Ant-Man (Peyton Reed)

[Henry Gale]

IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478970/) / Wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant-Man_%28film%29)

http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20150611210640/disney/images/2/2f/Ant-Man_Russian_Poster.jpg

[Henry Gale]

It's good!

The first two thirds hit me as being a bit on the wobbly side, making me feel like it was on track to being the weakest MCU movie since the first Captain America (though Reed's / Rudd's / Wright's still feeling more singularly designed) or a whimper of an end to Phase 2, as passingly enjoyable as it still found itself being. Not a ton of the jokes landed for me, the mythology was a bit sloppy, the characters ranged from cartoonish to just generally boringly vague, and there really isn't much in the way of spectacle beyond the early heist or when he begins to experiment with the suit. It plays like a pilot for a series that you expect to get really good towards its first season finale. BUT THEN, that last section of the movie when everything kicks into high-gear and it all comes together for one big, long, increasingly-evolving setpiece (or a three-parter of one by the end of it, really), it does become the best version of that sort of build-up in need of a payoff, and is just a massive, genuinely awesome blast of action entertainment. It's such a different structure from most Hollywood blockbusters. Instead of sprinkling action in every 15-20 minutes out of genre obligation, it kinda holds back and saves it all for the end, all in a row.

I could nitpick it a bunch once certain specifics of it become more common knowledge (and you can almost hear ghosts of the arguments between Wright and Feige under the audio mix as all the huge and fairly distracting Avengers-tie-in scenes pop up), but as it is, and as an otherwise relatively refreshingly standalone film in what these movies now inherently are (or feel the need to be), it's just really solid fun, though again, a little more towards the end than the start.

*** / 7.0

[Dukefrukem]

Thanks Henry. Seeing it in 11 hours.

[Dukefrukem]

It is good. It's my favorite Marvel stand alone, non-sequel, non-Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Though the whole time I was watching I couldn't help think how much better it may be with Wright. Just that extra comedic polish- the stuff he would think of on set after the first take. It's word for word Wright and that shines pretty well. The training scenes "that was a lot scarier 5 seconds ago" was fantastic. Like Henry said, it takes a bit to get going but the stakes are there, the Avengers tie-in is subtle, and the movie ends on the best drop the mic line in the franchise.

I'm loving what CGI can do to make people look younger. The young Hank Pym and the beginning of the movie looked just like Michael Douglas in the Game.

Really crappy after credits scene. Are they just giving up on those now?

[Ezee E]

I like that Paul Rudd didn't shy away from Mac and Me on Conan.

[number8]

What was wrong with the after credits scene? I thought it was a pretty good Civil War tease. Although it's odd that they reversed it from the usual pattern of having the mid-credits scene be about the next movie hype and the post-credits be just a little thing.

[Henry Gale]

What was wrong with the after credits scene? I thought it was a pretty good Civil War tease. Although it's odd that they reversed it from the usual pattern of having the mid-credits scene be about the next movie hype and the post-credits be just a little thing.

Yeah, I feel like in this case the first one was too significant and prevalent to the movie at hand and to that role in the coming future to risk pushing until the very end. The post-credit one will likely just show up with a different line and edit or two in Civil War (similar to the Iron Man 2 tease of Thor).

[TGM]

the Avengers tie-in is subtle,

Subtle? When he first learns of the mission, he flat out says they should contact the Avengers. They make direct references to the events of Age of Ultron, as well as Hank's history with the Starks, and he straight up infiltrates Avengers HQ and has a one on one fight against the Falcon, all leading to that "drop the mic" closer you mention. How the hell is ANY of that subtle?

Look at Daredevil for an example of subtle Avengers references. This one rams you in the face repeatedly with 'em.

As for me, I left the theater thinking that they should just retcon this mediocre crap and give Edgar Wright his damn movie back. It's been a disappoiting year for Marvel flicks, and this is definitely lower tier stuff. The inspired "sub-atomic" scene near the end is the ONLY thing in the whole movie that really works for me, and that keep this movie from attaining Jurassic World levels of depressing mediocrity.

