ANT MAN - ACCOMPLISHES WHAT IT NEEDS TO
By Ashok Reddy.P
117:00 (U/A)
I loved “Ant-Man” because even though it was a Marvel movie, it didn’t feel like one that we have seen in the past couple years. Recently, we have seen Thor saving the world or Captain America saving the world or The Avengers, once again, saving the world. “Ant-Man” doesn’t have that “save the world” flair, instead it is a much smaller scale (shut up, I know it’s a pun). Our hero, isn’t stopping a city from crashing into the Earth or stopping a bunch of helicarriers from killing millions of people. He is stopping the problem before it starts and protecting his daughter when things get messy. This is new for Marvel and it works greatly because we, the audience, care and are rooting for Scott (Paul Rudd) to save his little girl at whatever costs.
The plot of the heist was good but what made it great was the imaginative uses of the shrinking and growing aspect of the Ant-Man suit. Peyton Reed really did some crazy original stuff with it and it was amazing. Visually, this movie is stunning and it is nothing I have ever seen before. I don’t know how they filmed the stuff they did but looking at the big world from the small perspective was refreshingly awesome. I think that the effects will blow people away and be one of the things most talked about after people see it.
Choosing Paul Rudd, an actor known primarily for comedy, to play Scott Lang aka Ant-Man was a bold move. Of course, this is Marvel and they cast Paul Rudd so of course this movie is funny. It has a few really hard laughs (like most Marvel movies) but it is consistently funny throughout. There is not one joke that I felt was not funny or cringe worthy, which is rare for most movies that have comedy. Most of the comedy is brought by Michael Peña and he is easily one of the best parts of the movie. Every scene with him is hysterical and there are 2 scenes in particular where Peña has to explain a plan and they are not only funny but very intelligent too.
When it was first announced that Hank Pym(Michael Douglas) was going to be older and Scott Lang was going to be Ant-Man, many people were skeptical. However, in the first scene with younger Hank Pym working with S.H.I.E.L.D., and they showed that he was already the Ant-Man for so long, it all made sense and it fit well into the MCU. Michael Douglas is sincerely great in this movie and his character motivation made sense. The stuff about him finding Scott was a little out there but I was willing to look past it and get on with enjoying the movie. Douglas brought such a great presence on screen and was a great addition.
One thing that I am a bit torn about is whether or not I liked Evangeline Lily’s Hope Van Dyne. I liked her relationship with her father and I loved the explanation to what happened to her mother but I found her to be a bit annoying. She just wasn’t understanding something that was so clear and it was irritating but I did like that her role was more than just a love interest and she did some very cool things. Basically, she is great for about half of her screen time but annoying the other half but the great stuff was still really cool.
I was very worried about Corey Stoll as the villain of the movie and he was totally fine. He wasn’t spectacular but he was really cool when he was Yellowjacket and his motives were clear enough where it wasn’t outrageous. He was a little over-the-top sometimes but I think it worked for the tone of the movie. Other characters played by Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, and rapper T.I. weren’t the most fleshed out characters but even in their short amount of screen time, you cared about them enough to make you root for them to have a happily ever after.
In case you haven’t seen the many commercials and trailers spoiling this, there is a great cameo in the movie that while I am greatly disappointed that I knew about, didn’t take me out of how great the small role was. It worked because it didn’t stray too far away from the plot but did set up more things to come. Speaking of which, there are many nods to the bigger universe in the movie that were great. Scott even suggests that they call in the Avengers to help them, something that should have been suggested in Iron Man 3 but I digress. The 2 post credits scenes were both spectacular but especially the one at the very end. It is a great tease and really sets up what Marvel has coming up next.
Overall, “Ant-Man” is a breath of fresh air for Marvel, with a refreshingly low-stakes heist plot and the lightest tone of any film by the studio. It does not strive for greatness, but it accomplishes what it needs to. It has wit, heart, and delightfully clever action sequences. This film has what it takes to do so.
