Ant-Man

Anty-Man, Anty-Man,

Does whatever an Anty can.

Looks real small, then looks big,

Catches bad guys then does a jig. 

Look out!

Here comes the Anty-Man. 

Hello dear reader and welcome to what is my twelfth blog of 2015. It marks the end of Marvel films Phase Two and brings to the big screen a film, which at times, looked like it would never make it. Or should that be small screen, given the film in question. 

Ant-Man lost its original director, Edgar Wright, six weeks before principle photography was due to start. This came as a major surprise to most fans of the MCU. Partly because this had been a labour of love for Mr Wright for some considerable time. He’d often gone on record, as far back as 2003, saying he wanted to make this film. He’d co-written a screenplay with Joe Cornish and even shot test footage in 2013, just to see if his particular vision could be brought to the silver screen. However the main reason Mr Wright’s decision to bail caused seismic tremors throughout the superhero world was that Marvel had never really had even the slightest whiff of having a ‘problem film’. From the start of Phase One with Iron Man back in 2008, Marvel had always had the Midas touch when it came to spin and publicity. They could do no wrong. A carefully orchestrated media battle plan that always oozed geek and nerdom in substantial quantities. My superheroes bring all boys (and girls) to the Yard, as Kevin Feige would probably say. 

But then out of the blue came ‘trouble at mill’. Edgar Wright walked away citing creative differences and in walked Peyton Reed, with the rest of the world collectively shouting ‘who?’ in unison. If you’re willing to believe what the internet tells you the disagreement was largely down to screenplay rewrites but there are also reports that Team Edgar and Team Kevin simply did not get on. So not only had the rug been pulled from under everyone’s feet but it was as if the world had been shown a glimpse of the wizard behind the curtain. Fans didn’t like it and even Joss Whedon took to twitter post a simple picture of a cornetto raised aloft in support. 

It became apparent that Marvel were going to have to use a lot of smoke and mirrors and misdirection to pull this off and come up with the goods. Thankfully they could accomplish most of this with the upcoming release of Age of Ultron. ‘Hey everyone, look over here! We have trailers and pictures of shiny things’. Of course also hiring the likes of Michael Douglas, Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly also helped allay fears too. The Ant-Man ship wasn’t sinking just yet but there were icebergs on the horizon. Fast forward the better part of ten months and that brings us to Ant-Man's release. And I’m pleased to report that it’s actually rather good…

As with most Marvel films these days, you walk into the cinema with a certain level of expectation. You know what you’re going to get and most of the time they do exactly what they say on the tin. You’re bang for your buck is pretty much guaranteed and the accompanying visual and cerebral download tends to tick a lot of boxes. There will of course be grand action set pieces, a sprinkling of witty one-liners, more costumes and colours than you would expect to find in the performance of the complete works of Shakespeare and more danger and peril than Miss Marple could get her hands on with the help of CSI, Starsky & Hutch and Columbo combined. Highbrow it isn’t but by the same token, you never usually leave your seat felling underwhelmed.  

So Ant-Man starts with our ‘hero to be’ Scott Lang behind bars. Sent to prison by a military court for a crime he didn't commit. This man promptly escapes from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, He survives as a soldier of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find him, maybe you can hire the Ant-Man. Oh, hang on. I may have got myself a little confused there. Normal service will now resume.

Ant-Man is a film about redemption. A man given a second chance in life and the opportunity to be a better father to his young daughter. A daughter that still worships him despite his missing her grow up, due to his time behind bars. What Ant-Man is also, is funny. It’s probably the funniest film to come along in either Phase One or Phase Two by some considerable distance. Michael Pena, who is basically part of Scott Lang’s back up crew, isn’t given much screen time to strut his comedic talents but he pretty much steals every scene he’s in. 

It’s always going to be impossible to tell how much of Edgar and Joe’s screenplay made it into the final film. Rewrites and polishing, including a writing credit for Paul Rudd himself have permanently blurred the lines between the start and finish post but if you do ever bump into Simon Pegg ask him to show you a copy of the original, because he’s got one apparently. 

