Con-man Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is looking to clean up his act in order to spend time with his daughter, but when his friends get him involved in another crime, he walks into a setup that ties him to a heist that will actually save the world.
My thoughts on the film
When the trailers for Guardians of the Galaxy came out, I know there were a lot of skeptical people. It was a new superhero team to the general public. Of course, the hardcore comic readers would have heard about them and maybe they weren’t so skeptical; or perhaps they were skeptical of Chris Pratt playing Star-Lord.
Now we have Ant-Man. Another character in the Marvel universe that not a lot of people know about and to some, it didn’t help that Paul Rudd was selected to play the main character: Ant-Man. The big question here is, have we not learned to just accept these films with open arms regardless of the cast and the non-existence of the characters’ popularity? We are talking about Marvel here. They continue to raise the bar with each and every film (while there was no bar raising in Avengers 2, they still release great films). Ant-Man is certainly a great addition to that list.
Ant-Man provides us with what I believe Marvel’s motto is: “Fun and entertaining.” As with any origin story turned into film, the writing can be rather difficult to really get a sense and understanding of the character, but it was certainly one of the better scripts for an origin film—that is always a plus. The writers made it on its own, with no need of bringing in additional help to develop the story. There are a few jabs at the Avengers and there is a character from the Avengers who makes an appearance, but it’s more filler rather than something that contributed to developing the story.
Now, if you had any doubt about Paul Rudd, which I’m not sure why you would because Paul Rudd is awesome (sorry, personal opinion) and perfectly suited for Ant-Man. As I mentioned earlier, Marvel is very lighthearted and Paul Rudd is certainly that. It seems as if Marvel is starting to target actors who are mainly comedic actors and will then try to develop them into a superhero-type character, while still keeping that fun factor. Paul Rudd delivers in Ant-Man and he certainly isn’t taken very seriously—appropriate as his character is not the serious type. I mean, it’s just a suit that he puts on.
Michael Douglas and Canadian-born Evangeline Lilly did their part, but really, it was Michael Peña who stole the film quite a few times. I’m sure most of you know who he is, but he usually plays that funny, fast-talking Mexican character. I thought he was hilarious in Ant-Man. He was recently in Fury, American Hustle and End of Watch (one of my favourites). Honourable mention goes out to Corey Stoll, who plays as the villain, Darren Cross/Yellowjacket. You might recognize him from House of Cards, which is he great in.
In comparison to other Marvel films, there’s not a lot of action in Ant-Man. There’s no big explosions or destroying of cities. However, there’s a different way to appreciate Ant-Man and it’s when he shrinks. The visuals of when Ant-Man is, well, ant-sized, are fantastic. I couldn’t really notice any weak visual effects, so all in all, it was neat getting that feeling of what it’s like to be small and everything else around you is big.
As with most Marvel films, stay till the end. The very end. There are 2 scenes. One is after the main credits and the second one, while really short, is still worth sticking around for. If you really don’t want to wait for the second scene, I dropped a little hint after the trailer below.
Rating 4.5/5
Ant-Man, just like any other Marvel film, is purely fun and entertaining. It doesn’t quite reach the top tier of Marvel films, but it’s close.
Ant-Man is now in theatres.
The scene after all the credits has to do with the next Captain America film, Civil War, which is to be released May 6, 2016. Let’s just say you’ll be seeing Bucky and Ant-Man again.
