Tag Archives: Marvel

Teeny Tiny Ant-Man Review

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Ant-Man-Ticket-StubsDon’t worry – This review is spoiler-free!

After my initial reluctance to embrace some of the Marvel movie premises/characters (Guardians, for example), I’ve seen the error of my ways!  I now look forward to, and embrace, any and all installments in Disney’s Marvel Universe.  Sure, I love some movies more than others, but I did at least like them all and found each of them entertaining in their own way.  Ant-Man was SO far removed from anything that sounded interesting to me, the “Marvel” was what had me running for the theater.

Teeny Tiny Ant-Man Review (see what I did there?)

What a great movie!  Wonderfully entertaining with so many Easter eggs, I was on the edge of my seat trying my best not to miss a single one.  I adored seeing Michael Douglas (Dr. Hank Pym) in a great role being his very best (still sexy) self.  Paul Rudd (as Scott Lang/Ant-Man) was completely endearing.  If you’ve ever faced a situation in life that terrified you but at the same time you knew that if you didn’t overcome those fears and do what must be done, you’d never be able to look yourself in the eye, you’ll love this movie.  I was especially charmed by Paul’s facial expressions throughout the film, which often said so much more than the dialogue.Ant-Man Sign

The casting in this movie was especially well done.  GREAT villain (Corey Stall as Darren Cross/Yellowjacket), wonderfully strong main female characters (specifically Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne and Abby Rider Fortson as Cassie Lang), a supporting cast that was key to the film’s success (goofballs Michael Peña, David Dastmalchian, and T.I.).  Yes, it was definitely, unmistakably a Disney Marvel film, but the unique features, the pacing, the insects and special effects made this show a standout on its own.Ant-Man-Pic

I was prepared to have some negative commentary on how the Fire Ants (a.k.a. Red Ants, here in Louisiana) were depicted, but they were portrayed very accurately, based on my unfortunate familiarity with them.

See this movie!  Ant-Man is such a fantastically relatable human being, this Superhero film will hit you close to home.

Have you already seen Ant-Man?  What did you think about it?

 

Spoiler-Free Avengers Age of Ultron Review

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RM-Avengers-Age-of-Ultron-Ticket-StubI am pretty much the geekiest Marvel-loving-50-year-old-female person I know.  I’ve enjoyed every Marvel movie that’s been produced.  I’ve liked them all on different levels, though.  I did not like all the Iron Man movies the same.  Thor? The second was better than the first to me.  Captain America? – Loved ’em both equally.  I thought the first Avengers movie was about as good as it gets, super-hero-entertainment-wise.  I also loved Guardians of the Galaxy for many of the same reasons.  In fact, I’ve probably watched Guardians more times than all the other Marvel movies combined.  “We ARE Groot!”  The original Avengers movie and Guardians had much in common:  unique, likable characters who learn to work as a team, a great storyline, well placed humor, and excellent villains.

So…Avengers Age of Ultron.  I had high expectations.  Which was probably the problemRM-Avengers-Age-of-Ultron-Poster to begin with.  I wanted my expectations fulfilled:  all the laughs, the fighting, the egotistical world-domination-obsessed villain, the good versus evil excitement…and it was there.  Sort of.  No spoilers, but there were a bunch of holes in the action scenes that begged for a little comic relief (HA! See what I did there?) – or at least some humorous one-liners or funny situations that never materialized.  Some of the action felt forced, as did some of the character interactions – like everyone was going through the motions without any real passion.  Twice during the film I checked my watch, which never happened during the original Avengers.  The elements of a great film were there, but…

I missed Loki.  Not just because he’s easy on the eyes.  I missed him because he brought the fun, the mischief, the charming bad-boy spark.  Yes, Age of Ultron had a good – actually, GREAT villain, but still there were holes.  I can’t tell you precisely how those gaps could have been filled with a good, bad-boy character, but I do know that unexpected laughs and endearing bits of charm were in short supply during Age of Ultron.  There were some gems, but not as many as I wanted there to be.

