Super Small AND Super Large? It’s Ant-Man-mania!

Date: August 30, 2021

Music Video of the Day:

Interstellar News: Friday night we finally got to watch Civil War after a bunch of moving our schedules (there are five of us participating in the rewatch) and then I was tired because I had to work on and off during the movie. Saturday was filled with packing and getting cosplay/civilian clothes together, plus finishing the swag I’m making and taking to Dragon Con. Oh, and then I was tired. Sunday I watched Under Siege, my first and possibly only Steven Seagal movie, with a dear friend and then napped a whole bunch because my body hates me and I’m incredibly tired. Have I mentioned I’ve been super tired lately?

Ant-Man (2015)

“I realized you can’t destroy power, all you can do is to make sure that it’s in the right hands.”: This movie is terribly fun and wonderfully depressing at different times. There’s a ton of humor but also a lot of folks with Daddy issues. Lang tries to go straight, and even Baskin Robbins won’t hire him. He can’t support himself so he can’t see his daughter, so he has to turn back to crime. He has wonderful support in Luis and his two friends, though they are all a bit special in their own ways and you don’t spend a minute wondering how they wound up in jail in the first place. Cassie is incredibly adorable and you can tell that Lang is doing everything he can to be a better father for her. He knows he’s expendable very early, and you can tell a lot by someone who reads a situation quickly and efficiently.

On the opposite end you have Pym who has disappointed both his daughter and his protegee, Cross, and doesn’t ever really give a good explanation except for he lost his wife. Yes, losing someone is incredibly difficult – but when you’re a parent you’ve got to step up because that child lost one of their whole world. Cross starts off batshit crazy and gets crazier as the movie goes on… but the final battle is wonderfully done as Thomas the Tank Engine and other things grow larger than they should be. It’s fun to listen to Lang babble, devastating to watch Hope be overlooked at every turn, and heartwarming to see Lang come to an understanding with his ex and her cop-fiance as well as with Pym and van Dyne.

There are too many “training montages” in this movie, but the humor is mostly spot on and the drama keeps moving things along. You’ll want to watch for Luis’s storytelling abilities alone and stay for the Stan Lee cameo as well as the giant ant puppy.

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

“Vengeance has consumed you. It’s consuming them. I am done letting it consume me. Justice will come soon enough.”: This movie is INCREDIBLY LONG and is basically all because of Tony Stark. He can’t get over the deaths of his parents (because he feels guilty for being a brat), he thinks he’s not doing enough to make amends (he and the Avengers have saved more lives than they’ve taken), and he’s willing to do anything that will speed up his ability to have a “normal” life with Pepper. Not to say Rogers isn’t also to blame, as he goes all squishy when anybody mentions Bucky, but his heart is more in the right place. I totally get how awful it must be for the world when the Avengers have no oversight and just do whatever the fuck they want, but they also have a decent track record of making things that could be world-ending much less catastrophic. Superheros are people too, who also want to have a life. It’s a hard damn life to give up everything to protect everyone who wants you to do more, and because it’s completely fictional I can give them a pass on this.

Black Widow continues to be the only adult in the immediate group, with her practicality and levelheadedness. Lang shows up, after Falcon taps him, and he’s so incredibly enthusiastic it’s a joy to watch. Peter Parker debuts as Spider-Man, who we’ll get to in a few movies, and he runs his mouth just as much and I’m super sad that he and Ant-Man don’t get any lines together. Bucky’s just trying to figure out what the hell is going on most of the movie, Vision is figuring out this being alive thing, and Wanda is trying to work on herself too. While this is absolutely a Cap movie, because Rogers is in it the most out of everyone, it also became a Black Panther movie. T’Challa easily becomes the adultiest adult in the group when he realizes that vengeance is consuming everyone to the detriment of all they stand for. We did not deserve Chadwick Boseman and he left us too soon even if we did. He brings so much gravitas to such a small role… but so does Zemo. Knowing what happens in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier made me pay attention a lot more to everything that happened with Zemo, Bucky, and Falcon… as well as Carter. This is a hell of a way to start Phase 3 and, if I’m being honest, is my least favorite of the movies featuring most of the Avengers.

I’ll likely be quite the next few days because of Dragon Con… but if you’re good readers I’ll post my cosplay lineup 🙂

TA Out!