[Watashi]

Even when Marvel goes small, it still feels insignificant. The Avengers tie-in were fan baiting at its worst. The supporting cast aside from Pena is a joke. Lily's Hope is built as this badass who teaches Pym how to fight but just gets sidelined to do nothing but to wait for a kiss at the end.

Outside of Guardians which stands-alone from the Marvel brand-name, I've grown fatigued of this series of build-ups and tie-ins.

[Dukefrukem]

What was wrong with the after credits scene? I thought it was a pretty good Civil War tease. Although it's odd that they reversed it from the usual pattern of having the mid-credits scene be about the next movie hype and the post-credits be just a little thing.

What about that was a Civil War tease?

[number8]

What about that was a Civil War tease?

The scene seems to take place during Civil War, with Falcon saying it would have been easier if they had found Bucky "a week ago," and Captain America saying he doesn't want Tony to know.

[Dukefrukem]

Oh shit. Were the after credits and mid-credits scene switched around for you?

The mid-credit scene for me was just them teasing Red Queen so I didn't even bother staying for the after credits scene. (because of the reason you said, the tie-in scenes are usually the mid-credit scene now and the after credits scene is just a little thing)

But seems I f@@ked up on that decision.

Edit: nevermind about the switching. Just figured it out and looks like they are putting the important scenes at the end again.

[Ezee E]

Still haven't seen Avengers 2

[number8]

Some spoilery thoughts:

- A lot of echoes of the first Iron Man, with its industrialist espionage angle and a simply money-greedy villain. It's also the first Marvel movie since that one that isn't about directly intervening in a world domination plot, which is a sorely needed entry with this franchise. Whereas GOTG went for a standalone feel, this one feels more like a B-story to the big Avengers narrative, and that's fun for me. I want to get to a place where a scene like the fight with the Falcon is no longer used to build up the next big thing, but rather just incidents that happen in this universe. You run into other heroes and it doesn't have to be for plot reasons, no biggie.

- Are we making Hayley Atwell the new Samuel L. Jackson? Because I am perfectly okay with this. I like that they brought John Slattery back instead of just retconning him out by slapping old man make-up on Dominic Cooper.

- There wasn't as many Honey I Shrunk the Superhero gags as I would like. The first-time shrinking, Thomas the Tank Engine, and the fight inside a briefcase are all fantastic, but all these times he shrunk, it's just go-go-go-go with not enough fun interactions like the iPhone moment. I was disappointed that they introduced a model building ("What is this, a tech company for ants?!") and just had it be a typical exploding/shootout scene rather than, I dunno, have him walk around inside and do things.

- Paul Rudd's performance is really muted. I feel like he typically reins himself in when he's a lead, and really shines when he's in an ensemble. So I have an inkling that Ant-Man might be more memorable in Civil War than in his own movie. His delivery of the jokes is mostly deadpan and worth a chuckle at best, and the only one instance that felt charming was the "I'm gonna make some tea" line.

- It's very hard not to be wishful of the Edgar Wright version when a lot of his tendencies got baked into the script they used and remained (such as Michael Pena's convoluted storytelling).

- Michael Pena. Awesome.

- Who the hell only keeps photos of their dead wife/mother with her face obscured? What a weirdo.

- The "Jupiter and Beyond" moment in the quantum realm is pretty awesome. Because Pym said it bends time and space, I thought Scott was gonna have a Matthew McConaughey moment watching his daughter and what he did wrong in the past. I remember Kevin Feige saying that the visual style there is gonna be what most of Doctor Strange is like. I hope that's not entirely bullshit.

- The Spider-Man tease at the end should have been the Stan Lee cameo.

[Dukefrukem]

Some spoilery thoughts:


- It's very hard not to be wishful of the Edgar Wright version when a lot of his tendencies got baked into the script they used and remained (such as Michael Pena's convoluted storytelling).

- Michael Pena. Awesome.

So yes. Great example of this moving missing Wright.


