In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

[***1/2 stars / *****] 

Greedy oil industry craving for whale oil. Enlisted sailors. A ship sets out. Families bidden goodbye. Sails are set. Harpoons sharpened. 

Authoritative captain vs aspirant first mate. Grumbling crew. Days at sea. Two thousand barrels of oil to fill. Then a whale hammers into their lives...     

Based on a true story that inspired Moby Dick, the epic 1851 English novel by Herman Melville, Ron Howard's In the Heart of the Sea recounts horrifying events during an expedition undertaken on the American whaling ship Essex in 1820.

In the Heart of the Sea review 
The industrial revolution era, stone-faced businessmen, hapless sailors, killing at sea and catastrophic consequences are impressively recreated. 

In the Heart of the Sea does depict the events with sincerity, making some clever use of 3D. 

This is a good action adventure in parts, evocative moments are rare though.

There are no righteous heroes here. 

In desperate times, the protagonists take extreme measures to stay alive. That is not the grouse. 

Howard has championed survival tales before (Apollo 13).

In the Heart of the Sea is satisfyingly entertaining, but not in a thrilling, heart-wrenching way. 

The movie's quiet, intense understatement works in the Melville sections, but not in its core tale. 

In the Heart of the Sea is worth it for the power and scale of what it implies about human beings and their vain attempts to conquer nature.      

Sicario (2015)

[**1/2 stars / *****] 

Sicario should have been titled: EPIC ANTICIPATION. 

You wait for something big to happen, thanks to the terrific Jóhann Jóhannsson's background score, only for the promised drama flame out to insignificance.

The makers of this take on the Mexican drug trade can't figure out where to linger. 

So it sluggishly flows from FBI agent Kate's (Emily Blunt, nicely done, badly sketched as a central character) point of view, giving us a mitigated view of proceedings, adding brutality, loss, and revenge, the latter as an unconvincing twist. 

Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro are competent, but apart from sluggish atmospherics, there is not much to salvage here.   

One arresting part...

Picture a group of black SUV's moving relentlessly from the US to Mexico and back, with a prisoner in tow. 

Then, amidst a traffic snarl, gun-wielders from either side of the law, draw their weapons and wait.

This is the only time, apart from the first five minutes, and the unexpected finale, that Sicario comes alive. 

Ant-Man 3D (2015)

[*** stars / *****] 

The charming thing about Ant-Man is how not-so-serious it is in tone, the mumbo-jumbo, single-liners and attempts in humour are spot on at most times.

Scott Lang (Paul Rudd, great casting) is a skilled burglar who tends to return to crime, when nothing else works. His rotten luck finally changes when he is taken in by Dr.Hank Pym (Michael Douglas, welcome back) to take over his Ant-Man shrinking suit, much to the annoyance of Pym's daughter (Evangeline Lily, good act). 

Lang wants to spend time with his estranged little daughter and avoid prison-time, apart from earning enough. He hesitantly agrees to take on Pym's former protege Darren Cross (Corey Stoll, adequate), the latter having removed Pym from his own company. Cross is in verge of creating his own evil version of the suit and unleash chaos, much to Pym's outrage. 

Toned-down execution works 

Director Peyton Reed gets the tone right for a superhero barely the size of a human finger.The sci-fi base is also not heavy on the audience. Controlling, befriending ants and insects by commands is endearing as in Disney's Honey, I Shrunk the Kids! (1989). 

Size doesn't matter here 

The toy train sequence is a breeze, there are no serious damages inflicted here, no blood and gore, just a nice,witty replication of a comic series featuring a tiny hero. 

Those expecting mega fight scenes will be disappointed. I loved the change, frankly Marvel has been overdoing its big hero vs big villain showdown to drabness. 

It was refreshing to see the scale brought down. Ant-Man is not among the best Marvel superhero films, notably Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Ironman (2008), but it is certainly an entertaining, engaging little film.

Stealing Act 

Actor Micheal Pena does a great, rocking take in a delightful cameo as Luis, the fast-talking Latin criminal with an accent. 

The rest of the cast are aptly selected, they fit into the texture of the movie.

There are not enough awesome 3D moments here, watching it in 2D wouldn't hurt you.