The movies in review: A look back at 2015

The movies in review: A look back at 2015

Hi Blogger buddies,

I am closing my year in style by taking a look back at 2015 at the movies over at my other goodbuddies' house, Bizcommunity.com. Check out my article there.

All I can say is merry Star Wars! Christmas can take a backseat this year ;).

My Magical Place: Ant-Man Review

As a movie reviewer/blogger do you ever just wake up in the afternoon (that’s when everyone wakes up, right?) and just think how Marvel Studios possesses absolutely no chill? Can they just stop being so amazing with their movies and series! I am a fan, for sure but it just feels like I spend half my time writing about some new great thing they did. After the sheer joy that was Avengers: Age of Ultron I figured I’ll tone down any and all excitement about Ant-Man. In fact, I’d just wait for it to come out on DVD. Seriously, they can’t just leave out Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne from the original Avengers line-up and then hope to somehow make it work now, can they? They can’t just give Ultron, Pym’s creation to Tony Stark and just get away with it, can they? I finally went to see Ant-Man and Marvel did all these things and made it work! Ant-Man is my favourite entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). I hate Marvel, dammit!

Ant-Man is reminiscent of the Daredevil series in terms of its scale in the MCU. It takes place after the events of Age of Ultron and whilst still quite a major event it is more of a closed-in story about characters that are a bit more accessible than the Avengers. While the Avengers are busy dropping cities on people characters like Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) are just trying to get by. The story kicks off with Lang just being released from prison and trying to make amends with his daughter and keep away from his former life as a thief. He then gets caught up in some superhero stuff with Dr Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and the brilliant man’s daughter, Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and eventually becomes Ant-Man. The villain of the piece is Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) who ends up donning the Yellowjacket suit. Cross’s motives are very much like those of Loki in Thor, which is to say he is just a whiny child, really. Loki has a certain charm so ends up working as a character people are interested in but Marvel still seems to struggle to create compelling villains. The Kingpin is the only villain they have really done well to date. Pym and Janet’s backstory is merely hinted at but enough to let you know how they fit in with Howard Stark and Peggy Carter’s S.H.I.E.L.D.

Like Winter Soldier was a political spy thriller Ant-Man is a heist film more than a superhero film and a very funny one at that. This movie knows how to push all the right emotional buttons with the audience. Scott Lang is the sort of character you can really root for and his misfit team of friends provide a lot of very funny comic relief in the film. Michael Peña (Fury, 2014) as Lang’s fast-talking friend, Luis plays the role of the funny guy to perfection. David Dastmalchian (Animals, 2014) and rapper, T.I. appear as Lang’s other wacky companions, Kurt and Dave and they also deliver a pretty solid performance. Ant-Man sees Peyton Reed (Yes Man, 2008) in the director’s chair and fan favourite, Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, 2010) as one of the screenwriters. Wright was first signed up to direct Ant-Man in his popular zany style but got replaced with Reed later.

Do you guys remember how much fun old school movies like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) were? Ant-Man’s action sequences are reminiscent to that in their hilarity. When Lang shrinks down to the size of an ant he retains his strength as a normal sized adult male and can also control various ants with the aid of a device behind his ear created by Pym. This allows for some really fun action sequences and also introduces us to one of the cooler characters in the movie, one of the ants that Lang lovingly names Antony.

Ant-Man is a really great entry into the MCU and is well worth your time. The 3D effects are really good and I imagine seeing it in IMAX would be great as well. It’s been on the local circuits for a while now so if you haven’t seen it yet I’d recommend you do so. Take your mom, dad, grandparents, children and strangers in the street with you.

Marvel's Daredevil (The Man With No Fear)

Do you guys remember how Ben Affleck ruined Daredevil back in 2003? He was after all responsible for everything wrong in that movie: writing the script, directing the thing, playing Elektra. . . Just everything! Poor sap. The dude made a poor choice in accepting the role, for sure but let's let it go. . . Okay we can let it go after you watch Screen Junkies' hilarious Honest Trailer for Daredevil. Then we can all forgive Batfleck for his portrayal of Marvel's man with no fear as we wait to see him as DC's man with no fear in 2016.

In other news Marvel Studios sure know how to make good movies and their TV efforts are quite okay. They add Daredevil to their cinematic universe and it looks really great. Charlie Cox (The Theory of Everything) is our leading man this time around. All 13 episodes of Season 1 are available on Netflix as of today so prepare to binge-watch, you filthy little glutton, you. Netflix hates us a bit down here in sunny South Africa so let's see how it goes.

DC v Marvel: Age of Justice, the Future of Comic Book Movies and Television

We all love superheroes and over the last few years DC and Marvel have been showing us a lot of comic book love on television and on the big screen. DC is struggling at the box office at the moment with Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy being the only venture that really worked out well for them. Green Lantern was a bit of a disaster and Man of Steel didn’t quite succeed in capturing what Superman is really about, what with the big blue Boy Scout probably killing more innocent people in Metropolis than he saved in his fight against General Zodd. While DC may be lagging behind on the big screen they are dominating the small screen, with shows like Arrow, The Flash (which is just pure gold, you guys) and Gotham. Marvel has Agents of SHIELD, which goes from annoying to really good and then back to annoying again. Agent Carter is nice too, I guess. The Peggy Carter character is less tiresome than most of the people on the Agents of SHIELD roster at any rate. Marvel had a great 2014 at the movies with Captain America: Winter Soldier and The Guardians of the Galaxy being absolutely amazing. They are looking to do the same in 2015 with Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man. Marvel also has more things lined up for television to compete with DC on that front.