Some spoilery thoughts:
- Who the hell only keeps photos of their dead wife/mother with her face obscured? What a weirdo.

Heh I noticed this too- They leave it open in case they want to cast the Wasp later, but no one would have a framed photo like that.


Some spoilery thoughts:

- The Spider-Man tease at the end should have been the Stan Lee cameo.

Loved this too. They also mentioned two others I think? Who were they referring to? "Someone who walks on the wall, someone who... blah blah blah" I can't remember.

[number8]

"We got someone who jumps, someone who swings, someone who crawls up walls."

They're all Spider-Man.

[Skitch]

Still haven't seen Avengers 2

Me either.

[Pop Trash]

Still haven't seen Avengers 2

Don't bother.

[Peng]

Based on the director's resume, this has way better action and use of special effects than I expected (and great use of humor sprinkled through them; that ping-pong bat scene about killed me). But I dunno, outsides of those scenes, this feels seriously off for me. It's like they didn't rewrite enough when Wright left the project; the deadpan humor, storytelling, and character quirks still bear his influence a lot, but since it's not Wright himself directing it, this leads to dead air and a feeling of indifference towards the plotting and characters' conflicts often (the only thing leftover that works great is those quick-cut gags, thanks in half to Pena).

It's weird watching this, since however varied the quality of Marvel films have been in the past, the consistent throughline for each of them (maybe muted in Incredible Hulk quite a bit) has always been the protagonist's side, with their easy chemistry and engaging dynamics/characterization. Which I feel is off here from having two directors' styles clashing with each other.

[Peng]

The Avengers
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Iron Man
Guardians of the Galaxy
Thor
Iron Man 3
Iron Man 2
The Incredible Hulk
Captain America: The First Avenger
Thor: The Dark World
Ant-Man


This coming last just reflects how much of it feels off to me. But I suspect most would at least prefer it to Thor 2. I myself would call it almost a wash-out: nothing as sleep-inducing as Thor 2's exposition-fest first half, but nothing as delightfully madcap as that one's third act either.

[TGM]

Guardians of the Galaxy
Iron Man 3
The Avengers
Thor: The Dark World
Captain America: The First Avenger
Iron Man
The Incredible Hulk
Thor
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Ant-Man
Iron Man 2

[Dukefrukem]

Last? No damn way.


1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
2. The Avengers
3. Avengers: Age of Ultron
4. Guardians of the Galaxy
5. Ant-Man (will probably drop to 6 after it sinks in)
6. Iron Man
7. Iron Man 3
8. Thor
9. Captain America: The First Avenger
10. The Incredible Hulk
11. Iron Man 2
12. Thor: The Dark World

[Irish]

Damn, Peng. Saying this is worse than Dark World is brutal criticism around these parts. :D

[Peng]

I know, and I still feel like I'm not quite reasonable myself. On paper this sounds really refreshing in how scaled down it is, in term of both plot and destruction, and it has a clear plot progression uninterrupted by large chunks of CGI (and what CGI there is, it's used rather inventively). The execution is just off for me for the large part though, like how soap-opera-ish the Pym family conflict is established and resolved.

Mind you, coming last doesn't mean I think it's awful, since I'm generally rather entertained by Marvel films. On my scale this would be 6/10 (same I would give Thor 2).

[Dukefrukem]

The execution is just off for me for the large part though, like how soap-opera-ish the Pym family conflict is established and resolved.

This is a legitimate gripe.

[Wryan]

I liked it better than Guardians. It's got cute crawling out of every crevice. I liked the size/ant sequences a lot and Pena just as much. Stoll is good and hammy/twitchy. Rest is easygoing. Last 20-25 minutes is just tons of fun.

[Skitch]

It's got cute crawling out of every crevice.

This better be the quote on the dvd cover.

[[ETM]]

Yeah, we really enjoyed this. I agree with lots of the criticism, but overall it's a solid take on a difficult to market property from Marvel. Do I wish that we got a more daring, inventive version? Yes. Does it matter, really? No.

