Review: Ant-Man (2D)

One of Marvel's main characters is one of the harder sells, and while Ant-Man isn't a game changer it has risen above the criticism and difficulties during its development.

Hank Pym, a scientist for Shield developed a super particle that compresses the space around atoms, allowing objects to be shrunk down. But when Howard Stark and others wanted to use this science, Pym hid it away. Now though, to stop others developing their own weaponised version, Pym needs someone younger to become the Ant-Man.

I will be the first to admit, I had little hope for Ant-Man. Not only does it (to my un-geek-cultured, non-comic-reader mind) sound ridiculous, but a favourite director Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim Vs the World and Hot Fuzz) dropped out of the project midway through to be replaced by Peyton Reed who has a much less credible resume (Yes Man, The Break-Up, Bring it On) and that is isolated from the fact that Ant-Man has also been in development hell since 2006!

There was every reason to believe that Ant-Man would be either laughed off stage or for it to take up the mantle: "When Marvel lost it".

But while the scope of Ant-Man feels more like the first Iron Man film than recent sprawling Marvel flicks, perhaps in result of its long development time, this retro feel actually works in its favour. Paul Rudd stars as Scott Lang, a father and ex-husband just released from prison for robbery, a man struggling for cash and is approached by the legendary Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) to train and become a superhero thief.
That's right, Ant-Man is Marvel's heist movie! Scott Lang's friends are a trio of streetwise thieves, including Michael Pena in a comedic turn, while Pym's fiery, headstrong daughter Hope is played by Evangeline Lily (redeeming herself completely from the stupidity of Tauriel from The Hobbit) and there's a great sense of bigger things going on but this story is a slice of life. It has a great moment where Lang, when faced with impossible odds, yells: "Why don't we just call The Avengers!?"

With a small scale but frankly excellent acting from our heroes (especially Michael Douglas) Marvel hammers home with a lot of fun and humour. There were a couple of real laugh-out-loud moments, and not just that one from the trailer. It is a well known fact now that Marvel makes comedies, but you know what... after the depression that was Terminator Genisys, Ant-Man was great levity!

I will say though, once again Marvel's formula strikes again with a film that knows how to develop heroes but cannot make a decent villain. Much like Iron Man with Obadiah Stane, Darren Cross is little more than a dark side of Hank Pym's brilliance. Marvel have had twelve films now, twelve, and Loki is the only one people can argue is memorable.
That and, by its very nature, Ant-Man is extremely CGI heavy, perhaps more than even Guardians of the Galaxy? Not to say it is bad CGI (in fact it is great to see him shrink and grow!) and I cannot suggest an alternative, but it does become a bit of an ocean of computer effects at times.

There's lots of good performances, a great sense of fun and adventure as well as a little bit more world building for Marvel's Cinematic Universe. It isn't a game changer, but it isn't the train wreck people are afraid it might be.

   

Review: Avengers - Age of Ultron (2D)

Conquering heroes The Avengers return in their second outing as an ensamble cast. This time they must defend Humanity against a peacekeeping AI developed by Tony Stark after it goes rogue.

Is it wrong to say anything negative about a Marvel property these days?
*Cinema Cocoa brings up the blast shields*
Okay so it is fair to say that the sequel has less limitations than its predecessor Avengers Assemble, since all the characters are established now and the story can give us both barrels, but is it possible that during the revelation that Avenger films work Marvel has become... overconfident?
Age of Ultron could be evidence to support this.

Now I am not saying it is bad: action set pieces are incredible; peaking at the Hulk Vs Hulkbuster fight, the humour is still top notch; everyone gets a go, even Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye and Ultron himself!
Speaking of Hawkeye, he is probably the best character for development. The poor guy starts out the movie getting injured and out of commission again, but miraculously Renner is given character material to work with that some of the lead cast haven't had! Well done, Marvel.
Ultron himself is cool, voiced by a gravely James Spader, here's a villain Marvel has been looking for. Malicious, calculating and born from all of Tony Stark's worst traits.

Another boon for the film is its heavy representation of our heroes saving civilians. It is worth remembering that Avengers Assemble had been directly compared to DC's Man of Steel as being the better representation of superhero justice. One can't deny that this feels like a direct attack on DC's property. 

But telling you this film has great dialogue and great action is a no brainer. I think people would have left half way through had those things not been present; this is an Avengers film, if you even remotely like the first one you will find enjoyment here.
But...

