Ant-Man

Director: Peyton Reed
Screenplay: Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish & Adam McKay & Paul Rudd (story by Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish; based on the comic book by Stan Lee & Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby)
Stars: Paul Rudd (Scott Lang / Ant-Man), Michael Douglas (Dr. Hank Pym), Evangeline Lilly (Hope van Dyne), Corey Stoll (Darren Cross / Yellowjacket), Bobby Cannavale (Paxton), Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson / Falcon), Judy Greer (Maggie Lang), Abby Ryder Fortson (Cassie Lang), Michael Peña (Luis), David Dastmalchian (Kurt), T.I. (Dave), Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter), Wood Harris (Gale), John Slattery (Howard Stark), Hayley Lovitt (Janet Van Dyne / The Wasp)
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Year of Release: 2015
Country: U.S.
Ant-Man
Ant-ManThe best thing about Ant-Man is that it is so different from so many of the Marvel Universe’s recent comic-book-based blockbusters, virtually all of which culminate in a massive, smash-and-grab free-for-all in which the hero(es) battle valiantly against some dastardly villain intent on destroying the world, in the process laying waste to pretty much everything around them. The sameness of this scenario has become a blight on summer movies, so it is nothing if not a relief to see that the climatic battle in Ant-Man takes place almost entirely inside a little girl’s bedroom. Granted, there is some serious damage done to the house in the process, but it is done with a winking sense of humor that defines much of the film as a whole.

Of course, the very premise of Ant-Man naturally leads to a wholly different aesthetic when it comes to violence, since the film’s hero, a burglar-turned-unlikely-superhero named Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), uses a special suit to shrink himself down to the size of an insect, where he also gains an insect’s oversized strength and speed. While so many other superheroes are about growing larger (the Hulk, Captain America), flying through the air (Iron Man), or being pretty much invincible (Superman, Thor), all of which draw attention to themselves, Ant-Man’s modus operandi is being covert. He is at his best when no one can see him, which allows the movie to shift away from all the over-the-top destruction that has become the sine qua non of superhero movies these days. Rather than relying on yet another save-the-world-from-destruction scenario (well, there is a massive threat to the world, but it’s a theoretical threat), Ant-Man is fundamentally a heist movie in which the lead burglar can slip through air-conditioning grates and run through water pipes.

There’s a bit of setup in order to get there, though, as Ant-Man is also an origin story, the ultimate goal being the introduction of another superhero who can jump into the action in the third Avengers movie. We are first introduced to Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), a brilliant scientist who has discovered a means of changing the distance between molecules, hence his ability to shrink things, including people. Recognizing the inherent danger of such an enterprise, he hides it away while his increasingly unhinged protégé, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), takes over his company and tries to recreate Pym’s science for his own power and financial gain. Caught in the middle is Hope (Evangeline Lilly), Pym’s estranged daughter who works as Cross’s right-hand woman, but is secretly conspiring with her father to keep him from recreating the shrinking mechanism.

Enter Scott Lang, a crusading electrical engineer who is just getting out of a five-year prison stint for stealing from an unscrupulous company (yes he’s a criminal, but in the same way Robin Hood was a criminal). He is reluctantly drawn into a plan to steal something valuable from an elderly man’s vault by his friend Luis (Michael Peña), whose general enthusiasm is matched only by his grinning naiveté. It turns out that the old man is Pym and the something valuable is his shrinking suit, which brings Scott into Pym’s plan to break into Cross’s company and steal his technology before he recreates the shrinking device and sells it to some really bad people intent on, you know, destroying the world and all that. Like a sports movie, there is a lengthy “training sequence” in the middle of the film where Scott must master the suit and the new world he encounters when he is reduced to a speck. He must also master Pym’s ability to use technology to “speak” to ants, thus turning them into his own personal army.

With Rudd cast in the lead and a screenplay co-written by Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), who was supposed to direct but dropped out due to creative differences, leaving Peyton Reed (Yes Man, The Break-up) to take over, there is little surprise that Ant-Man adopts a more comical attitude toward its material than even Jon Favreau’s original Iron Man (2008) (other contributors to the script include Attack the Block’s Joe Cornish, regular Will Ferrell collaborator Adam McKay, and Rudd). It is much closer to spirit and tone to Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), in that respect. Rudd is quite good as the titular hero, as he is convincing as both a frustrated ex-con who wants to spend time with the young daughter he hasn’t seen for years and a superhero-in-training whose miniscule size actually gives him significant advantage over those around him. Rudd cracks wise a lot in his charming Paul Rudd way, Michael Douglas essentially plays the straight man, and it works.

As the film’s villain, Corey Stoll adds some needed emotional depth, as his nefarious doings stem from the Oedipal anger he feels toward Pym and what he sees as being both betrayed and belittled. He doesn’t want to take over the world; rather, he wants to show up the adopted father figure he has grown to hate. The real battle in the film, then, is between Pym and Cross, with Ant-Man working as Pym’s secret weapon. Although Reed has never helmed a big special effects film before, he demonstrates an adept hand at managing action while also keeping the tone light without undercutting the film’s scenario. Granted, when a major part of the climactic fight involves a Thomas the Train set, it is tempting to think that the film is just silly, but the best thing I can say about Ant-Man is that it treads the line between the funny and the exciting with notable dexterity.

Copyright ©2015 James Kendrick

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Overall Rating: (3)




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