One of my highest anticipated movies of the summer was released two weeks ago! Marvel Studio's ANT-MAN! If you were to ask me a few years ago if I'd ever see an Ant-Man movie I'd say never. If you were to ask me a few years ago if I'd ever be excited to see an Ant-Man movie I'd say not on your life. But wow oh wow was I excited for this movie and man, am I glad they made this movie!
ANT-MAN is the 12th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is the final film in Marvel's Phase 2 of films that began with Iron Man 3. AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON was released just two months prior and it was on the largest scale of any of the MCU films so far. Age of Ultron was an impossible order to fill. They added a dozen characters, half of which were introduced in the film for the first time. On top of that it had the daunting task of setting up the next phase of films, all of this in a shorter time slot. Mix in an extremely high level of hype due to the previous films successes and what do you get? Doomed to failure.
Now, Ultron wasn't a total failure. Much to Joss Whedon's credit he delivered a decent movie, but it proved one thing: just because you've gathered all the heroes together doesn't mean the movie will be good. So here we are three years later (after Avengers 1) feeling a little let down, like all the movies between both Avengers films were a waste of time. It leads one to start thinking differently. Maybe what we need isn't a massive film with every hero imaginable on screen at once. Been there. Done that. Old fish. Maybe what we need is a little guy.
Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne were super heroes long before Iron Man or the Avengers. Between World War II and the battle of New York there were other super heroes saving the world. Hank and Janet were known as the Ant-Man and the Wasp. With the ability to decrease in size due to a scientific invention known as Pym Particles, these two stopped dozens of world threats unknown to the rest of humanity.
Pym Particles. A scientific invention granting the user the ability to shrink any object known to man down in size. With a weapon like this, anyone could be a super hero... or a terrorist. After a tragic loss Hank decides to hang up his helmet and retire from the super hero business. But Pym's battles don't stop there. S.H.I.E.L.D., Stark Industries, Hydra, and everyone else wants to get their hands on the Pym Particles. Hank is left no choice but to disappear and take his invention with him. That was in 1987.
Fast forward to today. Hank Pym's protege, Darren Cross, has nearly replicated Pym's legendary shrinking particle. Hank can't remain in hiding anymore. Enter Scott Lang: a Robin Hood type criminal just finishing up his sentence in prison. Scott wants nothing more than to provide for his young daughter and be the hero she believes him to be. Every legitimate job he takes ends in failure. If only he could use his skills as a first class burglar... It just so happens that Hank Pym needs to steal something in order to save the world. Scott Lang, meet Hank Pym. It's time to save the world!
This movie is awesome! It follows a similar basic plot formula to 2008's IRON MAN but interjects a healthy dose of comedy and an OCEAN'S ELEVEN like heist. This movie isn't about being loud, flashy, and massively destructive like the other Avengers films. No, this film is about stealth, infiltration, stealing, and disappearing without anyone ever knowing you were there. It's a refreshing change of pace from what has almost become a tiresome series of films (okay, tiresome might be a bit harsh).
How long has it been since we saw a "shrinking" movie? The HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS trilogy (yes, there were three of them), INNER-SPACE, FANTASTIC VOYAGE, and THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN. The character of Ant-Man seems greatly influenced by the film The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957). Indeed it seems like Stan "The Man" Lee got a lot of inspiration from 1950's sci-fi horror (First Man Into Space - 1959, Frankenstein - name your rendition, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and so on). Influences from all four of these amazing shrinking films can be seen in Marvel's Ant-Man adding to the plethora of references contained within. Nods not only to the Marvel Universe and the comics but to classic sci-fi films and novels make this film a veritable treasure trove for movie nerds, comic nerds, and sci-fi nerds alike! The scenes with the ants reminds me not only of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids but also horror classic THEM! among many others.
SPOILER ALERT
Another beautiful aspect of this film is how well it fits into the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not only does this film show us what happens after Age of Ultron but also it explores more of the 70 year gap between World War II and Iron Man 1 (perhaps more interesting than Ultron himself). We see a young Hank Pym in his prime performing some of the coolest super heroics we've seen yet. In addition we also get to see The Wasp, Hank's wife. It's a short scene but it is powerful. It is this scene that drives Hank's character and is the crux of his relationship with his daughter.
To this point, Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lilly are incredible in this film. The scenes between the two of them are so loaded and well acted. I came out of the theater and Douglas and Lilly were at the forefront of my mind. I want to see a whole prequel movie with Michael Douglas CGI-ed to look like he's 30 years old again, kicking ass and taking names as Ant-Man! And I am very excited to see Evangeline Lilly return and become the next big Marvel hero! What the filmmakers have built around the characters of Hank Pym and Hope Van Dyne is just as intriguing as our main hero, maybe even more so.
But that brings me to my next point: Paul Rudd. I have been a fan of this man since HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS. Then seeing him in ANCHORMAN was a real treat. Since then he has gone on to do some wonderful films and create a film persona all his own. In ANT-MAN Paul Rudd pulls out one his best performances. He's funny, he's likable, he's serious, empathetic, and most of all he's heroic. He rises to the occasion and leads this film to its climactic finale! He brings his usual solid acting to the table and takes it that one step further making his character of Scott Lang a real palpable figure. Maybe it's because I just became a father myself but the father/daughter relationships in the film really hit home (pulled on my old heart-strings).
The drama is quite good in the film. The humor (which admittedly I am getting tired of seeing take a larger role in these films) was executed in a unique way that made it feel fresh and worked for me (whereas the humor in Ultron was very misplaced in my opinion to the point where it reduced the threat level of the titular enemy). Here, it was used masterfully. And the action scenes... my God, the action scenes were astonishing (thank you, Edgar Wright!)! After Ultron I feared for the future of the MCU. After Ant-Man I have renewed hope (although Captain America: Civil War looks like it will be the same train-wreck that Ultron was).
One of the positives and sometimes negatives of these films are the obligatory setups for future films. In the case of Ultron these setups ultimately detracted from the film. In the case of Ant-Man these setups only add to the phenomenal experience of the movie. The biggest setup and one that I am most excited for is the ~SPOILER ALERT~ further exploration of the Quantum Realm. A Microverse as it is referred to in the comic books. They've set up so much for the future just with the discovery of this realm and for future Ant-Man films. It's also rumored this realm will further be explored in DOCTOR STRANGE (I can't wait!).
All in all this film feels more balanced with its action and comedy than the last two films of the MCU (Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Age of Ultron. I say again, are we going to see Star-Lord's dance moves vanquish Thanos in Avengers 3 just like he did with Ronan? If so than I'm done). Marvel needs to rework the balance. Most people always compliment these films on their humor as surprising, refreshing, and very enjoyable. Marvel seems to have taken this the wrong way and thought, "Hey, they like the humor. Let's add more!" No, Marvel. No, Kevin Feige. These films are super hero movies first, in other words: Action movies. Not Comedies. Remember this before you accidentally turn these characters in 90 minute jokes.
Overall Ranking: 7 out of 10
Nude-O-Meter: 0 out of 10
