Ant-Man (2015)

[K1stpierre]

Discuss

[DeeCee]

It's a lot of fun and quite hilarious.  The things that looked a bit silly in the trailer work much better in the context of the movie.  They try to build up that there's a lot at stake but it doesn't really seem like it.  The Falcon cameo was great.

 

"Isn't this the point where we just call The Avengers?"

 

It's just a really enjoyable ride.

Edited July 16, 2015 by DeeCee

[darkelf]

The action scenes are probably the best in the whole MCU and I was pleasantly surprised that I wasn't bored by the end. It's quite funny too and I really liked Rudd as the hero.

 

8/10

 

Disappointed they left out the 'Huh' from the movie though

[4815162342]

B+

 

Fun and enjoyable. Appreciated the smaller scope and more personal story. Some of the Marvel-imposed rewrites were very very obvious (everything involving Falcon and the Avengers for one).

[4815162342]

Also if I'm not mistaken, asshat SHIELD dude who brokered the sale between Cross and HYDRA managed to get away with that vial of Cross Particles.

[DeeCee]

Also if I'm not mistaken, asshat SHIELD dude who brokered the sale between Cross and HYDRA managed to get away with that vial of Cross Particles.

Yes. And Michael Pena maintained the Marvel tradition of saving the public. Even going back for the hired goon.

[Jim Shorts]

I wasn't a believer in Rudd as Ant-Man based based off the trailers, but I am now.  One of the best origin stories so far.  

[kitik]

things that surprised me by their omission:

 

(big spoilers, so don't click until after you've seen the movie)

 

1. while he was down in the microverse, he didn't bump into Janet

I thought they'd try to fit that in there too. Though I'm glad at the end Pym was thinking about the possibility of going there and looking.

 

2. Pym never put on any shrinky-suit to save Scott or anyone else. Kinda thought he would.

 

3. Nobody got giant. Though as we see with trains and ants, its more than possible.

 

4. I don't recall any hints about Cassie either.

 

That said, I'm not complaining about any of those. The movie didn't need any of those. I had just considered them possibilities going into the movie. There's certainly nothing wrong with saving something for a sequel.

 

 

By the way, we'll see what the box office says, but I'd totally be hyped for Ant-Man 2!

At the very least, the first mid-credit scene set something up that we need to see at some point in the MCU.

[Gopher]

Thought not having Wasp in this story was a bit of a missed opportunity. Would've tampered with the simplicity of it all but Lily was more than good enough in this film to deserve fighting alongside Scott at a molecular level.

Takes a while to get going but once it does it's fun! Rudd is great, Pena is great, the climax is maybe Marvel's best, and it feels like everything Marvel wants to accomplish these days with their storytelling. I don't mind it.

[Kvikk Lunsj]

Really disappointing with this one. I thought Rudd did a good job but the story was so boring. I just did not care about anything. The movie seemed to move so slow in parts. The third act way better than the 2nd act. The 2nd act really dragged the film for me.  I want to get invseted in this but I could not get anything to work. The visual worked well and did the humor. The villain did not work well for me. He was so boring and not menacing.  The action was done well and anytime Ant-Man became small it was fun to watch. 

2/5 

[Cmasterclay]

Certainly didn't love it but in a very weak summer for tentpoles quality wise outside of Mad Max, it's certainly entertaining enough. It misses opportunities to let its hair down and just get weird, but I appreciated the smaller-scale and more personal stakes. It's funny, but it never quite fell into a perfect tonal rhythm. The action is very well-choreographed but it gets repetitive- I would have trimmed some of the action or tried something different with it. It's cleverly plotted and emotionally accessible, though the MCU stuff feels even more shoehorned in than usual. The movie really benefits from a great cast. Rudd is great, though they never quite let him get fully into his best qualities like they did with Chris Pratt. He did great but it felt like he could have done even more with a bit tighter scripting and better direction. Douglas and Lilly are totally fine. Stoll is GREAT, probably my favorite MCU baddie (though it's not much competition.) He has such energy and charisma he eats up the screen whenever he's on it. The movie was better whenever he was in it. He lets his hair down the most of anyone in it (sorry, that sounds mean- dude is the poster for #BaldIsBeautiful), and he gives a deliciously hammy B-movie crazy man performance. Breaks the boring MCU villain mode, at least to me. Pena is fucking hilarious, and a huge highlight. And hey, T.I.! Dude showed out in this! The cast and the concept carried this to something good, though it needed some work in the editing and directing departments to really get to anything higher than that. Still, I was entertained. 

[BadAtGender]

I went in with low expectations. Mostly I just needed to get out of the house and watch a movie. I was hoping for a couple hours of distracting entertainment and... I really did get that.

 

Unlike a lot of recent MCU films, it managed to retain its light-hearted tone throughout. The stakes of it, despite Michael Douglas' gravitas, are pretty small-scale: all hints at bad things to come rather than any sort of realization of them. That helps the film remain somewhat grounded and doesn't give the sense that it's trying too hard.

 

Additionally, while the typical hints about things to come are abound, the film itself doesn't suffer under the weight of the universe. It's a rare MCU film that doesn't seem like it's all set-up for the next film. That helps it retain the refreshing nature that's been missing from the franchise of late. (The last film to really do this in my opinion was IM3, which basically said "fuck it" and went all Shane Black.)

