Tag Archives: Michael Peña

A Working Man

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Vampire Owl: We are all working all the time, you know.

Vampire Bat: Everybody including Uncle Dracula knows that you do no work at all.

Vampire Owl: I work at my own office within my room.

Vampire Bat: You know that there is no business firms allowed in the Dracula Castle.

Vampire Owl: This is just me showing my skills making blood milk shake and blood cake.

Vampire Bat: Do you even know the sugar levels of vampires of the castle?

Vampire Owl: It is approved by Dr. Frankenstein and his medical company.

Vampire Bat: Mr. Frankenstein has never been a real doctor who can do that.

Vampire Owl: Frankenstein has presented and published a research paper on vampire blood sugar and was appreciated for the same by different universities.

Vampire Bat: I have heard that they were promised infinite amount of money just to accept the abstract and let him present it.

[Gets a paneer samosa and three cups of Kodaikanal tea].

What is the movie about? :: Levon Cade (Jason Statham) is a retired Royal Marines Officer, now working as a construction foreman in Chicago, leaving the United Kingdom after his service and settling down in the United States as his American wife had committed suicide, and his father-in-law Jordan Roth (Richard Heap) who had settled down in the same city does not allow him to see his only daughter Merry Cade (Isla Gie) as he is known to suffer from PTSD and has been struggling to gain custody of his daughter. Levon maintains a close friendship with the family who employs him at the construction site – Joe Garcia (Michael Pena), his wife, Carla Garcia (Noemi Gonzalez) and their daughter, Jenny Garcia (Arianna Rivas), as they consider him as one of their own. One night, while Jenny is out at a bar, enjoying with her friends, she is kidnapped by two Russian traffickers who randomly choose their victims from the night club, the ruthless mercenaries known by the names Viper (Emmett J Scanlan) and Artemis (Eve Mauro).

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Joe and Carla report the case of their missing daughter to the police, but they are unable to find any leads, and do not seem to keep this anywhere close to priority. Desperate to find their daughter, the parents who know about Levon’s military past, offer him money to find Jenny, but he refuses to do anything about it, as he feels that his past was responsible for the death of his wife and hostility of his father-in-law who has always been a pacifist. But after consulting his former friend and comrade in arms in the military Gunny Lefferty (David Harbour), decides to what he does his best and follow his heart, as he had once promised Jenny to watch and protect her, making sure that no harm would come upon her. As he decides to use his best skills for the purpose, follows the bartender who was there at the time when Jenny went missing, and finds connection to Russian mafia which has been involved in human trafficking in the past. He finds out that the situation is more complicated than he thought. Can he find more clues and reach Jenny before time runs out?

The defence of A Working Man :: Watching this movie, one feels that this is a movie well set for Jason Statham to come up with all the action, and the same is asserted again and again as the movie progresses and gets close to the end. The action sequences are excellent and staying within the willing suspension of disbelief limits. It was best seen with that beginning fight scene and it just gets bigger in the final scenes as there is a lot to be done. We see something to root for the protagonist every moment as the film progresses – there is also an emotional touch to the main character, and we connect to the same with the feelings rightly felt. There is also that feeling of nostalgia that runs through in the movie reminding us those other earlier movies that we have seen before. The stylish and immensely evil Russian mobsters to a biker gang leader sitting on a literal throne in a basement with his black-wearing people, the variety of villains that make quite some impact. The visuals are quite nice, with different settings nicely used for the situation.

The claws of flaw :: The movie feels like a Taken-inspired weaker version with search for one woman who has taken by drug traffickers often forced into prostitution, as even the less appreciated Malayalam movie Karam doing better than this particular one. Yet, one feels that the danger is not that much felt here with the kidnapped woman, as she seems to be too comfortable with the same even when in so much of a terrifying situation as part of her captivity. For some reason, we do not see facing that much of a terror, and she seems to be more military-trained than even the main protagonist – this is where the other movies dealing with the same premise dealt with the situations much better. Even the search for the woman seems to be lagging, as the pace comes down. Then those fast cuts and shaky camera work during the quick action makes things feel rather strange, and leaves a lot to be desired. The title of the movie is also never really justified as the construction work never really gets the attention again.

