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). 

Guardians of the Galaxy – Richards Reckons Review

OOGA CHAKA OOGA OOGA OOGA CHAKA

There’s no doubt that this was Marvel’s riskiest venture yet. A big budget filmed based on a relatively unknown comic book series filled with relatively unknown characters and relatively unknown locations? IN THIS DAY AND AGE? ARE YOU INSANE? THAT’S ALMOST AN ORIGINAL IDEA! When those characters are almost all rogues in some way, and with one a raccoon and one a tree, there was plenty of insanity and uncertainty at the heart of this project.

Guardians of the Galaxy tells the tale of Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), a kid of the 80’s who gets abducted by a spaceship (I now cannot type or say the word spaceship without thinking of Benny from The Lego Movie) after his mother tragically dies of cancer. Over 20 years later, he steals a precious orb Indiana-Jones-style from an abandoned planet, without realising quite how powerful it is and who is after it (namely Ronan The Accuser, a Kree terrorist, played by Lee Pace). Through circumstance, he is thrown together and forced to join forces with a rag-tag group of upstarts; including Gamora (Zoe Saldana, making the leap from blue skin to green), an assassin desperate to rectify her ways; Drax “The Destroyer (Dave Batista), a thug fuelled by vengeance and a very literal understanding of metaphors; Rocket (Bradley Cooper. Yes, really), a genetically engineered, fast-talking raccoon creature with a love of firearms, and Groot (Vin Diesel), a sensitive, sentient tree creature with a restricted vocabulary.

As I previously mentioned, this project inherently has risk at its heart. Risk normally has two outcomes, either resounding success or crashing and burning, Busted style. And what is obvious from very early on with Guardians is that it is most definitely the first one.

First things first (I’m the realist), this movie looks phenomenal. Every single frame looks like it has been rendered and pored over with precision and artistic flair, especially with the varying locations – from the shady, steampunk markets of Knowhere (a floating head of a dead celestial, fact fans) to the shiny, modern utopia of Xandar (home of space policemen the Nova Corps; once again, for those fact fans). The galaxy itself looks beautiful, and the different spaceships (oop, there’s Benny again) have enough character to them that you can tell the difference. This movie also involves a lot of motion capture and digital effects for obvious reasons (a real life talking tree wasn’t available at time of shooting), and it doesn’t look cartoonish at any point; you can count the individual hairs and whiskers on Rocket’s face (not literally, nobody has that amount of time, not even me) and can get a real sense of the emotion he’s feeling at any given point (mostly rage). The special effects too look fantastic in every setpiece – the combination of practical and digital effect really does make a lot of difference and a great sheen. The five hours of makeup that Dave Batista, Zoe Saldana, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan and Lee Pace had to endure every day of shooting pays off in dividends – the practical application of makeup rather than the use of CGI makes their appearances more authentic and believable.

The Guardians did not have the freedom the Avengers had to have their own individual movies for us to get to know them all before banding together, so there was an additional challenge here to not only to try and give an equal amount of screen time to each hero, but also introduce them all in an effective way and, actually, the film succeeds in this department. All the Guardians are given three dimensions, and none of them are a caricature simply of their appearance – we for the most part discover their motivations and their character, and it never seems to be crowbarred in in a deliberately expositional way either.

In fact, at times, when it needs to be, Guardians can actually be quite poignant – from its heartbreaking pre-title sequence, you would never think that it becomes the hilarious movie it is. It storms through the six laugh test more easily than many comedy films do; with wordplay and physical comedy everywhere to be found. Its writing is slick and the conversing/sparring between the group really lead to some great lines, with the surprise comedic gem being Drax – lines such as “don’t ever call me a thesaurus” and “I am NOT a princess” are delivered with a brilliant sense of comedic timing and will stick around in pop culture for a long time to come.

Yes, there are very minor plot holes, and the villains are once again not as memorable as the heroes (that said, they do the best with what they’re given), but it’s such an exhilarating and fun ride you just don’t care about those kinds of things. The soundtrack too is fantastic – from the “Awesome Mix Vol. 1” cassette tape of 70s and 80s earworms to the synth/orchestral hybrids that almost commentate on the action. Every actor in this is firing on all cylinders without it seeing campy; Chris Pratt is especially charismatic and remains a magnetic screen presence, while Zoe Saldana provides a great conflicted performance in the form of Gamora. Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel put everything into their voice performances and help to really animate (no pun intended. Ah who am I kidding, of course it was) their characters, who are destined to be fan favourites; but it’s Dave Batista here who is the real surprise, with his comic timing and depth into a truly troubled character.

The Guardians are destined to be remembered for a long time as icons of popular culture. For me, it encapsulates part of why I love cinema; pure, ridiculous, escapism. I’m looking forward to seeing it mould with the other Marvel films later on, but in the mean time, make no mistake – Marvel is still the supremo when it comes to summer blockbusters.