Monday, 20 July 2015

Ant-Man

 
Marvel's most basic formula for hero creation flourishes due to a strong character driven script and a clever inversion of Marvel's sense of scale that ends in superb cosmic weirdness.
 
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9 comments:

  1. Ed21/07/2015, 07:53

    Still won't be watching it - I've officially given up on Marvel after Guardians of the Galaxy.

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  2. Joe21/07/2015, 16:01

    Very enjoyable. You can definitely tell the bits Edgar Wright had a hand in.

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  3. Ali21/07/2015, 16:31

    Ed your logic is fantastically illogical.

    So much so I propose we classify it with a term all of it's own, Nolanism.

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    Replies
    1. Ed21/07/2015, 17:00

      Illogical? Why?

      I thought GOTG sucked the big one and I've been getting increasingly disappointed by each subsequent Marvel release up to that point. You've got to draw the line somewhere... seems entirely logical to me!

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    2. Ali21/07/2015, 17:43

      Two different films, with different cast, crew, director, producer.

      Yeh, I can see why it makes sense to avoid one based on the other.

      Come to think of it, I'm going to throw out all Warp records releases for the last 3 years just because they once put their name to a Jimmy Edgar album.

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    3. Ed21/07/2015, 19:53

      It's not the same thing. Pretty much all Marvel films all follow a formula - and it's a formula they've had a lot of commercial success with, so I'm not surprised by that just that I've personally had enough of it.

      With a couple of notable exceptions, I really do feel like the phrase 'seen one seen em all' applies - each new one rolled off the assembly line now feels like the same basic plot, just with the level of flashy pyrotechnics ramped up.

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    4. James22/07/2015, 11:53

      Ted has a point, narratively Marvel films do follow a very set 3 act formula climaxing in something big crashing slowly or our hero fighting a tooled up version of himself. This is a very standard narrative of a comic run. And (with the exception of Incredible Hulk (which was made before the formula was nailed down)) it churns out (at the worst) solid mainstream entertainment.

      This could easily become stale, but it hasn't yet for me. Each movie has distinctly different personalities for their characters which gives each thread it's own pleasure. With the odd exception (Thor 2) they choose directors who they then allow room to input something of themselves into the movies (how many other Hollywood studios would allow Star Lord's blacklight/Jackson Pollock gag into a summer family blockbuster). And, especially in phase 2, they are applying their formula to different genre every time. The last 5 Marvels have been a dark fantasy, a conspiracy thriller, a space set action romp, sci-fi and heist caper. All different, all with similar elements, all distinctively Marvel. I'm still enjoying them.

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    5. James23/07/2015, 11:34

      Also extremely good, and moving away somewhat from the film formula, is Daredevil on Netflix (not the Affleck movie) which is much more adult. The one take fight that closes episode 2 is as good as any Marvel have done and Vincent D'Onofrio is utterly brilliant.

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  4. James22/07/2015, 11:53

    Iron Man remade with a bit more confidence, a bit more quirk and a very similar level of enjoyment. Michael Pena for best supporting actor!

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