Ant-Man – Richards Reckons Review

 
Ridiculous. 
Unrealistic. 
Tiny.

No, this isn’t a list of things that my sexual partners have said to me at some point or another, but some of the buzzwords that Ant-Man has had slapped onto it like the cinematic version of something in a reduced section of a supermarket. “A man who can turn into an ant?!” the befuddled ask, well, befuddledly. When they are corrected and told that actually the suit allows the wearer to shrink in size and grow in strength while giving them the ability to talk to ants, that makes it worse. “That’s completely stupid! Why should I waste my hard earned dosh on that?! I could buy at least 3 limited edition Des Lynam coasters with that money!”

Peyton Reed picks up the somewhat troubled reigns from Edgar Wright to direct this adaptation that’s been in the works for ants years (assuming they’re very long). The plot concerns Michael Douglas’ Hank Pym, an aging scientist who discovered “Pym Particles” (the wonderstuff that makes organic matter able to shrink) back in the day and used them to fight bad guys before retiring and creating his own company Pym Technologies. Cut to the present and his former protege Darren across (an un-wigged Corey Stoll) has taken over and is planning to weaponise the technology, so Pym and his daughter Hope (an off-island Evangeline Lily) seek to shut him down – and who else better to put in the admittedly dangerous Ant-Man suit than recently released cat burglar Scott Lang (an un-newsreader Paul Rudd). Heists and height-based hijinks ensue aplenty. 

Marvel are well aware of the tall tale they’re telling here, and get the self-deprecation out of the way pretty early on to focus on the fun and actually quite “badass” (I hear the kids say this word so I thought I’d give it a whirl) facets of the character. If they’d have attempted a dark, Nolanesque take on Ant-Man that obviously would not have worked so the trademark “Marvel is fun” approach is in full effect – naysayers and defectors will no doubt complain and use the word “samey”, but actually it is a great fit for this character. The point of view of the world being suddenly magnified is used for some fantastic physical comedy and some of the most inventive and best looking set pieces that Marvel has ever put out. The regular “MCU third acts all being the same” could not be more wrong here (you’ll also never see keyrings quite in the same light). 

The cast here are firing on all cylinders; Paul Rudd is a charming addition to the ever-increasing roster and is distinctive enough to not feel like a snarky Tony Stark/Star-Lord rip off, which in other hands he could’ve been. Evangeline Lily isn’t physically given a lot to do but emotionally has got a lot of manoeuvring and does it very well; the pair of them have great chemistry with Michael Douglas as a threesome (not like that, come on, grow up). I feel some are being harsh on Stoll who brings vim and vigour to the megalomaniacal Marvel villain role. It could be argued however that Michael Pena steals the show here with his endlessly optimistic criminal Luis – he has a couple of chances to reel off some brilliantly complex Edgar Wright flavoured dialogue. 

Ant-Man isn’t a perfect movie, with some pacing and continuity errors (including one so obvious I can’t believe it was allowed), but on the whole this has everything you could possibly want in a movie experience, with great characters, some awesomely inventive setpieces (Thanos the Titan? More like THOMAS) and a script that crackles with comedy (thanks to a strange Paul Rudd + Adam McKay/Edgar Wright + Joe Cornish hybrid that works better on paper than you think it might). There are connections to the further MCU that feel developed and comic-like rather than screaming “CASH IN” (the crossover with another Avenger being a particular highlight), but Ant-Man works extremely well as a standalone superhero/heist movie, so don’t worry about not having an encyclopaedic knowledge on the Avengers and co. While Wright would’ve made a film that was a tad more zippy and frantic, Reed has done a great job with the troubled production and lack of fan enthusiasm he was given. In the mean time, just sit back, relax, try to forget about all the ants you’ve ever massacred in your life and prepare to feel small (in the best way possible). 

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (review) – Richards Reckons Review

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Sony’s decided to do a sequel for their film, originally based on the idea of becoming an anthropomorphised version of popular character Spider-Pig from The Simpsons Movie*. Good on ’em.

First of all, a brief personal history lesson on the relationship between the web-slinger and I (that sounds like we had some sort of fling which, despite the rumours, we have not). I have always been rather fond of Spider-Man as a hero for several reasons. He tackles both street level crime as well as big ol’ baddies; he’s not invincible but still, as the Yanks say, badass; he makes jokes, puns AND quips even when in the most dangerous of situations because he’s scared. For those three reasons (well, okay, maybe the last one most), coupled with him being a young man, I identified with him. As I sat as an 9 year old in front of the telly controlling Spider-Man (I had the pre-Raimi era game on PSone, I wasn’t psychic), as he took down these lawbreakers while making witty remarks, I was in awe really. The Sam Raimi trilogy was also released over the course of my teenagehood, making me identify with this geeky Peter Parker fella even more.

