Marvel further extends it cinematic universe with Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man. A little sideways trip into not-so-well known comic book land, just as they did with Guardians Of The Galaxy.
The story starts with “Robin Hood-like” thief Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) getting out of prison. Straight away we are thrown into his world – i.e one without any prospects, with a strained marriage breakup and a daughter he doesn’t get to see nearly enough – and we are also introduced to his friend Luis (a scene and very nearly movie stealing Michael Peña) and his band of thieving pals. As Lang finds it difficult to keep a job, and combined with the motivation to get his life going and get his daughter back in his life, he turns back to crime, to rob a soft target from a tip-off from Luis. The house happens to be owned by Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) who, it turns out, is watching him all along and he has plans for Scott and Hank’s own special suit.
Played mostly for laughs without ever getting really serious, Ant-Man is an easy watch. Not nearly as funny as GotG, but nowhere as bleak and dark as The Winter Soldier. Ant-Man does have a few decent action sequences to cut through the comedic tone. Obviously, these involve shrinking and enlarging and, to be fair, the effects are very impressive. With the film being an origin film, of course, (I’ll wait till you finish banging your head on a desk) they manage to get this part of the film right. It’s not too long, the training montages are entertaining (and for those girls and boys that have a thing for Paul Rudd, well he goes shirtless and is buffed up – very much a fan service moment). Douglas plays Pym quite well, keeping it understated, but with a desire to do the right thing. Evangeline Lilly plays Pym’s estranged daughter Hope, who is great in the role, and all three (Rudd, Douglas and Lilly) play off each other quite well. The other group that is great together is Luis’ crew. Kurt (David Dastmalchian) and Dave (T.I) are pretty funny as the tech guy and the wheelman respectively – whenever they’re on-screen together the film is instantly funnier. The bad guy Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) doesn’t get much to work with and ends up being a very stereotypical villian, but despite this, Stoll manages to inject some personality into his character. Being a Marvel film in this current universe, prior film events are talked about and we even get a cameo fight scene with an Avenger.
The main plot is a simple heist gig, except, with a tiny main character and his army of ants. It’s put together well as a by the playbook heist film, with trope after trope of heist film touchstones, but because it is played so well, you won’t mind. Just go along with it and have fun. The finale is a bit weak but, by this stage of the film, you know what is going to happen at any rate.
Reed gives the film a laid back manner which works well with Rudd’s comedy style, whilst the action sequences kept things lively enough. I certainly didn’t know a hell of a lot about Ant-Man before this film, and once again Marvel gambled a little on some not wildly popular material, but it does work for the most part. Most importantly, it’s entertaining and its fun.
Ryan Morrissey-Smith
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