This column will introduce you to the most popular movies that are coming out in theaters this weekend.
What movie will you see?
A Ghost Story
First off, this is not a horror movie. A Ghost Story is about a recently deceased husband who is lurking around his wife in a white sheet, but I don’t think she can see him. Starring in this drama romance flick are Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara. David Lowery is the writer and director of A Ghost Story. Lowery has directed a ton of shorts, Pete’s Dragon (2016), and is set to direct a live action Peter Pan flick. How many Pan flicks do we need? Anyway, go check out A Ghost Story this weekend.
Spider-Man: Homecoming
This Spider-Man flick takes place several months after the events in Civil War. Tom Holland is back to reprise his Peter Parker/Spider-Man role from Civil War, while the rest of the cast includes Robert Downey Jr., Michael Keaton, Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, Gwyneth Paltrow, Zendaya, Donald Glover, and more. Jon Watts swings his way into the director’s chair as well as writing the screenplay. Watts has directed 2014’s Clown, and Cop Car. I know everyone will see this movie this weekend. So enjoy.
It sure seemed like a marriage made in heaven didn’t it? As far back as 2001, director Edgar Wright -then freshly done with his cult show Spaced– was the one man who seemed like the perfect person to direct Ant-Man. Because let’s face it. How many people can make a movie about a man who dons a costume which allows him to change sizes at will and present it with a sense of cartoonish extremism combined with non bombastic reality? An over the top aesthetic mixed with an aura of plausibility is what a project like this needs. Just how successful is the film they eventually ended up with, which was helmed by Bring It On director Peyton Reed? You can find out for yourself on Friday (or you can read my review HERE). Until then, I thought I would give a little bit of insight as to what happened in the 13 years from the time Edgar Wright and his writing partner Joe Cornish pitched their idea for Ant-Man to Marvel bosses until he eventually left the project in May of last year.
First, a timeline of events leading up to Wright’s exit from the project. As big of a juggernaut Marvel is now, it is hard to remember that there was a time when they were not but a spec of dirt on the windshield of Hollywood. Back in 2001, they were partnered with Artisan Entertainment. Wright and Cornish supposedly brought their initial idea for Ant-Man, which they described as more of a crime thriller than an out and out action film, to Artisan. Even though the script is raved about by those who read it, they were eventually told that the script was not family friendly enough for what the studio was looking for. In 2005, walking around with a bit more clout one year after the release of Shaun of the Dead, Wright met eventual Marvel Films head of production Kevin Feige. Feige and Avi Arad heard Wright and Cornish’s pitch and fell in love with their ideas for the Ant-Man character. He told them to move forward with their plans while he and Arad worked on making them a reality.
Of course, three years later Marvel’s plans for a cinematic universe became a reality when Iron Man was released to monumental success. Knowing this, Feige started envisioning where each character would fit in and suggested that Wright revise his Ant-Man script to help the character do so. While doing this, the original idea for a crime caper/heist aesthetic was more or less fused with a more action oriented storyline. Throughout these script troubles, Wright kept himself even more busy by making his Cornetto Trilogy of films and the 2010 comic book film Scott Pilgrim vs The World. Here is when the clashes started taking their form, as when asked what stage Ant-Man was in during the Scott Pilgrim publicity junket, Wright would respond saying that he is once again revising the script because what they had originally written didn’t fall easily into the universe Marvel had established and that he is having difficulty because he’s not used to the ‘urgency of tentpoles.’
At Comic Con 2010, the cast for The Avengers was unveiled and eyebrows were raised when Ant-Man wasn’t included. This is when it starts getting interesting because the character original creator Stan Lee was championing since the 80s to become a motion picture was now in limbo, and all people behind the scenes were just as stilted as its most hardcore of fans, including Wright himself. It must have been a weird feeling for Wright, because he had pitched his well received idea for Ant-Man three years before Marvel became a powerhouse. Yet here he was five years after that, and there was not a finish line in sight. In 2011 more scripts were turned in and after plans for the character to appear in the after credits scene of Thor were scrapped, Wright would once again go into hibernation trying to get his idea for the character just right before rolling in front of cameras. In yet another subtle jab, Wright told people who kept asking about Ant-Man‘s status that he wants to get it just right because he ‘does not like going into production without a script.’ Hmmm…….
Excitement for the project once again started amping up at Comic Con 2012, as Wright unveiled test footage he had already shot for his still lumbering along version of Ant-Man. If the pattern I have outlined is not obvious yet, then it will become even more obvious now. Even after Wright told the audience at the Con that he is in fact directing Ant-Man, Feige threw yet another iron in the fire by saying that Marvel’s focus has gradually shifted away from making Ant-Man happen, adding that it being ‘shot through Edgar Wright’s lense is the only reason why it is being made.’
