REVIEW : Ant-Man (2015)

When you really think about it, Ant Man's basically Iron Man without all the metal. I mean, both of them are superheros because of their suits. But then, Tony Stark is the famous genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist, while Scott Lang is the infamous skilled-poor-noble-criminal.

So perhaps Ant Man is the anti-Iron Man, I guess?

Paul Rudd joins Marvel's evergrowing team as their latest superhero offering, as Scott Lang, and as the titular Ant-Man. While he's determined to put his life of being a cat burglar behind him after being released from prison, it's easier said than done as employment is hard for someone with a criminal record to his name, and he's not allowed to visit his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson) before settling child support payments. It's not that he doesn't try, but life's not cutting him any slack.

Before becoming the Ant-Man, he was already the hero in his daughter's eyes. Brb, crying ugly tears

Thus. Scott resorts to the one thing he knows best: pulling off a big score once and for all. With the help of a few friends (Michael Peña, T.I, David Dastmalchian), he breaks into the house of Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), with some really mad skillz might I add, only to find not the riches he was expecting, but a strange red suit and helmet. He soon finds out that the suit is able to shrink him to the size of an ant, and also that him stealing the suit was all part of Dr Pym's plan for him to steal a similar suit from the hands of his now estranged protege, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), with the help of his estranged-but-not-really daughter, Hope Pym (Evangeline Lilly). You know, save the world from chaos and all that shebang, the usual.

"This is not the score I was looking for."

It's a breeze to sit through Ant-Man, considering the fact that it doesn't even break the two-hour mark. It's nice how they decide against dragging Scott's transformation into becoming the real Ant-Man, and instead just take us through with training montages of him throwing punches and talking to ants.

The writing isn't great, that I won't deny. It's formulaic and thus predictable, the deus ex machina trope is thrown into the film every chance it is needed; it's everything you've seen, and nothing new is brought to the table. But if there's one thing that sets it apart from films the likes of The Avengers, Iron Man, Ant-Man is actually pretty funny. I mean, Marvel films are pretty lighthearted generally speaking, but think giant Thomas the Train crashing out of windows, and Rottweiler-sized ants skittering down the street.

Now that I think about it, it's more creepy than funny, isn't it? But with context, it's quite hilarious. 

Squad goals, but with all else considering, not really. 

Sometimes the movie plays out like a self-aware parody of the genre it belongs to, doing things and saying stuff as if they're trying to tell the audience "Yeah I'm aware how silly all these 'high-stakes' seem, but bear with me". Pretty sure Paul Rudd has a line in the film that is somewhat to that effect. Maybe the comedy's expected considering director Peyton Reed is more commonly associated with films like Bring It On, The Break-Up, and Yes Man. 

(Then again, with a superhero named Ant-Man, I don't think they could have pulled it off if they wanted to walk down a more serious road with the movie.)

I mean, Ant-Man, really? Ant-Man???

Acting is very much meh in Ant-Man with every character  but I guess the actors did the best they could with the script they were handed with. Everyone from Scott to Hope to her dad Pym Senior are typical figures that are just vessels to move the plot along. Not even Rudd's charisma translates here as he just comes off as bland. Poor Michael Peña's basically playing your good ol' stereotypical Latino gangsta. 

Let me tell you who really stole my heart though: Cassie and Luis. The moment either of them first came onto the screen—especially Cassie—right off the bat I knew I love them already. Cassie, because no one can resist those puppy eyes; Luis because he's that funny, comic-relief of a sidekick that every superhero needs, even if he's a gross stereotype.

Cassie/Abby Appreciation #1

But hey, mediocre writing and even more mediocre acting aside, Ant-Man is entertaining and fun, and that's pretty much all superhero blockbusters really need to be. 

Other trivial musings:  

• That one comment about the Avengers being too busy dropping cities out of skies had me in stitches. 
• What's up with blockbuster female leads and The Lob (See: Bryce Dallas Howard in Jurassic World)
• Why can't these movies learn from the likes of Mad Max or Pacific Rim on how a film is perfectly fine even if you don't force a romantic relationship into it???
• That's it, Abby Ryder Fortson wins the "Cutest Kid on Screen Award". Hands down.

Cassie/Abby Appreciation #2

TL;DR : A fun but typical superhero flick  that's refreshingly small when compared with all the other behemoths of MCU. 

I rate it : 7/10 stars

Should you watch it? Yes. Even if you're a little sick and tired of all these superhero films, give Ant-Man a try. For one thing, it's different, and the fact that it's hilarious doesn't hurt.