There are moments of brilliance in Ant-Man and little touches that may go unnoticed by some. Security guards whistling ‘It’s a small world after all’, a passing reference to Spiderman, who can now come and play in the MCU and will have a cameo in Marvels next film ‘Captain American: Civil War’. There also can’t be many action films that would have even thought about using Thomas the Tank Engine in their grand finale. A lot of Marvel films have been fairly formulaic recently, and have had more than just a passing Déjà vu feel when it comes to their endings. Big aerial battles that always have lots of destruction, mayhem and chaos. And yes Avengers, Thor 2 and Guardians of The Galaxy, I’m aiming that last sentence squarely at your clapper boards. It’s very refreshing to find a small scale battle that not only isn’t set against the back drop of a sprawling metropolis but happens within the confines of a family home.  

The other fairly formulaic problem that keeps repeating itself is the distinct lack of Estrogen on screen. There are only three female characters of note in Ant-Man. A mother and daughter who are given about as much to do as the Popes Menorah cleaner. They have virtually no important dialogue and are given character development which is comparable to a new brick being used on ‘Grand Designs’. Evangeline Lilly is the other female actor in question and without giving too much away or heading into spoiler territory, she will be returning to a Marvel cinema at some point in the not too distant future. There’s a blink and you miss it appearance from Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter at the start of the film but that’s basically it when it comes to women. It’s a real shame and I hope this trend starts to change soon or we could end up with a Marvel Cinematic Universe that has as many women in it as the Star Wars Universe currently does. Bad George Lucas, Boo, Boo...

I finish off by saying this. Ant-Man is a good film, despite its flaws. Paul Rudd looks like he enjoyed making it and it has one of the better Stan Lee cameos around. It also has a villain in it called Yellow Jacket, which in case you were wondering, has nothing to do with Hi-di-Hi or Sue Pollard. At 117 minutes long it’s also the shortest film to date that Marvel have released. As always you should stick around for the credits. There are two stings here, one in the middle and another at the end. Both are interesting and give the start of Phase 3 some fresh fuel. A solid four out of five but the report card should also contain a 'Could and should do better'.    

Twitter Review:

Go see Ant-man, No magnifying glass required! It’s good, It’s funny and it has Phoebe's husband from Friends in it. 

#SmallPackageBigPunch

Useful Links:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478970/?ref_=nv_sr_1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5TtFK9C62E&feature=iv&src_vid=1HpZevFifuo&annotation_id=annotation_1112302829

http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?FID=134035

The Edge of Tomorrow, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Guardians of the Galaxy

Hello dear reader. It has been a while since my last post and for that I can only apologise. The summer is traditionally when the big ‘Tent Pole’ or if you will ‘Blockbuster’ films get released. A four month period that for a lot of Studios is the culmination of teaser trailers, viral campaigns and an advertising budget that could fund a military coup in South America and still have enough money left for a ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ weekend, Penn & Teller tickets included. All this just so we will part with our hard earned money and help massage the egos of Hollywood’s elite.
And what has there been in the way of blogs from me during this? Zip, zero, nada comes the deafening response. Now before I regale you with excuses that would convince even the most cynical amongst you I will just say sorry and try to move on. Sure I could mention exotic trips to far flung locations like Berlin. I could also entertain you with lavish chronicles of ‘Awesome BBQs’ that would seem too good to be true or even try and divert your attention with yarns about slaving over a keyboard day and night, as and when free time was available, to try and complete an Open University course in creative writing but you’re all far to intelligent to buy into any of that mumbo jumbo. I dropped the ball and I’m sorry…
What follows are three daring and noble accounts of the films I have seen since I last blogged about ‘Godzilla’ or if you want me to put my newly acquired creative writing skills into practice ‘Films that I wented to see by Stjon Bavin aged forty two and a little bit.’

