Payton ReedCritiques

Comedy

Comedy

C+ (Okay).

The first half introduces fun characters and an interesting world. The second half is just an indestructible guy giving speeches until he's not indestructible anymore.

(Oct. 2023)

C (Indifferent). It's like a satire of something that never existed.

(Sep. 2023)½

2023 movie #145. 2023. Thrown into the Quantum Realm, Ant-Man and company face off against Kang the Conquerer. The usual Marvel superhero stuff with a little comedy thrown in. Enjoyable nonsense. Apparently a set-up for the next Avengers movie.

It's mostly a park your brain movie where Ant-Man and the Wasp fall into a quantum world along with their parents and Ant-Man's Daughter who has been exploring some of the details about the miniature world they can inhabit sometimes. She's also got a suit. Some of what happened in the past come back to haunt them and some of what happens here is put up for sequel bait.
Full of different creatures and a variety of people it's interesting to see the different characters come into their own.½

1904

Ant-Man and his daughter Cassie are transported into the Quantum Realm and are thrust into a war with a villainous being known as Kang. Meanwhile, Wasp and her parents must outmaneuver the supervillain as he seeks to escape the Quantum Realm and unleash himself upon the universe.

A solid outing for the Ant-Man characters and, honestly, one of the best MCU films in recent years (since No Way Home and Multiverse of Madness at the least). The setup of Kang's character is awesome and truly makes him a force to be reckoned with. Jonathan Majors's performance in particular helps the movie, but the other cast's acting also adds to the adventure. The VFX are also pretty spectacular considering what the film shows without delving into spoilers. My only real complaints involve the final battle, but I think a lot of that can be explained away in future installments. All in all it is a spectacle to look at and the actors all do wonderful jobs at capturing elements of both fear, anger, and emotion. Definitely recommended for fans and followers of the franchise; it's negative reaction is truly bizarre to me.

Content Concerns: The usual sci-fi action violence of the franchise permeates throughout the film, and there is a bit of language (around 10-15 uses total, with one inclusion of God's name paired with "d-mn").

(February 18, 2023)

Después de "Capitán América: Guerra Civil", Scott Lang lidia con las consecuencias de sus elecciones como superhéroe y padre. Mientras lucha por mantener un equilibrio entre su vida hogareña y sus responsabilidades como Ant-Man, se enfrenta a Hope van Dyne y al Dr. Hank Pym con una nueva misión urgente. Scott debe volver a ponerse el traje y aprender a luchar junto con La Avispa mientras el equipo trabaja en conjunto para descubrir secretos del pasado.

Not QUITE so much fun as the first film but still very enjoyable. The "problem" is a small one compared to destruction of world/universe in the main Avengers series. But that allows it to be much more light hearted and have jokes. I really enjoyed it although the end was an "OH" which only makes sense if you've seen Avengers: Infinity War.

Way better than "Infinity War". Michael Pena's part is excellent. I liked Walter Coggins and the other X-Cons as well. The action scenes were fun. The "science" was hilariously dumb, which was probably unavoidable. The actress who played the ghost is one I've never seen before, but she is promising.

I liked this, witty characters, trying to deal with the aftermath of being put under house arrest by the FBI, Scott is recruited (with days to go) to help find Dr Hank Pyms wife, lost in the microscopic universe, while trying to deal with a rival who wants to kill him (hello Dutch as the Ghost, doing a fine job). There were times when it dragged a bit but overall it was a lot of fun.

Watch until the very very end. The events of the Avengers: Infinity War have a repercussion here.

People that can change size try to rescue someone who's Too Small.

2.5/4 (Okay).

Alternate summary: Boring people jump around and punch people who inexplicably want to interfere with science experiments.

