2015: The Year in Film: "Ant-Man" Review.

At this point, Marvel studios is just a machine. They're churning out multiple comic movies a year about whatever minor characters they want and every single one of those movies is better than just about every comic book movie that's ever been released by a non-Marvel studio. It's insane. 2 years ago I would have bet you large sums of money that Guardians of the Galaxy would have been a disaster and it turned out to just be the best of the bunch. Enter: Ant-Man. Acclaimed fanboy writer/director Edgar Wright was attached to/worked on this one for years only to leave just before filming began. SURELY that couldn't be a good sign, right? Was Marvel about to finally crap the bed? It's not like Ant-Man is a compelling character to begin with, he's kind of a joke even in the comics. A guy who can shrink in size and control ants? That's just silly.

We're introduced to convicted felon Scott Lang just as he's released from prison and trying to reintegrate into the world and his daughter's life. He finds himself caught up in the scheme of reclusive millionaire and genius Hank Pym to keep the revolutionary technology Pym invented and hid decades ago out of the wrong hands.

The Good: at this point, Marvel can make these movies in their sleep. I know that I've said that before, but they're so good at plugging in characters and situations to their existing format and creating fun, exciting, extremely watchable flicks that there's no reason they can't just continue on like this in perpetuity.  This is especially true since they've begun to abandon the typical "superhero origin" tale in favor of laying superheroes over other genres. They did this with Thor 2 (fantasy), Cap 2 (political thriller), Guardians (space opera) and now Ant-Man (heist). Marvel continues to knock it out of the park with casting as well. Paul Rudd is an extremely likable dude, one who's a perfect fit for this role and he steps right in. The real coup here is Michael Douglas. Douglas hasn't worked much lately, but he knocks Hank Pym out of the park and is easily the best part of this movie. Evangeline "Kate from LOST" Lily does "badass" pretty well, and she stands to have a larger role in the Marvel universe moving forward. I've always been a fan of Michael Pena's, and he stands out as comic relief here as Lang's roommate/former cellmate. The other supporting cast (Bobby Cannavale, especially) are more than up to the task and they really make the flick rise above the silly schlock fest it easily could have been. There are two things this flick does really well, though: 1. comedy. It isn't afraid to be silly and laugh at itself, and given that the main character can control ants, that's kind of crucial, guys. 2. and this is going to sound silly, but everything with the ants is pretty damn great. They're given some solid scenes, have a lot of personality and are pretty damn charming. It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? But that's just where Marvel is in 2015. They can build scenes around CGI ants and have those scenes be the best part of a pretty good movie.



The Bad: if Marvel films have a shortcoming, it's that they consistently fail to have memorable or significant villains. I like Corey Stoll, but his Darren Cross is simply another version of Obidiah Stane from Iron Man. Also, at times it's unclear if the movie wants to be a comedy or wants to be a generic superhero film. It's not enough to ruin the flick, but some scenes are weirdly serious in a way that feels betrayed by the general tone of the rest of the film.

All in all, this isn't the best Marvel film by any standard, but it's solid and a whole lot of fun. I'd rank it somewhere in the middle, in the Thor 2/Captain America range, and that's nothing to be ashamed of. Marvel has successfully added another corner to its universe, and it feels like it fits right in. Come for Paul Rudd being charming, stay for Michael Douglas, Michael Pena, and an awesome last 30 minutes.

7.5/10.

2012: The Year in Film: "Haywire" Review

Only a solid 6 days late on this one.. one of these days I'll get the movie reviews up to current status. Crazy things like booze and the internet tend to get in the way. Gina Carino was a minor cultural phenomenon back in... ohh.. 2007/2008? She was an attractive and skilled female MMA fighter who gathered a large following and parlayed that following into a featured spot as one of the "Gladiators" on the short-lived modern reboot of "American Gladiators". Then someone (Steven Soderbergh) decided that she should be in movies, and here we are. Soderbergh, of course, is the acclaimed director of films like "Traffic", the "Ocean's" films, "Contagion", "Erin Brokovich", and so on. Needless to say, he can attract A-list talent to his projects. It seems like he's been on an experimental bent lately, making a flick with porn star Sasha Grey a few years back and now introducing the world's first female MMA star to feature films.

The supporting cast in this one is impressive. Ewan McGregor, blog favorite Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton, Michael Douglas and Channing Tatum round out the cast. As far as Carino herself, she has a solid screen presence, a natural beauty and a certain physicality that brings believability to the action sequences. However, it's clear that she's a newcomer to the movie game.. as her dialogue seems stiff and forced, and she doesn't seem to know what to do with scenes that don't require her to kick someone's ass. She may become a good actress someday.. but she just isn't yet. Not that that's her fault - carrying a movie is no easy task - Nic Cage hasn't figured out how to do it despite 25 years and 30+ chances.

As far as the plot - it's pretty standard and throwaway. Mallory is an agent for a company that contracts out dirty work for an unnamed government agency. Basically, they do jobs so that the government doesn't have to. After a contracted rescue mission in Barcelona where all is not as it seems, Mallory's world comes down around her head through a web of double-crosses, lies and betrayals. The plot hops around the globe as Mallory seeks to stay one step ahead of her pursuers, whose intentions aren't entirely clear.



All in all, I was rather disappointed in this one. Not that I expected it to surpass the "Bourne" flicks and become an action/spy classic, but given the talent behind and in front of the camera, I hoped for a solid flick at least. Unfortunately, this flick is uneven, inconsistent and rather dull despite stretches that are quite good. The plot is rather paint-by-numbers and seems more befitting an 80's Segal or Van Dam actioneer rather than a flick involving all of this talent. Bad guys with dubious allegiances and even more uncertain motivations simply doesn't cut it in our post-Bourne, post-Daniel Craig Bond world. In addition, as mentioned above, Carino, despite her impressive physicality and fight sequences, is simply a stiff unable to hold a movie on her own. She would have been better suited to ease her way into a starring vehicle via supporting roles.. as it felt like she was doing a "Terminator" impression throughout. In addition, Soderbergh's trademark jazzy transition scenes (think the "Ocean" movies) simply felt out of place. Trying to turn a John Cena straight-to-DVD flick into an arthouse flick with A-list talent and smooth listening jazz interludes just results in a slightly better genre flick in the absence of a transcendent performance. Unfortunately, the talented actors (McGregor, Fassbender, Douglas, Banderas) simply aren't given any meat to chew on. The most nuanced and complicated non-Carino character was played by Channing Tatum.. who probably takes acting lessons from his acting-challenged co-star. That dude is a stiff.

I hate to sound so negative about a movie.. but this one just didn't do it for me. There are scenes that are tense and very good.. but these cut abruptly to something COMPLETELY different, giving the flick an extremely uneven, disjointed feel. Carino does great fight scenes, as she should, but you really believe that she could beat up a man.. which isn't typically the case with women action stars. So while she certainly has some potential, she's just not there yet. So while this one isn't bad, it isn't particularly good, either.

5.5/10