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Antman
I went to see this movie mainly for the Peggy Carter cameo (my Hayley Carter infatuation is at epic levels after the most recent SDCC stuff, especially the dubsmash battle), but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Other than Gotg, it definitely has the most humor of any of the Marvel franchise films, and it reminded me that I like Marvel best when it's doing superhero origin stories. Of course, I know virtually nothing about Antman comics, so I had nothing invested. Spoilers not only for Antman but for the post-credits teaser.
I did know that a big controversy was the fridging of Janet van Dyne, which is why I honestly expected that when Scott went to the quantum level, he would encounter her (and I was hoping she would actually rescue him rather than vice-versa). That would have been a fantastic twist; alas, it didn't happen. Still, I think they are at least keeping the door open for her return both by having her trapped there rather than really being dead and also since they conspicuously didn't show her face in family photos, which makes me think they may want to cast her with someone in future movies.
And while I sort of understood why Hank didn't want Hope to wear the suit (and the mid-credits scene shows that he's finally relented on that), I did wish they had let Hope also play superhero. Other than that, though, I really loved this film:
1. The flashback to SHIELD and Peggy Carter was great! Glad to see Peggy and Carter were NOT the bad guys (though weird to have the Triskelion--I thought the Triskelion was a post-Chitauri thing, and that SHIELD was more covert before that?) I have to confess, I am now so accustomed to Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark that I was staring at the John Slattery Howard Stark during the whole scene going "that guy looks familiar, but who the hell is he?"
2. I have to say, I love how every scene from the trailer was basically out-of-context, which means that things like the prison fight scene subverted expectations (a weird good-bye ritual, hee!) And it was great that Scott was in prison for basically Robin Hood reasons.
3. Luis (Michael Pena) seriously, seriously stole the film, despite his somewhat limited screen time. I especially loved hearing his opinions on wine and art as he was passing information to Scott. (It was a little unfortunate that the other partners-in-crime were a little stereotyped, culturally speaking, at least in the comedic sequences, but Luis was awesome. I hope he gets adopted by fanwriters and incorporated into everything.)
4. I was pretty impressed that they ultimately didn't end up demonizing Paxton (Cassie's stepdad), which would have been a lot more typical of this sort of superhero movie with divorced dad trying to win back the kid. And Cassie was completely adorable, especially how she loved the bunny Scott got her BECAUSE it was weird-looking, and how she adopted the "weird-looking dog". Hee!
5. Speaking of which, I have a real insect-phobia, so I was expecting to be squicked by the ants, but instead I was totally charmed and completely saddened by the fate of Ant-ony.
6. I loved how this film integrated so much humor into the action sequences, which were cool to watch even when they totally didn't take themselves too seriously. And OMG, that sequence with the CURE song made me laugh and laugh.
7. Anthony Mackie! Being pretty badass, too! I knew that Falcon had a cameo in this, but I didn't realize it was going to be so extended.
8. Hope was also great, though I wish we'd been able to see more of her undercover stuff or otherwise being badass. She had a great line of snark, though, and I really did like her complicated relationship with Hank. (It didn't make sense that he had never told her about her mom, though.)
9. I was happy they didn't kill of Hank, since it looked like they were going to, for a while there, and older male mentors in the Marvelverse (Yinsen, Erskine) don't tend to live too long. And Michael Douglas was great in the role, though I wish Pym was a little better at the parenting thing. I got that they were trying to set up parallels between him and Scott, but they could have done that without him being such a dick to Hope.
10. Lots of interesting hints dropped about the Avengers. I loved that they had an in-universe explanation for not asking them for help, and that they referenced Sokovia, and of course the leaked end-credit scene with Bucky trapped and Steve and Sam not able to go to Tony for help hints at interesting things.
I did know that a big controversy was the fridging of Janet van Dyne, which is why I honestly expected that when Scott went to the quantum level, he would encounter her (and I was hoping she would actually rescue him rather than vice-versa). That would have been a fantastic twist; alas, it didn't happen. Still, I think they are at least keeping the door open for her return both by having her trapped there rather than really being dead and also since they conspicuously didn't show her face in family photos, which makes me think they may want to cast her with someone in future movies.
And while I sort of understood why Hank didn't want Hope to wear the suit (and the mid-credits scene shows that he's finally relented on that), I did wish they had let Hope also play superhero. Other than that, though, I really loved this film:
1. The flashback to SHIELD and Peggy Carter was great! Glad to see Peggy and Carter were NOT the bad guys (though weird to have the Triskelion--I thought the Triskelion was a post-Chitauri thing, and that SHIELD was more covert before that?) I have to confess, I am now so accustomed to Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark that I was staring at the John Slattery Howard Stark during the whole scene going "that guy looks familiar, but who the hell is he?"
2. I have to say, I love how every scene from the trailer was basically out-of-context, which means that things like the prison fight scene subverted expectations (a weird good-bye ritual, hee!) And it was great that Scott was in prison for basically Robin Hood reasons.
3. Luis (Michael Pena) seriously, seriously stole the film, despite his somewhat limited screen time. I especially loved hearing his opinions on wine and art as he was passing information to Scott. (It was a little unfortunate that the other partners-in-crime were a little stereotyped, culturally speaking, at least in the comedic sequences, but Luis was awesome. I hope he gets adopted by fanwriters and incorporated into everything.)
4. I was pretty impressed that they ultimately didn't end up demonizing Paxton (Cassie's stepdad), which would have been a lot more typical of this sort of superhero movie with divorced dad trying to win back the kid. And Cassie was completely adorable, especially how she loved the bunny Scott got her BECAUSE it was weird-looking, and how she adopted the "weird-looking dog". Hee!
5. Speaking of which, I have a real insect-phobia, so I was expecting to be squicked by the ants, but instead I was totally charmed and completely saddened by the fate of Ant-ony.
6. I loved how this film integrated so much humor into the action sequences, which were cool to watch even when they totally didn't take themselves too seriously. And OMG, that sequence with the CURE song made me laugh and laugh.
7. Anthony Mackie! Being pretty badass, too! I knew that Falcon had a cameo in this, but I didn't realize it was going to be so extended.
8. Hope was also great, though I wish we'd been able to see more of her undercover stuff or otherwise being badass. She had a great line of snark, though, and I really did like her complicated relationship with Hank. (It didn't make sense that he had never told her about her mom, though.)
9. I was happy they didn't kill of Hank, since it looked like they were going to, for a while there, and older male mentors in the Marvelverse (Yinsen, Erskine) don't tend to live too long. And Michael Douglas was great in the role, though I wish Pym was a little better at the parenting thing. I got that they were trying to set up parallels between him and Scott, but they could have done that without him being such a dick to Hope.
10. Lots of interesting hints dropped about the Avengers. I loved that they had an in-universe explanation for not asking them for help, and that they referenced Sokovia, and of course the leaked end-credit scene with Bucky trapped and Steve and Sam not able to go to Tony for help hints at interesting things.