Ant-Man

[rowe]

Just saw this one yesterday.

Suffice it to say, I actually enjoyed it. Mind you, it's not supposed to be a huge blockbuster (compared to The Avengers and such), and the formula is different from the rest of the Marvel films, but it still does well.

On that note, it didn't make a huge amount of money at the box office. Just a tad less than $60 million in the US. But, its budget is also considerably lower than most Marvel films. It's meant to be that way. Marvel surely wasn't banking on this one being a huge cash cow, and that's fine. Not every film they make needs to be.

Your thoughts?

 

[Shaissa]

Honestly when I saw it, I was disappointed with the fact that they made Ant-Man kinda seem like Iron-man in a way. It was lower budget sure, I am kinda disappointed in the fact I don't see him joining the Avengers even though he was an original member. Also I was sad there was no Wasp... overall I see it as mediocre at best, not a good Marvel movie.

 

[shivas]

didn't see it yet, the only reason I will is because of the post-credit scene [which I've already spoiled it to myself but oh man I'm so excited for Civil War]

 

[rowe]

didn't see it yet, the only reason I will is because of the post-credit scene [which I've already spoiled it to myself but oh man I'm so excited for Civil War]

Doesn't help that it's been heavily publicized since the movie opened. I even knew about it before yesterday.

 

[Martel]

This was an average enough movie, I think. Better than both Captain Americas, but nowhere near as good as either of the Thors or Guardians of the Galaxy. It was fairly well paced, had an absolutely fantastic final battle, and didn't get bogged down in a mind-numbingly tedious origin story or romance subplot, for which I will be eternally grateful. Although I'm confused as hell about where they're going - if they're going anywhere - with the Wasp. She's a founding Avengers member! I know they've deviated from the comic books quite drastically when it comes to Ant-Man (after all, Pym creates Ultron, not Stark) but the Wasp is...fairly important. Hrmn.

As usual, the MCU can't do it's villains justice though. Yellowjacket wasn't as huge a fuck-up as Ronan the Accuser, but he was still pretty lousy. Just once, I'd like them to actually do justice to their antagonist of choice. Loki is the best they've done so far, but he's still a far cry from his comic book source. It's getting a bit annoying.

 

[Shaissa]

Although I'm confused as hell about where they're going - if they're going anywhere - with the Wasp. She's a founding Avengers member! I know they've deviated from the comic books quite drastically when it comes to Ant-Man (after all, Pym creates Ultron, not Stark) but the Wasp is...fairly important. Hrmn.

Although I wanna know where they are going with Wasp and Ant-man too, although at this point they can go anywhere with it since they are not following the comics at all.

As usual, the MCU can't do it's villains justice though. Yellowjacket wasn't as huge a fuck-up as Ronan the Accuser, but he was still pretty lousy. Just once, I'd like them to actually do justice to their antagonist of choice. Loki is the best they've done so far, but he's still a far cry from his comic book source. It's getting a bit annoying.

I think why Loki is probably the best one is because they didn't kill him off after one movie. I think problem with most villains in the super hero movies is that they tend to kill off the villain at the end. It would be nice to see the villains at least not dead at the end. I mean at this point the "civil war" will be hero's only and that isn't how it was in the comics...hope they at least try to keep some villains alive for now on.

 

[Martel]

Although I wanna know where they are going with Wasp and Ant-man too, although at this point they can go anywhere with it since they are not following the comics at all.

True, although for one thing I hope they keep Hope as the Red Queen, rather than making her the new Wasp. It'd make for a far more interesting story to put her in her traditional antagonist role, given how things resolved themselves at the end of the film. I suppose it's possible if she ends up on a particular side in Civil War...

I think why Loki is probably the best one is because they didn't kill him off after one movie. I think problem with most villains in the super hero movies is that they tend to kill off the villain at the end. It would be nice to see the villains at least not dead at the end. I mean at this point the "civil war" will be hero's only and that isn't how it was in the comics...hope they at least try to keep some villains alive for now on.

Well, technically Red Skull wasn't killed, but he might as well be dead for all the good it'd do. I remember reading that Lee Pace was hoping to return as Ronan in Guardians of the Galaxy, but given that he was blasted to atoms I doubt it. Nebula is still at large too, but she had a very minor role...and of course there's Thanos, but he's a Chessmaster villain, so he doesn't count. I expect he'll die at the end of Infinity War Part II anyway. But yeah, Loki is the only one who has had anything in the way of development, and that's only because he's played a central role in three films now. I don't expect that sort of treatment for every MCU villain, but it'd be nice if they actually lived, because their backstories and personalities are just as - if not more - complex than the heroes.
Crossbone is in Civil War, as is Baron Zemo. They can't keep that faithful to the comics very much anyway, as there are no secret identities for them to fight about. Although I expect some of the major plot points will be similar...

 

[charliepanayi]

Loki has been easily the best MCU villain so far simply because he 1. has a personality and 2. gets great lines. I did like Ultron too, he's the only other MCU villain so far who hasn't been dull as hell.

As for Ant-Man, it was . . . OK. Paul Rudd is an appealing lead and there are some flashes of wit (especially in the final act, the only time the film really comes alive), but there's a lot of sappy blah to get through ('be the hero your kid thinks you are' is something we've seen a million times in movies) and they totally waste Evangeline Lilly and Judy Greer. And as mentioned it's yet another lame villain in an MCU film. Maybe it would have been more fun with Edgar Wright on board, though we'll never know now. I've seen some people raving how it's one of the best Marvel films so far, I can only assume these people are off their rockers.

The bit with The Cure's Plainsong made me laugh though. And Michael Pena's character is funny.

 

[Dionysos]

This was Honey I Shrunk the Kids meets Hustle meets Mission Impossible (meets Thomas the Tank Engine).

I really like this movie and I appreciate what it means for the MCU. I hope that other people like it as much as I did and that they can use Ant-Man again from time to time (he's set to appear in Captain America 3, so that's grand).


It was well cast. Paul Rudd was great, and I was really surprised by how suited Micheal Douglas was for an older Hank Pym.

It was great to see some scenes from the 1980s (and some other shots of Pym in action). They didn't explore the history with Wasp explicitly, but I think I did see some traces of Pym's domestic abuse towards Jan. Particularly when Pym said to Cross that he saw too much of himself in him. There were a few other moments as well that got me thinking about that, but I can't recall them right now.

I also absolutely loved the scenes with Falcon, and the heist guys were hilarious too.

The film was fun, hilarious, cheesy, and even clever (at times).

I think this has been a success, and it is a pity that people are divided on it like marmite. I guess Ant-Man was always going to be that sort of movie, but at least it turned out to be my sort of movie.

 

[Jack's Smirking Revenge]

Ronan the Accuser will not be back for Guardians 2. Nebula, however, will be although we're not sure yet in what capacity exactly. Red Skull is technically still a very big possibility as Hugo Weaving is contracted for another two films.

I've not managed to catch Ant-Man yet, I'll probably see it next week. My interest took a big hit when Edgar Wright left, but recent marketing has been some of Disney's best for it and it's worked a treat on me