Like a pest at a picnic, Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man (C-) is all over the place and quite irritating. Paul Rudd provides his cat burglar turned miniaturized superhero with about as little charisma as possible and certainly none of his trademark comedy. He and love interest Evangeline Lilly, villain Corey Stoll and physicist impresario Michael Douglas could power a Polar Express with their glassy-eyed lack of expression. Only Michael Peña shines in a comic role as a heist henchman with a penchant for telling thrilling backstories. While the special effects are adequate (shrinking hero on a neon disco floor was a nice look), this is definitely storytelling on a small scale with CGI ant armies displaying about as much charm as crowd sequences at a George Lucas pod race. Most elements of the film are simply average. Capable of bringing out the superpower of snooze, this is a lesser entry in the Marvel universe if ever there was one.
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Director Mark Webb is in fine command of the energy, acting, humor, gravitas, story and effects for the entertaining summer comic book movie The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (B). Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone lend their considerable charms to the leading roles in a sequel that is part romance as the central duo tries to balance a flirty relationship and the distraction of constant superheroics, part mystery as Peter Parker delves deeper into the events surrounding his parents’ disappearance and part action movie as Jamie Foxx becomes Electro with a plot that threatens to seap great power (and responsibility) from the island of Manhattan. Although Webb could be accused of cramming a bit much into this installment, the actors give heart and earnestness to their performances, and it all seems well grounded in NYC and among real people trying to grow up and wrestle with the consequences of genetic experiments gone awry. Some final act surprises lay the sacs for some sinister villainy to come. This new Spidey series swings along dandily; it shoots and scores.
Director James Mangold channels his inner adamantium to create a steely summer adventure with The Wolverine (B+). This Tokyo-set saga features Hugh Jackman in top form and grounded story and stunts that deliver the goods. This actioner features some nice action alchemy for fans eager to see this character soldier on.
Director Zack Snyder completely reboots the Superman legend with an otherworldly alien quality to the superhero’s power and backstory in Man of Steel (B-). Henry Cavill was effective as the outsider, and Snyder enjoyably shakes up the formula with flashbacks and a story told out of order. Amy Adams plays a plucky Lois Lane (Daily Planet as blog) and Michael Shannon is decent in an underwritten role as villainous General Zod. The Smallville sequences were nicely done, and the themes of pleasing one’s father (Jor-El/Superman has earthly father played by Kevin Costner and Krypton father played by Russell Crowe) were strong throughout. Some of the action sequences are tedious with too high a body count. But ultimately the reinvention afoot here is fascinating and helps the franchise fly with renewed purpose.
A reboot that couldn’t come soon enough after the mediocrity of the Sam Raimi trilogy, Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man (B) focuses firmly on the human dynamic of the Peter Parker/Spider-Man character and succeeds largely on the strength of inspired casting with Andrew Garfield in the leading role plus Emma Stone as love interest Gwen Stacy. Garfield wields considerable charms with wit and webslinging, and the chemistry with Stone is palpable. Neither the obligatory re-tracing of the Spidey backstory nor the clashes with a supervillain (Rhys Ifans as The Lizard) are the film’s strongest suits, but it’s so refreshing to witness good acting in this comic book canon after a decade of Maguire/Dunst that many cinematic sins can be quickly forgiven. Overall, it’s exciting, the effects are good, the screenplay has a pulse and you care about the characters. Color me satisfied.
Nobody seems to want to admit that Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises (C+) just gets a little silly. Tom Hardy’s Bane is an incomprehensible mess of a character; Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne spends much of the film trapped in a pit; and it’s difficult to say what Anne Hathaway’s Selina Kyle is supposed to be here to do (she has the same name as Cat Woman and is a cat burglar – hmmm?). A series of events has sullied Batman’s reputation, and he’s now Public Enemy Number One; and only after the world reaches the brink can he convince people they are ready for a hero again. The pacing is off and the plot strangely uninvolving. I suppose this one just suffers from #3 in the trilogy curse. It’s not a terrible way to go out, but it’s definitely downhill after a superior set of predecessors.
Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class (A-) is a magnificent thriller mashed up with a prequel that manages to showcase how superheroes helped avert the Cuban Missile Crisis. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender play young versions of Professor Xavier and Magneto (Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan in the original X-Men trilogy) as they establsih the early days of a school for mutants. There are wondrous flights of fancy and great coming of age motifs that all lead up to an amazing showdown. After Layer Cake and Stardust, Vaughn is proving a rogue storyteller with a tremendous vision for ensemble excitement.