6. Ant-Man – 2015
“Second chances don’t come around all that often. I suggest you take a really close look at it. This is your chance to earn that look in your daughter’s eyes, to become the hero that she already thinks you are.”
The above quote was used for a reason. Ant-Man’s focus on family sets it apart. Before AoU the heroes didn’t appear to have family, so this feels much more personal.
You could say the film deals with things on a smaller scale in general! How they’ve managed to make Ants cute, and their loss lamentable is very impressive.
The bigger MCU connections don’t feel that forced to me and are enjoyable, but once again the villain is sidelined. Come on Marvel, these characters could all be popular and longer lasting if you gave them the attention you gave Loki.
Pena nearly steals the show, but Douglas and Rudd are great together as the old and new Ant-Mans. A visually interesting and amusing movie that opens up a lot of possibilities.
5. Iron Man 3 – 2013
“Don’t shoot! Seriously, I don’t even like working here. They are so weird.”
Post Avengers this could have been a tricky one. Why would they bother tackling baddies on their own when they could just get Thor or Hulk to come flying in? Watching IM3 I found myself not giving them any thought. This is a great self-contained (ish) story.
This time around Stark is a wreck. He may be a hero or Earth now but he’s prone to panic attacks and letting his ego get in the way. Calling out the villain and giving him your address is one thing. But not preparing for it is criminal! Without his friends or his tech it’s up to Tony to prove he’s a hero without the armour, and he does so in a great buddy cop meets James Bond style.
Black and Downey Jr were great together in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and that same relationship is present here, with plenty of sharp dialogue and a great buddy-cop type relationship between Stark and Rhodes. Pepper Potts even gets to step up this time around. On top of that they manage a rare feat – a child sidekick you don’t want to see get killed. Iron Man rescuing people from a blown up plane is a fantastic real life stunt, and the ante is again upped on how he puts on the suit.
In the end though, Tony Stark is Iron Man, suit or not, and this third film does a great job of showing that.
Originally published July 22, 2015. Updated November 7, 2019.
