I got a bit drunk last night and wrote this review of Ant-Man. It's pretty long, but it's here if you can be bothered...
'ANT-MAN' : IN DEFENCE OF THE HOLLYWOOD SUPERHERO
Today a bomb went off in a bar somewhere in Bangkok. A lot of innocent people died, a lot more were badly injured. I'm not sure who is to blame, or why, or what their disturbed and perverted evil reasons might possibly have been. It is just another in the long line of seemingly endless tragedies which seem to find their way to our ears; tales of pointless, horrendous suffering we humans seem incomprehensibly capable of inflicting upon one another. Futile, barbaric conflicts which only seem to worsen as time goes on, with no end in sight, no light at the end of the tunnel. It is hard not to grow cynical, disillusioned, disenchanted, pessimistic, to shake one's head with disbelief, and sorrow. Acts of violence which breed hatred and animosity, an endless cycle of vengeance and pain.
I heard about this particular bomb blast over the car radio on my way to work, pushed it as near to the back of my mind as I could, stored in somewhere in my subconscious and attempted to go about my day. Later I went to the library and tried to study, but couldn't concentrate for all the questions in my head. What hope could there possibly be for a human race so lost, so cruel, so full of anger and immorality?
And then I saw Ant-Man.
It is, for those too refined to keep up with the latest, mindless, blockbusters from tinsel-town, a comic book adaptation about an ex-thief (Paul Rudd) who becomes endowed, thanks to some high-tech, scientific wizardry, with the incredible ability to shrink himself down to the size of an insect, and to do battle with objects one hundred times his size. It has all the generic elements of a film of its kind; a likeable lead, easy-to-identify sub-characters (the mentor, the villain, the girl), action, explosions, a dash of romance, comedy, and of course a completely ridiculous plot that could never occur in the real world.
There has been a spate of these movies come out in the last decade or so; a constant barrage of comic-book heroes, sequels, remakes, reboots and amalgamations, and though I had always been vaguely aware of their presence I had never really stopped to consider why they existed in such abundance. Of course I understood the studios position; these characters have large fan-bases already in existence, and in an industry that likes to take as little risks as possible, it makes sense to produce films that (usually) always return a more than substantial amount of money. It is an industry, after all.
But what of the fans, the audience? What is it that they see in these worlds, these characters, these films? What is it that keeps them coming back over and over, for more, and more, and more?
Ant-Man is not an amazing movie. Entertaining, yes, enjoyable, engaging, but no great work of art. Even the impressive visual effects have, in a way, been done many years before, in films such as 'The Incredible Shrinking Man' (1957), 'Tom Thumb' (1958) and 'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids' (1989). There is nothing in the movie that will leave you speechless, dumbfounded, or re-examining your existence with any kind of profound, new insights. And yet, it is magic, because for 117 minutes all the ills of the world, of my own personal stresses and sorrows, somehow shrank to nothing, and I was transported; lost in a world of make-believe and innocent fiction. A world where, when the lights are down, one can freely succumb to a smile and a small amount of respite from the doom and gloom of reality.
This flight of fantasy has long been one of the great appeals of cinema for me, and though it's true that even pure escapism contains no small amount of introspection and analysis, scrutiny and questioning of both society and self, it is equally true that one of its great joys is its uncanny ability to transcend the world outside, if only for a little while.
I don't know why that bomb went off in Bangkok, or who is to blame, any more than I know who, really, was responsible for the Bali Bombings, or the Boston Bombings, for the collapse of the trade centres, the attacks on an African mall or a Chinese train station, the slaying of a London guard or the shooting down of a passenger plane over Ukraine. In Ant-Man, however, I knew within minutes who was bad and who was good, and I knew that, eventually, the bad would be opposed, deposed, disposed of or disintegrated, because in the movies, unlike life, evil simply cannot be allowed to prevail.
In a world so full of chaos and confusion, provocation and retaliation, mindlessness and abhorrent acts that become increasingly hard to fathom, how refreshing to see such an unambiguous line between good and evil, and to know that there are heroes like Ant-Man, or Batman or Ironman or whoever it may be; heroes who will be there to protect us, to fight for us, to make sure that everything is okay when the final credits roll.
