Ryan just gave his thoughts on Marvel’s latest entry. Was he right? Not really. Ol’ Watson’ll give you the REAL scoop, as always.
Look. I didn’t hate the movie. I should start off saying that, but like any review that starts that way , I will now spend the rest of my article ripping it.
I ‘ve liked all the MCU films. To me the worst ones (Iron Man 2 and the Incredible Hulk) are entirely passable popcorn flicks. Ant-Man is no different, but how good is that? I can certainly give it a lukewarm thumbs up, I guess. Like, roughly a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes seems about fair…
But this film DEFINITELY signals the end of the MCU dominance. A movie like Ant-Man means to me that the Marvel brand is no longer “must-see” and I feel audiences will agree. After Age of Ultron and Ant-Man, I think the casual fan may start to think that they can wait until they see it at home. That is how damaging this film and AoU is the Marvel brand. Not bad, but bland.
So, what about the film itself? What makes me so “meh” on it despite Ryan’s undeserved praise?
- First, it was the worst dialogue of any of the Marvel films to date….and this is a series not known for its memorable dialogue.
- Second, this film cannot find a singular tone so it stumbles back and forth from comedy to straight “music blaring” adventure film. I just praised the movie Trainwreck this morning for being able to shift agilely from one dynamic to another, but Ant-Man is the antithesis of this. The comedy wasn’t funny enough to be “Marvel’s first big comedy” movie. The action wasn’t good enough to stand on its own. You are left with a singularly, uneven movie.
- Third, no one but Paul Rudd and Michael Pena were very good in this movie. Angeline Lillie was absolutely dreadful. Michael Douglas was ok, but he suffered from the terrible script.
- Finally, despite being played by an able actor in Corey Stall, the villain in the movie, Yellowjacket, was the worst MCU movie villain ever. He was so contrived that I am surprised he didn’t have a mustache to twirl.
Ryan described his love for the movie like this:
Yes, it has plot holes that you could drive a miniaturized 18-wheeler through, but that’s every heist film. What it got right, it got very right.
This from the man who has ripped on Jurassic World for the exact same sins so often that when the lady at the snack bar at work sees Ryan walk in, she takes her 15 minute break. Honestly, I think Ryan is confusing plot holes with bad plotting. Ant-Man just kind of meandered. And I also find it interesting that Ryan forgives Ant-Man because it is a heist movie. The bar is lower for a heist film than the fourth installment in a dinosaur horror series?
REALLY?
Marvel has started to play it safe and hit a bunch of singles. Ant-Man is a single that the runner barely legged out. Basically, Ant-Man is ok if you are ok with mediocre popcorn movies.
But by way of comparison, Jurassic World is currently six movies ahead of Ant-Man on my annual list, Ryan.
The Marvel Summer of Disappointment continues.
Score: 6.5 out of 10 .
I’m probably going to see it tomorrow, but I don’t know if Marvel is coasting on this one so much as they’re putting out something that became a muddled mess behind the scenes after Edgar Wright quit.
It felt very much that Marvel was at fault.
I would agree, though I am not certain what exactly happened and do not feel inclined to judge beyond potentially rushing a muddled product. I’ll say for certain after I’ve seen it.
Are you crazy? Seriously – I feel like we watched two very different movies. Look for my review to be posted soon. (shakes head and says to herself….”Watson is on crazy pills again.”)
If Jenny liked it, then there was a happy ending. Maybe Ant-Man resurrected Mr. Bing Bong to save the day.
Ha – no – seriously, everything Watson said makes my head spin. It’s like we saw two different movies. I complete disagree with his comments about the acting, and the storyline, etc. It’s not all smiles, but it was definitely fun.
I haven’t seen diddly of this beyond trailer, but while hard core geeks may see Ant Man as part of MCU, the rest of the world doesn’t associate. Ant Man isn’t one of those Marvel flagships, so I wouldn’t say their MCU brand is better/worse off from this film. I expect this is a stand alone story – seems to be aimed for a niche market – and I think they will score.
That said ladies and gents – I have already turned into an old curmudgeon (enough to recognize WW’s Sneidly Whiplash and love the Sugar Babies) and have very small desires to see more than a move or 2 a year in a theater. Too much out there for me to keep up with, so just wait until it’s on Netflix said the old man who just yelled at the kids for leaving their bike “near” my lawn.
Oh no! Not you too?! What is the world coming to!
Some days you are with the good guys, others you are with the goat b. I had never heard that before and have been using it liberally the last 2 days. thx podcast of GGeeks.
Goat bitch. It’s catching on.