ANT-MAN (2015)

Genre : Action Comedy Superhero

Runtime : 117 mins

Director : Peyton Reed

Cast : Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll

REVIEW : ATM - 提款機 (2015)

I wish I could say that there was at least one Chinese movie that I've watched during CNY that's good. I was hoping for ATM to be that movie.

Unfortunately, no such luck.

L-R : Ah Lok, Ming Ming and Bo Zai

Ah Lok aka Rock (Kelvin Kwan 关楚耀) graduated with an engineering degree but instead of pursuing a career in what he majored in, he's out on the streets, busking for a living; Bo Zai (C-Kwan C君) dreams of being able to afford his own house so that he would be able to please his girlfriend; and all Ming Ming (Joanne Yew 尤凤音) ever wanted was to amass great wealth. All three of them face the issues faced by most people in their 20's: the rising cost of living. So when a heist to steal an entire ATM goes wrong, the three post-80's find themselves working in a nursing home in order to search for the lost machine. 

Essentially, the main point of ATM is to tell a story about the relationship and the generational gap between the elderly and and the younger generation. 

While many scenes in the movie that portrays what everyone who's up-to-date is doing these days (being constantly on the phone, selfies anywhere anytime), it feels fake. It felt forced, like it was done on purpose. (Which I realise is a rather oxymoronic thing to say since this is a movie.) Maybe it's the writing, the directing, or the acting. I'm not too sure myself. Nonetheless, even thought these things  happen in real life, in the movie it just feels like a not-so-subtle plot device. It feels clichéd. 

And to be completely honest, the entire plot feels weak. I get where the director is going with it, but it's just not there. Sometimes things just feel rushed, and it did surprise me when the movie ended on an abrupt and unsatisfying end. (Although I guess I should have anticipated it seeing how they pretty much resolved most of their subplots on an unsatisfying note.) I wish I could say that I felt the feelings they were intending to convey to the audience, but I didn't because I couldn't feel the connection with the characters, Perhaps they should have spent some time fleshing them out, showing us actual personalities that feel real and not just another face with a fictitious name. 

There's a sad reason behind all the photos and post-its. 

The acting by the younger generation felt stiff and rehearsed. Although I must say C-Kwan was truly the standout; he did well as the comic relief of the group, if not the entire movie. It shouldn't be a surprise that the older generation actors were much better, since they are all familiar faces and veterans in the Hong Kong film industry, whether it was Ha Yu (夏雨) as the educated Kam-seng, Stanley Fung (冯淬帆) as the typical grumpy grandfather, or Lo Hoi-Pang (卢海鹏) who still thinks he rules the place. Bowie Wu (胡枫) makes a cameo, one of many cameos, in this film and his scene was adorable. 

Overall, ATM is an okay movie that tries to tell a story with an intent to send a message and tug on our heartstrings. Sure the message is clear, it's obvious; but it goes to the mind, not the heart. And sometimes you are just left confused with all the plot devices they threw into the film that make no sense. Besides, it's not exactly something you've never watched before, 


I rate it : 5/10 stars

The GOOD : The older actors were great, C-Kwan was great; sends an important message

The BAD : Clichéd plot that felt rushed at times; unsatisfying resolutions; the BGM was sometimes too dramatic

WATCH IT IF YOU...

• ...want a decent family-friendly film for any generation.
• ...are someone that is not to critical of a movie when certain things end up being illogical.

ATM - 提款機 (2015) 

Genre : Comedy, Drama

Runtime : 100 minutes
Director : Kenne Yam

Cast : Kelvin Kwan, C-Kwan, Joanne Yew, Paw Hee-ching, Lo Hoi-Pang, Stanley Fung, Ha Yu

REVIEW : Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)

It was back in June 2014, when I went for a premiere screening of The Fault in Our Stars, that I first saw the trailer for Kingsman. It had all the right notes to get me excited : witty dialogue, men in well-tailored suits, super secret spies, and class that is only attributed to the English, all wrapped up in one nice bundle. I remember turning to my friend and whispered "I WANT to watch that movie", to which she nodded excitedly. 

Fast forward to about eight months later, it's finally here. And all I can say is: it was worth the wait.

Kingsman tells the story of well, Kingsman, a super secret spy organisation based in the UK with their agents dressed in bespoke suits and having code-names derived from the Knights of the Round Table. The Kingsmen are the modern-day knights. 

