Ant-Man

Ant-Man has had a whole host of problems in the run up to its creation. Not only was it one of the earlier films stated by Marvel, only now being made, it also had Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright leave the project just before production. Anybody would think that Marvel's latest would be an absolute disaster but thankfully it is not, not quite anyway...

Ant-Man follows Scott Lang, an ex-con and brilliant thief, as he is recruited by scientist Hank Pym to don the Ant-Man suit and steal back the plans from Darren Cross, who looks to turn the suit into a weapon for sale.

Paul Rudd is the hero of this film and he is supported by Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, Evangeline Lily as Hope Van Dyne and Corey Stroll as Darren Cross. Nobody really stands out in the film but nobody sucks either. Paul Rudd is a pretty convincing hero but it is one of his friends and fellow crooks who steals the show, Luis, played by Michael Peña. There are also a couple of great cameos that really help make the film better. 

The best thing about this film is the shrinking action, If you didn't know already, the Ant-Man suit allows the user to shrink to the size of an ant, but still retain their strength, as well as being able to talk to fellow ants and manipulate them. It sounds stupid but director Peyton Reed really uses the ability to create some really memorable awesome looking action scenes. Reed really makes the most of the power and has the action take place in a variety of comedical, but also impressive, settings such as a briefcase and a bathtub. These are the scenes that really stood out in the film but unfortunately, there is a lack of them in the first half. For me this did make the first half of the film a bit boring as I didn't care much for what else was happening.

With a premise as difficult to pull off as Ant-Man's is, I did think the film would be funnier. There were laughs but for me the comedy didn't always work and with someone as great as Paul Rudd as the lead, I was expecting a lot more. For a film that was described as a 'heist' movie, there is only really one clever heist pulled off near the start. The main big heist isn't really that interesting or clever and didn't do anything new for the genre, apart from the fact that the main guy is very small.

This is the problem with Ant-Man, the story itself is pretty formulaic and by the numbers. Many of the Marvel origin stories have been, but thankfully they have had more interesting characters to follow throughout. Ant-Man didn't have this. I didn't care for Scott Lang, he felt like a combination of other Marvel characters with his only unique trait being that he had a daughter to care for. Hank Pym was the most interesting character in the film because we haven't really seen an old hero pass down his mantle yet in this universe. Michael Douglas also brought a lot of weight to the character that never is or was a purely good hero.

Marvel yet again suffer from lacklustre villains. I really like Corey Stroll but he plays a villain that is just evil, a reason is given but it wasn't enough for me. The fact that his powers are similar to Ant-Man's does make their fights look great but like the rest of the film, the action works and everything else is pretty forgettable. Marvel really need to sort their villains out for Phase 3.

The troubled production doesn't help and you can tell the scenes which are very Edgar Wright-y. Who knows what his film would have looked like overall! The film is not a total disaster and I would like to see a sequel now that they are more confident with the character and the world. Unfortunately the first outing is a bit messy but overall there is fun to be had, especially with the awesome shrinking action! It's not astonishing but its not rubbish either, it's a bit in the middle. I am rating Ant-Man a 2.5/5.


What did you think of Ant-Man? So far it looks like I am in the minority of people who weren't overly keen on it! Let me know where you stand in the comments below.

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The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies

I'm only going to give you a quick run-through of my thoughts on this film as I haven't had a lot of spare time to write and I am also trying to compile my top ten films of this year and most anticipated of next year lists!

So The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies. If you have kept up with my reviews of these films for the last couple years then you will remember that I enjoyed the first one, and very much disliked the second one. This one is... alright. My expectations were low but I found myself enjoying certain parts of this epic climax. The beginning was very cool and I really liked Smaug but I did feel this segment would have been better at the end of the last film, because when you come out of the cinema the opening is just a kind of an afterthought. The rest of the film has it's moments but is still bogged down by the worst aspects of the prequel trilogy; the overuse of CGI and no main character (or not enough use of Bilbo!). I mean come on, the film is called The Hobbit! And Martin Freeman is awesome, give him more to do in his own film! I did however enjoy the dynamics between Thorin and Bilbo in this film which I feel the last one kind of forgot about. Other actors I liked were Evangeline Lily, though her character was nothing more than a love interest, Lee Pace (did anyone else think it looked like he had pen marks on his face at the end of the battle?), Luke Evans and obviously Ian Mckellen who I believe may actually be Gandalf in real life... Anybody looking forward to seeing Billy Connolly in this film will be disappointed when he turns up as a cluster of pixels.

This film has good moments, a lot of the action is pretty cool looking, but never reaches the awesomeness or realisticness of Helms Deep or Minas Tirith. I'm very happy The Lord Of The Rings got made when it did, because Peter Jackson has definitely had a case of the George Lucas flu whilst making these prequels! The finale is epic in scale and Peter Jackson closes his trilogy a lot smoother than The Return Of The King. I wasn't left disappointed by this Hobbit film. The films won't hold up well over time but at least we'll still have The Lord Of The Rings to satisfy all our Middle Earth needs. I know this all sounds like negative points but I did enjoy the film I swear! It just wasn't anything special, that's all. It had the pressure of The Lord Of The Rings on it's back and was being adapted from a 300 page kids book, stretched into three really long films...

Look, I liked it, didn't love it, but it'll do. I am giving The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies a rating of 3/5.

What did you think of the final Hobbit film? Are you happy it's over or have you been left wanting more adventures in Middle Earth? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

Come back soon for my review of the year and what I am most looking forward to in 2015!