This film feels sloppy. It feels rushed, and more importantly it feels utterly careless with what the non-Marvel fandom audience can consume. In an effort to outdo the first film, Ultron cuts narrative corners, makes unreasonable logic jumps without explaining it and possibly the worst offender for me: random exposition dumps.
I can accept, barely, characters literally jumping from place to place between cuts, but having the Avengers (our lead team of superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) learning about the crucial Infinity Stones through some ridiculously contrived illusion/dream/prophetic vision of Thor's, that's unlocked by newcomer Scarlet Witch's powers, and distilled by standing in some underground pool.... No.
We know what Infinity Stones are: Star Lord and friends had them explained really really well in Guardians of the Galaxy, don't make it look like you are laboured in finding a place to tell your main protagonists this incredibly important information. Especially when your screenplay is so heavily invested in explosions and battles.

Another very unnecessary addition were "The Twins", introduced in Captain America 2's end credit stinger, Quicksliver and Scarlet Witch. While they aren't in any way bad, and I can see how the franchise wants to move forward, for this film they are completely unnecessary.
A final note that almost slipped by me, Ultron's final act does little for the female characters; the usually strong and capable Black Widow is randomly imprisoned. I have no idea why, and it is so brief that I almost forgot about it.

Oh dear, that's a lot of negatives isn't it?
Avengers: Age of Ultron is an excellent showcase action movie, it has a quick fire pace and really does have some great moments between the characters. It feels like a reunion party with Don Cheadle's Warmachine helping out among others, and an early drunken scene of "Who can lift Thor's hammer?" is memorable. Many quips too, Captain America absently saying to himself: "If the hammer is in an elevator, the elevator isn't worthy," all give a great chuckle from me.

Marvel need to be careful. Bonanza is all well and good, spectacle will bring the crowds for a short while, but you are trying to tell a story, a narrative, over hours and hours of film. So tell it. 
Don't get stuck in a formula (which you already have, in my opinion) otherwise I will become less intrigued by Avengers milestones and more intrigued by new properties ala Guardians. 

Just, write good.

Review: Captain America - The Winter Soldier (3D)

This Marvel train ain't stopping for anything! The Winter Soldier is quite possibly one of the best entries into the film series yet!

Captain Steve Rogers tries to find a sense of place in the modern world working for S.H.I.E.L.D. But when Nick Fury is targeted by a mysterious assassin, Rogers discovers that his patriotism could just be used as a pawn for corrupt political forces.

Captain America, as a singular character in the current Avengers team, has the most groundwork and the most to build upon in a sequel. There's a lot to work with! Tony Stark and Thor had mostly completed stories when going into their sequels, but the Captain did not; he's been left untouched since his debut in 2011. This is a great boon for The Winter Soldier.
The film opens with a very stealth driven action sequence with the Captain and Black Widow taking on a terrorist takeover at sea. This is heralding more to come; the film's entire storyline is about espionage, spy networks and ambiguous political intent. The story is intelligent and interweaving, frequently summoning up ghosts from Steve Rogers' past, but in no unlikely manner, in fact the linkage with The First Avenger is were a lot of the film's intensity comes from. That and its not-so-heavy-handed social and political subtexts.

Of course, it isn't all talking and mystery (though I was surprised at how moody the film became) there is still plenty of action. The Winter Soldier himself is an excellent addition to the Marvel mythos, the soundtrack adding to the foreboding atmosphere around him and the film shows how deadly he really can be. The Captain too gets a much better sense of strength here too (I'm sure I'm not the only one who felt he was a little underpowered in Avengers Assemble) being thrown about, running through walls, using his shield in such marvelously silly ways. It is greatly entertaining when the bullets and punches start flying.
It is also a surprisingly brutal film. With Captain America's origins and current story trapped in comparatively realistic settings (we are dealing with countries, governments and spies, not gods and space aliens) even to Iron Man standards, the action is intense and scenes get quite dark. People are shot, often viciously, they are wounded, they bleed, even tortured. A clear sign that Marvel aren't only delivering more mature content, but are confident in doing so.
That said, there's a healthy sense of humour in there too. Maybe not as riotous as some of Tony Stark's adventures, but it is there.

I have trouble thinking of what's wrong with the film. The action scenes sometimes fall into a lot of shaky camera work, again, but other times it is fine. This could be due in part to the 3D, which I had no time for; just see the film regularly, the 3D does nothing. Some of the plot might seem predictable, but I imagine the younger audiences will be totally captivated.

