Like Guardians of the Galaxy this flick
is different from the other Marvel projects and is definitely the one that is
most removed from the MCU thus far, ironic considering that Hank Pym (the original Ant-Man) was a pivotal member of the Avengers in the comics.
This film follows Scott Lang (Rudd) who is a recently released burglar.
He wants to go straight and narrow to gain a larger role in his daughter’s life
but is unable to keep a job once his employer finds out who he is and "Baskin
Robbins always finds out." He is lured into a robbery, I’m sorry burglary, of an
old man’s house who happens to be uber genius Hank Pym. What he finds is the
Ant-man suit powered by the amazing Pym Particle and the trial by water begins.
Ant-Man plays itself off more like a Oceans Eleven movie
where the whole film revolves around a heist of Pym’s former protégé Darren
Cross who is seeking to resurrect the secrets of the Pym Particle. A large part
of the film is also like a Rocky movie where they have various training exercises to
teach Lang plus the audience the powers of the suit and the different types of
Ants that would be utilized. It is done quite well as there is a comical tone
throughout the picture, but the character relationships are taken seriously
too.
I’ll admit I was skeptical of the casting of Paul Rudd as a
super-hero because let’s face it he’s always this guy to me
It proved to be a good choice because he conveyed the human
qualities of the character along with the light-hearted nature of the film.
Michael Douglas played the older Pym well as did Kate from Lost, I mean
Evangeline Lilly who looked like she could go into the Octagon as his daughter. Michael Pena made some people laugh as Lang’s former cell mate. Corey Stoll
just oozes pure villain and it seems like yesterday he was being murdered by good old
F.U. on House of Cards. The Ants are the real stars of the picture as the
different types are used in cleaver ways. The effects and the action
sequences are up to par with the other Marvel movies.
To its fault though I think the film sometimes tried to go too far with the
humor especially with Michael Pena and his two sidekicks. It didn’t ruin the
picture by any means... the audience laughed at Pena's parts where there wasn't even jokes. It was a little bit over the top. I give recognition to Edgar Wright as he was heavily
involved in this picture but left the helm, still getting screenwriting and producing credits. It had a bit of his quirkiness in there (the Baskin Robbins part in the beginning comes to mind). The film also had a paint by the numbers
vibe, you can see everything coming a mile away but got you through with just enough creativity.
Overall, this is a decent showing with a cascade of humorous moments and
fun action sequences. Honestly, only by comparison, it is one of the weaker Marvel films. Not as
bad as say the third Iron Man movie but not upper tier either. I
give it 6 out of 10 cosmic rays.
Oh and stay the distance on this one, it’s as good, if not better than
when Howard the Duck showed up in Guardians.
