A Review Too Far - 080615

This week our cinema nerds review The Castle of Cagliastro, Ant-Man, and Paper Towns.

The first feature of the week is 1979's animated adventure film The Castle of Cagliastro which features the notable Japanese gentleman-thief Lupin the 3rd as he attempts to steal away the unwilling bride of a dastardly Count while exposing the Count's nefarious deeds and criminal past. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, this anime classic is a family safe PG adventure with minimal amounts of cartoon violence.

Next is the Marvel/Disney production of Ant-Man, the latest in the MCU in which a former burglar (Paul Rudd) who went to prison after robbing from the rich to give to the poor is recruited by an aging inventor (Michael Douglas) to steal a volatile technology being developed by his former student (Corey Stoll). This entails taking up the mantle of the urban legend Ant-Man, whose suit allows him to shrink to microscopic size and control different species of ants to do his bidding. This is an origin story film built to transition the Ant-Man character to the larger MCU universe and join other heroes in upcoming films like Captain America: Civil War and The Avengers 3.

Finally, John Green's novel Paper Towns is given the movie treatment in which a boring high school senior (Nat Wolff) is challenged to expand his horizons by the free-spirited Margo (Cara Delevigne) before she mysteriously goes missing. After finding clues to her possible whereabouts, the boy begins a coming-of-age quest that encompasses his friends, his enemies, and a road trip to a town that only exists on a map.