Big things are happening for both DC and Marvel this year and going ahead so let’s dive into some of the fun stuff from both of the studios, shall we. Let’s kick off with Marvel’s detailed plan for things to come and then look at how DC responds.

Marvel is taking the Avengers out on their second outing on the 1^st of May in Age of Ultron and geeks everywhere can’t wait to get some of that comic book goodness. Heck! People in general can’t wait to get hold of that comic book goodness. Then there is the bonus we South Africans have of seeing Hulk smashing downtown Jozi. Move over New York! Marvel knows how to make movies that appeal to everyone and they do it with such charm. Just to make sure that everyone knows that Marvel knows what they are doing they went ahead and announced their complete Phase 3 line-up. Just like that. BOOM! Phase 2 closes off with Ant-Man on July 17 this year. Ant-Man is looking to be the sleeper hit that The Guardians of the Galaxy was last year.

Donald Glover for Spider-Man!

Phase 3 kicks off with Captain America: Civil War set for May 6, 2016. Marvel Studios acquired the rights to Spider-Man from Sony and this is great news as he is an important part of the Civil War storyline and will finally get to play with the rest of the Avengers gang. I doubt that Spidy will be getting his own movie before then but let’s see. Also, a black Spidy seems to be a thing with Donald Glover’s and other names being thrown around. On the 4^th of November 2016 Marvel taps into the magical corner of the comic book universe by bringing in the Sorcerer Supreme in Doctor Strange. The lovable Guardians of the Galaxy go on their second space adventure on 5 May 2017 (so far away to see more of Groot) and things get all sort of apocalyptic in Thor: Ragnarok on November 3, 2017. The Avengers (and probably the Guardians of the Galaxy) assemble again to face off with the big bad Thanos in Infinity War Part 1 on May 4, 2018. Black Panther makes his debut on July 6, 2018 (I imagine we will see him in some sort of cameo before this though). Captain Marvel gets her day in the sun on November 2, 2018. The Avengers continue their Infinity Gauntlet story in Infinity War Part 2 on May 3, 2019. The Inhumans are now a thing on Agents of SHIELD but the royal family gets their own movie on July 12, 2019. I doubt we’ll be seeing any of the royal family on TV before then.

Marvel is good at interconnections between all of its franchises and for all the flak I give Agents of SHIELD it ties in nicely with the events in the films and will continue to do so if all the plans on the table work out. The 10^th of April will see the launch of Daredevil on Netflix and by the look of the trailer it’s set to be a lot darker and grittier than the other Marvel stuff. It will also tie into the bigger Marvel universe like Agent Carter and Agents of SHIELD. Later this year we’ll also get A.K.A. Jessica Jones. Iron Fist, Luke Cage and The Defenders will also be getting some love on the small screen but their dates have not been announced yet.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch . . . The Justice League is clearly still a thing for DC with Superman v Batman: Dawn of Justice scheduled for 25 March, 2016. Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) will be a principal character in the movie, so that’s the big three in the Justice League right there. Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones) has been cast as Aquaman and his character has been revealed in costume on posters with the tagline: Unite the Seven. This could refer to the seven seas of which he is king or the seven founding members of the Justice League. Cyborg (Ray Fisher) is also set to make an appearance in the movie.

The Big Three

DC is playing catch up with Marvel and so they also announced their line-up for their . . . DC Cinematic Universe. DCU? DCU 52? Well, whatever they call it, here it is! After Dawn of Justice we get to see the Suicide Squad in action on 5 August 2015. Who doesn’t like themselves some anti-heroes? Really. Look out for Jared Leto as The Joker, Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang. Oprah Winfrey was one of the people being considered to play Amanda Waller but Viola Davis (Ender’s Game) got it in the end. The Suicide Squad makes a regular appearance on Arrow so I guess the TV and cinema worlds won’t be linked as the actors aren’t the same. Gal Godot returns as Wonder Woman on 23 June 2017. 17 November 2017 sees the biggie in the form of Justice League Part One. The Flash zooms in on March 23, 2018 and we take a look at what’s going on in Atlantis in Aquaman on July 27, 2018. By the power and beard of Zeus we will be graced by Shazam (Captain Marvel to some but Marvel has their Captain Marvel so yeah, that) on April 5, 2019. The Rock has been cast as Black Adam so you know this will be fun. Justice League Part Two is set for June 14, 2019, Cyborg for April 3, 2020 and DC will try again with Green Lantern on June 19, 2020.

There’s not much to say about DC’s TV presence other than that they are having a good time. In addition to shows like Arrow, The Flash and Gotham they have Constantine exploring the magical realm. Supergirl is getting her own show this year and Lucifer and Preacher are on the cards as well.

We have a lot of comic book movies and TV shows to look forward to over the next few years and the name of the game from both studios is clearly shared cinematic universes, which we love. DC seems not to be sharing storylines or characters between their TV shows and movies though but hey, it still looks like a lot of big things going on. Feel free to get excited about all the cool things headed our way. See you at the movies and on the couch at home.