The performers of the soul :: Jason Statham once again does what he does best as he has a strong physical presence, charm, as well as nice fight scenes including hand-to-hand combat and some shooting to go with it. Starting with a construction site fight and finishing after a full set of climax battle sequences keep us satisfied. It is once again asserted that he is the man for this kind of a job, after Liam Neeson did the same multiple times with his one series of movies starting with saving his daughter from human traffickers. Being a part of The Mechanic and one among of Hobbs and Shaw battling in Fast and Furious series had made us hope for him even in Hitman: Agent 47 which would have been perfect for him. After John Wick and friends in a chaotic murder spree universe, he remains seemingly best choice for this kind of worlds. Arianna Rivas as Jenny Garcia does not get much except for those last moments when there seems to be a fight forced on her – in a movie focused on her kidnapping, she is just not shown enough. Then the antagonists seem balanced, rightly there to be menacing enough.

How it finishes :: This remains an interesting movie, even though nothing much new in its content, and reminds us of many other movies in the past. The movie gains the advantage from Jason Statham as the main character, and even when there is not much to raise the level in the narrative, the man takes the movie straight up to another level. But we cannot help feeling that he could have done more if the search was better arranged and if the danger was really felt except for the kidnapped not shown much after being kidnapped except for the end, and due to the hero quickly going through the villains without that much of a difficulty as one should be having when facing a mafia, The emotional side with daughter works, but not with the kidnapped one as we rarely feel that she is in trouble, and yet we feel that the poor mafia members are really in bigger trouble – this is something which should not have happened in a movie like this which does not go over the line with its action. Well, the fight scenes work really well, and keeps us interested, and we are thrilled to see the happenings on the screen; often that much is enough for the genre, but not for a second watch on any day.

Release date: 28 March 2025
Running time: 116 minutes
Directed by: David Ayer
Starring: Jason Statham, David Harbour, Michael Peña, Jason Flemyng, Arianna Rivas

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Ant-Man II

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What is the movie about? :: A flashback tells the story of Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) who shrinks between the molecules of a Soviet nuclear missile which was launched during the Cold War, successfully disabling it, but was trapped in the sub-atomic quantum realm with no hope of returning. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) went on believing that Janet is dead until Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) became the new Ant-Man and discovered a way to enter and return from the quantum realm. Hoping that Janet might still be alive, they try to repeat the process of entering and contacting the quantum realm. But things get messed up when Scott joins the team of Captain America and fights against the other Avengers. For violating the Sokovia Accords, he is put under house arrest, while Hank and Hope moves away to avoid arrest.

So, what happens with the events to follow? :: Later, when Hank and Hope manages to open a tunnel to the quantum realm, Scott receives a message from Janet with whom he is quantumly entangled. After Scott makes a call to Hank, Hope takes him to their new hideout, where a new laboratory was set up. FBI officer Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) is in charge of checking him, but Hope sets a decoy at this home. As they consider the message as a confirmation that Janet might be alive, there is the plan to create a tunnel through which one of them can enter and bring her back. For the same reason, they are collecting the needed materials from the black market dealer Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins) who brings up a new deal to buy their laboratory, which Hope refuses. But he is not the kind of person who takes no for an answer.

And what is follow with the tale? :: But an attack from a masked figure follows, and both Scott and Hope are forced to be in a fight against an unknown force. This figure takes their laboratory which was in a shrunken state, and they are left with no other option to find Janet and bring her back. Hank’s former partner at SHIELD, Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne) helps them locate the laboratory, but there is a surprise waiting for them there with the masked figure and a past that he had long forgotten. Their target also seems to be Janet, and now the question remains if they can get to her and bring her back before any harm is done to her. What is this incident of the past that has come back to haunt Hank? Is there an escape from this masked figure which seems to be able to walk through walls? With Thanos searching for infinity stones at another part of the universe and Avengers spread apart, is there hope for mankind at all?

The defence of Ant-Man and the Wasp :: Among all the superheroes, Ant-Man is indeed the hero with a difference. This one might also be the most family friendly superhero above the rest of the team. He has evolved into a big superhero from the shadows of those names which had become part of people, as this one is more or less the everyman character. We all missed him in Avengers: Infinity War, one of the biggest superhero movies of all-time. The quantum realm looks really great in 3D, and the action sequences with shifting size are too good. The battle on road is something special with everything happening so quickly and precisely. The movie is also a lot of fun. The use of humour in this movie is something to be appreciated. The new characters introduced here are also interesting, and this one nicely blends into the Marvel Cinematic Universe according to where Avengers: Infinity War has left us – you will need to wait for a few minutes after the movie finishes to know that.