3.5/5 STARS
117:00 (U/A)
I loved “Ant-Man” because even though it was a Marvel movie, it didn’t feel like one that we have seen in the past couple years. Recently, we have seen Thor saving the world or Captain America saving the world or The Avengers, once again, saving the world. “Ant-Man” doesn’t have that “save the world” flair, instead it is a much smaller scale (shut up, I know it’s a pun). Our hero, isn’t stopping a city from crashing into the Earth or stopping a bunch of helicarriers from killing millions of people. He is stopping the problem before it starts and protecting his daughter when things get messy. This is new for Marvel and it works greatly because we, the audience, care and are rooting for Scott (Paul Rudd) to save his little girl at whatever costs.
The plot of the heist was good but what made it great was the imaginative uses of the shrinking and growing aspect of the Ant-Man suit. Peyton Reed really did some crazy original stuff with it and it was amazing. Visually, this movie is stunning and it is nothing I have ever seen before. I don’t know how they filmed the stuff they did but looking at the big world from the small perspective was refreshingly awesome. I think that the effects will blow people away and be one of the things most talked about after people see it.
Choosing Paul Rudd, an actor known primarily for comedy, to play Scott Lang aka Ant-Man was a bold move. Of course, this is Marvel and they cast Paul Rudd so of course this movie is funny. It has a few really hard laughs (like most Marvel movies) but it is consistently funny throughout. There is not one joke that I felt was not funny or cringe worthy, which is rare for most movies that have comedy. Most of the comedy is brought by Michael Peña and he is easily one of the best parts of the movie. Every scene with him is hysterical and there are 2 scenes in particular where Peña has to explain a plan and they are not only funny but very intelligent too.
When it was first announced that Hank Pym(Michael Douglas) was going to be older and Scott Lang was going to be Ant-Man, many people were skeptical. However, in the first scene with younger Hank Pym working with S.H.I.E.L.D., and they showed that he was already the Ant-Man for so long, it all made sense and it fit well into the MCU. Michael Douglas is sincerely great in this movie and his character motivation made sense. The stuff about him finding Scott was a little out there but I was willing to look past it and get on with enjoying the movie. Douglas brought such a great presence on screen and was a great addition.
One thing that I am a bit torn about is whether or not I liked Evangeline Lily’s Hope Van Dyne. I liked her relationship with her father and I loved the explanation to what happened to her mother but I found her to be a bit annoying. She just wasn’t understanding something that was so clear and it was irritating but I did like that her role was more than just a love interest and she did some very cool things. Basically, she is great for about half of her screen time but annoying the other half but the great stuff was still really cool.
I was very worried about Corey Stoll as the villain of the movie and he was totally fine. He wasn’t spectacular but he was really cool when he was Yellowjacket and his motives were clear enough where it wasn’t outrageous. He was a little over-the-top sometimes but I think it worked for the tone of the movie. Other characters played by Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, and rapper T.I. weren’t the most fleshed out characters but even in their short amount of screen time, you cared about them enough to make you root for them to have a happily ever after.
In case you haven’t seen the many commercials and trailers spoiling this, there is a great cameo in the movie that while I am greatly disappointed that I knew about, didn’t take me out of how great the small role was. It worked because it didn’t stray too far away from the plot but did set up more things to come. Speaking of which, there are many nods to the bigger universe in the movie that were great. Scott even suggests that they call in the Avengers to help them, something that should have been suggested in Iron Man 3 but I digress. The 2 post credits scenes were both spectacular but especially the one at the very end. It is a great tease and really sets up what Marvel has coming up next.
Overall, “Ant-Man” is a breath of fresh air for Marvel, with a refreshingly low-stakes heist plot and the lightest tone of any film by the studio. It does not strive for greatness, but it accomplishes what it needs to. It has wit, heart, and delightfully clever action sequences. This film has what it takes to do so.
3.5/5 STARS