This leads me nicely into the overwhelming worry that the internet squawked when the trailers were released for this film; “OMG TOO MANY VILLAINS LIKE SPIDERMAN3 ITS GONNA BE TOO CROWDED AND SUCK LIKE IT DID OMG” (yep, in my mind, the internet only speaks with caps lock on and in mainly garbled sentences). I too shared this fear, that it would make it similar to the incredibly disappointing Spiderman 3. I can therefore say with a degree of relief that this film isn’t as utterly cluster-F’d or catastrophic as Spiderman 3 (for a start, there’s no montage of quiffy Peter being an absolute twit anywhere to be found in this…).

All the advertising showed 3 villains; Rhino, Green Goblin and Electro, which is what gave the internet the willies for being too many, however it really does not feel this way in the film itself. Rhino, being played by the marvellous Paul Giamatti in full on Ham mode, is more like a pair of bookends than a villain (in the sense of narrative, not potential threat – he’s a lot stronger than any bookend I’ve seen). It’s no spoiler to say that Green Goblin is more of a villain we witness being born (not literally, ew) across the film rather than a threat the whole way through. So make no mistake – in terms of villains, this is very much The Electro Show.

And it’s quite a show, too. Jamie Foxx plays the roles of the obsessive yet sympathetic Max Dillon (pre-Electro Electro, or “prelectro” if you like) and the angry and unhinged Electro very well, with aspects of the tragic Dillon character leaking out amongst the power-mad roarings. There are a few moments that don’t quite fit with the character we’d seen (at one points he growls “It’s my birthday. Time to light my CANDLES!”, which is a very Spidey thing to say considering this is just after his transformation. I winced, actually). It’s also strange (though beneficial for the running time) that he is able to understand, handle and harness his power so quickly. He has an uncanny ability too to play dubstep wherever he goes too, like a walking blue boombox with a Skrillex CD stuck in it.

The sequences themselves are inventive and, no surprises here, look great – they are a carnival of CGI, don’t get me wrong, but it’s everything you’d expect from a blockbuster such as this, with lots of money shots of Spidey slinging through the city. The performances are also strong – Andrew Garfield is given more here to prove he really is Spider-Man, unlike the first film where he is not given much room to do so. I might be somewhat biased in saying this due to my (completely healthy) infatuation with her, but Emma Stone is always a magnetic screen presence and Gwen Stacy is a great antidote to the damsel in distress role in superhero movies, even if she does seem to have superhuman sight and hearing (she’s able to recognise Max Dillon while yards away and in Smurf mode). My special mention, however, goes to Dane DeHaan as Harry Osbourne. He’s brilliant as the bitter, slimy and (eventually) deranged Harry, and I looked forward to when he was next onscreen.

The main issue with this moviefilm is that it can’t quite decide what gear to be in or for how long. It shifts between comicbook lighthandedness (if that wasn’t a word before, it is now) and fun to deep conspiracy, father issues and emotional wallop. I have no problem with either of these tones being used concurrently – in fact, I love the mixture of fun with serious – but this film seems to shift between the two with a very uneven pace, like a madman at a gearstick. There’s one particular moment which has a massive amount of emotional impact that works beautifully, and I could actually hear resonating with the audience; I obviously shan’t say who it involves, but put it this way – if you’re a comic book fan and know your Spider-Man, you can guess what’s coming…

I also had a love/hate relationship with the soundtrack and scoring; some moments working wonderfully with the non-diegetic sound (hello film studies!), whereas some songs being jarring and near distracting for me. Aside from these issues though, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 goes down into the Hollywood book of “Exceptions to the Sequel-itus Rule” (basically my way of saying it’s better than the first), jam packed full of more easter eggs than… er… Tesco shelves around this time of year (listen out for Peter’s ringtone). While it’s somewhat uneven in pace and feels like more of a franchise building block at times (it puts firmly to bed any hope of Spider-Man appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe), it’s an enjoyable super-romp in the company of Peter Parker.

*NOTE: This is a joke, believe it or not. A commenter on my Noah review mistakenly thought I genuinely believed that Noah was based on Evan Almighty, so I thought I’d flag up that I’m not that much of a berk.