The claws of flaw :: The superhero stuff has managed to be so big that Ant-Man with its nice little moments might not be that enough. These days, the superheroes are going for something so huge that this movie might feel rather small. It can also feel like a long introduction to the quantum realm, and a reason to introduce more characters. It is more or less about our expectations about superhero movies that define this, but such expectations have been working beyond one cinematic universe, and are those which cannot be avoided. The movie also lacks a strong single villain, as the danger here is related to survival, and therefore the lack of existence of pure evil or just evil can be seen. Maybe this movie could have released before Avengers: Infinity War – placing it after Captain America: Civil War, Thor: Ragnarok or Black Panther would have been perfect, but with avoiding that scene in between the credits.

The performers of the soul :: Paul Rudd is as good as he has been in the form of Ant-Man and Scott Lang, being the likable character for everyone including the families. Evangeline Lilly who is most known in this part of the world for playing Tauriel, a Woodland Elf in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, makes a great team with him, and the two easily holds things together in this movie as a fantastic pair. She is surely proving to be the right choice for action and adventure movies. Michael Pena is a lot of fun in the movie, as he brings the humour with ease. Hannah John-Kamen as a character looking for survival, is a perfect cast, as she seems to reflect the emotions of the same incredibly well. Laurence Fishburne is solid as always, and we are always glad to have him around. Michael Douglas carries on the role without any difficulty. Michelle Pfeiffer also joins in here.

How it finishes :: We are never really tired of having more and more superhero movies. Avengers: Infinity War was such a big hit with records being set all around the world, and coming a long way up the list of highest grossing movies of all-time, following the box-office and critical success of Black Panther and Thor: Ragnarok. Justice League might not have managed to be that big as Avengers, but DC Universe will also catch up very fast with Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman being all-time favourites in many lists. It is during these times of the big superheroes that the smallest of them all, Ant-Man and Wasp getting all the attention. Well, we wish for more superheroes, and having more of them on the list will only help the cause. This one is another entertaining entry in that list of memorable superhero movies, and if Ant-Man becomes a family favourite fun superhero above the rest, I wouldn’t be surprised either – it is anti-Deadpool and all that Deadpool will never be!

Release date: 6th July 2018 (USA); 13th July 2018 (India)
Running time: 118 minutes
Directed by: Peyton Reed
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Pena, Hannah John-Kamen, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Tip Harris, David Dastmalchian, Abby Ryder Fortson, Randall Park, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Douglas

<— Click here to go to the previous review.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Vatican Tapes

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Vampire Owl :: It has been a long time since some horror, right?

Vampire Bat :: Yes, there are not many horror movies releasing here these days; sometimes, there is just none at all.

Vampire Owl :: The world was so much better during The Conjuring days. There was abundance of horror then.

Vampire Bat :: Yes, after that, a lot of horror movies didn’t release here. I have a long list of that.

Vampire Owl :: And there were a few which released too late.

Vampire Bat :: And also the rest which came to some theatres only; those multiplexes – only those where we couldn’t go.

Vampire Owl :: And there was like one show at times when it was not comfortable for us.

Vampire Bat :: And they got cancelled or disappeared completely just too soon.

Vampire Owl :: This is why we should find out own horror.

Vampire Bat :: Exactly! Otherwise, how can we recharge our strengths?

[Gets three cups of tea with tapioca chips].

What is it about? :: After showing a few videos with shots of possession and exorcism, we are taken into the story. A young girl, Angela Holmes (Olivia Taylor Dudley) begins to show some strange behaviour after cutting her finger with a knife during a birthday celebration. Her father Roger Holmes (Dougray Scott) and boyfriend Peter Smith (John Patrick Amedori) are concerned, but it seems to be more of her fear for the hospital as she hasn’t been there since her early childhood. But one day, she is bitten by a raven while traveling inside a bus, and it makes the injury even worse. Her weird behaviour just continues. One day, she doesn’t wake up at all and had to be taken to the hospital again only to cause a car accident. With that, she slips into a comma and doesn’t wake up for a long time, and in the end, the doctors decide to declare her dead.

