Ant-Man

[EricJ]

And that that's Hope Pym who punches Scott, which means no Wasp (yet). Oh well, there's always Phase 3.

Spiderman (and Daredevil, who's official canon but not groomed yet) are technically unlicensed private-sector local NYC superheroes, who don't have travel budgets to leave the city and pretty much have to deal with midtown threats, hang out with the Avengers occasionally, when there's an in-city case, so it's more likely that any Spidey canon will be in Avengers 2....End-credit gags for Ant-Man notwithstanding.

(And considering that Peyton Reed almost gave us a "funny" Fantastic Four that Tim Story eventually abused the privilege with, I'm a little iffy on the humor--there's a lot of potential for deliberate "Apology" hero-goofing gags to strategically placate non-comic fan audiences who might giggle at the concept, and I'm looking at you, Darcy from the Thor movies --but Michael Douglas is taking the whole thing so earnestly, in a good way, I'm guessing some balance will come out of it.)

[Ben]

We are in Phase Three with Ant Man, aren't we? Thought each phase wrapped up with an Avengers...?

[Dacey]

Nope. Ant-Man wraps up Phase Two. Civil War begins Phase Three.

[Bill1978]

OK I have no idea about anything Ant-Man related. But who is the villain in this piece if it's not Wasp. That's who I thought he was from the trailer, but Eric just said Wasp is girl. Is he Hornet? Little Angry Yellow Man?

[EricJ]

OK I have no idea about anything Ant-Man related. But who is the villain in this piece if it's not Wasp. That's who I thought he was from the trailer, but Eric just said Wasp is girl. Is he Hornet? Little Angry Yellow Man?

Yellowjacket.
(Which Pym technically returned from retirement to play, both good and bad, later in the comics, but here, they're playing the Iron Man 1 "Unscrupulous partner who kept the old technology" card for lack of a more canonical villain.)

The Wasp was Pym's partner Janet Van Dyne, but they're apparently using the canon where she's already out of the picture.
And besides, if it was her, you'd know it:

[EricJ]

Also, now that Dr. Pym is out of the MCU because he didn't have time to invent Ultron, Disney/Marvel is hoping to use August cleanup as the time for "miscellaneous" heroes, seeing as it worked so well for Guardians--
Even so, do the current posters seem to be protesting a little too much against audiences who don't know Ant's connection to the more marketable heroes?:
http://www.impawards.com/2015/ant_man_ver6.html
http://www.impawards.com/2015/ant_man_ver7.html

[Ben]

The Iron Man one is the most blatant, but I'm enjoying this retro one:

http://www.impawards.com/2015/ant_man_ver8.html

[Dacey]

Seems Ant-Man continues Marvel's winning streak, as early reviews say it's a fun ride (while obviously not providing the full scope and excitement of an Avengers film). Also, a Spider-Man post credits scene appears all but confirmed now.

[Vernadyn]

Well, this movie was definitely great fun. It certainly doesn't buck the Marvel trend of being witty and (at least compared to the DC and X-Men universes) "light." But this movie is all the better for it--and in fact, there is a heart to the film (as with the best MCU films) that puts it head and shoulders over the majority of the DC feature output. (And there is one slightly horrific moment in the film, albeit more sci-fi than realistic.)

I actually don't think I've seen anything with Rudd before, but he was fine as Scott Lang, lending the character charisma and relatability. Michael Pena had great comic timing; several of his scenes had the whole theater cracking up. His character and several humorous beats in the action scenes will dismay those who like their superheroes grim and gritty but will thrill those who want to be entertained. (As far as I'm concerned, while several comic books have done "grim and gritty" superheroes well, no film has really pulled it off, with the exception of the Daredevil TV show and parts of Nolan's first two Batman films. I like Burton's Batman films too, but they're more Burton than anything, especially the second one.) Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish have prominent writing credits, and I guess I can see hints of Wright's style poking through. One of the scenes with Michael Pena, which is "reprised" near the end of the film, does seem very Wright-influenced.

