Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/546399
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 JULY 2015 40 This Week IN CINEMAS TODAY EMBASSY CINEMAS Ant-Man (3D) (12A) 10:15, 13:50, 16:15, 18:35, 21:15 Inside Out (3D) 10:30, 14:00, 16:25, 18:50, 21:05 Terminator: Genisys (12A) 15:50, 18:30, 21:15 Minions (U) 10:25, 13:40, 16;00, 18:30, 20:55 Magic Mike XXL (15) 10:20, 13:45, 16:15, 18:40, 21:00 Jurassic World (12) 10:10, 13:20, 15:55, 18:35, 21:10 Valletta Living History (U) 10:00, 10:45, 11:30, 12:15, 13:00, 13:45, 14:30, 15:15 EDEN CINEMAS Magic Mike XXL (15) 14:00, 16:25, 18:50, 21:15, 23:45 San Andreas (12A) 14:00, 16:20, 18:40, 21:05, 23:35 Jurassic World (12A) 14:00, 18:40, 23:30 Queen and Country (15) 14:00, 18:40, 23:20 Inside Out (3D) (U) 14:05, 18:50, 23:45 Mr Holmes (PG) 14:05, 16:20, 18:35, 20:50, 23:15 Minions (U) 14:05, 18:40 Knock Knock (15) 14:15, 16:25, 18:40, 21:10, 23:20 Return to Sender (15) 14:15, 16:30, 18:40, 20:55, 23:05 Spy (15) 14:20, 18:10, 20:45, 23:20 Terminator Genisys (12A) 14:30, 18:10, 21:00, 23:40 Ant-Man (3D) (12A) 14:30, 18:10, 20:55, 23:35 Jurassic World 3D 12A 14:30, 18:10, 20:55, 23:35 Minions (3D) (U) 16:20, 21:00, 23:20 Timbuktu (12A) 16:30, 21:10 Inside Out (U) 16:30, 21:15 EMPIRE CINEMAS Minions (3D) (U) 10:55, 15:50, 20:45 Inside Out (3D) (U) 13:35, 17:55 Ant-Man (3D) (12A) 10:50,13:20, 15:50, 18:20, 20:50 Jurassic World (12A) 10:40, 13:15, 15:50, 18:25,21:00 Minions (U) 13:25, 17:55 Inside Out (U) 10:55, 15:40, 20:40 Magic Mike XXL (15) 10:50, 13:20, 15:50, 18:20, 20:50 Terminator: Genysis (12A) 10:45, 13:20, 15:55, 18:30, 21:05 Return to Sender (15) 11:00, 13:35, 16:00, 18:10, 20:45 SO here we are again. Marvel Stu- dios' latest offering in the Great Wall towards the next installment of the 'Avengers' franchise. Origi- nally slated to be directed by Brit- ish auteur Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs The World) Ant-Man now arrives to us courtesy of Peyton Reed, whose quick recruitment follow- ing Wright's departure – ye olde "creative differences" chestnut – does raise some suspicion. It's not entirely unfounded. Be- cause while Ant-Man conforms to the now established, beat-perfect formula that made the Marvel films largely successful thus far, it's nonetheless marred by rushed, sloppy direction – understand- able in the circumstances, but yet another reason to pine for what could have been had the hyper- kinetic and ever-funny Wright stayed on. Boasting the ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, cat burglar Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is forced to change his ways by pro- fessionally exiled genius scientist Dr Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), who recruits him into a danger- ous heist involving his villainous heir, Darren Cross (Corey Stroll). While Cross looks for ways to har- vest Pym's pioneering 'Ant-Man' research to nefarious ends, the older scientist's spurned daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) acts as a double agent to win Cross' trust, while remaining frosty towards her father due to past misdeeds. But Scott is motivated by a family drama of his own. Having lost both his wife Maggie (Judy Greer) and his daughter Cassie (Abbie Ryder Fortson) due to his criminal past, he's keen to snatch at any whiff of redemption he can manage. There's no delusion about the cynical nature of this project – yet another chink in Marvel's armour – and a complete lack of care to its visual make-up prevents it from being the total immersive experi- ence it needs to be. An adherence to lazy close-ups is jarring, though this has sadly become the standard for hired-hand directors like Reed, who are weaned on TV drama. Of course this shouldn't really mat- ter in a comic book action block- buster about a man who shrinks to the size of an ant, but it does matter because the emotional un- derbelly of the story is meant to carry some weight. We're meant to buy Scott's personal journey all the way – which means both his family problems and his burgeon- ing relationship with Hope – and that's just not possible when all the talking heads scenes are ed- ited together by what looks like a 10-year-old playing with a camera they got as a Christmas present. It's a good thing, then, that the overall plot moves to a joyous, pulpy engine – full of barely-ex- plained weird science and equally preposterous set pieces – and that some Wright's penchant for zany humour appears to have survived the transition (he retains co-writ- er credit). If the derivative story is equal parts Iron Man (2008) and Big Hero 6 (2015) – both Marvel properties to varying degree – it is at least delivered in a light-hearted register that's welcome after the gloomy-as-heck Avengers: Age of Ultron. Rudd is a crucial piece of this particular puzzle, since the like- able comedic actor is an expert at puncturing moments of stress and melodrama. That this skill is then exploited more than once for ob- vious effect is par for the course – as you may have guessed by now, this isn't the most elegantly put to- gether blockbuster in recent times. Michael Douglas is also used as something of a prop to dispense inspirational speeches and cranky one-liners, and he doesn't appear to be entirely convinced about ei- ther. But just like Robert Redford in Captain America: Winter Sol- dier (2014), he's not really there to play a character but lend some Hollywood-history gravitas to the operation. If anything, Ant-Man recalls su- perhero movies of yore. Instead of the epic narratives of genetically super-powered individuals (most of Marvel fare) or dark, portentous allegories for the modern world (Christopher Nolan's Batman tril- ogy), we get a rough-and-tumble heist aided by zany, impossible gadgets. It's just a shame that it could have been better. With Wright on board, it could even have been magic. By Teodor Reljic One insect-step away from magic ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ PLANTS ★ ★ ★ ★ GRANTS ★ ★ ★ ANTS ★ ★ RANTS ★ PANTS FILM Dress to compress: Paul Rudd shrinks his way to superherodom in Marvel's latest action caper ANT-MAN (12A) ★ ★ ★ This is a superhero movie of old: less of an epic slugfest or brooding allegory and more of a zany heist thriller decorated with impossible gadgets