The first of my trio to get the ‘Bav’s Celluloid Musing’s’ treatment is the Tom Cruise sci-fi action thingy ‘The Edge of Tomorrow’. Now first of all I should say that this film doesn’t really know what it wants to be. This problem is further compounded by the fact that the studio who made it can’t seem to decided what they want to call it either. When the film was in pre-production it was called ‘All You Need is Kill’. This was the original name of the manga graphic novel written by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, on which this film is based. Then about three months before it was released it had its name changed to ‘The Edge of Tomorrow’. Now just when you thought that this name changing nonsense couldn’t get more complicated Warners pulled the rug out from everyone again when it released the art work for its state side DVD release. It would now seem to be called ‘Live, Die, Repeat.’ Now setting aside these issues the film itself isn’t that bad. It does have its problems. The third act is a little weak, the main female lead, played by Emily Blunt, has the nickname ‘Full Metal Bitch’ (which I shall just file over there in the corner under ‘charming’) and the sword that she wields is lifted lock, stock and barrel straight out of Final Fantasy VII.
The plot of the film basically see’s Tom Cruises character ‘Cage’, who is an officer who’s never seen a day’s combat, dropped into what he sees as a suicide mission. Faced against overwhelming odds and an unrelenting alien force, that never seem to make mistakes, Cage finds himself stuck in a time loop. Living the same battles over and over till he finds a way to win. The fact that the Edge of Tomorrow has Cruise in it will put a lot of people off from wanting to see it but if you find yourself in the not too distant future with one hundred and thirteen minutes to spare and you feel inclined to watch a film, avoid ‘Muppets Most Wanted’, hide from ‘Three Days to Kill’ and give this little unappreciated piece of moviedom a try. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Twitter Review: It’s Groundhog Day with guns
#CruiseBlunt&ALotOfGrunt

Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1631867/?ref_=nv_sr_18
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUmSVcttXnI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bydHcLDfWuY

Next on my hit list is the seventh, yes seventh, movie in the ever unstoppable motion picture juggernaut that is The X-Men. ‘Days of Future Past’ is another story that has been transferred onto the big screen from a previously released graphic novel. It also marks the first time that the cast from the Mathew Vaughan’s ‘X-Men: First Class’ have shared screen time with their older selves. Now trying to explain the intricacies of the plot maybe a little difficult as someone would need to explain a few of them to me first. I’ll start with my first ‘huh, how did that happen?’ moment. ‘Days of Future Past’ has both James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart playing ‘Charles Xavier’. Now I have no issue with Mr McAvoy gracing the screen as his Charles isn’t dead, whereas Mr Stewart’s Charles had hopped the twig, bitten the bullet, breathed his last and if you’ll permit me, kicked the bucket back in the third film ‘The Last Stand.’ Now I’ve never claimed to be an expert when it comes to the X-Men nor would I begin to even try and understand the particulars of how this complex time travel yarn works but at no point during the entire film is there even an attempt to explain how the older Charles just happens to be rolling around, ready to help save the day as and when required.
My second grumble with this charming tale of cause and effect is that (as expected) Wolverine is once again the main centre of attention. I haven’t read the graphic novel that the film takes its title from but I am lead to believe that Wolverine isn’t the X-Men Character that’s sent back in time to fight the good fight and generally help fix the future.
If ever there was a collection of individuals from a Superhero universe that had roughly a fifty fifty male and female spilt and that also had some very strong feminine leads that could have been utilised, then this would have been it. But I fear that Twentieth Century Fox and their bean counters may have had I very large part in guiding this screenplay into existence.
The film itself I would give a solid three out of five. But it had the potential so much more though. When you bring talent together like Ian McKellen, Ellen Page, James McAvoy, Patrick Stewart, Hale Berry, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Peter Dinklage, to name but a few, onto the big screen you’d think that it would be hard to get it wrong. Its problem is that it never quite delivers on the sum of its parts. There are some great set pieces including one of the finest prison breaks you’re ever likely to see but it all just feels a little unbalanced. Joss Whedon may have raised the bar a little too high for other screenwriters when it comes to ensemble superhero films and this just feels like Simon Kinberg thought you’d be so busy leaning over to say to your friend in the cinema ‘Oh look that’s such and such from the last film’ or ‘Isn’t she the actress from The Hunger Games?’ that it wasn’t really necessary to burden you with anything resembling an admirable script.
And let’s not forget that this is a Marvel film after and that means a credit stinger. For those of you who don’t want to know what it revealed, look away now. For those that do I shall disclose the following. Film number eight ‘Apocalypse’ will be gracing multiplexes up and down the country in May of 2016. You have been warned….

