Post by MWGallaher on Dec 31, 2016 9:54:45 GMT -5
#3 Ant-Man (2015)
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I've loved many of Marvel's movies, and several came close to being on my list, but this one was a certainty.
Hank Pym is one of my very favorite Marvel heroes, ever since Marvel Feature #4. And one of the last I'd ever have dreamed of seeing on the big screen.
I remember one of the Bullpen Bulletins, decades ago, talking enthusiastically about an Ant-Man script, and from the brief description, it seemed likely that this script was Ant-Man in name only, just another Shrinking Man story. I figured that might happen. But not something like this!
I mean, Ant-Man as a legacy hero, Scott Lang, taking over from the original Ant-Man, Hank Pym?! And they're not ditching the "talks to ants" part, but in fact embracing it as a major aspect of the character's abilities?! Unbelievable! But it's true! It's real! It's on screen, in 3-D!
It's sometimes enough just to see something like that happen, enough to make you forgiving of flaws, and liberties taken. But there wasn't much this film needed to be forgiven for, as far as I was concerned. The costume was close enough (although I think that Kirby's helmet could not be improved on), use of "Yellowjacket" for the villain wasn't a deal-breaker, since Hank's version of the character was always a bit sinister anyway, Hope Van Dyne was A-OK once we found out that the original Wasp was also a part of the story. While the main villain was yet another replay of the "dark duplicates" antagonists that plagued so many of Marvel's movies (Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man 3, etc.), the framing of the story as a super-powered heist film was novel. The ties to the rest of the MCU were satisfying, with a great tussle with the Falcon, the humor was genuine, characters endearing, and the ending satisfying.
I couldn't have asked for more from an Ant-Man movie, and considering how unlikely it was in the first place, I'd have been satisfied with far less.
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---
I've loved many of Marvel's movies, and several came close to being on my list, but this one was a certainty.
Hank Pym is one of my very favorite Marvel heroes, ever since Marvel Feature #4. And one of the last I'd ever have dreamed of seeing on the big screen.
I remember one of the Bullpen Bulletins, decades ago, talking enthusiastically about an Ant-Man script, and from the brief description, it seemed likely that this script was Ant-Man in name only, just another Shrinking Man story. I figured that might happen. But not something like this!
I mean, Ant-Man as a legacy hero, Scott Lang, taking over from the original Ant-Man, Hank Pym?! And they're not ditching the "talks to ants" part, but in fact embracing it as a major aspect of the character's abilities?! Unbelievable! But it's true! It's real! It's on screen, in 3-D!
It's sometimes enough just to see something like that happen, enough to make you forgiving of flaws, and liberties taken. But there wasn't much this film needed to be forgiven for, as far as I was concerned. The costume was close enough (although I think that Kirby's helmet could not be improved on), use of "Yellowjacket" for the villain wasn't a deal-breaker, since Hank's version of the character was always a bit sinister anyway, Hope Van Dyne was A-OK once we found out that the original Wasp was also a part of the story. While the main villain was yet another replay of the "dark duplicates" antagonists that plagued so many of Marvel's movies (Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man 3, etc.), the framing of the story as a super-powered heist film was novel. The ties to the rest of the MCU were satisfying, with a great tussle with the Falcon, the humor was genuine, characters endearing, and the ending satisfying.
I couldn't have asked for more from an Ant-Man movie, and considering how unlikely it was in the first place, I'd have been satisfied with far less.