At this point, Marvel was well into Phase 2 of their cinematic universe. Here is an idea that was conceived and greenlit years before Phase 1. Why was Marvel still not focusing on the project? I would venture to guess that with the juggling act they had to do with melding Thor -a god- into this band of heroes, Feige didn’t want to add someone who can change into an ant sized physical form to do the same. But my question is why? Was Iron Man’s glowing nuclear chest piece that far off from Ant-Man’s suit? Is it the fact that after getting small enough to hide in drawers and spy on villains, Ant-Man is not that interesting a character to begin with? Or is it the darkness behind his back story?
More on that later. But to conclude the timeline of what happened between the two parties, the year 2013 did not get any better or more productive. Feige started saying in interviews that the Ant-Man script needed yet another rewrite to fit in with the universe Marvel had built. Wright and Cornish ended up writing THREE more drafts of the script, and in October Wright tweeted that he had to fly to LA ‘to finish a little something (he’d) been working on.’ Then yet another road block hit, as plans to shoot on the newly revamped UK based studio Pinewood Studios were scrapped.
A seeming pre production from hell, at this point casting had not even been announced. I again want to put into context that at the time Wright originally conceived his vision of this story in 2001, he would have had a hard time finding any actor worth a dime in Hollywood willing to say yes. After the casting of Robert Downey Jr catapulted the just as second tier character of Iron Man into the stratosphere, talented people were lining around the block to appear in anything Marvel related. By the same token, Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth were not exactly household names. But their presence and charisma in the roles of Captain America and Thor respectively is what helped those characters in their stand alone movies. Paul Rudd, arguably a bigger name in his career than any of the other actors who currently embody stand alone film characters, signed on and brought a new kind of essence to a Marvel entity. To have this entity be embodied by Rudd and directed by Wright was an exciting prospect. Add on the casting of Michael Douglas, and Ant-Man was finally shaping up to be a movie to watch.
And then 2014 rolled around. It seemed like the inevitable divorce was imminent, as Feige demanded even more rewrites, this time without the involvements of Wright and Cornish. No one but the parties involved know what exactly happened next, but it is generally assumed that Wright was not pleased with the final script and instead of moving ahead with a vision he did not believe in, dropped himself from the project altogether. Fanboys fell out of their lounge chairs in disbelief, and everyone now assumed that Ant-Man was even more doomed than before Rudd and Douglas’s involvement gave people confidence that it could work. In an odd but bold act, Avengers films director Joss Whedon tweeted a picture of himself holding up a cornetto, an obvious show of support for Wright. Not surprisingly, in the immediate aftermath Whedon gushed that a draft of Ant-Man he read which Wright and Cornish turned in was ‘the best script Marvel ever had.’
The question is, just how much of this fluster filled divorce was Wright sticking to his guns, and how much was a simple tug of war between Feige and Wright? I’d assume that Wright was not as willing to infuse his film with storylines meant to move the Marvel Universe forward if it meant threatening the integrity of his intended vision. Look what happened to Iron Man 2. After the first forty minutes, the movie, a sequel of which was being made by original Iron Man director Jon Favreau, was flush with plot points only meant to promote The Avengers. The experience left a bad taste in Favreau’s mouth, and something tells me that experience led to him having a little talk with Wright before he continued digging his heels into a film he was losing control of. In the years leading up to its eventual non existent vision, Wright said that he was determined to ‘create an ‘in’ for people so (they) don’t have to know 50 years of Avengers history to enjoy the movie.’ That is not how Marvel works. Marvel is moving more and more toward a pandering way of storytelling. It is a miracle it didn’t lead Whedon to leave The Avengers: Age of Ultron. But Wright was having none of it.
So what does this mean? For one, it is a hopeless task trying to convince Marvel fanatics -even those who have not seen Ant-Man– that Wright wouldn’t have made a better movie. It is a silly ‘what if’ scenario that needs to end. What I am more concerned about is what this means for directors now getting drafted into the overall Marvel cinematic picture. Ant-Man ended up being their cheapest ($130 million), most intimate film yet. The fact that Wright’s name is still in the credits means that the company is not determined to pretend that Wright’s involvement never happened. But I am sure they would like to. While it is commendable to not pander to those who know any and all of the Avengers cinematic and comic book history, it obviously does not serve bigger people who have an even more enormous vision in mind. Good luck with your Avengers films Russo brothers.
Starring: Samuel L Jackson, Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Linda Cardellini, Mark Ruffalo, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hayley Atwell, Andy Serkis, Cobie Smulders, Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Hiddleston, James Spader, Jeremy Renner, and Idris Elba.