Summary:  Decent, but slightly convoluted plot, diabolically evil bad guy, strong heroes with lovable human weaknesses and vulnerabilities, excellent new characters.  Lacking:  The sparkle, the humor, the rapier-edged, perfectly placed wit that would have saved much of this film.  There was too much reliance on fancy special effects instead of a strong script.  I wanted more than humdrum, but that’s all there was.  I liked the movie, but left the theater feeling less than wowed.

 

Captain America The Winter Soldier Review

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Captain America The Winter Soldier 1While I’ve seen all the Marvel movies released by Disney, I’ve been a bit variable about how much I’ve liked each one.  First Thor and third Iron Man – didn’t like those so much.  Second Thor?  I liked that movie a bunch.  I also thought The Avengers was just fantastic.  The previews didn’t give much away about the newest Marvel installment released on April 4th.  Personally, I tried to stay away from reviews and spoilers before I went to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier, so I would be a blank slate, so to speak – with no pre-conceived notions about whether the movie would be good or not.  Raymond, who’d read quite a bit about the movie before we saw it Sunday afternoon, was very careful not to give anything away.

Before I get to the mini-review, let me say that I did like Captain America (the original) very much.  It had an Indiana Jones vibe to it and, honestly, since Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of my most favorite movies of all time (released when I was in high school) the connection gave Captain America an advantage to me.

It’s hard for a sequel to be better than the original, but with Marvel movies, it seems almost common.  Such was the case with The Winter Soldier.  I don’t want to give anything away, so no spoilers here, but this was a great movie!  Saw it in 3D (which we don’t usually choose) because that was the time we wanted – the 3D effects were good.

If you’ve been on the fence, here are a few reasons to see the new Captain America:

  • Robust plot chock full of surprises, twists and turns.Captain America The Winter Soldier 2
  • Plenty of action without sacrificing the flow of the storyline.
  • Excellent villains.
  • Beloved characters from previous Marvel movies remain true to themselves (this is important to my enjoyment of any sequel).
  • Introduction of new characters that work very well in developing the story and join seamlessly with the existing cast – this was a particular plus for The Winter Soldier with me.

There were thrills, laughs, shocks, and edge-of-your-seat excitement – everything you’d hope for in a Marvel movie plus just a little bit more.  I adored Captain America: The Winter Soldier and I think you will too.  As always, stay ’til the very last credit has rolled.

Have you seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier yet?  What did you think?

 

Mini Spoiler-Free THOR Review

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General Dis Pics 11.13 035

 

Thor:  The Dark World

So, Raymond and I contributed to the $86 million Thor took in over its opening weekend by going on a movie date.  My two cents:

Much better than the first Thor movie (and not just because Thor is sporting longer, better-looking hair – but it works for him, just sayin’).  I’ve enjoyed all the Marvel movies, but the first Thor was actually my least favorite.  I’m pretty sure it was all the jumping around between different story lines that made it less than fantastic to me – and I find the Asgardian accents a bit strange and inconsistent – but all that changed in Thor 2. 

This movie really brought out so much more depth in each character.  ReneGeneral Dis Pics 11.13 036 Russo’s Frigga has a much larger role, the onion that is Loki has a few more layers peeled back – can I just add that Tom Hiddleston is incredible in this movie – best villain ever.  Even the all-seeing Heimdall (Idris Elba) opens up a bit.  Since this is a spoiler-free review, I’ll be careful, but if you saw the trailers for Thor, you know that Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) goes with Thor to Asgard – I thought this would be totally weird, but it was fine and helped bring everything together nicely for the story.

Bottom line – if you weren’t a huge fan of Thor after the first movie, give him another chance.  Thor:  The Dark World has edge-of-your-seat action, emotion, super special effects and some hysterically funny parts you will absolutely love.  Important:  Stay in your seat until the last credits roll – there are two post movie scenes you don’t want to miss.

Did you see Thor this weekend?  What did you think?