Twitter Review:
Time travel with Adamantium. Lots of excess baggage and too complex
#MoreIsLess

Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1877832/?ref_=nv_sr_1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK2zYHWDZKo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6acRHWnfZAE

Well, dear reader, you’ve made it. We are now at the third and dare I say it best of the three films I needed to play catch up with. A film that has a lot to offer. A film that has a talking tree, a racoon with a gun fetish, blue and green sisters that get on as well as North and South Korea, a charming muscle bound destroyer who takes everything literally and a male lead that is one part Han Solo, one part Indiana Jones and has just a dash of Malcom Reynolds from Firefly thrown in for good measure. The film is of course ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’.
For Marvel to consider adapting this comic was a risk and a long way out of there comfort zone. Although they do have an excellent track record with films, there has been the odd dud released into the world. Iron Man 2 and The Incredible Hulk spring to mind. So I suspect that Marvel’s CEO Kevin Feige must have thought long and hard before he gave the green light for this film.
Fitting this film into the ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’ became the responsibility of director James Gunn. A man that, by Hollywood standards, didn’t have a proven track record with big summer blockbusters. This didn’t seem to faze him at all and he has managed to serve up a very large slice of fun and entertainment. The script, which Mr Gunn also helped sculpt, is full of humour, great action and characters that aren’t one dimensional or clichéd. The leader of the pack is Peter Quill or ‘Starlord’ as he insists on being called. Peter is played by the American actor Chirs Pratt, who’s best known role to date is the TV show ‘Parks and Recreation’. Pratt has had a number of small roles in the past, ‘Money Ball, Zero Dark Thirty and Her’ but has never been asked to play the linchpin and be the emotional core in a big film. However his charisma, and dancing for that matter, in this role practically leaps through the screen and has helped in land the lead role part in next years ‘Jurassic World’ reboot/sequel.
As I’m late to the party with this review (again sorry!) and I suspect most people will have seen this film already, and judging from its box office take most have, I won’t bore you with the plot I will just leave you with a couple of observations.
Marvel seem to be stuck on repeat when it comes to its third act ‘defeat the bad guys’ set pieces and resolutions. Since ‘Avengers Assemble’ Marvel have had the good guys win with what is basically a big battle in the Sky. There are obviously differences from film to film but ‘Avengers’ has a huge battle that takes place over New York. Next is ‘Iron Man 3’, big airborne battle set above some docks. In ‘Thor: The Dark World’, Christopher Eccleston parks his rather large Dark Elves spaceship over downtown Greenwich before suffering from a rather large case of hammer envy. ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ has, yep you guessed it, a very large skirmish above the skies of that there Washington involving some Helicarrier’s that lose a fight with gravity. And that brings us back to ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’. Its third act big action ‘good triumphs over evil’ set piece is once again set above a city on the planet Nova.
There won’t be another Marvel film until next Summer’s ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that things will change but there’s a nagging doubt that I just can’t shake off.  I hope that Joss Whedon’s script will be as good as his last and be inventive and innovative but I think I’m going to be disappointed. Only time will tell.
My other observation is short and to the point. There have now been ten Marvel films released since the first Iron Man film in 2008 and of those ten not one has had a female screenwriting credit and not one of them has had a female director. That needs to change and change quickly….

Twitter Review:
An absolute blast. Sci-fi action, comedy and brains rolled into one.
#AKillerGunnShot

Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2015381/?ref_=nv_sr_1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE9vypfwbvk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CqymRQ1uUU