Gary "Eggsy" Unwin (Taron Egerton) is a street kid who grew up in a broken family and an abusive stepdad. While he started out life with so much potential, he eventually decided to just waste his life away with petty crime without a life goal in sight. But his life gets a chance to do a 180 when he is recruited by Harry Hart, code man "Galahad" (Colin Firth), to compete with other candidates in order to become a Kingsman agent. While part of the film is about the candidates' training, a much greater threat looms in the background in the form of billionaire philanthropist Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson), who talks with a lisp, favours baseballs caps and McDonald's, all the while planning to wipe out most of the human population in order to save the world. 

"Wiping out the human race to save the world? Trust me, it totally works."

A quick look at director Matthew Vaughn's filmography, you'll see that this man have worked on some really fine films, films that I completely adore. Stardust (2007), Kick-Ass (2010), and of course X-Men First Class (2011) and Days of Future Past (2014).

Now before these two X-Men movies came out, I don't remember ever being a fan. I do remember being dragged to the cinema, by my parents, when I was a kid, against my will, to watch the previous X-Men movies. Obviously kid-me was not a fan. BUT post-First Class me? Total convert. So you can easily see what a special place Vaughn's X-Men movies have in my heart. Thus, I was even more pumped up for Kingsman when I knew that Vaughn was going to be on it. I have faith in him. 

And I was not wrong. 

Kingsman excels in all the genre it is labelled under. Spy? With all the cool gadgets and save-the-world, check. Comedy? With the funny dialogues, hilarious Easter eggs in the form of silly front-pages of newspapers, as well as more than one scene that made everyone cackle with laughter, chee-ack. Action? With all the well-choreographed fight scenes, featuring a single man in a tailored suit taking down an entire mob of enemies,

Check with an A-star on the side.

A true Kingsman's wardrobe

Now one of the high points of Kingsman, which I love, was the road it decided to take. Kingsman is a spy movie while at the same time a mild parody of all the spy movies out there. Unlike the Bond films featuring Daniel Craig, it was clear from the very beginning at the opening credits that this movie was not going to take itself too seriously; it wans't afraid of making fun of itself. I mean, you have heads that literally explode like into fireworks, and Galahad's stuffed dog that watches over him whenever he decides to take a dump. 

Is Kingsman ridiculous? At times, yes. Is that a bad thing? Absolutely not. The ridiculousness worked in the movie's favour and without it, Kingsman wouldn't be what it is. When Kingsman decides to be silly, it's one heck of a fun ride.

Because OF COURSE everyone wants to know Brad Pitt ate your sandwich

One thing that that kindda bugs me was the fact that in all the posters I've seen of Kingsman, none of them featured Taron Egerton's name. The ones that are on the posters are Michael Caine, Colin Firth and Samuel L. Jackson. But I guess I know where they're going with this. Prior to Kingsman, Egerton is practically a nobody while the other three are big, BIG names, all with multiple awards under their belts. And while some might argue that having his face in the centre of attention of the posters was enough, but I still think that it would have been nicer if his name was written there as well. I mean, give the guy some credit, right? Egerton was excellent in this film. 

And Mark Strong too. He had a pretty huge role as Merlin, as the person who works behind the screen. Here's an idea. Maybe they should take out Michael Caine and stuff the two other names in? He appeared less frequent than either Egerton or Strong.

But whatever, that's just a little rant of mine over something insignificant. 

"It's a bulldog, innit?"

Nonetheless, the cast did an excellent job of bringing Kingman alive. Whether it's Colin Firth as the mentor, Taron Egerton as a brutish street kid or a refined Kingsman, and also Samuel L. Jackson as the antagonist that doesn't quite fit into your usual bad-guy mold.

As long as you're not put off by the gratuitous violence (which mostly ends up being hilarious and entertaining in this film), do watch Kingsman. You're in for some super happy fun times. 

"My name is Hart, Harry Hart."

I rate it : 8/10 stars

THE GOOD : ALL the fight scenes; the overall style; Samuel L. Jackson as the eccentric bad guy; this movie is an absolute joy to sit through

THE BAD : The beginning can be a little bit slow; some parts of the film are predictable; violence can be off-putting to some (although I assure you, there's very little blood and gore)

WATCH IT IF YOU...

• ...are sick of the somber British spy. (I'm looking at you, Daniel Craig-era James Bond)
• ...are eager to renew your faith in dem classy English spies.
• ...like something that's intense, shocking, heart-pumping, and very, very funny.
• ...want to watch Colin Firth take down an entire mob, one angry person after another, in a variety of very colourful ways 

KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE (2015)

Genre : Spy Action Comedy

Runtime : 129 minutes

Director : Matthew Vaughn

Cast : Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Strong, Michael Caine