And catching up with some reviews...
A film with an animal in its title
A film based on a comic bookAnt-Man (2015)
"Now, look. This is gonna get weird, all right? It's pretty freaky, but it's safe. There's no reason to be scared."
The above quote comes at a moment when our hero, cat burglar Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is about to show his friends his new shrinking abilities. It is both a warning that they're about to see something unlike anything they've seen before, and a reassurance that despite that, everything is alright and under control. Coming at the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 2, that quote can also apply to
Ant-Man's own standing among their catalogue. With a decidedly comedic and lighter approach to the material,
Ant-Man is certainly unlike any of the previous films of the MCU (with the exception of
Guardians of the Galaxy) while also feeling integral to this universe and confident in its pace and rhythm to deliver fun and thrills.
Ant-Man follows Lang, who is released from prison only to find himself unemployed and unable to provide for his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson). When his partner, Luis (Miguel Peña) presents him yet another job to break into the safe of an "old man", he reluctantly accepts. What he doesn't know is that the "old man" is disgraced inventor and former SHIELD scientist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Pym has orchestrated everything along with his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) with the intention of recruiting Lang for a bigger job. The job? To use the Ant-Man suit to infiltrate Pym's former company in order to steal a more advanced suit about to be unleashed by his former protege and current CEO of the company, Daniel Cross (Corey Stoll) who plans to sell it to Hydra.
There were some gigantic concerns (pun intended) surrounding
Ant-Man; the fact that it is yet another origin story, Ant-Man not being a well known superhero, coming after a bombastic blockbuster like
Avengers: Age of Ultron, but most notably, the dismissal of writer/director Edgar Wright. However, the end result ends up being quite good, thanks to Peyton Reed's confident direction and Paul Rudd's charisma. The lead actor brings a certain relaxed, laid-back attitude to the role that makes the film feel... chill, for lack of a better word. This is not exclusive to him as you can see how well he plays off other actors like Michael Douglas and Michael Peña. He and Douglas have what might be one of my favorite exchanges of the whole MCU...
Lang: "My days of breaking into places and stealing shit are over! What do you need me to do?"
Pym: "I want you to break into a place and steal some shit."
Lang: "Makes sense."
Which pretty much serves as evidence of the tone and attitude of the whole film. Reed also instills into that a certain heisty/playful mood with his use of music and a snappy direction. There are also some pretty cool and funny plays on size and perspective, particularly on the last fight as Ant-Man and the bad guy throw toys at each other. And speaking of the bad guy, the film is not without a certain amount of gravitas, specially with the relationship between Hank and Cross. Stoll really delivers with some nuanced moments, even if the story doesn't really delve that much into it. The final resolution is telegraphed very early on and might feel a bit convenient, but they sell it well enough.
In some ways,
Ant-Man, and
Guardians of the Galaxy before it, might have signaled a willingness of Marvel Studios to let loose in some ways for the upcoming Phase 3. The light, comedic tone of the sequels to this two films, and
Thor: Ragnarok, serve as a decent contrast to the more serious tone of films like
Captain America: Civil War or
Avengers: Infinity War, which is more than welcome. So for the few that haven't seen those films, be aware, it's gonna get weird, but it's safe. There's no reason to be scared.
Grade:
B