The Natural Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Just nipped on the library computers/internet to submit this post. I watched Ant-Man last night with my Dad and add another voice to the choir here enjoying Ant-Man more than Avengers: Age of Ultron. My Dad did as well. Origin stories in comic books and comic book films have always been a favourite of mine. I also have an interest in comic books when the mentee replaces the mentor either if the latter is alive or dead. Ant-Man appealed to me ticking those boxes. Ant-Man is also a superhero heist movie. Like Big Fresh, I noticed those two scenes from the trailer weren't in the final film. I can understand what Buy Me a Burrito means about the Ant-Man/Iron Man plot similarities. I was thinking the same thing but still liked the film. Shame about the Edgar Wright and Marvel Studios fallout. Really good opening set in 1989 seeing Triskellion getting built as a younger Hank Pym argues with older Howard Stark, Peggy Carter and Mitchell Carson for trying to recreate Pym Particles so resigns from S.H.I.E.L.D. Fun training montage as Scott Lang is taught how to use the suit, learns about different ants and how to fight by Hank/Hope van Dyne. Two other highlights, Ant-Man vs. Falcon and Ant-Man vs. Yellowjacket. Both well done. The credits scenes are two of the best by Marvel Studios. The mid-credits scene with Hank Pym shows Hope a prototype Wasp suit he was making with his wife who never got to wear it now for Hope. The post-credits scene as Captain America and the Falcon have found Bucky Barnes. I'd like to see more of Hank Pym's earlier adventures as Ant-Man though wouldn't that be like Scott's in a different period setting? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bustronaut Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Nah, Hank's earlier missions were spy stuff, Scott's will be more hero-y. There was a prequel series that Marvel put out earlier this year detail some of Hank's earlier missions. It's what got me most excited for the movie, really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Fresh Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 I read that hours before I saw the movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Unholy Dragon Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 I really liked Ant Man. It was sort of a cross between the style of Iron Man and the tone of Guardians and that worked for me. I liked the fathers and daughters narrative and the humour especially. More than anything though, this movie did more to round out the MU than any so far, I think. Peggy and Howard at the start in the prime of SHIELD and costumed heroes beyond Cap existing pre-Iron Man. Scott just suggesting they call the Avengers and the repeated point that faith in them has been broken by AoU. The Falcon fight, which was probably my favourite super-battle in the films yet for its focus on strengths and dynamics more than FiP to overcoming that they usually do, then how that sets up Scott's role in Civil War by way of the post-credits scene. It just made use of the world better than any film yet and way better than the token "HEY I'M REFERENCING THINGS" way they usually do it. Lots of fun here. Also, Phase 2 set has been announced. BR and 3D versions, $249.99. Given it's a solid $100 over just buying the standard BR at new release prices and I don't have a 3D TV they'll have to have some baller extras to get me to shell out for it. Especially since I already own Winter Soldier and Guardians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niners Fan in CT Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 I'm with Natural and some others. This was way better than Age of Ultron. That was a pretty average movie, maybe even bad. I loved this movie. Paul Rudd is awesome. I totally bought into him as a lead guy in the Marvel Universe going forward. He has a great on-screen presence and no surprise the humor here worked really well. I also disagree with the sentiment on Michael Pena. He was great and the audience loved everything he offered here. Even Michael Douglas had me rolling a couple times. I don't mind humor in my comic book movies at all if it's written well and it fits the context. Also and I don't think this is hyperbole.. outside of Winter Solider this had the best action sequences in the MCU. All the ant-sized warfare killed and the scene with Ant-Man battling The Falcon was fucking great! I loved the way that fight was constructed with each hero's strengths/weaknesses on display I missed the after credits scene. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Fresh Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Michael Pena almost stole the movie. If Rudd and Douglas weren't so strong, he would have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I'm so glad I saw the first season of House of Cards a few weeks ago. Corey Stoll mattered to me a lot more because of it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Unholy Dragon Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Honestly the mid-film fight is top 5 in the MCU for me along with Iron Man vs. Hulk in AoU and basically the three big fights in Winter Soldier. And the end film showdown was terrific as well. I'd definitely rank this as the second beat action choreography in the MU behind Winter Soldier. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niners Fan in CT Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Definitely. As we wrap up PHASE II time to update the always changing list... 1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 2. Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Iron Man 4. Marvel's The Avengers 5. Ant-Man 6. Captain America: The First Avenger 7. Avengers: Age of Ultron 8. Thor 9. The Incredible Hulk 10. Thor: The Dark World 11. Iron Man 2 12. Iron Man 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I still put First Avenger above this movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niners Fan in CT Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I love everything up until he goes to war. Awesome stuff. Everything after that felt totally rushed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Also I liked Age of Ultron more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Fresh Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Definitely. As we wrap up PHASE II time to update the always changing list... 1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 2. Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Iron Man 4. Marvel's The Avengers 5. Ant-Man 6. Captain America: The First Avenger 7. Avengers: Age of Ultron 8. Thor 9. The Incredible Hulk 10. Thor: The Dark World 11. Iron Man 2 12. Iron Man 3 I agree completely with this list, except I'd move Iron Man 3 up to #5 and bump the rest down. And maybe put Thor: The Dark World above Hulk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Unholy Dragon Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I'd probably go... 1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 2. Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Avengers: Age of Ultron 4. Iron Man 5. Thor: The Dark World 6. Ant Man 7. Thor 8. Captain America: The First Avenger 9. Iron Man 3 10. Avengers 11. Incredible Hulk 12. Iron Man 2 It's not 100%. I've soured on some and grown on others. Notably the bubble popped on the first Avengers, Incredible Hulk, and Thor while some sequels have done better for me. Also as much as I hate the Iron Man 3 twist, the first stretch and big action scene are awesome enough to land it in the mid-list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingus Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Haven't seen Ant-Man yet, so I'm only going up to eleven: 1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 2. Captain America: The First Avenger 3. Iron Man 3 4. The Avengers 5. Guardians of the Galaxy 6. Iron Man 2 7. The Incredible Hulk 8. Iron Man 9. Avengers: Age of Ultron 10. Thor: The Dark World 11. Thor Yes, I'm aware that I seem to be the only person who thinks the Iron Man series started with its weakest link and kept getting better. And fuck a bunch of Movie-Asgard, obviously; aside from Loki, it's by far the least interesting part of the whole MCU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Fresh Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I like Lady Sif too, but I wish she got more to do. I brought it up after Age of Ultron, but I really wish she was in the New Avengers line-up to replace Thor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 It was... Okay. Felt way way too much like the first Iron Man. The mid movie fight was great, but the climatic one just kinda dragged. I never bought the suit being as big a threat as the movie repeatedly stated it was. Some of the humor was good, but it suffered from the problem that plagues so many mediocre comedies; all the best jokes were in the trailers. I don't regret watching it, but I really don't have any serious desire for a sequel (or prequel, for that matter.) My list, as of right now: 1 The Avengers 2 Captain America: The First Avenger 3 Captain America: The Winter Soldier 4 Avengers: Age of Ultron 5 Guardians of the Galaxy 6 Iron Man 7 Iron Man 3 8 Thor: The Dark World 9 Ant-Man 10 Thor 11 Iron Man 2 12 Incredible Hulk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 No. You don't get away with that. Give us more. Talk about Wright. I've been holding off because you are the one who should do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I'm not sure what else to say about him that I didn't last year. I'm sure the comedy would have been funnier and the plot more surreal. I'm fairly certain the movie would have been better. I don't think Reed did a bad job, but Wright is a legit great filmmaker and it's a shame. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niners Fan in CT Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Ant-Man was way funnier than Age of Ultron though and had superior action sequences. How much of that is Wright, I don't know but it's a damn good movie. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 This is a definite YMMV thing, but there was nothing close to the Tony/Hulk fight in it. And I thought the comedy was pretty hot or miss. Whereas I liked Ultron a lot more than Ant-Man. I didn't dislike this (Hulk is still the only MCU movie I actually dislike) but it was, to me, basically fluff. It definitely doesn't come close to any of Wright's 4 films. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I'm not sure what wise to say about him that I didn't last year. I'm sure the comedy would have been funnier and the plot more surreal. I'm fairly certain the movie would have been better. I don't think Reed did a bad job, but Wright is a legit great filmmaker and it's a shame. Fine, I'll do it. 1.) It's obvious why he left. Reed outright said that the Falcon scene wasn't there when he started on the script. I think it's pretty obvious that the opening scene with Peggy and Howard wasn't as well and that the inclusion of the specific buyers(Hydra) at the end likely wasn't. 2.) The very best parts of the movie were the trippy bits you KNEW were Wrights, the initial shrinking through the dance club, which was a bit disorienting to me because I didn't have a good sense of where these places were in relation with another but was otherwise great, and the train scene, and especially the briefcase falling, Cure song coming on bits. The movie would have had much more of that and probably would have been much better because of it. That said, unlike Iron Man 2 which felt very weighed down by the SHIELD stuff coming up at key times like a Deus Ex Machina, the Marvel underpinning helped the movie a lot. It felt natural and organic, even when it shouldn't have. OF COURSE they had to grab something from the Avengers compound. It just made sense. It just felt right and it would have been the WRONG movie without it in 2015. Very wrong. It's a shame Wright didn't realize that, and it's a shame not because of any moral reason because he should have been over his misgivings or whatever but because the movie we could have gotten if Wright had been okay with that would have been both better and "right." 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niners Fan in CT Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 So Wright wouldn't have included the best scene in the movie. Cool. Glad he walked. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Hanger Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 The thing I keep reminding myself as both a big fan of the Ant-Men and a big fan of Edgar Wright is that Wright's script was primarily composed when the movie was going to be made at Lionsgate, and Iron Man 1 was in production but seen as super risky. Adapting "To Steal an Ant-Man" in a total vacuum was a passion project for him; making an MCU movie wasn't. I can totally understand why he balked when his little $50m love letter to a story that meant a lot to him turned into a blockbuster that had to serve as setup for movies by other people that he didn't give a fuck about. I still had a hell of a lot of fun at that movie. I'd love to see his original script, I bet it's glorious. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buy Me a Burrito Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 My Marvel Movies goes something like this: 1. Avengers 2. Captain America: Winter Soldier 3. Captain America: First Avenger 4. Guardians of the Galaxy 5. Iron Man 6. Thor 7. Avengers Age of Ultron 8. Iron Man 2 9. Thor: the Dark World 10. Ant-Man 11. The Incredible Hulk 12. Iron Man 3 I think one of my biggest problems is that there have been twelve goddamn movies, and I'm starting to burn out on a lot of them having similar tones and styles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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