And it goes deeper than the mere battle between good and evil. There is also matters of righteousness, redemption and family. Ant-Man is willing to risk all to provide for his estranged wife and for their daughter, to make them see him for the good man he is at heart. The sort of man who is humble and kind, who is good to his friends and whose friends are good back to him. The sort of man who is calm and can make us laugh, even in the face of danger and adversity. A man capable of sacrifice, bravery, heroism; and yet an everyman, one not all that different from you or me.
We see all the goodness of humanity in these heroes, and we wonder why there can't be more like Ant-Man out there; why we must live in a world that at times seems so full of villainy and evil that even these comic-book bad-guys would hang their heads in shame. For just a few hours we let ourselves go, we willingly slip into a world where good and bad are clearly defined, where (unlike in life) we know who to loathe and who to root for, and where we can rest easy knowing that a happy ending is always just around the corner.
But of course this is no way at all to deal with the problems of the world. We cannot simply stick our heads in the sand, go running to Hollywood and its heroes each time reality rears its ugly head. This is no way to help those in need, this is no antidote to hatred, no cure for suffering. And yet, at times it must be allowed, must be encouraged; a momentary lapse into worlds where, despite the apparent ridiculousness of their plots, things are somehow a little more logical than our own. It is one of the great qualities of fiction, of film, of art; the temporary transcendence into other worlds. Worlds which sometimes seem to make more sense. Worlds, at times, we'd rather be.
So the next time you see yet another superhero movie, another mindless action flick, another cliched romance or generic comedy, don't be so quick to judge. Think about what it is that the mass of cinema-goers see in these films, why they flock to them again and again; what they see in these worlds that they don't necessarily see in their own. Think about just what these films offer; a few hours respite, a few harmless thrills, a few brief smiles. Worlds where good is good and bad is bad, and where goodness always triumphs. Escapism, if only for a little while.
As a movie, Ant-Man is nothing too special. Just the latest average-to-good Hollywood action blockbuster. Compared to a news story about a bomb blast in Bangkok, however, it may as well be a cinematic masterpiece.
'ANT-MAN' : IN DEFENCE OF THE HOLLYWOOD SUPERHERO
Today a bomb went off in a bar somewhere in Bangkok. A lot of innocent people died, a lot more were badly injured. I'm not sure who is to blame, or why, or what their disturbed and perverted evil reasons might possibly have been. It is just another in the long line of seemingly endless tragedies which seem to find their way to our ears; tales of pointless, horrendous suffering we humans seem incomprehensibly capable of inflicting upon one another. Futile, barbaric conflicts which only seem to worsen as time goes on, with no end in sight, no light at the end of the tunnel. It is hard not to grow cynical, disillusioned, disenchanted, pessimistic, to shake one's head with disbelief, and sorrow. Acts of violence which breed hatred and animosity, an endless cycle of vengeance and pain.
I heard about this particular bomb blast over the car radio on my way to work, pushed it as near to the back of my mind as I could, stored in somewhere in my subconscious and attempted to go about my day. Later I went to the library and tried to study, but couldn't concentrate for all the questions in my head. What hope could there possibly be for a human race so lost, so cruel, so full of anger and immorality?
And then I saw Ant-Man.
It is, for those too refined to keep up with the latest, mindless, blockbusters from tinsel-town, a comic book adaptation about an ex-thief (Paul Rudd) who becomes endowed, thanks to some high-tech, scientific wizardry, with the incredible ability to shrink himself down to the size of an insect, and to do battle with objects one hundred times his size. It has all the generic elements of a film of its kind; a likeable lead, easy-to-identify sub-characters (the mentor, the villain, the girl), action, explosions, a dash of romance, comedy, and of course a completely ridiculous plot that could never occur in the real world.
There has been a spate of these movies come out in the last decade or so; a constant barrage of comic-book heroes, sequels, remakes, reboots and amalgamations, and though I had always been vaguely aware of their presence I had never really stopped to consider why they existed in such abundance. Of course I understood the studios position; these characters have large fan-bases already in existence, and in an industry that likes to take as little risks as possible, it makes sense to produce films that (usually) always return a more than substantial amount of money. It is an industry, after all.
