Year: 2015
Genre: Superhero
The last Marvel studios movie I saw at the cinema was 2015's 'Avengers Age of Ultron'. I posted a review on here, and commented on how although it was still an ok film, there was way too much Michael Bay influence, the characters had no depth, and it was nothing we hadn't seen a million times before. I was honestly getting bored with Marvel churning out the same stuff year in year out, and if the truth be known, was beginning to think they were a one trick pony.
Then along came Ant Man.
Directed by relative unknown Peyton Reed, who's biggest film to date was Jim Carrey's 'Yes Man', 'Ant Man' takes Marvel in a completely different direction to the Avengers and places rom-com actor Paul Rudd in the lead role of one of it's lesser known superheros. You wouldn't be the first person to be completely oblivious to his existence prior to the movie's announcement, but don't let that stop you. 'Ant Man' is definitely one of the better films the Marvel behemoth has made.
The plot is relatively simple, and it makes a refreshing change to see a single superhero in their own movie again after the last 'Avengers' and 'X-Men' movies introduced so many new characters they became way too over complicated for their own good. Rudd plays Scott Lang, a former burglar who's just been released from jail and is trying to scrape the money together to pay his ex wife child support so he can have contact with his kids. All seems lost until he crosses paths with Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lilly. Douglas plays Hank Pym, the former CEO of a company that developed a suit that can 'reduce the distance' between atoms, and henceforth shrink people down to the size of an ant. Rudd's character begrudglingly takes on the role of Ant Man, and naturally, is given the small task by Pym of saving the world.
Casting Rudd as the protagonist was a stroke of genius by the producers because for the first time since Sam Rami's 2002 incarnation of 'Spiderman', the lead role is given to a beta male who the majority of males in the audience will be able to relate to. Antman has no super powers per se, he isn't a multi billionaire like Tony Stark, he isn't a God like Thor, and he hasn't got an adamantium exoskeleton like Wolverine. Rudd plays Lang much the same as he would do in any other movie, a normal guy with normal problems. Being ever popular with the female section of the audience due to his extensive romantic comedy back catalogue, he nails it as Antman and will be a popular choice.
The supporting cast do a great job with the roles they are given, with the exception of Evangeline Lilly. Douglas is on form as the under appreciated, super intelligent inventor. Michael Pena provides some genuinely funny laugh out loud moments (that some say are the highlight of the film) but Lily is as flat as a pancake. Her character is overly mechanical, wooden, and she wears a VERY obvious wig throughout the movie. To top things off, there is absolutely zero chemisty between her and Rudd, and you leave the film wondering how she got past the screen test for the character.
Perhaps it was just me, but I also felt that Corey Stoll hammed up role of the villian Darren Cross so much, that he almost became a 'he's behind you' / 'mwah hah hah hah' pantomine character, and it became very difficult to find his character threatening with that in the back of your mind.
Credit must be given to the special effects team for conveying a real sense of scale during the sequences where Rudd wears the Antman suit. They are the highlights of the film, and the CGI is used to it's full potential to give a genuinely convincing feel of how small the character is in relation to the outside world around him. The only problem I had during these sequences (even though they remain true to the original comic) are when Rudd is surrounded by swarms of ants helping him along the way. I understand that's how it was done, and the fanboys would have kicked off had they done it any differently. I just felt that there were unnecessary, and the film would have been a better one had it been Rudd in the Antman suit against the world.
A small gripe though, in what is a great addition to the Marvel universe, and a return to form after the overly complicated Age of Ultron. As a general rule of thumb when superhero movies are concerned, the origins stories are the best, and 'Antman' is no exception.
4 stars.
