THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
A movie about the Marvel superhero Ant-Man had been in development since the late 80s, due to inspiration from Honey I Shrunk the Kids, but nothing came into fruition until the MCU came around. As the franchise continued to grow through Phase Two, I wished the character had debuted before Avengers: Age of Ultron because I thought it would be a better movie if he was responsible for that movie’s titular villain. Nevertheless, his cinematic debut afterwards was still able to shine the brightest in 2015.
PLOT
The superhero film follows Scott Lang, fresh out of jail for burglarizing the company VistaCorp. Unable to get a job or afford child support for his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder), he pulls another heist to make ends meet. He only uncovers a suit from the house he’s stealing from. When trying it on, he is able to shrink. And when attempting to return it, he gets arrested. He breaks out with the aid of Hank Pym, who said he plotted this burglary to happen, in order to meet him. The suit was Hank’s and he used it as the hero named Ant-Man. His protege Darren Cross wants to replicate his shrinking formula, ‘The Pym Particle’, in order to make his weaponized suit, the ‘Yellowjacket’. Scott trains to be the new Ant-Man with help of Hank and his estranged daughter, Hope Van Dyne, to steal Darren’s suit. Hope had resented her father when refusing to explain the cause of her mother’s death. Thankfully, Hank eventually explained the case in order to make amends. As The Wasp, Janet Van Dyne sacrificed herself going sub atomic, shrinking between molecules, to destroy a nuke in ‘87. Hank then left SHIELD two years later when discovering that Howard Stark (John Slattery) and SHIELD were attempting to replicate his formula. As Scott gets better with his training, he successfully steals a device from Avengers HQ that would aid the heist, but briefly fought Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) in the progress. When Darren increases security days before the heist, Scott recruits his friends to help him and the Pyms: Luis, Dave and Kurt. During the heist, as Scott attempts to take the suit, he is trapped by Darren in the progress. He plans to sell his tech to Hydra agents but Scott breaks free from capture. Hank is shot in the progress, and one Hydra agent flees with a vial of Darren’s formula. Scott is then able to chase Darren to his helicopter as the surviving Hank destroys his facility Pym Tech. Enraged, Darren dons the Yellowjacket suit to to fight Lang. The fight goes from the helicopter, to a briefcase, to Cassie’s house. Lang would end the fight by going subatomic to sabotage Cross’ suit, killing him in the progress, but he disappears into the Quantum Realm. However, he is able to return when messing with the suit’s regulator to reverse the effects and come back. With Lang coming back, Hank thinks it’s possible to bring back his wife Janet. The film ends with Scott continuing to be Ant-Man, but is also allowed to see Cassie whenever.
THOUGHTS
When a new superhero is introduced in the big screen, there are high expectations. I honestly think that Ant-Man reached those expectations. While I still think Edgar Wright would’ve been a better choice, director Peyton Reed is able to successfully bring fresh air, being just as different as other heroes. Like Guardians of the Galaxy, the comedy is what keeps this movie together and it blends very well with the complex science fiction that surrounds the story. For example, I couldn’t stop laughing when seeing the entire Baskin Robbins segment. It may be an overuse of product placement, but it still makes me giggle nonetheless. I like the various ants that appear in this movie, as they’re made as central as our titular hero, but I do wish this was kept in the sequel. Aside from seeing the ants, the best use of the movie’s visuals are easily throughout the third act, seeing Scott and Darren do battle, to seeing Scott in the Quantum Realm. The fight between the two is hilarious as well because it’s not every other movie where you see a villain get smacked into a bug zapper, and later get ran over by Thomas the Tank Engine. While the seeds are easily planted for the 2018 sequel, I am heavily impressed of its tie in to Captain America: Civil War, mainly due to Scott’s hilarious encounter with the Falcon. Marvel Studios normally overdoes their tie-ins, yet it’s always put to good use and this is the best example. This movie is fun and I surprisingly liked it way more than Age of Ultron, but