Reviews by Karen

Scientist Hank Pym used to work for SHEILD though his company Pym Technologies but stopped working for SHEILD a while ago after he discovered they wanted to copy his Ant-Man technology which can shrink a person t the size of an ant but with superhuman strength.  Pym hides the technology and leaves.

In the present day Pym’s daughter Hope van Dyne and his former protégé Darren Cross are working at Pym Technologies and Cross is trying to perfect his own shrinking suit the “Yellow jacket”.  Hope is passing information on this back to he father.

Meanwhile Scott Lang a thief has just been released from prison and moves in with his former cellmate Luis.  Lang visits his young daughter Cassie who lives with her mother Maggie and stepfather Paxton who is a detective.

Lang has trouble keeping a job due to his criminal record and agreed to join Luis and his friends on a burglary.  When Lang breaks into a safe in the Pym’s house he discovers a suit which he thinks is for a motorbike and takes it home.  When he tries it on at home he shrinks himself.  He tried to return it but is arrested by Paxton.  Pym pretends to be his lawyer and passes him the suit to help him escape jail.

Lang discovers that Pym had deliberately set up the burglary as a test and asks Lang to become the new Ant-Man and steel the Yellowjacket from Cross.  Hope helps to train Land to fight and control ants with mind powers.  Pym reveals that his wife and Hope’s mother Janet had a similar suit and was known as the Wasp.  She was working with Pym as AntMan and the Wasp and she disappeared in to a subatomic realm when trying to disable a Soviet missile as she needed to get smaller to get inside the bomb.  Pym warns that she disabled her suits regulator and he could suffer a similar fate if he does the same.

Pym gets Lang to steel a device from Avengers HQ  to help them get the Yellowjacket.  Lang fights and beats Sam Wilson/Falcon.

Cross managed to get Yellowjacket to work and at the unveiling Land with his criminal friends and many flying ants get inside the building and plant explosives.  When Lang tried to steel Yellowjacket Cross captures him, Pym and Hope. Cross tells them he plans to sell both suits to Hyrda led by former SHIELD officer Mitchell Carson.  Lang and Hope manage to escape and fight most of the Hyrda agents but Mitchell Carson escapes and Pym is shot.  As they all escape the building explodes.

Cross puts on the Yellowjacket and attacks Lang before Lang is arrested by Paxton.  Cross takes Cassie hostage to lure Lang into another fight. Lang overrides the regulator and shrinks to subatomic size to get inside Cross’s suit and makes it shrink uncontrollably, killing Cross. Lang disappears into the quantum realm but manages to reverse the effects and returns normal size when Cassie calls his name. In gratitude for Lang’s heroism, Paxton covers for Lang to keep him out of prison. Seeing that Lang survived and returned from the quantum realm, Pym wonders if his wife is alive as well. Lang and Hope kiss.  Later, Lang meets up with Luis, who tells him that Wilson is looking for him.

In a mid-credits scene, Pym shows Hope a new Wasp prototype suit and offers it to her. In a post-credits scene Wilson and Steve Rogers have found Bucky Barnes.  But due to “the accords” can’t contact Tony Stark.  Wilson tells Steve that he knows someone who can help.  “Any Man will return”

7/10

This tells the story of Cheryl Stayed who decides to walk the Pacific Crest Trail to find herself after recovering from her mothers death and heroin addiction.

6/10

This is based on the true story of Miss Shepherd who decides to live in a camper vans on playwright Akan Bennet’s driveway for 15 years and how they and their neighbours cope with this.

Quite a few extras with behind the scenes, interviews and commentary.

8/10

This is based on the fight for women to get the vote in England.  it largely takes place in London and the surrounding area and covers many of the struggles they faced including prison and opposition at home.   It also is the first film to film inside the Houses of Parliament.

The DVD has a number of interesting extras anout the history and making of the film

8/10

 

This is the 24th Bond films and the 4th for Daniel Craig.

Bond gets a posthumous message from the previous M and goes on a secret mission to uncover the sinister SPECTRE organisation.