Scott's desire to be with his daughter provides the simple yet effective heart of the film; she's written as a moppet, make no mistake, but Abby Ryder Fortson manages to pull it off without coming across as too overtly manipulative. And then there's Michael Douglas, playing Hank Pym as a tightly wound coil who snaps several times throughout the film. With a few exceptions, Marvel has had lackluster villains; the film hints at a more complex, subtle side of Darren Cross, but he doesn't exactly light the world on fire either. On the other hand, at least he's not another Malekith the Destroyer or Ronan the Accuser.

As a heist film, the film serves up an expectedly upbeat, "jazzy" score by Christophe Beck. It's no modern classic, but it does the job, even if it sounds like an inferior cousin of Brian Tyler's excellent score to Now You See Me. To my delight, Beck incorporated Silvestri's Avengers theme at one point and peppered one action scene with another character's motif from a previous MCU film (which I won't give away, but no, it's not Spider-Man.) The two post-credits scenes were neat too, but again, no Spider-Man--which is expected, as he was just recently cast.

In terms of scale and scope, Ant-Man is definitely smaller than pretty much all of the MCU, X-Men, and DC films of late, but that is definitely to its advantage.

[Ben]

Nice!

Going Tuesday and looking forward to an entertaining evening!

[EricJ]

And geek points to anyone who noticed the significance of Garrett Morris's cameo (as the driver who hears very big hail on his car roof)
Marvel and Ant-Man fans have had to put up with Morris' legacy for 35 years.

(As far as I'm concerned, while several comic books have done "grim and gritty" superheroes well, no film has really pulled it off, with the exception of the Daredevil TV show and parts of Nolan's first two Batman films. I like Burton's Batman films too, but they're more Burton than anything, especially the second one.) Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish have prominent writing credits, and I guess I can see hints of Wright's style poking through. One of the scenes with Michael Pena, which is "reprised" near the end of the film, does seem very Wright-influenced.

Yeah, the Michael Pena buddy seemed very, very, very Nick Frost influenced, with a quick change for North America.
Although credit Wright for actually giving the movie its basic structure with the Scott Lang "theft" story, and for taking it seriously, even though most interviewers at the early stage who had never heard of Pym thought Wright was doing some Shaun/Fuzz Britcom-spoof of the superhero genre.

And yes, as predicted, Michael Douglas nails the "angry" Pym word-perfectly, especially for the current post-Janet arc where Pym now holds a grudge against the Avengers for everything that happened. As for the Wasp, let's just say

it ain't Spiderman who shows up in the mid-credits scene, either. (Which should improve Lilly's "mean pretty lady" character considerably.)

Coincidentally, some of us fans had to do a consumer-survey chat on Warner's website about our "entertainment choices", leading up to the big leader question, "What do you think of DC superhero films?"
Fortunately, Ant-Man had just opened that week, so it gave us a better chance for us to tell Warner EXACTLY what we thought of DC superhero films.
(Except for the folks who thought the Suicide Squad trailer looked cool, although it didn't look fun, either.)

[Vernadyn]

Yeah, the Michael Pena buddy seemed very, very, very Nick Frost influenced, with a quick change for North America.

The rapid-fire, quick-cut rhythm of those two scenes with Pena in particular were reminiscent of Wright's style as well.

Don't know what to think of Suicide Squad yet. As for Batman v. Superman… Others have said it before, and I agree: Zack Snyder movies have great trailers. As for the movies themselves, though….

[EricJ]

Don't know what to think of Suicide Squad yet. As for Batman v. Superman… Others have said it before, and I agree: Zack Snyder movies have great trailers. As for the movies themselves, though….

And even the full BvS trailer wasn't that great to begin with.
(Okay, we freakin' get the "Christ imagery", already!!--Is that the story, or is that just Snyder?)

As for Squad's trailer, I will say that Ultron's "Creepy Pinocchio" singing can't hold a candle to Harley's "Creepy Bee Gees" singing.

[Vernadyn]

Margot Robbie's the one aspect of Suicide Squad that has me intrigued.

[Dan]

Looking to bring things back to topic, it'll be interesting if they play out Cassie's character as they did in the books. That further exploration of the father/daughter relationship would make for a great screen story, I think.