So, how and where does things take a big turn? :: Roger meets a priest Father Oscar Lozano (Michael Peña) who used to be with the army earlier. The priest becomes suspicious of what has happened with Angela, but as the hospital declares her case hopeless, he decides to provide her with the last rites. But as he begins the same, it turns out that she is not dead at all. That surely makes everyone happy, but things don’t remain the same after her return to the normal life, as it gets worse. The hospital cameras identify her trying to hurt a newborn, and after seeing and questioning her about the same, a detective murders himself with two bulbs. She is moved to the asylum, and things don’t get any better – murders happen and so does chaos. The hospital abandons the case, and now there is only one chance left.

The defence of The Vatican Tapes :: There is a story smoothly told here, and there is no rush with its idea. The ending also signifies that there is scope for something bigger with a possible sequel. The Vatican Tapes also doesn’t go with the cheap scares, and uses it central idea to generate the fear. There is nothing jumping out of darkness, and there is no manifestation of the demons. Instead, what happens here is the realization of the horror that is warming up, and the unlimited terror which is going to be unleashed later. The usual horror characters, especially the annoying ones are missing, and the movie finishes with the rather realistic end to what could happen – a possible end of the world coming closer rather than the exorcists saving the day. The horror in this movie is more on the background and getting right into the viewer with the basic idea!

Claws of flaw :: The movie hasn’t really used its video footage to its advantage, as most of those videos could have been shot just like the rest of the movie. The exorcism scene also doesn’t bring that much strength as expected, and won’t satisfy people who keep seeing the same thing all the time. Something more brutal, or shocking; even something at least surprising was the need of the times considering the number of exorcism movies and the rest of the horror which have come to us in the recent years. There is also not that much information about the demon and the possession, except for bringing that Anti-Christ idea up – a better explanation was a lot in need here, especially with experts in such matters already there as characters; it was never going to be that difficult. Maybe, the sequel, if there is one, can solve some of it.

Performers of the soul :: Olivia Taylor Dudley is the big asset for this movie, as she comes up with some very nice and creepy moments with her performance as the one coming back from the dead, as well as the fully possessed person. We would remember her from the lesser known horror movie Chernobyl Diaries and the more recent Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension. The Vatican Tapes has what might be one of her best works among those popularly known – there are those points which you will want to recollect. She will have a bigger job there if there is a sequel for this one. The next notable performance is from Michael Peña who plays the priest who comes to know about this particular possession. Peter Andersson has a smaller, but nice performance here, and lets look out for Djimon Hounsou in case of a sequel.

How it finishes :: The Vatican Tapes is surely an interesting movie, and it will appeal to those who like the movies concerning possession and exorcism. It might not be everyone who are looking for some terrifying events throughout its run, and it is surely better than how it is rated at IMDb and what the critics have said about it. There is also the presence of evil portrayed well enough without adding those ghostly or demonic images, and the connection there with the horror is really well-made – it is gloomy, and hope of something better is not easy to have in here. It does try to be different than a usual exorcism movie, as this one doesn’t end with evil. Yes, it is horror, and is not a pretendor to the genre like some movies which get heavy critical appreciation as horror or superhero movies, but in reality, they are not.

Release date: 24th July 2015
Running time: 91 minutes
Directed by: Mark Neveldine
Starring: Olivia Taylor Dudley, Kathleen Robertson, Michael Peña, Djimon Hounsou, Dougray Scott, John Patrick Amedori,Peter Andersson, Tehmina Sunny, Noemi Gonzalez, Bruno Gunn, Ashley Gibson, Daniel Bernhardt, Alex Sparrow, Jarvis W. George

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Martian

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Vampire Owl: I have always wanted to have a pact with the Martians. The Earthlings are too evil for our taste.

Vampire Bat: Well, Dejah Thoris has been a fine Martian.

Vampire Owl: I hope that the presence of an Earthling on Mars will mean that he is free of the ambitions of Earth.

Vampire Bat: It shall be so, as there is no real need for money and power on Mars as of now.

[Gets the tickets and cheese popcorn].

