Ant-Man (and Avengers 2)

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velcrozombie
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Joined: April 12th, 2015, 3:37 pm

Ant-Man (and Avengers 2)

Postby velcrozombie » July 24th, 2015, 11:10 am

I feel like I was one of the few people who was a bit disappointed with the second Avengers movie. It was an entertaining movie with some fun moments (especially the Hulk/Iron Man fight), but it's the first Marvel movie that feels like it's straining under the weight of the elaborate mythology and ever-growing cast of characters that have been built over the last 7 years. The humor was often forced, the character moments felt perfunctory and the action (beyond the previously mentioned Hulk sequence) looks weightless (especially in the wake of the amazing practical effects of Mad Max: Fury Road) and is rarely exciting. James Spader's performance as Ultron, the growing relationship between Black Widow and the Hulk and the weirdness of the Vision (who really does feel like a Silver Age creation compared to the streamlined, modernized superheroes in most of today's movies) were the biggest things I took away from the movie. Maybe I will feel better about it after a rewatch.

If you want the opposite of everything I just described - light, airy, silly, trim, unencumbered by layers of continuity - then you need to see Ant-Man. Don't let the box-office deter you: Ant-Man is this year's Guardians of the Galaxy, a movie that people who know nothing about the Marvel Universe can enjoy just as much as someone who has been following these movies from the beginning. If you were one of the people who checked out (as I did) after Edgar Wright left the movie, don't worry: he still gets the top screenwriting credit, and it feels an awful lot like something he would have done. There are moments of worldbuilding shoveled in here and there (reportedly one of the things that Wright and the suits at Marvel had a hard time agreeing about) but they are about as quick and painless as they can be. The villain isn't super memorable (a bit of a retread of the Jeff Bridges character in the first Iron Man movie) and it does feel a bit like a Disney movie for grow-ups at times, but it's nice to have a "low-stakes" Marvel movie - not every story should have to be about saving the world.

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Rev
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Re: Ant-Man (and Avengers 2)

Postby Rev » July 24th, 2015, 1:07 pm

It seems like when superhero movies start to focus too hard on the back stories of a huge cast of characters they tend to lose something in the process. I was also disappointed with Avengers 2 and I believe it was because there was simply too much going on. This also was the case with other superhero movies like X3, Spiderman 3, Amazing Spiderman 2, etc. If you're going to do a huge cast of characters, focusing on the main plot seems to work better than having too much going on at the same time.

I'm excited to see Ant-Man. Hopefully I can see it this weekend.

Vexer6
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Re: Ant-Man (and Avengers 2)

Postby Vexer6 » July 24th, 2015, 1:25 pm

I thought Age of Ultron it was a decent film and had some good action and humor, but it was definitely inferior to the first film, it feels largely like a stop gap film between the first film and Infinity Wars.

NAC2
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Re: Ant-Man (and Avengers 2)

Postby NAC2 » July 27th, 2015, 3:30 pm

I have to agree that The Avengers: Age of Ultron felt overblown. Age of Ultron has (highlight to see spoilers) Black Widow and Hulk's relationship, Hawkeye's family, Quicksilver's and Scarlet Witch's introduction, the rise of Ultron, focus on the main Avengers, the introduction of the Vision (who I honestly forgot about for a moment) and probably more subplots that I can't think of for now. I honestly wasn't sure if many others felt the same way as I did about Age of Ultron's lack of focus, but it turns out I'm not alone. This is my biggest issue though: was Quicksilver even needed for this story? I never felt that he did anything of importance. All he did was tag along with Ultron in the beginning and destroy some Ultron robots towards the end. The movie clearly wanted me to feel bad about Quicksilver's death, but, since he had no impact or character development, I was indifferent. At least his sister Scarlet Witch has more of a purpose since she is the character who uses her power to brainwash Tony Stark into making Ultron (at least that's what I think she did. but I kind of forgot). Ultron as a villain was also underwhelming. I don't have anything against humorous villains, but Ultron's attempts at comedy felt awkward. It could have to do with the trailer portraying Ultron as a more serious villain, but I just couldn't help but find it strange. Also, Ultron is just all around forgettable. He just decides that he hates humanity, causes chaos, and then gets defeated, probably never to be seen again.

I could go on, and I likely will later, but Age of Ultron, although not bad, is a step down from last year's Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I do really like the Iron Man vs Hulk battle (Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep!).

NAC2
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Joined: May 23rd, 2015, 4:21 am

Re: Ant-Man (and Avengers 2)

Postby NAC2 » July 27th, 2015, 9:31 pm

Sorry. I forgot that these message boards have white text over black text. I should have made the spoiler text black. Now the spoilers in my comment are in plain sight! My bad. :cry:

Shapur
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Re: Ant-Man (and Avengers 2)

Postby Shapur » July 31st, 2015, 10:32 pm

I'm a big fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and I totally agree. Age of Ultron felt like a big mess, and is one of my least favorite of the whole series. It's not an awful movie but it's just all over the place and feels totally unfocused.

For me Ant-Man isn't this years Guardians. It's better. Great cast all around and the humor was actually funny(unlike AoU) I even laughed out loud at one point and I usually only smirk at jokes I enjoy. The villain is forgettable, like most Marvel movies and plot wise it's a pretty standard heist movie but it's FUN. It's also impressive how good some of the fx were. The honey-i-shrunk-the-kids segments looked great and de-aged Michael Douglas was seamless.


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