Marvel/Disney
Let’s get the big elephant out of the room right from the start so it no longer has to be addressed. Edgar Wright and Marvel parted way after he had spent months working on the script for Ant-Man. The fans were at a fever pitch of anticipation waiting to see where he would take the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it didn’t happen and now everyone is grousing and wondering just what Wright’s Ant-Man would have looked like. It didn’t happen, it’s not happening, so let’s move on, shall we? For the record, Wright still has a screenplay and executive producer credit, so there’s still something there of him. There is no way Marvel had time to overhaul his script completely and get the movie shot and released within their set time frame, so there is still Wright’s DNA all over the movie.
That being said, Marvel, director Peyton Reed and the six other writers who had a hand in the story and screenplay have crafted another gem in Marvel’s crown. Like Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man is another of Marvel’s gambles on a title that has a cult following at best and fits tenuously into the already established, and more serious, MCU Phases. Ant-Man, in fact, is the beginning of Phase III and we’re off to a great start.
The story features cat burglar Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), just out of prison, unable to find a steady job even after lying about his identity, and finding himself once again tempted to take on another heist so he can get some money and take care of his financial obligations so he can have more visitation time with his daughter. It doesn’t help that his ex’s new boyfriend is a cop. Scott is convinced to do a little safecracking at an old mansion and all he finds is an odd looking leather jumpsuit and helmet. Back at his apartment, he puts it on and discovers its special properties … it has the power to shrink the wearer to the size of an insect.
Scott learns from the suit’s owner and creator Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) that he was allowed to break into the safe because Pym needs Scott to pull off one more job for him — stop his former protege Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) from using the shrinking technology to create (and profit from) a virtually indestructible army. It takes some convincing and training, courtesy of Pym’s daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly), who is pulling “double agent” duty between Pym and Cross, but Scott agrees and nearly completes his mission until coming face-to-face with Cross’ own special suit, Yellowjacket. Miniature mayhem ensues.
It was hard to gauge the tone of Ant-Man from the trailers and TV ads. It seemed to have some humor but felt more like a straight superhero movie where the humor was forced. Happily, the finished product is a nice mix of family drama, action and lots of laughs, thanks in no small part to some witty writing and a winning performance from Paul Rudd, the actor least likey to become a Marvel superhero. On the other hand, Rudd is the perfect casting choice for this role because while he’s handsome, he’s still got that “guy next door” quality to him that everyone can relate to. He can pull off the action and drama perfectly, and he has a way of delivering the comedic dialog without seeming to be too much of a smart ass. Rudd is clearly the star here and everyone else are supporting characters.
Michael Douglas does a fine job as Pym, and there is a startling pre-credits scene that takes place in 1989 featuring a digitally de-aged Douglas that is amazing and downright spooky. Imagine being an actor and seeing yourself on screen in a brand new movie looking like you did 25 years ago. It must be unnerving, but for the audience it is a pretty jaw-dropping moment.
Evangeline Lilly is also good as Hope, making you always wonder just whose side she’s on until she really starts training Scott. Even then, she’s still holding a lot of resentment against her father because he has never told her the truth about how her mother died, and she expected to be the one to don the Ant-Man suit. Hank may have something else in store for her (which you’ll discover in the first of two post-credits scenes). Corey Stoll’s Cross goes from over-eager businessman to megalomaniacal supervillain a little too quickly, but his big fight scene with Ant-Man is spectacular and hilarious at the same time (especially the “runaway train” moment).
Bobby Canavale and Judy Greer provide the family drama, and Michael Peña, David Dastmalchian, and Tip “TI” Harris provide the comic relief as Scott’s partners in crime. Keep an eye out for the obligatory (and funny) Stan Lee cameo, as well as brief appearances from Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter) and John Slattery (Howard Stark) and, for some reason, Garrett Morris. And we can’t forget an Avenger (Falcon) also makes an appearance.
While Marvel has hit home runs with pretty much all of its superhero movies, most of them tend to take themselves much too seriously even with Tony Stark’s snarky one-liners. Guardians of the Galaxy proved Marvel could do a real comic book movie with action, drama and comedy, and they have solidified that winning formula with Ant-Man. And all Marvel fans know that Captain America: Civil War is the next film in Phase III, so be sure to sit all the way through the credits for the awesome set-up.
Ant-Man has a run time of 1 hour 57 minutes, and is rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence.
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