✠ This was recently posted by me at Kiagia.com: http://www.kiagia.com/index.php/current-film-releases-movie/1115-the-martian-movie-review

Based on Andy Weir’s novel of the same name from 2011, The Martian is a much awaited movie which has already received a lot of positive opinions. The stories of survival outside the planet Earth has had the attention of the audience with Gravity and Interstellar, and The Martian tries to make further impact in the same area during this weekend. Directed by Ridley Scott and having Matt Damon in the lead, the movie is sure to attract the audience of all types, as the trailer did manage to catch the attention, bringing it to a large number of screens on this October 2nd.

A human mission to Mars goes terribly wrong and the astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is presumed to be dead and left on the planet as commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain) has to make the choice not to risk the return of the whole crew for searching for him. But he is alive and has become the first lone man on a planet seemingly without life. The first and the best option for the astronaut would be to wait for death considering how difficult or rather near impossible it should be to survive in Mars without any contact with Earth and possessing not enough supplies until the next mission can arrive. But Mark decides to try, and make that attempt not to die.

As Mark is a botanist, he finds a way to grow some potatoes inside, after creating a favourable atmosphere for the plants. The chances of survival still remain too low, until NASA engineers Vincent Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Mindy Park (Mackenzie Davis) find out from the photos of the Mars station taken, that he is alive. They communicate using a Mars Pathfinder which Mark finds on the planet, and NASA begins the programs to send him supplies and get him home. But it is not that easy, as the probe which they sends explode and Mark himself has his own disasters at his place decreasing his chances of survival by many days.

Matt Damon is the man to look out for. He was also there in the last year’s space movie Interstellar, in a role which included being rescued from a planet too. But it never really had much there, and the planet sequence itself was more like a need to have a human character that is somewhat closer to the villainy. But here, there are no heroes and villains, and there is just the need for survival, that too in a fair way. The movie focuses on him, and so do the viewers, and he delivers an outstanding performance as the lone man who fights to survive where a normal person would have lost all hope. He has the most screen time, and makes a very fine use of the same.

The Martian remains ahead of both Interstellar and Gravity in many ways, making things more entertaining for the audience. The 3D of this movie might not be that heavy, but with the other aspects, The Martian clearly rises high. The environment is also a joy to watch. There is a perfect blend of emotional, intellectual and funny side here, the final side which was completely absent in Interstellar. The Martian is also straight to the point, but it never really fails to touch the audience. The movie knows where to stop being too much scientific and weird. It is the strength of the movie that the main character of the movie always remains someone whom the audience can connect with, instead of being someone special.

There is a strong, inspirational message in The Martian, and it is something which never lets go. It is the adventure that inspires the viewers never to lose hope, and it is also the kind of path which Interstellar could have followed. Another interesting thing about the protagonist of this movie is that he finds a lot more than just hope – he takes the opportunity to take the optimism to another level and even have some fun with his situation. The Martian has laughter, and that too when facing the possibility of death in a world far away from Earth. It is an adventure without any trace of pessimism, and almost everyone associated with it believes in their optimism, and this is a strange fact as the present world clearly lacks it, with so much of evil prevailing around the wars, terrorism, racial and religious hatred along with the other terrible things.

The Martian clearly has what it takes to be the big winner, and this is a good weekend to score among the viewers. This battle for escape from Mars is something that the fans of science fiction and survivor movies shouldn’t dare to miss. This has enough entertainment; some nice intelligent ideas and philosophy, along with making sure that the common man can easily understand the science here, as well as avoid whatever scientific term which they needn’t follow. The Martian is that kind of a movie, and by being the same, it will be a better, smooth experience for the brain and the heart than Interstellar, and easily overtakes the previous movie from Ridley Scott, Exodus: Gods and Kings.

Release date: 2nd October 2015
Running time: 141 minutes
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Mackenzie Davis, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Donald Glover, Benedict Wong, Naomi Scott, Lili Bordán, Nick Mohammed

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Ant-Man

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Vampire Owl :: Are you sure that there is no Vampire Ant?

Vampire Bat :: Yes, it says in all vampire books, that due to the complete absence of alienation, an ant cannot be a vampire. Neither can the bees, wasps and termites. Alienation is the first step to becoming a vampire. The idea of eusociality doesn’t work with vampires at all.

