just feels par for the course for a genre movie. There is a huge payoff, though, as a mid-credits scene already lays out Peter’s path for the next “Spider-Man” movie with a pair of huge surprises, to boot. After the credits, too, is another revealing scene that, while not as eventful as the mid-credits scene, gives us an inkling what other MCU characters are up to post-“Avengers: Endgame.”
Speaking of “Endgame,” while “Spider-Man: Far From Home” doesn’t come close to matching the greatness of its MCU predecessors (not that any solo MCU film could have – “Endgame” and “Infinity War” was a massive undertaking), it definitely has a life on its own and suggests that the franchise as a whole has healthy legs sans Downey moving forward. “Far From Home” reminds us that there’s still a home for Marvel superhero movies on the big screen, even though the direction of where exactly the franchise is going isn’t mapped out yet.
Lammometer: 8 (out of 10)
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for “The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
VIDEO: Tim reviews “Avengers: Endgame” with Adrienne Broaddus on “KARE 11 News at 11.”
“Avengers: End Game” (PG-13)
The end is here at last for the first sprawling saga in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with “Avengers: Endgame,” an exhilarating and emotionally charged wrap-up of the 22-film saga that began with Robert Downey Jr. and “Iron Man” in 2008.
Of those 21 previous MCU films, three involved the gathering of the Marvel’s mightiest superheroes to form the Avengers – lighter films that took a deathly serious turn with “Avengers: Infinity War” last year. In it, of course, the omnipotent villain Thanos acquired all six Infinity Stones, which together gave him the power to wipe out half the universe’s population with the snap of his fingers.
AUDIO: Hear Tim’s spoiler-free review of “Avengers: Endgame” with Tom Barnard on “The KQ Morning Show” on KQRS-FM.
Now, avoiding spoilers at all costs, it’s safe to say Earth looks holy hell in the wake of Thanos’ purging, and the surviving members have a choice to make: To cut their losses and embrace what little life has left for them — or take a risk and act on a couple glimmers of hope that emerge that will give them a chance to turn the tables on Thanos.
While “Avengers: End Game” is 3 hours and 1 minute long, it surprisingly doesn’t feel any longer than “Infinity War,” which was 2 hours and 29 minutes. The extensive run time allows for “Endgame” a more human story than we’ve seen from “The Avengers” before, and a much larger and yes, very complicated build-up to an inevitable showdown in the film’s third act.
The great thing about “Endgame “is that it doesn’t take the obvious route I thought the film would take assessing the ending of “Infinity War.” Instead, it goes with a much more challenging route, and despite the plot’s complexities, “Endgame” still manages to be extremely entertaining from an action and comedy standpoint before it packs some serious emotional wallop to wrap up the film.
Downey saves his best performance as Iron Man for last, shuttering his wise-ass, billionaire industrialist attitude to become a broken yet grateful man humbled by events of “Infinity War.” Instead, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) are the scene-stealers this time around from a comedic standpoint, surrounded by familiar faces from the “Avengers” films who keep the story in a proper balance. The film also includes an appearance, naturally, from Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), the latest MCU member who promises to lead future films in the franchise.
Despite the overly ambitious narrative that drives the film (that will no doubt challenge its audiences as they try to unpack it all), fans will no doubt be enamored by “Endgame.” True, some tough creative decisions were made to give this chapter of “The Avengers” some emotional weight, but in the end, they were necessary to serve the story; the culmination of one of the greatest superhero franchises of all time.
Lammometer: 8 (out of 10)
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
Following the grim ending of “Avengers: Infinity War,” Marvel Studios has lightened their cinematic universe considerably with the “Ant-Man” sequel “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” an insanely entertaining sequel to the 2015 hit that’s much different in tone and style to the studio’s early summer blockbuster. Once again starring the always hilarious Paul Rudd as Ant-Man and ass-kicking Evangeline Lilly as the Wasp, the film is fast, funny and has plenty of heart to win fans of the franchise over.
“Ant-Man and the Wasp” begins with Scott Lang (Rudd) under house arrest following his capture under the guise of Ant-Man in the big showdown during “Captain America: Civil War.” Since he went into the battle using Ant-Man’s suit without the knowledge of Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) or Hope van Dyne (Lilly), Scott’s arrest soured his relationship with the duo, which particularly stings because it put the Pym and his daughter on the run from federal agents. Making matters worse, the arrest caused a major rift in the romance between Scott and Hope, and from a professional point-of-view, Hope is miffed because she insists Scott wouldn’t have been busted during the events of “Civil War” had he asked his then-girlfriend – who since assumed the identity of the Wasp – to take part.
AUDIO: Listen to Tim’s review of “Ant-Man and the Wasp” on “The KQ Morning Show.”
The trio reunite, however, when Scott has what he thinks was a dream, but it turns out to be some sort of visual implant Hope’s long-lost mom and Hank’s wife, Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), put into the Scott’s head when he Ant-Man ventured into the Quantum Realm at the end of the last film. Gone for 30 years, the “antenna” Janet has placed in Scott’s mind is essentially providing a road map to where Hank and Hope can find her, but much to the chagrin of Hank, they need the help of one of his old rivals, Dr. Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne) to help get there.
But Hank and company aren’t the only ones who have an interest in the Quantum Realm: A shady, high-tech parts dealer, Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins) sees the mysterious inner space dimension as a gigantic business opportunity; while the literally unstable Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) needs the energy that Janet has amassed in the Quantum Realm if she is to avert certain death.
The third release from Marvel Studios this year, “Ant-Man and the Wasp” is much different in tone than “Black Panther” and “Infinity War.” Like the first “Ant-Man,” the sequel plays more like a caper and chase film, and while the stakes are high – Scott, Hank and Hope are essentially trying to save Janet’s life – the narrative doesn’t have world-ending implications like the carnage that consumed several of the Avengers and half the universe in “Infinity War.”
“Ant-Man and the Wasp,” as a result, arrives with a lighter mood, not only thanks to Rudd’s comedic gifts, but the amusing extra dynamic that Scott’s crew – Luis (Michael Pena), Kurt (David Dastmalchian) and Dave (Tip “T.I.” Harris) – bring to the film. Capitalizing on the hilarious dialogue and sight gag in the first film, director Peyton Reed ingeniously finds a way for Luis to spin another tremendous yarn (this time about how he met Scott), while Dastmalchian is given ample opportunity to show his comedy talents when gets to playfully demonstrate the nervous superstitions of his Russian hacker character.
Like “Ant-Man,” Reed once again has an expert handle on the direction of “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” achieving the rare feet of equally if not topping the original film with a perfect blend of action, dazzling special effects and humor. Most importantly, though, it has a relatable narrative that keys in on the importance of family from all aspects, whether through the ties that bind Hank, Janet, Hope and Scott together; as well as Scott and his daughter, Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson), and Scott and his fellow ex-con crew members.
Like previous Marvel films, fans need to make an appointment to stay until the very end (after the very inventive cast credits), where the separate narratives of “Infinity War” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp” come together. And while the future is uncertain for all The Avengers from here on out, but hopefully Marvel will find a way to bring back Ant-Man, the Wasp and everybody else in the film for a third solo movie, since “Ant-Man and the Wasp” once again proves that the best presents come in small packages.
Lammometer: 9 (out of 10)
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
