STACK NZ Aug #65

CINEMA

REVIEWS

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MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – ROGUE NATION

Never one to pass up the opportunity of doing his own death-defying stunts, Tom Cruise swaps Dubai tower-abseilling for dangling from a plane during take off in M:I number five. Billed as "the most impossible mission yet", Ethan Hunt and the gang take on the Syndicate; an international organisation dedicated to destroying the IMF. This new mission, should you choose to see it, commences July 30 .

RELEASED: Now Showing DIRECTOR: Peyton Reed CAST: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly RATING: PG

ANT-MAN

Size doesn't matter.

slipping into a computer mainframe to sabotage a server, size does matter. Lang also has the ability to control an army of ants, whose CGI realisation would have benefited from a tweak in post-production. The visual effects offer plenty of laughs, too – a confrontation between Ant-Man and wasp-like villain Yellowjacket plays out on a Thomas the Tank Engine playset, and the suit's ability to also enlarge objects is used for some great sight gags. Ant-Man is a welcome addition to the Marvel fold, and the traditional post-credits coda promises he will return. As if there was ever any doubt? Scott Hocking

Originally intended to go into production with Shaun of the Dead 's Edgar Wright as writer and director, Ant-Man finally hits the screen with Bring It On 's Peyton Reed at the helm. But that's not a bad thing; while Wright's version would probably have looked a lot different (and featured Nick Frost), Reed's background in comedy combined with Wright and Joe Cornish's witty screenplay (with star Paul Rudd as a co-writer) give Ant-Man its own distinct identity as well as slotting it neatly into the Marvel movie universe. Casting an established comedy actor as a hero worked for Guardians of the Galaxy and similarly, the genial Paul Rudd helps introduce Ant-Man. As cat burglar Scott Lang, who stumbles upon a suit that can miniaturize its wearer whilst robbing the home of scientist Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), Rudd is the kind of guy who can deliver the line "I'm Ant-Man" with the levity it deserves. Lang is recruited by the doctor and his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly, looking great in a black bob wig) to stop Pym's power-mad protege (Corey Stoll) from selling the atom-separating technology to Hydra, resulting in a frequently hilarious mash- up of superhero and heist film tropes with Honey I Shrunk the Kids / Innerspace micro-world wonder. There's also a trippy descent into a subatomic realm that pays homage to The Incredible Shrinking Man . The film, like its protagonist, is small by Marvel's standards, eschewing the ubiquitous destruction of cities for a low key caper comedy with an emphasis on humour and character. So how super can a hero the size of an ant be? When it comes to infiltrating Avengers HQ or

The fourth movie to feature Marvel's awesome foursome already looks like it's going to be the best (although the Silver Surfer one was kind of ok). Flame on and clobberin' time Aug 6 . FANTASTIC FOUR

Guy Ritchie brings the sixties' spy series to the big screen, with Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer as the titular agents sent to infiltrate an international crime organisation hellbent on global destruction. Out Aug 13 . THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.

A dying billionaire (Ben Kingsley) transfers his consciousness into the body of a younger man (Ryan Reynolds). But of course "immortality has some side effects". Out now. SELF/LESS

AUGUST 2015 JB Hi-Fi www.jbhifi.co.nz

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