 

Of course, it's not perfect. The villian is typically unconvincing, in that grand MCU fashion, and there's a few moments that are almost off-puttingly gruesome. Plus, other than a few cute perspective shots, the presentation of Ant-Man's powers isn't especially interesting or clever. The action works just fine, but it would have been nice to see a fight that had that inventive fun that Thor: The Dark World showcased in its climax. Still, it's probably better they erred on the side of caution rather than giving us a boring effects-fest a-la AoU or TWS.

 

I still wonder why this is a story about Scott and not Hope. It works well enough, but even in the context of the movie it's not really satisfactorily answered.

 

Supporting casting was pretty well done. I enjoyed Michael Pena a lot, and had an "Oh yeah!" moment when I recognized Avon Barksdale. It was a bit strange to see Judy Greer play almost exactly the same character as in Jurassic World. (I first and foremost think of her in the context of Archer, which makes any other character she plays seem a bit odd.)

 

One thing that really seemed strange to me was that they'd give Haley Atwell the make-up to be an older Peggy, but didn't cast Dominic Cooper to do the same for Howard Stark. I honestly had no idea who John Slattery was supposed to be and thought I'd misheard Michael Douglas when he said "Stark!" at the beginning.

 

Still, enjoyable enough. Not top tier MCU, but it's better than anything they've done in the past couple of years.

 

 

Oh, one thing:

things that surprised me by their omission:

 

1. while he was down in the microverse, he didn't bump into Janet

I thought they'd try to fit that in there too. Though I'm glad at the end Pym was thinking about the possibility of going there and looking.

 

I don't know for certain, but during his journey, I think there was an outline of a woman that could have been Jan. It was only onscreen for a moment, and might have been me projecting since I was deliberately looking for that, but it seems like they're hinting at that as a possibility for the future. It seems odd that they'd put so much into the twist that she didn't die but just got shrunk that they don't plan on bringing her back in the future.

[DeeCee]

My first thought when he went sub atomic.

Where's the bookcase? He has to communicate with Murphy.

[4815162342]

One thing that really seemed strange to me was that they'd give Haley Atwell the make-up to be an older Peggy, but didn't cast Dominic Cooper to do the same for Howard Stark. I honestly had no idea who John Slattery was supposed to be and thought I'd misheard Michael Douglas when he said "Stark!" at the beginning.

 

That's because John Slattery played older Howard Stark in Iron Man 2.

[keysersoze123]

This movie had potential. Its not true origin of Ant-Man. I hope Marvel makes Hank Pym's origin. Also the magic of micro universe could have had greater focus. Another crappy Marvel villian who is by the book. Surprisingly its a marvel movie without any money shot.

 

On the plus side Rudd was superb. There were good humor scenes. Specially the one where Lang calls for Avengers and Pena's narration(prefer the 1st one). Also the avengers reference was not distracting though we could have done without the falcon fight(though that was one of the better action scene) and focused more on the ant verse. Pena was solid and so was Douglas. Lily was fine but just another by the book character. Hope that changes once she becomes wasp. Another good sequence was the Tank scene for Pym/Hope to escape.

 

Overall B and lower tier of marvel flicks but I liked it more than AOU or Thor TDW or IM2.

[Jim Shorts]

My first thought when he went sub atomic.

Where's the bookcase? He has to communicate with Murphy.

It was mind also!

[JohnnyGossamer]

Thought not having Wasp in this story was a bit of a missed opportunity. Would've tampered with the simplicity of it all but Lily was more than good enough in this film to deserve fighting alongside Scott at a molecular level.

Takes a while to get going but once it does it's fun! Rudd is great, Pena is great, the climax is maybe Marvel's best, and it feels like everything Marvel wants to accomplish these days with their storytelling. I don't mind it.

Agree about the finale. It and Rudd's heist buddies, foremost Pena, are what I expect to give this one pretty awesome WOM.

[bren85]

Ant-Man

7 PM--7/16/15

Regal RPX 3D showing in Kingston, MA

 

Trailers:

Mission Impossible-Rogue Nation: not really a trailer, more of a "Regal First Look", which focused on Cruise and the plane stunt

Masterminds: looks terrible

Batman v Superman: ballsy move by DC attaching this to a Marvel movie. Looked great on the big screen

Goosebumps: looks like fun, a bit of a different cut to this trailer. Jack Black seemed to be trying to do some sort of accent, it was kind of distracting

Everest: eh

The Finest Hours: meh

Fantastic Four: i don't know how i feel about this, honestly it looks "dead in the water" bad

Star Wars: time for a new trailer, probably we'll get something at D23 Expo

 

 

Movie: 

 

It was good....not great, not bad, just good, ok-ish. I thought the action scenes were great, funny bit with the paddle and bug zapper. Pena's voiceover bits were good too, although some members of the audience got confused at the end. They didn't stay til the very end, after the credits, to get a better understanding of it. The Falcon fight was cool, nice to see the upgrades to Falcon's suit on display. But there were some parts that just seemed draggy

 

Overall I'd give it a 7.5/10

[DeeCee]

Pena's source explanations have to be straight Edgar Wright.

[ChD]

The 'drama' in this movie fell flat on its face, but some of the comedic scenes are simply priceless. The gypsy line had my whole theater laughing (seeing as Romania is FILLED with gypsies and everyone hates them)
 

Also the weird dog (ant) joke also had me laughing with tears.

Edited July 17, 2015 by ChD