Showing posts with label Ant-Man. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ant-Man. Show all posts

Monday, February 2, 2015

2015 CBM Preview: A Very Marvel Happening

May 1st: AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON

The Players: Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow, The Vision, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Ultron, The Klaw? Probably cameos as well.

What to look for: Awesomeness. Just sit back, relax, and soak it in, baby. There really isn't any reason to question Whedon at this point, and after basking in the greatness that was The Avengers, the only question I have is whether I can rent a loft in the theater. The tone does look to be different in this film than the first one. Perhaps a touch of Tony Stark attempting redemption and failing? This would lead nicely into the Civil War story line, and set him up as a sympathetic villain instead of trying to make Marvel's most profitable character take a straight heel turn. Plus, sympathetic villains are better.

The Buzz: Massive.

Should you see it? Only if you value having me in your life.

Trailer ReviewHere



July 17th: ANTMAN

The Players: Antman, Yellow Jacket, Peggy Carter, The Wasp?

What to look for: Marvel is touting this as the last movie in Phase Two. Why isn't this the first movie in Phase 3? Can Paul Rudd (abs) pull off the superhero deal? It appears that Marvel is trying to bring characters back into the center of these movies instead of the OHMYGODTHEWORLDISENDING calamity. So, kudos. But Antman following the biggest ever superhero movie ever in the history of ever? We'll see.

The Buzz: This movie is Edgar Wrightless. I don't know if you heard. So there was all that drama. But was the movie salvaged?

Should you see it? Benefit of doubt. Yes, it's Marvel.

Trailer Review: Here



Aug 7th: FANTASTIC FOUR

The Players: Mr. Fantastic, The Human Torch, The Thing, Invisible Woman, Doom

What to look for: Potential. The first franchise was miserable. This time around, they are taking a much different approach with the property. I think it's safe to say that there will not be an Invisible Woman stripping on the bridge scene in this franchise. In fact, the tone of the trailer makes Nolan's Batman franchise look like a RomCom. They've rolled the dice here. Either this thing hits, or it's hard to imagine Marvel does not get the rights back to the Fantastic 4.

The Buzz: Yikes. Doom is a blogger and the director is always drunk. That's the word on the street anyway.

Should you see it? Wait to see what people are saying on this one.

Trailer Review: Here


December 18th: STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

The Players: Luke Skywalker, Hans Solo, Leia, Weird new people

What to look for: Disney bought Marvel for $4bil and Fantasia'd that into, well, something to Marvel at. The MCU has already had twom movies crack the billion dollar mark, and there's no reason to think that they won't have a third this summer. Can they work the same magic with a Star Wars property that's not as shiny as it once was?

The Buzz: Shhh.... There is an M Night Shyamalan type of secrecy surrounding this project. Also, I heard Luke is really dead the whole time. And water killed him. And it takes place on earth. And pollution.

Should you see it? For a movie that is promising to be the Iron Man 1 of a new Star Wars continuum? Sure.

SUMMARY: I may or may not be a Disney shareholder. This summer may or may not make me happy on several levels.


ADRIAN FORT is a writer, blogger, and essayist from Kansas City, Missouri. Follow him on twitter @adriananyway. His work has appeared in Existere, decomP magazinE, The Bluest Aye, Bareback Magazine, Gadfly Online, Chrome Baby, The Eunoia Review, Linguistic Erosion, and Smashed Cat Magazine. His Master's Degree is from Lindenwood University. 

Monday, January 19, 2015

The Ant-Man Cometh




So...Marvel, huh? 

Their last movie starred a talking raccoon and a semi-talking tree. You saw it. Both trailers for their next movie use the Pinocchio theme song. You'll see it. The movie after that stars Paul Rudd. It's called Ant-Man. The trailer was terrible. You'll see it.

Admit it, Marvel owns you.

Imagine I told you about a movie that starred the chubby fella from Parks and Rec, the voice of Bradley Cooper, a professional wrestler (not named The Rock,) a mono-quote piece of bark, and a green woman who used to be a blue woman. It takes place on planets you've never heard of. Oh yeah, and it has a soundtrack from, uh, the 70's? Hypothetically, how would you feel about that movie?

Now, how many times did you end up seeing it?

Honestly it would be simpler if I could just get Marvel to take monthly debits from my account. Then, at least, I wouldn't have to feel the shame when the ticket booth guy at the AMC calls me by name and doesn't check the ticket stub before pointing me towards a screen. 

I'm going to see Avengers: Age of Ultron so many times I'll have to fill out a change of address form.

And then there's Ant-Man. Like I said, Paul Rudd, funny title, bad trailer. Sure, can you break a twenty?

If not, I'll take a ticket for today and one for tomorrow too.

You will too and I'll tell you why: This is where it all comes back home. John Campea of AMC Movie Talk on Youtube (which I cannot recommend highly enough) has been asking for months, how do you make it personal again? 
It's a great question and a huge conundrum for the comicbook movie genre. Marvel has been making a living off of planet pulverizing peril lately. The X-Men franchise is veering towards Apocalypse. Green Lantern happened. Man of Steel was one pierce-a-character's-eyeball-with-a-needle scene away from being a global torture porn movie. So, how do you reduce the body count and keep the stakes? 

A movie about fathers and daughter.

Genius. It resets the pallet. It keeps the Marvel mood. Also, demographics, man. If you're reading this, you're probably an 18-35 year old male who wears glasses. And you're sweating. And you've got a neck beard. Hey, man, I'm not judging. I'm the one writing it. But Marvel has also done surprisingly well with women in the same age-range (abs.) Boys 3-17 all believe they are Iron Man. And now you have a hero that all little girls can root for and fathers can dress up as for Halloween. And a viable excuse for women 35-50 to use, "Honey, you're so much like that Ant-Man character, maybe he'll pop up in this Thor movie..." when they really just want to see a Marvel movie (abs.)

Basically, in one movie, Marvel is putting a Blitzkrieg on most of the demographics that they don't already own. This makes me wonder if Cumberbatch will be wearing prosthetics to look geriatric for Dr. Strange. Admit it, you'd be intrigued. Maybe Micheal Keaton turns up as one of the Inhumans. 

Looks like the ticket booth guy down at the AMC has a lot of names to learn.   


ADRIAN FORT is a writer, blogger, and essayist from Kansas City, Missouri. Follow him on twitter @adriananyway. His work has appeared in Existere, decomP magazinE, The Bluest Aye, Bareback Magazine, Gadfly Online, Chrome Baby, The Eunoia Review, Linguistic Erosion, and Smashed Cat Magazine. His Master's Degree is from Lindenwood University.