Ant-Man

Dustin: 4 of 5 stars Nick: 3.5 of 5 stars Average: 3.75 of 5 stars (Live canary)

Dustin: Ant-Man is the latest of many Marvel superhero movies. This time a plucky Paul Rudd, fresh out of prison for burglary and trying to go straight, is unwittingly recruited to don the iconic Ant-Man suit and save the world.

Nick: Ant-Man is the silliest of all the Marvel Universe films. I don’t mean in its ridiculous nature, but more in that every scene ends with a joke. The movie is very funny and seamlessly puts itself into the Marvel Universe. It doesn’t try too hard like some previous installments, which is a relief, but there are also less stakes and very dull exposition leading to a story that would land somewhere in the middle of my favorite Marvel film.

Dustin: I enjoyed the lighter tone of this movie. A lot of it was played for jokes, and it was effective both as a superhero movie and as a comedy. I liked the stakes were smaller (ant-sized!), which was also something of a running joke, when we’d get a distant shot of the action, and we see how small it is. The stakes were only large when you considered the large-scale implications of the villain’s scheme, which was to steal the Ant-Man technology (this seems lifted from Iron Man). But there was also some very wonderful scenes in the movie, such as when Ant-Man shrinks to sub-atomic size, and we see a more abstract world. Hometown boy Paul Rudd was perfectly cast, as he has both the comedic chops and the physicality to pull off the character. I’m glad to see him finally make it!

Nick: I considered Rudd to have made it in 1995’s Clueless! I enjoyed the tone, but each scene being played for a joke hurt it in the end. The little girl being kidnapped and other people being “in danger” never felt truly in danger, and that is what I mean by stakes. When even one person’s life doesn’t seem like a stake what’s the point? I might be the only one to have felt this way and I say it with even having enjoyed the film quite a bit, but the movie had quite a few parts that made me roll my eyes. Why did Michael Douglas finally feel like now was the time to inform his daughter how her mother died? It seemed so forced at the moment so it could have some emotion and even though it was some pointless drivel it was then interrupted by Rudd ending the scene with a joke. There was nothing forcing Douglas to finally tell Hope, but I guess they needed some emotion. I don’t understand what would have been wrong with telling her the truth earlier, but I guess he didn’t think his 40-year-old daughter was stable enough till now?

Dustin: I also didn’t care that every scene needed to end on a comedic note. That scene in particular definitely missed the mark, but I’d say 95 percent of the jokes landed.

I liked the angle of him doing this all so he could be with his daughter. There was also a strained father/daughter relationship between Michael Douglas and his daughter. I thought it added a realistic dimension to the characters and made them more relatable in a movie about a man who shrinks to ant-size to fight crime.

Nick: I like the idea of a strained father/daughter relationship, but the thing that made it strained and the way it was played off was the bothersome part.

I love the supporting players in the film. While it’s nice to have Michael Douglas back, it’s great that Michael Pena plays Ant-Man’s best friend. His pointlessly long stories and the way they were shot were pieces of brilliance. Made me think of Edgar Wright who was set to direct the movie but dropped out and was only given a writer’s credit.

Dustin: Michael Pena definitely delivered the laughs. I thought they did a good job too with Michael Douglas’s CGI age-reversal at the beginning. I suspected what they had done, but I wouldn’t have thought anything of it if I weren’t looking closely. I only got a little bit of the uncanny valley around the mouth when he was talking. Very convincing effect, though.

I also liked the villain, who kind of looked like Kojak. He has a ray gun that when pointed at someone who is not wearing the protective shrinking suit, turns them into a tiny glob of pulsating goop. It was definitely a creepy and evil idea.

Nick: Corey Stoll definitely has the intense face of a villain with his bulging eyes and all around physique that reminds me of Lex Luthor.

While the film may have one too many jokes, its overall purpose is to entertain and in the Marvel Universe that is what’s most important, and that Ant-Man does splendidly. Whether a fan looking for action or comedy, you’ll get a healthy dose of both here!

Guardians of the Galaxy

Dustin: 3.5 of 5 stars Nick: 4 of 5 stars Average: 3.75 of 5 stars (Live canary)

Dustin: Guardians of the Galaxy is the latest Marvel comics movie about a team of heroes out to save the galaxy (after The Avengers and X-Men). An earthling abducted by aliens as a boy and becomes an interstellar thief calling himself “Star-Lord” teams up with a bioengineered Racoon, a talking tree, a sexy green humanoid and a macho alien whose species takes everything literally to save the universe from a villain who has a MacGuffin that can wipe out all life form.

So what did you think of Guardians of the Galaxy, Nick?

Nick: The movie was enjoyable enough to the point that it didn’t bother me that almost every scene was determined by a MacGuffin. Sigh… very Transformers-esque. Almost every scene is about the Orb! There are even three different villains we see and how they also want the Orb. That’s a lot of villains who ultimately are useless towards anything that happens within the film. It felt as if the filmmakers were trying too hard to tie this film to other films in the Marvel Universe.

Dustin: I agree the plot itself wasn’t too strong. Too much focus on the MacGuffin, and I kinda zoned out during much of it, as well as the action scenes. I had trouble keeping the bad guys and their motivations straight in my head because I couldn’t really get invested in the story.

For me, the movie was strongest in the quieter moments. The five heroes were very enjoyable. I loved the dynamic between them, the entire “assembling of the team” sequence and their character arcs. The comic banter in the quieter scenes following the action set-pieces were my favorite parts. I would have liked this movie better if it was more of a comedy with some action than an action movie with some comedy.

Nick: It was basically a comedy with action! The sequence of four of the characters meeting for the first time was superb. They kept escaping each others’ traps and the camera did a good job of framing from each character’s point-of-view during that battle sequence. James Gunn was a good choice as director. Gunn loves infusing comedy into… um… let’s say serious situations with his films, such as Slither (which I love) and Super and then this awesome web series PG-Porn.

Dustin: I liked the set-pieces that weren’t related to the main plot. My favorite part of the movie was the prisonbreak sequence. Those were more clever and exciting than fighting Emperor Palpatine for the Orb. I took advantage of the latter moments to go to the bathroom.

The movie did have some great fantasy elements. There was the head of the giant “celestial being” that was being mined for elements I found fascinating. That was some fantastic world building. I liked the characters and the world of the movie so much I would gladly go back for the inevitable sequel.

Nick: The movie was so expletive fun! Though I found it strange that the cities best defense was for them to use thousands of soldiers in planes that combine and create a shield. They lost a shit ton of soldiers that day.

Dustin: The movie also had emotional variety along with variety in scenery. A movie that can make you laugh and cry without feeling manipulative or mushy is a minor triumph in itself.

Nick: When did you cry?

Dustin: I didn’t literally cry, but there were emotional scenes like Star-Lord’s mother dying and Groot’s line toward the end that slightly melted my icy heart.

My favorite of the characters was Drax (played by pro-wrestler Dave Bautista), the alien who takes everything literally, which leads to a lot of comedic moments. While being totally straight, Bautista delivers laughs with impeccable comedic timing.

Nick: It’s also nice to see Vin Diesel back to doing voicework. First he made me cry as the voice of the Iron Giant and, like you said, he came that close doing the voice for Groot. Amusing how they both don’t say too much.

Dustin: Anything else to add?

Nick: Oh, and it was fun!