[Morris Schæffer]

I liked it better than Guardians. It's got cute crawling out of every crevice. I liked the size/ant sequences a lot and Pena just as much. Stoll is good and hammy/twitchy. Rest is easygoing. Last 20-25 minutes is just tons of fun.

Same here. I found it funnier and the mission more engaging.

1. The Avengers
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
3. Ant-Man

A huge breath of fresh air in this typically bombastic, and super-sized genre.

[Milky Joe]

I thought this was excellent, probably the best Marvel movie so far, or at least close. Morris' Top 3 there is pretty good.

[Morris Schæffer]

Loved that shot in the bedroom at the end when his daughter sees a little Ant-Man shadow behind the lamp jumping to safety.

[Dukefrukem]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpPx7E27Bc8

[Ivan Drago]

Its direction is uneven, and with that came hit-and-miss humor, but when it hits, it hits. Paul Rudd was great, the action sequences are not only very entertaining, but also imaginative and pretty to look at. LOVED everything in the Quantum Realm, and if 8's citation of Feige is true, if my excitement for Doctor Strange wasn't through the roof before, it is now. Hell, at least to me, there's a lot to be excited about in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

[Stay Puft]

Yeah, it's all a bit rough in the assembly (not a surprise, I guess) but it's still the most fun I've had in the MCU after maybe Guardians. This is the first time I actually enjoyed a Marvel film for its special effects (the shrinking/expanding scenes are clever and fun, and a big part of the draw) as opposed to just sitting there rolling my eyes (e.g. the entire opening of Avengers 2). Ant-Man going subatomic (and the way that was tied into The Wasp's fate) is one of the best things they've done in the MCU after, again, Guardians in general (that's the kind of stuff I want in my comic book movies).

A mild yay, and I'll be keeping an eye on Doctor Strange (not sure I care about the Civil War stuff but we'll see).

[transmogrifier]

The third best of the series so far behind Guardians of the Galaxy and the first Avengers, and just ahead of Iron Man 3 and Winter Soldier. (These being the only five I'd want to watch again, I think).

[Irish]

I liked each individual piece of this but didn't think much of the overall movie. The special effects are all terrific. There's lots of imagination -- the briefcase, the train set, the dance club at the beginning -- but it's crammed into a typical Marvel package. It's like they wanted to do G-rated action and didn't have any ideas so they just whipped out Hero with a Thousand Faces and started typing the script.

The biggest issue was that the movie isn't really about Scott. It's about Hank Pym. The backstory starts with Hank and he makes all the choices that drive the narrative. Too often -- I'd say for at least two-thirds of the runtime -- Scott felt like a supporting character when the assumption is that he's the hero. That's weird. It feels off. I had a similar gripe about Ang Lee's Hulk, where that movie wasn't about Bruce Banner but his father.

Michael Pena comes very close to stealing the movie. I grinned like an idiot every time he launched into one of his stories. In fact, I wouldn't mind seeing an entire thing about that character and his goofball band of thieves.

I like what 8 said about how Ant-Man is really about stuff that happens in this universe. I wish Marvel had done more of that -- like, hey this isn't about world shaking destruction but about solving one teeny tiny little problem over here.

In terms of ranking in the MCU, there's only one thing to remember: Cap rules, others drool.

As far as Civil War is concerned, I will give Marvel all my money if they give me a scene where Cap punches Tony in the face.

[Skitch]

The third best of the series so far behind Guardians of the Galaxy and the first Avengers, and just ahead of Iron Man 3 and Winter Soldier. (These being the only five I'd want to watch again, I think).

I wouldn't have IM3 in there, but otherwise we would have the same films in the top four. Yes I liked Ant-Man that much. So much fun. It was just damn genius to make a B character take on a smaller fight like a heist movie. These movies keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger...how many times can you save the world before it holds no meaning? This was just wonderful. So much better than Avengers 2.