Vampire Owl :: It is good. In the presence of a Vampire Ant, we would have had to sponsor his ticket according to the new Vampire Brotherhood rules and regulations.

Vampire Bat :: Yes, a Vampire Ant seems like an impossible thing, as of now.

[Gets the tickets].

✠ This was recently posted by me at Kiagia.com: http://www.kiagia.com/index.php/current-film-releases-movie/917-ant-man-movie-review.html

When we consider the superhero movies, Marvel is a name which has proved to be the most trustworthy one in the last few years. All the movies from Marvel Studios have kept a certain standard. Even though Ant-Man is a name which is rather unheard among the common audience outside the English-speaking world, the superhero character has been there for very long. With the reception that this movie has received, we can be certain that it can have a good position among the other movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even though the same can’t be said about how it has managed in this part of the world.

Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) has just been released from prison and is hoping to lead a life away from crime for the sake of his daughter. As he is a post-graduate in electrical engineering, he hopes that he can find a job easily, but things are not easy as his criminal record keeps him away from settling down. A police officer named Paxton (Bobby Cannavale) is engaged to his former wife, which just makes things worse. So, he decides to go on a heist with his former cellmate Luis (Michael Peña) and his friends. They choose the house of a rich old man who is known to have a vault and as Scott has done this before with perfection, they depend on him.

Meanwhile, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) was part of the S.H.I.E.L.D. and had been responsible for the technology of shrinking sub-atomic particles and making Ant-Man possible. But he had quit because he understood that people were trying to copy and recreate the technology. He knew that such an invention will be incredibly dangerous if gone into the wrong hands. As his daughter Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), and his former assistant and student, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) did come so close to duplicating the same technology, he is alarmed again, and hopes to make sure that it never happens. For the same, Hope helps him, and he needs a volunteer to wear the Ant-Man suit.

At a point, the lives of these two people come together, and the story of another superhero officially begins. Actually, the movie takes too much time to get to that new tale. The real Ant-Man is not even there until the second half of the movie – there are just people and two suits. There is too much of a delay here, and it can happen with origin movies, but this one has too much of time without interesting things happening. But things get a lot better in the second half, which is full of action, and there are some very nice sequences in the smaller world involving the ants and the hero himself. Things do get to have a better direction after that.

The final action sequences are very interesting, and the ending is nice. If the theatre won’t stop with the credits, you will surely want to see the scenes which come with the final credits. Even though Marvel has indeed brought us a smaller superhero and destruction is also lesser, the scope of this one is reduced for the same reason. The superhero power itself is weird, and the action makes too much way for drama, as the dialogues are rather a lot. The movie is rather too goofy, and celebrates its inability to provide more to ponder about or even to leave a message. The seriousness never really coming to the front and the absence of a menacing villain may be some of the major reasons for the same.

You can choose to enjoy the humour though, even as it is only partially working. This movie surely needed to be more serious. The ants should not have been portrayed as random cute creatures even when made bigger. This universe of Marvel works better with its chaos and destruction, as it is where the strength should have been derived from. Yes, there are talks about the chaos happening in the world, but that goes on with the light tone of the movie, and we are not really bothered if it happens or not, as there is nothing to make us feel it the same way. Paul Rudd is perfectly suited for the role though, and Evangeline Lilly plays the second biggest character on the good side well.

Ant-Man still continues to keep the Marvel Cinematic Universe going. It just can’t go on without the regular problems of an origin story, and is not without repetitions. The basic formula remains the same, and the differences are made only according to the character of the new superhero. But still, it should interest the regular viewer of superhero movies. It does seem a little overrated right now, as it is nowhere close to being the best from Marvel. Captain America: The Winter Soldier remains the most seriously awesome movie of the universe, and Ant-Man is just some good entertainment without many thrills and no twists. I watched this movie as one of the seven people in the theatre, out of which four came only later. The multiplexes do have been attendance though – still not that much as a usual Marvel movie.

Release date: 24th July 2015 (India); 17th July 2015 (USA)
Running time: 117 minutes
Directed by: Peyton Reed
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña, Tip Harris, Anthony Mackie, Wood Harris, Judy Greer, David Dastmalchian, Michael Douglas, John Slattery, Hayley Atwell, Abby Ryder Fortson, Gregg Turkington, Martin Donovan

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✠ The Vampire Bat.