Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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20 UCW AUGUST 19-25, 2015 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM In terms of moving towards a female-driven superhero film, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is headed in reverse. Ant-Man (117 minutes) was funny. I upgraded it an extra star for spending a fair amount of time exploring the visual intrica- cies of a subatomic universe. It was nice to see divorced parents actually co-parenting with a stepparent for the good of their child. But the treat- ment of Hope Pym (Evangeline Lilly) borders on ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as the complete absence of Black Widow merchandise. The film wins my heart by start- ing with a scene set in 1989. Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) is still active in S.H.I.E.L.D. Even better, John Slattery is still playing Howard Stark. An angry scientist named Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) commences beating the snot out of some guy (Martin Donovan) who disagrees with his position on weapon- izing Pym technology. Figuring that's the only resignation letter he'll need to write, he metaphorically drops his mic and walks off while Peggy and Howard explore the moral ramifications of doing whatever they want with no thought to consequences via a signifi- cant glance. In the present day, Scott Lang (every- one's boyfriend, Paul Rudd) is getting out of prison. Over the course of the film he is revealed to be a modern-day Robin Hood. Exactly how much crime he committed to earn his reputation is unclear; one major case of financial fraud is discussed in depth, but oth- erwise nada. This is odd, because he apparently has this stellar reputation as a cat burglar, and knows all kinds of cat burglar moves. Anyway, he heads out to see his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson) and has a run-in with his ex-wife (Judy Greer) and her new fiancée, Paxton (Bobby Cannavale). Over the course of the movie they tell him to "be the hero his daughter already thinks he is" no fewer than a hundred times. Their criticism seems a little bit harsh, considering he was apparently sent to jail for taking money from a corporation then send- ing it back to the people they stole it from while keeping none for himself. I mean, I'm not advocating for whole- sale larceny, but surely intentions count for something? Meanwhile, Hank Pym is working with his daughter Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) to control the mega- lomaniacal Darren Cross (Corey Stoll). There is much back and forth about how Cross is messing with dangerous technology that may or may not be turning his brain to mushy Jell-O. For all the concern, though, I am not seeing any evidence that he had direct con- tact with the "Pym Particle." Perhaps he was always a Lex Luthor wannabe, and the Pym family is just unwilling to admit they were sponsoring a madman in their midst from day one. Speaking of the Pym family, appar- ently, Hope spent most of her child- hood practicing martial arts. She also managed to perfect Pym's technique for ant mind control. Why did Hank go to all the trouble of creating an elabo- rate plan to trap Scott into wearing the Ant-Man suit? And when Scott was so terrible at it, why didn't Hope follow in the footsteps of every male action hero, ever, and simply take the suit so she could save the day? Oh, right. Her Daddy told her 'No.' And despite their near estrangement and her resentment at his awful parenting, when a male authority figure says no the womenfolk have no choice but to sit back and let a less adequate male counterpart grab all the glory. Overall, it wasn't the best Marvel Cinematic Universe movie ever, but it was a nice placeholder while I'm wait- ing for the release of Captain America: Civil War. For those keeping track, there is a mid-credits scene AND an after credits scene. Now playing at Patriot 14 + IMAX Hayley Atwell Cameo! Ant-Man (Rated PG-13) . by HEATHER GRIFFITHS HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. Alzheimer's disease — the nation's sixth-leading cause of death – is destroying our families, our nances and our future. But you can do something to stop it. Register for the Alzheimer's Association Walk to End Alzheimer's and lead the way to a world without Alzheimer's. START A TEAM. September 12, 2015 Fayetteville SwampDogs Stadium alz.org/walk 800.272.3900