Tras abandonar la cárcel, el ladrón y estafador Scott Lang recibe la llamada del misterioso Dr. Hank Pym para realizar un trabajo especial. El científico suministra al joven un traje especial, que le otorgar la capacidad de reducir su tamaño al de un insecto, al tiempo que aumenta considerablemente su fuerza. Con esta nueva arma en su poder, capaz de comunicarse con los insectos, Lang deberá abrazar su héroe interior, olvidar su pasado de delincuente y tratar de salvar al mundo de una terrible amenaza.

Family values schmaltz with some fun bits. In a way, the various appearances of the The Falcon were the most fun part.½

This film had passed me by as part of the Avengers franchise. So I didn't know what to expect. But I really enjoyed it. It's fun and it doesn't have the endless, fake special effects battles. I'll never look at an ant the same way again!

Cheerleaders compete.

Crap, but at least it's fast-paced crap.

Concept: F
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: D
Pacing: B
Cinematography: D
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: D

Enjoyment: C minus

GPA: 1.4/4

An ex con is recruited to stop a super-villain with a shrinking suit.

Forgettable fun. The action doesn't drag on as badly as the typical Marvel movie (thanks to the heist formula being a change of pace from the usual Cartoons Punching Each Other). The sense of humor is enough to keep the movie entertaining, but never enough to get a laugh. They spend a lot of time with character development (so, good for them for at least trying, I guess?) You can definitely tell it was written by committee, but it's still a lot better than, say, a Thor movie.

Concept: D
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C

Enjoyment: C plus

GPA: 2.1/4

Искрометная, полная юмора и сюрпризов, ретро-комедия в стиле 60-х годов об истории взаимоотношений писательницы-феминистки Барбары Новак, поставившей на любви крест и отчаянного бабника журналиста Кэтчера Блока, давно уже отказавшегося от любви ради секса.

Барбара Новак взрывает весь Нью-Йорк своим бестселлером «К черту любовь!» и предлагает всем женщинам забросить свой старый образ жизни и стать такими же, как мужчины — заниматься сексом, не вступая в постоянные связи, делать карьеру и жить в свое удовольствие. Барбара не останавливается на книге, она вовсю пропагандирует новый стиль жизни вместе со своей ярой поклонницей и по совместительству редактором Викки.

Кэтчер Блок циничный прожигатель жизни, дон-жуан и любитель стюардесс. Почуяв сенсационный материал для статьи, Кэтчер решает заодно хорошенько проучить разбушевавшуюся феминистку и полностью развенчать созданный ею мир женщин, отказавшихся от любви. На фоне шикарных апартаментов и элегантных клубов, роскошных и ярких нарядов разворачивается странный роман героев, наполненный двусмысленностями и сексуальным подтекстом, и чреватый неожиданными разоблачениями.
В ролях: Рене Зеллвегер Юэн МакГрегор Сара Полсон Дэвид Хайд Пирс Рэйчел Дрэч Джек Плотник Тони Рэндалл Джон Эйлуорд Уоррен Мансон Мэтт Росс ...

Kirsten Dunst (Actor), Eliza Dushku (Actor), Peyton Reed (Director)
An unexpected box-office hit in the late summer of 2000, Bring It On is a smart, snappy teen comedy that bristles with good cheer (literally) and lively, down-to-earth characters. The story may be fairly predictable (who's going to win the big championship?), but director Peyton Reed and screenwriter Jessica Bendinger have fleshed out their characters with formidable strength and provided them with sharp dialogue. Dunst is a radiant comedian, projecting warmth, determination, sincerity, and a sublime airheadedness, and Union is an impressive dancer and counterpart to Dunst, matching her admirably despite her limited onscreen time. An excellent young supporting cast rounds out the film, most notably Eliza Dushku (Faith of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Jesse Bradford (Steven Soderbergh's King of the Hill) as siblings new to Rancho Carne, who become Torrance's best friend and potential new boyfriend, respectively. All in all, a pleasantly surprising and intelligent teen movie. Don't miss the opening sequence, a hilarious send-up of all those high school cheerleading routines you had to sit through at boring pep rallies. --Mark Englehart