Ant-Man Review

July 17, 2015August 7, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Back in 2011 I swore off superhero movies for good. I had seen the terrible Green Lantern movie and I was done. They were stupid, moronic, boring, self-important junk and I didn’t want to see another one again. So, if you had told me then I would be giving a positive review of a movie called Ant-Man I would have said you were insane. Yet here I am giving such a review for Marvel’s new movie Ant-Man. Nice job Kevin Feige and Marvel. With Ant-Man you have an entertaining time at the movies. It’s as simple as that.

Part of what makes Ant-Man work is they have assembled an incredibly charismatic and likable cast. I’ve been a huge Paul Rudd fan for years going all the way back to Clueless (and totally have a crush on him). He plays Scott Lang a thief who is recruited to be the next Ant-Man. As always he is a complete charmer in the role.

Scott is trained in the Ant-Man ways by Hank Pym played by Michael Douglas who looks like he is having a blast in a Marvel movie.

Another actor I always love is Corey Stoll who plays the villain Yellowjacket and has a swagger that is magnetic on screen.

Finally there are 3 friends of Scott from prison that are a riot- TI, Michael Pena and David Dastmalchian. Michael Pena is especially funny in his part as the Latino crook who knows art and wine.

Ant-man reminded me a lot of Sam Riami’s Spiderman and maybe a little bit of the original Ironman. It feels light and fun and superhero movies have gotten so overly serious of late. And yet it isn’t stupid like a Batman and Robin or Green Lantern.

There is a fair amount of humor and pretty much the entire plot of the movie is centered around Michael Douglas’ house so it feels very small (forgive the pun) in its scope. It is not like an Avengers movie where the entire earth could be destroyed by the rising of a city. This is a single building with one technology and one madman trying to control it. In truth it is a heist movie.

The training montages are a little ‘seen it all before’ but I liked the way they filmed the interactions with the ants and the CG looked very good in those scenes. Except for a CG rat which made me shout in the middle of the theater it caught me off guard!

Evangeline Lilly plays Hank’s daughter and I’m sorry but I do not think she is a very good actress. She was terrible in the Hobbit movies and she isn’t very good here. Just a bore and no chemistry between her and Rudd at all.

I could see how some might say this is a light weight superhero movie and in a way it is but I had so much fun with it. Like I said it is funny and for the most part has actors who can pull it off.

It also doesn’t get too mired in the MCU (which I kind of like those clues to the broader universe but I know others hate it). There is one cameo that is very well done and a few name drops but not distracting at all.

If you thought Jurassic World was fun I can’t imagine you not enjoying Ant-Man. In my mind it is much better silly entertainment. It’s not deep or profound or going to make you think about life. Ant-Man is just an enjoyable superhero movie with laughs, a good cast and some decent action set pieces I’ve never quite seen before.

I also liked that Bobby Cannavale plays the new love interest of Scott’s ex and for once he is actually a good guy. It’s such a cliche for the new guy to be a total jerk (I’m talking to you San Andreas!).

The entire family can go to Ant-Man. There is nothing offensive or off putting in it aside from a few very mild fighting.

There’s not that much to say about Ant-Man except this is the kind of movie I can have fun with. It does everything I need it to do and doesn’t distract me with big plotholes, annoying characters or a meandering script. I really enjoyed it.

Overall Grade- A-

Avengers Age of Ultron Review

May 1, 2015December 20, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Got to see Avengers Age of Ultron and loved it!! It’s a great movie and right up there with the original and recent strong Marvel movies like Captain America: Winter Soldier. They have a new villain named Ultron who is an artificial intelligence created by Tony Stark and is perfectly voiced by James Spader.

He’s the kind of villain that is all bad but is extremely dominating. There were a lot of moments where I didn’t know how they were going to get out of these situations. I really liked the 2 new additions with Quick Silver played by Aaron Taylor Johnson and Scarlet Witch. There is also another new character that I won’t spoil for you.

Joss Whedon has done it again with a script that is full of humor but lots of good action and tension. All the leads are funny but have moments of growth and development. We particularly see a new side of The Hulk and get to know more about the Hawkeye backstory.

Great music from Danny Elfman and the visual effects work great. The climax is very exciting and like I said I really didn’t know how they were going to defeat Ultron. There are also lots of cameos from the MCU.

I loved it. A very satisfying time at the movies.

As far as content there is a lot of carnage and a scene where a building is toppled to the ground with all the debris that felt a little too 9/11 inspired for my comfort levels. There is a tiny bit of language but nothing big. I’d say it is pretty family friendly.

Overall Grade – A- Content Grade- A

Spiderman News!

February 10, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

We can all now be grateful Amazing Spiderman 2 was such a dud. Without it we would never have gotten the exciting news of yesterday. It’s something comic book movie fans never thought would happen. Marvel and Sony have reached a deal to allow Spiderman to be in the MCU. This means we will probably see Spidey in the Marvel Civil War movies. Thor 3 and Black Panther have now been pushed back by a year in their release dates.

I know some people liked the recent reboot but I was never a big fan. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone were good but the stories and especially villains were cluttered and uninteresting. Plus, all the constant Sony product placement drove me crazy. Sony will still own Spiderman and they will have some creative control but Marvel will hopefully be able to fix Sony’s big mistakes.

I think what could be really cool is they did motion capture for the flying sequences. This would help it feel like a real person flying through the air instead of a computer graphic. I also hope they cast someone who bridges the gap of nerdy Peter Parker and suave Spiderman.

My personal choice would be Logan Lerman and his name has been floating around. I think he has a geeky side to him but also can be very cute. He’s a good actor and is in one of my favorite movies of all time Perks of Being a Wallflower. He was just shown in Fury to have a more adult tough side.

Either way I have confidence in Marvel with how great Guardians and Captain America 2 were last year. People love picking on anything that is popular and Marvel is no exception but I honestly feel it is unwarranted. At least in my eyes their various franchises are very different. Captain America 2 was basically a spy movie more than it was a traditional superhero film. Thor is more of an epic solemn feel. Guardians was a lot like Star Wars with a fun eclectic group saving the galaxy. People talk about Marvel schtick but I really don’t see it. To me there is a ton more diversity at Marvel than at DC which has produced the same gloomy picture over and over again.

I’m so excited to see what Joss Whedon can do with Spiderman. I hope he gets put on the project because I think he will take it in an unexpected route. He’s so creative how could he not!

Anyway, I’m very excited. Are you? Who would you cast as Spiderman? Go Marvel!

Now we just have to hope Fantastic 4 is bad and we can get those over to Marvel too. (JK I hope it is good).