Make no mistake about it. For the second time in a row, writer/director Joss Whedon had a mighty big weight on his shoulders. Leading up to the release of 2012’s The Avengers, there was a lot of talk about how many balls Whedon was going to have to juggle in order to make it a successful round-up of characters Marvel spent a lot of time and money establishing the origins of since 2008. Even given these origins, Whedon had to plausibly enter Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Thor, the Incredible Hulk, and Captain America into a life or death situation involving the fate of the world. Personally, while The Avengers was an all around fun first time cinematic viewing experience, I have to say that I do not think it holds up on repeated viewings. There was no filter to be found for how many snarky lines were sprouted, and moderation was completely absent. Going into The Avengers: Age of Ultron, it was hard to not know of the pressure Whedon had to top himself from the original film’s overly positive fan and critical reaction. Despite my reservations about the first film’s faults, I found myself wondering if there was any way he could possibly make this film better than its predecessor. Let’s be honest. There were quite a few things to improve. The movie’s final enemies were boring, and the overly jokey dialogue gave it less and less replay value. But the brilliant juggling act of combining slam-bang action with the Avengers forming -or Assembling, if you will- Whedon pulled off was never in question. So the main doubt I had with Age of Ultron was, with the job of assembling The Avengers for the first time behind him, did Whedon bring a continuation story worthy of all these characters coming back while making it seem organic and not outlined with the color of money? In other words, did he make his Empire Strikes Back?
In a word, hell yes. With The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Whedon has accomplished the impossible. He has made a movie that is not only one of the most entertaining summer films to come around in quite sometime, he has also injected some surprisingly philosophical themes into what could have once again been the romp he got away with last time. This time, Whedon decided to instead play with the God complex that comes with being a superhero. The way the story and main conflicts develop revolves around Tony Stark. With S.H.I.E.L.D. gone, Stark (Downey Jr) decides to take matters into his own hands and make things easier on his fellow heroes by developing an artificial intelligence run police force, headed by Ultron (Spader). Ultimately, Ultron sees all mankind as the real betrayers of humanity and takes it upon himself to quench the world with their extinction. What follows are many doubts among the Avengers about whether they can take both the physical and mental hits Ultron has to dish out, as well as people who started off on Ultron’s side changing allegiances. In all honesty, that is all the plot you need, as the way its points are layed out and followed through in Whedon’s taut script does more than enough to let you know what is going on in each character’s head.
Speaking of which, that would lead to my favorite new character of the series. From Buffy Summers to his last incarnation of Black Widow, Whedon has a history of writing strong women. He once again does not disappoint with Avengers: Age of Ultron, as not only does he again push the Black Widow character over boundaries we have not seen her jump yet, he also introduces Scarlet Witch. Played with a glint in her eye by the lovely Olsen (Godzilla), Scarlet Witch is a character who, like all characters in this series, could come off as silly if written or played wrong. But her abilities to go into someone’s head without them knowing while going through their exact experiences are brilliantly integrated into the film’s plot. It also helps that Olsen plays up her emotions so that you feel her pain.
Another highlight for me was Hemsworth, who despite being given sub-par scripts in both Thor movies (as well as playing carnival hammer games at state fairs to promote them) has never deterred his charisma. He once again brings his welcome swagger to the proceedings, and Evans & Downey of course chew up each piece of scenery they own. Along with giving Black Widow a bigger part, Whedon saw fit to make Hawkeye a larger piece of the puzzle this time as well. A bigger role and better lines did nothing but endear me to an otherwise boring Renner. The writing of his character makes him more than eminently watchable.
In addition to Olsen’s Scarlet Witch, another surprise was this film’s villain and title character. When I am told by people how entertained they were by The Avengers, they always talk about the action and dialogue. Yet they never talk about the film’s enemies. Hiddleston’s Loki (who once again shows his face here) was written well. But the ‘troops’ Whedon stuck him with made the ending of the film feel weak to me. Yet like most of the 2012 film’s faults, Whedon has fixed the problem. Spader, who has always been one of the most magnetic supporting actors of his generation (something tells me Downey, who acted with Spader in 1987’s Less Than Zero, had a say in this bit of casting) is everything a good villain should be. He is imposing, he is monstrous, and he is emotionally conflicted. Spader -who also did the character’s mo-cap- emotionally digs deep into Ultron’s subconscious, and Whedon’s talent at displaying angst is on full display when he shows Ultron wrestling with his emotions and what he has to do.
Whedon has no doubt gone deeper this go around. Though the movie is not as dark as the trailers would have you believe. While his previous Avengers film was not nearly as clever and funny as it thought it was, Whedon has done what I was hoping for Age of Ultron, which is use moderation. The humor in Age of Ultron comes off as hard hooks as opposed to soft jabs. This time, instead of groaning at someone playing Gallaga, I found myself laughing with the rest of the gang at Hawkeye’s purpose on the Avengers team.
All roads lead to this being Whedon’s last crack as director of an Avengers film. Let me say, if this is his curtain call from the director’s chair of a Marvel film, then he picked a hell of a way to go out. Sure, his hands were tied with Quicksilver (Taylor-Johnson) and what the rights to use him meant to both parties involved. But he did what every good director does, which is do what he could using the tools he had. Yes, his plot has roots in Terminator-esque fears of messing with technology. But I didn’t care. At its core, The Avengers: Age of Ultron is a movie whose soul it does not wear on its sleeve. It is an action packed, rib cage rattling romp through many different emotions. After what he pulled off last time, I did not expect Whedon to do more of the same. But I also sure could not foresee him spinning the web of an emotionally layered action film that he did. And no, that is NOT a hint to the film’s final scene.