Ant-Man Very Late Review

Well, this was a pleasant surprise. Like a baby firecracker that hits you in the face with a big, glorious boom kind of surprise. Yep.

To be honest, I had very little faith in Ant-Man, pardon the pun. But him being one of the not-too-popular characters of the Marvel universe (at least, in my universe), I didn't think much of him. In fact, I even tried to convince my kids that we didn't need to watch his debut movie. The only reason why we still did was because my train-crazy son saw Thomas the Tank Engine in the trailer and got all pumped to see that part --and that part alone. That and my other son was craving for movie popcorn. So before I knew it, we were running to catch Ant-Man on its last week.

And it was a whirlwind on fun!

The plot wasn't exactly new. You know… awesome technology. Bad guy plans to use it as a weapon for war. But its nanotechnology so it makes it more special.
The real backbone of the story was this though --FAMILY. How you sacrifice, do stupid things, create little mistakes that lead to huge cracks for the sake of the people you love. Now THAT'S special.

What really got us going for this film, however, was the brilliant use of comedy. Scott/Ant-Man was hilarious. And so was his best friend schemer, Luis, whom I have to say was my favourite character in the entire film.

We also like how The Avengers was seamlessly woven into the film. From Doctor Pym openly saying how he wouldn't want Tony Stark to get his hands on his nano-invention. From Ant-Man stealing a valuable equipment from The Avengers secret facility. And from the inch-high hero actually duking it out with Falcon.

In other news, my 14-year old science geek was more into learning about the different kinds of ants, which the movie introduced with the funniest of circumstances --(that and how to crack open a safe using plain household tape and/or liquid nitrogen). While my 11-year old train geek couldn't get over the fact that Thomas the Tank Engine had so much airtime. Educational and Entertaining! Ant-Man is quite a package.

All in all, Ant-Man is an exciting, laugh-a-minute ride!
If, like me, you've been having doubts on its cinematic greatness… bite your tongue. And run to the movie house nearest you. You still have a few days to catch this little bugger.

Groot and the Guardians of the Galaxy

Let me begin by admitting that Guardians of the Galaxy was never really in our masterlist of movies to watch this year. Hence, the late movie review. When we saw the trailer back then, we were just "Oh ok. That looks fun.", and that was it. But then, as soon as the movie came out-- and days after that, I might add-- my Facebook page was flooded with status updates bearing the intriguing words, "I am Groot." It was freaky. Later on, peer pressure settled in when my boys got "I am Groot.' fever from their classmates. So, moving forward, we found ourselves in the movie house lining up for Guardians of the Galaxy.
And here is what we think.

First off, two words: Zoe. Saldana.
Woman, you fight so fine! And your boots will invade my dreams forever.

Moving on, the characterisation of the film's heroic misfits was spot-on. I love how bad they all were. But bad in a hilarious way. I also dig how all of them have family issues, and eventually finding family in one another. It was done subtly so as to avoid the danger of cheesiness, and I thought that was cool.

The 'super weapon in the hands of a power-hungry maniac' plot isn't new. It's been the formula for Marvel since like forever. But it's the fact that this time, criminals are the ones out to save the day that made this movie worthwhile. It's a good twist. Although on the overall, the story wasn't something entirely out of the box.

The action was the bomb though! My kids loved the fight scenes, aerial battles, explosions, fighter ships, and the weaonry (they want me to buy them a Ravager's Whistle Dart… le sigh).  They enjoyed Rocket Racoon's genius and cunning. They liked Starlord's helmet, Gamora's hand-to-hand combat skills, Drax's tattoos and deadpan humour, and Groot… for having a heart, fireflies in his branches, and for being reborn as a dancing sunflower.

My husband and I, on the other hand, geeked out on the make-up and costumes. Drax's tattoos sincerely rock!

The downsides are few. For one, the number of characters thrown into this film was just insane! Geez. I got dizzy with all the enemy hierarchy there. It was hard to keep up with the planet jumps and character names, unless you've read the comics… which we didn't.

Another mind-boggling thing thrown in was the big news that Peter Quill's father wasn't at all human. It wasn't even explained. It felt like an afterthought the writers cooked up upon realising that Peter Quill should've died after touching the weapon, but didn't. But, like I said, we didn't read the comics. So there.

I did like it that the flick employed big-named stars in its line up. Although I'm still wondering why Vin Diesel had to be casted as Groot. He wasn't really there, and I doubt if he's the only one who can say the line, "I am Groot" so perfectly. Ah, one of life's mysteries.

Guardians of the Galaxy is still showing in cinemas. If you're coming in late to the "I am Groot." bandwagon (like we are), then I suggest you get with the program and watch the movie, ASAP.

