Film Review | Ant-Man

Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) just wanted to ‘be the hero his daughter already knows he is,’ instead, his time in prison has landed him in a tough place – unemployment. After being kicked out of his own daughter’s birthday party for not pay– oh, wait, I mean playing his part as a parent, Scott decides he needs to get his head in the game – even if it means doing a job that will land him back in prison. Little does he know, he’s being watched.

The Story

Skewing minutely away from the original comic, the next instalment to Marvel’s Avengers ensemble sees Paul Rudd as the comedic and charming, Ant-Man. Changing the origin story to suit past, present and future storylines, we see an ex-conman trying to make an honest living. Swearing never set foot in another jail cell again, Lang sees himself at a dead end as his past taints his employment prospects – regardless of how much street-cred he may give to any workplace.

While Lang plays “who’ll employ me?!”, his story is overshadowed by the bigger up-hill battle that Michael Douglas’ character has to face – his own creation. Attempting to hide his advanced technology that shrinks bio-particles from the government, Hank Pym finds himself at odds with former protégé, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll). Slightly psychotic and delusional, Cross attempts to replicate the Pym Particle in order to capitalise his imitation in order to show Pym that he was, and is, worthy of his attention. In the mix of all of this, we also have a father-daughter complex where Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) is a double agent who feeds information from Cross back to her father, Hank. But back to Lang…

After allowing Scott to “rob” him – i.e. take his shrinking suit – Hank hires him to steal Darren’s replica, the Yellowjacket, before it gets into the hands of the wrong people.

As a whole I thought the combination of past Ant-Man and future Ant-Man, along with the allusions to the original comic storyline, worked great for this next instalment. The storyline was solid and fluid, as well as the perfect amount of comedic-charm that Marvel’s films always have.

The Cast

Michael Douglass was a brilliant mentor figure in this film. Bringing the seriousness to balance out Rudd’s comedic strand, Douglass brought the comic’s initial storyline to life.

Paul Rudd’s take on the ‘new’ Ant-Man was just as brilliant as Douglas’ seriousness. Although Rudd did bring much of the comic relief, he did have some great emotional moments in the film as well. He understood the importance of playing a father who would do anything for his daughter, as well as playing Marvel’s typical strong-type superhero. It’s nice to have another father figure join the Avengers, I’m glad to see Hawkeye has a friend!

Correy Stoll was another great balance to Rudd’s light-hearted take to a Marvel classic. He played the roll as a villain brilliantly and was an excellent mirror of what Pym could have been if circumstance were different.

Overall, Marvel fans who have not seen this film are missing out. The story, the cast, the graphics and the film as a whole will have you laughing and sitting at the edge of your seats. Go get your tickets at your local Event Cinemas today!

Star Rating: ★★★

Next on sL: Fantastic Four

Film Review | Paper Towns

Quentin (Nat Wolff) was an ordinary guy living next door to an extraordinary girl – Margot Roth Spiegelman (Cara Delavigne). Margot was an enigma that was perched behind the adjacent window from his own. As kids, these windows were the doors to adventures, but now – it seem – they were truly the passageways to each other’s soul.

The Story

Based on the novel written by John Green, Paper Towns is yet another coming of age film aimed to touch the hearts of teens across the globe. Now, I must confess that I never read past the opening chapters of the novel, regardless, I did enjoy the journey the film took me on.

It begins with a suburban town, with suburban children who cosmically are bound by the pavement that separates their homes. Margot is the typical teen-goddess, while Quentin – a.k.a. “Q” – is the awkward band-geek pining to be something to her. In an odd series of events, Q gets his moment as Margot visits him one night and enlists him to her “Margot-Roth-Spiegelman-Revenge-Plot” towards her backstabbing friends.

Before Quentin could even enjoy his moment with Margot, she disappears. But alas! She leaves clues, which Quentin believes are hidden messages that dictate, “Come find me!” So Q enlists his fellow musketeers, along with some female tag-alongs, and embarks on a twenty-one-hour-long drive to Algoe, NY on a hunch.

Green’s concept for his novel is the old saying, “never judge a book by its cover,” with the straightforward notion of, “never think of a person as anything more than a person”. But from where I was sitting, I saw the film as an ode to the notion of, “never chase the wind; it blows when and where it pleases.” Not once did I get the idea that Quentin placed Margot on a pedestal; I saw him as a rational teenager who – like many teens today – had dreams and aspirations and Margot was his final distraction. We see Quentin and his friends set out on adventures that they’ve managed to hold off until their senior year. The most profound line that I love from the film is, “Everybody else is doing everything for the last time, but I’m experiencing everything for the first time.” I felt the movie sided more on the idea that we shouldn’t wait to live life, we should just live and let life take us where it wills.

The Cast

Nat Wolff was a brilliant lead. Taking it up a notch from his role as Isaac in The Fault in Our Stars, Wolff managed to stir his supporting prowess from Fault and turn it into gold in Paper Towns. He was funny, awkward and touching – basically anything that the scene required, he lavished it in full.

Cara Delavigne exceeded my expectations as she not only held her American accent beautifully, but also portrayed a believable Margot. Whether Margot needed to be a bad-ass-ninja, heartbroken schoolgirl or a candle-in-the-wind, she depicted it with incredible expertise that left you wanting more.

Justin Smith and Austin Abrams are receiving honourable mentions for being amazing supports and for their killer acapella version of the Pokemon theme song. They were a great balance of wit and humour, sarcasm and playful and practically, smart and well…special.

Overall, Paper Towns surpassed my low expectations so much I’m actually going to finish reading the book. That’s how convincing this movie is – I’m willing to do this book-screen process backwards! If you know me, that means a movie and/or book is worth it.

Star Rating: ★★★

Next on sL: Ant-Man