I still admit that it has its own set of flaws as well. First off, how long exactly was Scott in prison? I keep wondering because due to Cassie being so young and still recognizing her dad, I wonder if how long his sentence was, either years or months. I don’t even know if Maggie or Paxton allowed her to visit either which makes it harder for me believe. Studying the science to replicate the Pym Particles and kickstart Yellowjacket is interesting but why does Darren believe that the size of an ant is combat advantage? I get that it worked for Hank on his own but if he really wanted a better advantage, he should focus on making people larger like Giant Man/Goliath. We know that movies can bend reality but I’m not letting it slide that Scott put the suit on in 10 seconds. Seeing it would piss off cosplayers more than me. It is intense when Darren breaks into Hank's home since he only spared him at the time because he saw Hope but if he did, how did he not see Scott? They were in the same kitchen. One plot hole I’m still wonder about for me in this movie other than how did the Thomas the Tank Engine get shrunk back to its normal size, it’s about Martin Donovan’s character, the secret Hydra agent. We see him take Darren’s vial when he’s fighting our heroes, and we don’t see him in the second film, so I can’t help but wonder if he’ll appear in the third film. And I am having a hard time believing Paxton followed a falling briefcase and found the right house. I know you want the conflict to continue when Scott is cuffed but come on, if you want to say he was speeding and his partner was seeing the fall, just imply it or I’m gonna keep complaining. Other than that, the movie remains to be fun throughout. Like the past superhero films, this movie cannot work without a memorable cast and it feels like jackpot with this one. Paul Rudd brought the charm needed to make Scott Lang as likable as the heroes before him and it pays off. No parent should ever be separate from their children, so in Scott’s case we’re always rooting for him because we know he’s doing it all for Cassie, nailing the theme of redemption. Michael Douglas was a fitting choice for an older Hank Pym because he is able to make him just as wise as he is expected to be, despite having a cantankerous attitude. Knowing that, it’s a clever ‘passing of the torch’ situation for Pym and Lang. Also, the de-aging on Douglas is put to the best use, as other movies fail to live up to this when it comes to de-aging. Evangeline Lilly was good as Hope Van Dyne because she’s able to succeed going from estranged to forgiving daughter. I honestly thought the kiss with Hope and Scott was forced because I didn’t think there were hints yet of their romantic interests towards each other. Thankfully, the sequel is able to properly flesh out the fling between these two characters. Throughout the MCU, a villain is either highly sympathetic or pure evil and thankfully, Corey Stoll succeeds in making Darren Cross pure evil. I prefer that case of a villain because Marvel Studios does tend to overdo the use of a sympathetic villain. His jealousy made him power hungry and seeing him lose his mind comes to show the downfall one has when having too much power. It was a surprise seeing the mantle of Yellowjacket being used for villainy because in the comics, it’s seen as Hank Pym’s new alter ego after passing the mantle of Ant-Man to Lang. Michael Peña is instantly funny as Luis from beginning to end. The scenes in which he is trying to tell a story is hilarious because I get a Drunk History vibe out of it. I’m not crazy about Bobby Cannavale but he does impress me when approaching dramatic scenes as Paxton, who cares about Cassie as much as Scott. When he saw him defeat Cross, he understood how much she meant to him. I never grew up expecting to see T.I. in a superhero movie, yet he and David Dastmalchian also succeeded in making me giggle in their supporting roles, Dave and Kurt. And lastly, I enjoyed the presence of Judy Greer as Maggie because she is a loving mother that refuses to play it both ways. She loves Scott but she moved on with Paxton because she was hurt for going after VistaCorp without giving her a heads up. But like Paxton, his actions reminded her how much she means to him, hence allowing him to see her whenever. Overall, Ant-Man succeeds in being different from the rest when it comes to the MCU, and it was bold closer to the franchise’s Phase Two. If you love Paul Rudd, you’ll likely give this movie a chance.
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