The Amazing Spiderman 2: A new fangirl's review

SPOILER SHMOILER!

WE LOVE THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN 2!
I know that sounds pretty weird after writing a not-so-happy review about The Amazing Spiderman 1. But this time around, this all new version of the Spidey franchise floored us. Simply floored us.
The upside?

FIRST PERSON CAM
Gamer perspective! Every web-slinging feat is like riding on Spiderman's back. Sweet!

STUNTS!
Spiderman's moves are just way cooler now. The slow-fast-slow crawling, the crazy-wide leg-spread during leaps, the creativity in web manipulation, the ballerina-esque fight choreography, the jumping over speeding trucks in precise insect-like agility… *slow claps*

SCIENCE!
We're geeks. We totally dig it whenever Spiderman attempts to crack an enemy's code or enhance his web using batteries and what-nots --and then fails. Yuh.

BETTER PARKER
I'm a huge Toby fan. He was the only Peter Parker for me. When Garfield came around, I found him to be too cute and acted too cute to take his place. But then he shed that self-conscious shtick and went down to acting real. Loved how he delivered the jokes in the movie! He's actually funny now!

COOLER HARRY
Not just a pretty boy, this guy has angst. Not just avenging his dead father, he has his own inner demons. And he looks hot in a leather jacket. Good one!

THE GOBLIN DOESN'T WEAR A MASK
Instead, he wears the rotting face of a dying maniac. How. Cool. Is. That?!

GIRLFRIEND DIES
So much like the original Spidey, this lankier Spidey has issues with having a girlfriend, too. How do you solve that dilemma? Kill her off! Now that's realism for you.

COOL ENDING
That last frame where Spiderman catapulted into the air to bonk a good one right on Rhino's metal skull, and then the scene cuts to credits before impact. LOVE THAT!

Okay, okay… calm down. I'm making it sound like it's all perfect. Of course not!
Hello, downside.

ELECTRO
Sorry, I know he's the top bad guy in this story, but he just didn't do it for me. My kids liked him for the sheer electrical KZZT! AND FZZANG!, but for me, he didn't really have a focused evil plot. And you CANNOT be a villain without focus. First, he was pissed because he was being ignored. Second, he wanted to take revenge on the people who stole his plans for the grid. Third, he's just a whacked up job who couldn't deal with the fact that a) Spiderman forgot his name; b) Spiderman had more fans and more New York billboards' screen time, c) Spiderman set him up for a duel.
Dude, if you want to make it bad, find that single reason why you're mad. First lesson in Villainy 101. Look it up.

The Amazing Spiderman 2 is still webbed to cinemas. Sling yourself right over!

Avidly, The Avengers.

Spoiler alert!  Spoiler alert!  Spoiler alert!  Spoiler alert!  Spoiler alert!

After lining up forever for tickets, then lining up forever for popcorn, I can safely say that The Avengers was worth all the brand new blisters on our feet.

Some will say the plot was old.  Bad dude aiming for world domination via an unexplained secret weapon which opens a portal to another dimension, thus, releasing an army of creepies --not so original, eh?  Well, for the first time, I don't really care much about the plot.  The big thing here is the... assembly!  Marvel giants all squoosed together in one film!  Top that off with endless fisticuffs, car chases, firepower and lighting power, explosion here and there, HULK SMASH!
I've been hanging out with my boys too much.

Iron Man was his usual badass self.  In fact, 30 to 45 minutes of the movie was an iron Man movie.  Not that I mind.  He's the bomb!  I never really thought much about Thor or Captain America, but when they're in a hilarious banter with Iron Man, they're suddenly worth my while.
My second favorite will have to be Loki.  He's the bad dude, he's funny, and he has evenly flipped hair that I envy.  Nothing beats a power-hungry yet adorably humorous antagonist.  It made the mood lighter for the kids. They get to spend more time enjoying the movie than fearing the bad guy.
A new fave is HawkEye.  Because he was bad when the film started.  I have a thing for bad boys.  You see the pattern here?
Finally, the ending.  Call me a cheap punchline addict, but when the totally leveled STARK tower pulled out from frame and what was left of the STARK name was just the letter A that's exactly the same A on THE AVENGERS... I gasped and goosebumped all over!
Whaaat!  I told you I'm a cheap punchline addict, didn't I?!

Anyway, our boys totally ate up the whole film.  And why not?  It was light, it was exciting, it was heroic.
In fact, they even came home with action figures which were strategically being peddled right outside the cinema.  That they did.  Good job on merchandising and robbing me of my last cash, Marvel!  Grrr.... HULK SMASH!