Ant-Man

Zach Goodier

Ant-Man stars Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas as Scott Lang/Ant-Man and Dr. Pym. Together, they attempt to stop the release of Pym’s research to Hydra by Pym’s former assistant: Daren Cross. Scott starts out as a former con who is desperate to get his life back on track and reconnect with his daughter. He tries to start an honest life, but his criminal record almost guarantees that nobody will hire him, forcing him to seek out other means of paying his bills. This is how Scott hears that a guy with a vault in his basement is leaving town for a week, and Lang and his friends decide to break in to steal the contents. It is in the vault that Scott finds a strange suit, the suit used by Ant-Man. It is soon revealed that Pym leaked the info on his own vault so Scott would steal it, and Pym could scout out his talent with the suit and determine if he can be the next Ant-Man.

You might not see a comic-book hero, but he'll surprise you.

The story is well done, with Scott’s story providing a tragic situation due to his criminal record and desperation to get back in his daughter’s life. This makes Scott a very relatable character right from the start, and you feel invested in where his story goes. Michael Douglas also does a fantastic job of Pym, with him coming across as very lonely, yet driven in his pursuit to stop his research from tearing the world apart with more super soldiers like him.

Hank Pym is the creator of all the shrinking tech, which his associates, and former understudy, are out to replicate.

Daren Cross feels like another great character, with his anger over Pym’s distant and secretive nature making him feel somewhat justified in his pursuits, even if you know they must be stopped. The Cross/Pym conflict that unfolds around Scott offers the chance for both characters to really come to life a lot more than they would have if they had be forced to take a backseat to Scott’s story, and it all really works out well, with everything being easy to follow despite these separate conflicts going on.

Pym's daugher, Hope, is skeptical of Scott's chances, but of course she eventually warms up to him... a lot.

The action is great, even if there isn’t a great deal of actual fighting taking place. There is a great fight between Ant-Man and Falcon, which unfolds as Scott is still learning about his powers, but it allows for a great cameo, and a nice tie-in to the rest of the Marvel universe. The fight between Scott and Daren Cross is great, when Cross puts on the Yellow Jacket suit and they fight in their shrunken forms. The comedy is great as the epic fight between these two is often put in perspective as their epic clash is only knocking over small objects like toys and such. But most of the movie is just a great CGI work with Ant-Man interacting with the world as a miniature man, almost always unnoticed by the rest of the world.

Choo choo!

Overall, this movie was excellent. I don’t know the source material well enough to do any sort of comparison, but this movie excels more than I thought it would on its own. Scott is a very relatable character who might not have the epic feel of Thor or Iron Man, but sometimes big things really do come in small packages, and Ant-Man is no exception. 

Yellowjacket might not be as thought at as the other characters, but he's meant to give the new Ant-Man that extra push.

I would highly recommend giving this movie a shot, because the great humor, excellent characters, and brilliant action make this movie a worthy addition to the Marvel franchise. The only issue I had was a couple of small details here and there that distracted me with questions about the nature of Ant-Man’s powers, and if you’re into the more action side of the Marvel franchise, this might not satisfy, since there are only a couple major fight scenes in the whole movie, and neither one really lasts all that long. Still, this movie is a very worthy addition to the Marvel universe, and definitely worth going to see.

Good:

- Great casting on all major roles.

- Two major plotlines, and both are excellently done.

- Great humor.

Bad:

- Doesn’t feel as action-packed as some of the other Marvel movies.

Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Zach Goodier

The long wait is over, and a new Avengers film has come out. But now that the dramatic team-up has gone through the honeymoon stage, does this team have the endurance to keep it up?

The movie starts us in Eastern Europe, where the Avengers are attacking a Hydra base to recover Loki’s scepter from the first movie. In the midst of the fighting, two of Hydra’s enhanced humans, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, escape. After a brief engagement with the Avengers, they quickly disappear. Tony Stark manages to recover the scepter, and while the team celebrates for a few days before Thor returns the scepter to Asgard, Stark examines it. Long story short, Stark uses the crystal inside the scepter (an infinity stone) to help him complete his new artificial intelligence program, Ultron. Ultron’s mission is to protect the world; however, Ultron quickly turns on the Avengers, and starts working on plans of his own.

No strings on this guy.

The story is a really exciting retelling of the Ultron tale. It all fits very nicely, and ties in to a lot of what is transpiring within each of the movies in the Marvel universe. Ultron is a wonderful villain, and James Spader really brings him to life. Since Ultron’s personality is derived from Tony Stark, he has some entertaining lines throughout the movie. The Vision also appears in the 3^rd act, as a byproduct of Ultron’s plans. His role is relatively minor, but still significant, and it will likely lead to more important things down the line in the Infinity War.

These two make a great addition to the film. I had no idea what to expect, but I found them both to make excellent characters.

The action is great, with scenes like the Hulk vs Iron Man being standouts in this film. The Maximoff twins, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, both make for great additions to the cast, with interesting powers that make some great action scenes. Nick Fury also returns, which leads into some great sequences at the end when he joins the fight. But despite all that, a lot of the great scenes come from those little moments Joss Whedon creates. Like many of his other works, he has that talent for creating and/or capturing moments that might not be outwardly significant, but are the moments you remember long after the credits roll.

This. Armor. Rocks.

The special effects are as top-notch as ever, but I did not see it in 3D to know how that side came out, although I imagine it is probably top-notch as well. I never felt that there were any weak links from the technical end or from the cast, everyone seemed on top of their game. The final major battle takes place back in Eastern Europe, on a city that is being risen in order to crash it back down to Earth, in Ultron’s plan to end humanity.

The Vision is a great character, even if he shows up to the party rather late.

The only fault I found in this film is a lot of the internal problems amongst the Avengers felt reused from the last film. It doesn’t feel forced, and it is still entertaining, but part of you might feel like we’ve done a lot of this in the previous film. But this is a very minor thing, in the midst of all the great characters and scenes. Plus, it gave Stark and excuse to don his Hulkbuster Armor, which is amazing to watch.

Some of the minor characters from the franchise get to enter the fray this time, or at least get a solid cameo in.

This movie is more than a worthy successor to the first film, with all the characters coming back and doing all the things they do best. Hulk smashes, Thor hammers, Hawkeye and Black Widow show off their skills, Captain America gives some speeches, and Tony Stark throws out some clever lines and kicks but as Iron Man. However, what makes this movie even better in some ways is the addition of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, who both bring a lot forward to this film, and Ultron is easily one of the best villains in the Marvel universe so far, with the exception of possibly Loki. In short, if you loved the Avengers, you will almost certainly love this movie too.

Good:

-Ultron is a great villain

-Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were done right.

-Hulkbuster armor.

-Joss Whedon’s gift of creating all those little moments that make his works great.

Bad:

-Some of the conflict between the Avengers themselves feels redone from the last film.

Scully Rating: 9.5 out of 10