[Milky Joe]

The biggest issue was that the movie isn't really about Scott. It's about Hank Pym. The backstory starts with Hank and he makes all the choices that drive the narrative. Too often -- I'd say for at least two-thirds of the runtime -- Scott felt like a supporting character when the assumption is that he's the hero. That's weird. It feels off.

Hank Pym IS Ant Man, though, so I'm not sure why that's an issue, other than its going against your personal expectations. Resisting viewer assumptions is a good thing, IMO. Instead of it being another Marvel movie about a young(ish) hunky male superhero protagonist (which it is anyway), it can be read as a movie about what happens when a superhero ages and has to get help. Scott is his surrogate. He controls him much like he controls the Ants.

[Dead & Messed Up]

The film feels a little rushed, in that I rarely felt like emotional moments got quite the amount of time and attention they deserve. The film even cobbles together the training montage and heist montage for fear of slowing down too much. Would've been happy to spend even just 30 more seconds in the quantum realm, get a deeper sense of how weird and alien it is. Hearing his daughter whining his name kinda ruins the effect... and makes no sense when I think about it - how could sound even vibrate into his ear at that level, let alone be audible as speech? That also gets into the issue of how the film somehow wants the heroes to have the compacted power of full-size humans but seems to ignore that whenever a dismissive swat would be funny (and admittedly yes, the ping pong paddle swat is very funny).

Corey Still is a decent villain, a sociopath from the word "go," but his motivations and hangups are rote at this point. The fresher element is the bumbling heist team, which is satisfyingly cartoon and broad in the same way the scientist duo in "Pacific Rim" was - especially Pena, who makes a strong argument for the first non-superhero Marvel spinoff. Rudd and Lilly are fine, but I'll have to wait for Ant-Man 2 to see them get the full attention they deserve. I mean, the scenes with Rudd and his daughter carry about as much weight as the scene where Antony dies.

Can't help feeling a bit how Seitz feels about these movies, stuff smashing into stuff, the whole linking thing just being a big puzzle made of square pieces. Also, it is to the detriment of Hollywood that they continue to cast Judy Greer as distant moms. Someone strap this woman in a suit. And Pena. And then make it about them going on a date or something. Anything. It's time to start using this paradigm to challenge filmgoers instead of satiate them.

[Dukefrukem]

I went back and found the Red Queen hidden in the Quantum realm. That was pretty cool.

[Dukefrukem]

Heh, it is basically the same plot as the first Iron Man


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19l2Qqf9Evs

[Grouchy]

I went back and found the Red Queen hidden in the Quantum realm. That was pretty cool.
Huh? Can you tell me where?

Fun movie, although one can't help but constantly imagine what the Wright version would have been like. Agreed that Michael Peña is the funniest supporting character.

[Dukefrukem]

Sorry not the Red Queen. The Wasp.

But the imagery can be found at 3:23


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M82EKj422r0

[Grouchy]

Wow. You spotted that on your own?

[Dukefrukem]

Wow. You spotted that on your own?

Yeh, There was an interview with Peyton Reed right after the movie hit theaters where he hinted something was in the quantum realm. So on my second viewing I went and feverishly searched for it. It's quite easy to see when you know you're looking for something. At the time of my first viewing I was too mystified by the effects.

[Dukefrukem]

Not movie related but I thought this was funny.

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--GWwZhSpz--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_ 800/xeg8cnlit74w50rcgg5l.jpg

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s---LQeFeNd--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_ 800/bivlale4l5mq9e2lowet.png
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--jZBqFuaK--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_ 800/lho0kovphemvvljgfi8l.png

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--CWkv1Yru--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_ 800/yemeasyxl1dqwn4ymz0k.png

https://www.amazon.com/HASEGAWA-62001-School-Desk-Chair/dp/B00601I2O4/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie =UTF8&tag=gizmodoamzn-20&ascsubtag=8ee956431b3d0f482b6e e5a0e47340221bacf632&rawdata=%5Bt%7Clink%5Bp%7C1785 992643%5Ba%7CB00601I2O4%5Bau%7 C5876237249236402073%5Bb%7Cgiz modo