Back at home the new M has troubles of his own with C the new head of the merged MI5 & MI6 trying to stop Bond from getting to the truth.

Lots of stunts and locations used in this film and even Q gets to travel this time.

 

7/10

 

 

 

The Avengers Tony Stark/IronMan, Steve Rogers/Captain America, Thor, Bruce Banner/Hulk, Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow and Clint Barton/Hawkeye are in Sokovia a fictional country in Eastern Europe to raid a Hyra outpost run by Baron Wolfgan von Strucker who has been conducting experiments on humans using Liki’s magoc scepter.  Romanoff is able to calm the Hulk down to speed up him transforming back to Banner.  They see 2 of this experiments – twins Poetro who has superhuman speed and Wanda Maximoff who can manipulate minds and project energy.  The Avengers manage to get the scepter.

Stark and Banner examine the scepter back at base and discover that it contains an artificial intelligence in the scepters gem and secretly use it in Starks “Ulton” global defence program.  This awakens Ultron who diabales Starks JARVIS IT system, forms himself into a robot and attacks the Avengers at their base.  Ulton escapes with the sceptre and goes to Sokovia to upgrade his body and build an army of robot drones.

Ultron kills Strucker and recruits the Maximoffs who blame Stark for their parents deaths in a war fought using his weapons. Ulton and the Maximoffs visit arms dealer Ulysses Klaue to get Wakandan vibranium.  The Avengers attack them but Wanda uses her mind powers to send them false memories/hallucinations.  This causes the Hulk to stark attacking the general public and causing mass destruction until Stark stops him with his new Anti-Hulk armoured ironman suit.

The Hulk’s attack creates a backlash against the Avengers.  Clint Barton suggest they go to a safehouse.  This turns out to be his family home where he has a wife, 2 children and another on the way.

Thor goes to find Dr Erik Selvig to investigate the meaning of his hallucination about any appocolypse.  Romanoff and Banner stark to make plans to flee together after realising they have feelings for each other and they both reveal they are unable to have children.

Nick Fury arrives at Bartons house and encourages them all to plan how to stop Ultron.

 

In Seoul S Korea Ulton forces a SHEILD doctor Dr Helen Cho to use her synthetic-tissue technology along with vibranium and the sceptres gem to create an indestructible body for him.  When he is uploading himself into his new body, Wanda is able to read his mind for the first time and realises his real plans to kill all humans.  The Maximofs turn against Ultron as a result.  Rogers, Romanoff and Barton find Ulton whilst he is still uploading himself into his new body during a chase through Seoul and capture his synthetic body but Ultron captures Romanoff.

The Avengers argue about everything that’s gone wrong, and Stark secretly finds that JARVIS is still operational after hiding himself on the system.  Stark uploads JARVIS into the synthetic body.  JARVIS then has a body with a gem in his forhead from Thor’s vision and takes the name “Vision”.

Vision, the Maximoffs and Avengers go to Sokovia where Ulton is using the remaining vibranium to raise park of the city into the sky, planning to drop it back to earth and cause extinction.

Banner finds Romanoff in a call and rescues her.  She kisses him and them makes him turn into the Hulk despite his concerns that he will hurt the people.

The Avengers fight Ultons drone army and Nick Fury arrives on the SHIELD Helicarrier with Maria Hill, James Rhodes/War Machine and SHEILD agents to evacuate the civilians.

Pietro dies saving Barton and a child from heavy gunfire which makes Wanda destroy Ulton’s main body.  Stark and Thor manage to shatter the land mass before it hits Earth.

Afterwards Banner leaves Romanoff because he does’t want to endanger he and takes a Quin Jet from the new Avengers HQ at Fury Hill.  The new HQ is run by Fury, Hill, Cho and Selvig.  With Rogers and Romanoff training the new members Rhodes, the Vistion, Sam Wilson/Falcon and Wanda.

There is a mid -credit scene where Thandos (a large blue person) is upset at the failings of his pawns and vows to retrieve the Infinity Stones.

8/10