Antboy: Revenge of the Red Fury (2014)

> Face-off: The Antboy, Beetleboys and the Red Fury.

It's been a year and half since the first part I saw, so I don't remember much. But I know it was short and sweet little superhero movie for children, like this one. A theme like this might end as a trilogy, but I never thought they would make a sequel after the average first film. Still, there is not much different between the two, especially when it comes to the stunts, very light. The story was a decent one, would have made an impact with the stunning action sequences. But keeping the little children in mind, the film falls soft and family friendly.

In this movie, the narration picks-up not too far from where it ended in the previous film. The Antboy is quite famous now, especially among the school kids. So that is where the story develops when he fails to keep the promise he made to one of his fans. The humiliated fan wants to take a revenge. Instead, it complicates further when a couple more supervillains emerge and challenges the town's favourite superhero, the Antboy. Bringing an end to all of this leads to one last battle before the credits roll.

> "A real hero is the one that allows all of us
> on the outside to feel that we're not alone."

In the previous film, most of them were fresh faced and their performances have been only a just acceptable. Especially the Antboy's that I was worried about. I know the story demands geeky kid just like Spiderman and Superman when they were not in the superhero costume to keep the low profile. But now I see well progressed and a very professional lead boy. From the opening title and credits to till the end the visuals were high standards. Sometimes I thought the presentation was imitating the Marvels, mostly the 'Kick-Ass' with those comic pictures.

The Red Fury was introduced in a style, the new superpower character. Along the terror tvilling, whose superpower was inherited by the beetles. Totally a bug's world, the clash of the insects should we say. Listen this film (series) is just for fun, I believe any grownups won't take it a very seriously. If you are not interested, simply skip it, but I advise you to show the film to your little ones. The characters might be based on the Danish children's book, but somewhat looks like a mixed spoof of some of the great Hollywood flicks. Only a slightly betters the first film from the technical side, yet a very simple silly follow-up.

6½/10

Who knew rural Denmark was quite this dangerous? Luckily they have the miniature but dedicated young “Antboy/Pelle” (Oscar Dietz) to keep order - so long as he gets his daily dose of sugar. He is quite keen on his friend “Ida” (Amalie Kruse Jensen) but she has got herself hooked on the environmentally switched-on “Christian” (Hector Brøgger Andersen) whilst the desperately in need of an haircut “Pelle” has an admirer in “Maria” (Astrid Juncher-Benzon). When she gets the wrong end of the stick about a school party, she becomes the proverbial woman scorned and that happens just as she discovers that a device her boffin dad had been working on for ages was unexpectedly working! This gadget provided her with a cloak of invisibility and so using this, she is able to disarm “Antboy” and empower two schoolboy bullies so she can bring him down! Of course, she hasn’t really considered the ramifications of her grand scheme as the bullies, and their imprisoned puppet master - the dastardly “Flea”, start to turn their town upside down. Luckily, his best pal “Wilhelm” (Samuel Ting Graf) stays faithful to his now powerless friend and maybe together then can thwart the cunning evil and restore “Antboy” to full combative strength. Now it’s clearly had a very limited budget and like most superhero movies, the disguises wouldn’t fool anyone but there is an engaging effort here from Dietz as he tries to save the day for his fellow ten year olds. This film is not meant for adults and it’d be unfair to critique it on that basis. Director Ask Hasselbalch has worked with a cast of enthusiastic youngsters telling us a predictable fantasy story that would we could all have related to at that age. “Antboy” is a combination of pin-up boy and life saver and the nasties - well just think JK Rowling’s “Crabbe” & “Goyle” and you won’t be far off bring just enough comedy menace to the proceedings to keep it going. The actors look like they are enjoying themselves and it’s a solid reminder that cinema can be made, Children’s Film Foundation style, without spending a fortune on repetitive and snazzy visual effects. It is very basic, but it is not a terrible effort.