All in all a great movie, and it stands alone and as an Avengers continuation very well! What is remarkable is that Marvel is successfully giving each of its character's movies a distinct theme and mood. Like reading the different comics, there is a difference. You know you are watching Marvel, but the heroes have their own presence and strength to give.

Additional Marshmallows: As if you need to ask, yes there's two extra clips during the credits! Like with Thor 2, there's an important, longer clip after the initial "graphical credits" (connotations to Avengers 2: Age of Ultron!) and then a shorter, slightly less important clip after the regular credit role. However, the credit role isn't too long.  

  

   



 

Spoiled Cocoa: Avengers: Age of Ultron

It is time for another edition of Spoiled Cocoa! Mostly because I like variety.

And because there's been some outbursts about the brand new teaser trailer for the next Marvel's Avengers movie out next year. It is a teaser though, so I shouldn't call this a spoiler...

So, what can we take from this?
Well it is an awful teaser trailer for a start.

Now I like teaser trailers, I like them because they don't give away the entire plot just to get people into the theatres, they can be artistic vehicles of their own; not falling into the beat-by-beat nature of today's trailers. Heck, I invented my Spoiled Cocoa reviews because regular trailers are so bloated!

But, this new trailer is about as bare bones as a teaser can get, this is worse than the original teaser for The Dark Knight! We have a computer generated Iron Man helmet and dialogue from the previous film, not even from the new film! 
And what the hell is that screaming at the end? I know its meant to be screaming because it fits with the helmet's clear transformation into our lead villain... but, without any context it does sound like a crowd cheering. Cheering for the Avengers? Cheering for Ultron?? Is Ultron going to take over the world with a pop music concert??

It does make an already uninspired teaser trailer end on a weird note.

But this was my first, gut reaction, what good can be taken from this trailer? Not very much to be fair, though it is clearly showing Iron Man's armour being transformed, corrupted or possessed to become Ultron.

Now I don't read comics, but from what I've heard there is a pretty big rumour going around about who or what Ultron is. Though I believe these rumours have been pushed aside by the production team...

From a film stand point, while we haven't seen all of Marvel's Phase 2 (Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Thor: The Dark World) we have seen Iron Man 3, and what happens in Iron Man 3? Tony Stark becomes independent of his suit.

More to the point, his suit becomes independent from him...  

Review: Avengers Assemble

There are four films this year I am banking on being at the top of my list and Avengers Assemble was the lesser. My god this is going to be a good year for movies!


Marvel Studios colossal gamble in combining four of their major comic brands into one film was subject to feeling clustered and failing, yet having gotten each hero's back story and characteristics out of the way in previous films, Avengers can go all out. No brakes.
"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist" Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) is teamed up with Doctor Bruce Banner (The Incredible Hulk) Steve Rogers (the super soldier Captain America) and Thor, the god of thunder, to protect the world from a hostile invasion led by Thor's brother Loki. They have to learn to put their personal demons aside and work together if they are to succeed!

Avengers Assemble is another landmark in cinema after Harry Potter; keeping firm continuity on a franchise makes it stronger. The actors already know their characters, the film's first act dips wonderfully into "character moments", one minute it is a new Iron Man film, then it is Thor's movie, Avengers simply revels in their clashing personalities, a geeky "what if Thor, Tony Stark and Captain America were in a room together?". I cannot stress the credit due to Joss Whedon, co-writer and director, he brought is A-game here; the wit and stinging dialogue is here in abundance. The cinema I was in was roaring with laughter at all the right points.
There are several short signature fights, giving each hero and villain a chance to fight another, though this does not feel forced. Instead each battle feels unique, memorable and is certainly eye catching.


The film's heart and soul is with the superheroes, and while their personal demons are less defined here (for obvious reasons, there are six of them!) the battles they wage show them struggling, Marvel's ethos of "human superheroes" is not completely lost here. By the end, the heroes are quite worse for wear.
Loki is the signature villain, and one should watch Thor (and Captain America) to fully appreciate what's at stake. The villains are pushed aside overall, but only for the excellent team-building theme the film is about anyway.

Definitely worth seeing, for the great dialogue alone, never mind the frantic and characterful battle sequences on top of it!

"But he is my brother, he is family"
"He just killed over eighty people!"
"He was adopted..."