But what of the fans, the audience? What is it that they see in these worlds, these characters, these films? What is it that keeps them coming back over and over, for more, and more, and more?
Ant-Man is not an amazing movie. Entertaining, yes, enjoyable, engaging, but no great work of art. Even the impressive visual effects have, in a way, been done many years before, in films such as 'The Incredible Shrinking Man' (1957), 'Tom Thumb' (1958) and 'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids' (1989). There is nothing in the movie that will leave you speechless, dumbfounded, or re-examining your existence with any kind of profound, new insights. And yet, it is magic, because for 117 minutes all the ills of the world, of my own personal stresses and sorrows, somehow shrank to nothing, and I was transported; lost in a world of make-believe and innocent fiction. A world where, when the lights are down, one can freely succumb to a smile and a small amount of respite from the doom and gloom of reality.
This flight of fantasy has long been one of the great appeals of cinema for me, and though it's true that even pure escapism contains no small amount of introspection and analysis, scrutiny and questioning of both society and self, it is equally true that one of its great joys is its uncanny ability to transcend the world outside, if only for a little while.
I don't know why that bomb went off in Bangkok, or who is to blame, any more than I know who, really, was responsible for the Bali Bombings, or the Boston Bombings, for the collapse of the trade centres, the attacks on an African mall or a Chinese train station, the slaying of a London guard or the shooting down of a passenger plane over Ukraine. In Ant-Man, however, I knew within minutes who was bad and who was good, and I knew that, eventually, the bad would be opposed, deposed, disposed of or disintegrated, because in the movies, unlike life, evil simply cannot be allowed to prevail.
In a world so full of chaos and confusion, provocation and retaliation, mindlessness and abhorrent acts that become increasingly hard to fathom, how refreshing to see such an unambiguous line between good and evil, and to know that there are heroes like Ant-Man, or Batman or Ironman or whoever it may be; heroes who will be there to protect us, to fight for us, to make sure that everything is okay when the final credits roll.
And it goes deeper than the mere battle between good and evil. There is also matters of righteousness, redemption and family. Ant-Man is willing to risk all to provide for his estranged wife and for their daughter, to make them see him for the good man he is at heart. The sort of man who is humble and kind, who is good to his friends and whose friends are good back to him. The sort of man who is calm and can make us laugh, even in the face of danger and adversity. A man capable of sacrifice, bravery, heroism; and yet an everyman, one not all that different from you or me.
We see all the goodness of humanity in these heroes, and we wonder why there can't be more like Ant-Man out there; why we must live in a world that at times seems so full of villainy and evil that even these comic-book bad-guys would hang their heads in shame. For just a few hours we let ourselves go, we willingly slip into a world where good and bad are clearly defined, where (unlike in life) we know who to loathe and who to root for, and where we can rest easy knowing that a happy ending is always just around the corner.
But of course this is no way at all to deal with the problems of the world. We cannot simply stick our heads in the sand, go running to Hollywood and its heroes each time reality rears its ugly head. This is no way to help those in need, this is no antidote to hatred, no cure for suffering. And yet, at times it must be allowed, must be encouraged; a momentary lapse into worlds where, despite the apparent ridiculousness of their plots, things are somehow a little more logical than our own. It is one of the great qualities of fiction, of film, of art; the temporary transcendence into other worlds. Worlds which sometimes seem to make more sense. Worlds, at times, we'd rather be.
So the next time you see yet another superhero movie, another mindless action flick, another cliched romance or generic comedy, don't be so quick to judge. Think about what it is that the mass of cinema-goers see in these films, why they flock to them again and again; what they see in these worlds that they don't necessarily see in their own. Think about just what these films offer; a few hours respite, a few harmless thrills, a few brief smiles. Worlds where good is good and bad is bad, and where goodness always triumphs. Escapism, if only for a little while.
As a movie, Ant-Man is nothing too special. Just the latest average-to-good Hollywood action blockbuster. Compared to a news story about a bomb blast in Bangkok, however, it may as well be a cinematic masterpiece.
