Ant-Man

Starring: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Michael Pena, Bobby Cannavale, Anthony Mackie, Judy Greer, Abby Ryder Fortson, David Dastmalchian, T.I., Hayley Atwell, Wood Harris, John Slattery, Martin Donovan
Directed by: Peyton Reed
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
2015

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: A reformed thief (Paul Rudd) reluctantly agrees to pull off a heist with a suit that shrinks the wearer to the size of an ant.

Review:

Tim: It seems like the new thing to talk about is what is Marvel's riskiest film to date? Guardians of the Galaxy held that title for a while, but it's overwhelming success made that argument a moot point. Next up was the troubled production behind Ant-Man- writer/director Edgar Wright stepped away after working for many years to bring the movie to light. Rumors about a feud with Marvel, studio interference, etc. plagued the production. Add in the inherently silly concept, and many people believed this would be the first blunder Marvel made. As we now know, while not in the upper tier, Ant-Man was a very fun, humorous heist film. With all the skepticism heading into it, the fact that this is a very good movie is nothing short of a success.

I would argue that Marvel can't expect to hit grand slams with every one of their movies. They need to take risks on smaller, lesser known properties like Ant-Man. This film had a smaller budget than many of the other Marvel films, and yet, it still managed to bring in over $180,000,000 at the box office. While no where near the biggest moneymakers, the film still made more than The Incredible Hulk and Captain America: The First Avenger. That is impressive. When you add the global take, this film is a $500 million film. Hubris is what can doom Marvel, but this film reinforces the idea that they're bulletproof (they aren't, for the record). This is another win for the studio.

One of the things I love about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that it crosses so many different genres. You have Captain America: The First Avenger, which is mostly a World War II war movie. You have a space opera in Guardians of the Galaxy, and now you can add a heist film with Ant-Man. That's a big reason why we're 12 films(!) into the MCU and it still feels fresh- we get these different genres to explore.

The cast is a big reason this movie works so well. Paul Rudd was a great (if unlikely) choice for Scott Lang. His pitch perfect comedic timing was essential for the role. He's truly entertaining in this film. Michael Douglas was wonderfully cast as Hank Pym. It's amazing that Marvel can get talent like Douglas- I loved him here. Evangeline Lilly was well cast as Hope. Although I didn't always believe her performance, I'm a big fan of her from "Lost", so it was great to welcome her into the MCU. Corey Stoll makes for a good villain. Michael Pena was a scene-stealer throughout the entire film. I did enjoy seeing Judy Greer here, but I just desperately wish someone would give her a chance to showcase her talent. Seeing her play "the mom" is a vast under-utilization of her talent.

I thought the film did a good job of telling its own story while still making a few connections to the larger MCU. The scene at the beginning with Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter was a nice connection, and I really enjoyed the unexpected scene with Anthony Mackie. Still, for the most part, this film exists on the edges of the MCU and I'm very much okay with that.

It was a great move to approach this story with a sense of humor and tongue-in-cheek winking at the audience. The idea of a guy shrinking to ant size is one thing, but communicating with ants is just weird and silly. Taking a too-serious approach could have doomed this movie. I loved the lighthearted laughs about the sheer silliness of the whole thing. It allowed you to sit back and say, "This is completely ridiculous, but I'm going to have fun going along for the ride!" The movie does a nice job of delivering some thrilling moments during the heist scenes while still maintaining its humor.

While I really enjoyed Ant-Man, there are a few flaws. While Stoll is good as Yellowjacket, Marvel still hasn't hit a home run with a villain in quite a while. The whole deranged businessman has been done before, and in the end, Yellowjacket is mostly just a blip on the villain radar. The movie is fun and silly, but it's hard to take anything too serious or get too caught up in the events on screen. While this was supposed to be a more personalized story than many other MCU films, I didn't feel like the stakes were raised very high. There were a number of scenes that felt forced and the acting was occasionally suspect. There were a few moments that just felt uncomfortable and should have been reshot.

So, while the movie clearly has flaws, I still had fun with it. I loved that this movie introduced the microverse, a surprisingly heady concept for a movie like this. I certainly hope the introduction isn't wasted and we return to that fascinating mini-world in future MCU films. All in all, as silly as the concept of Ant-Man is, the execution was fairly strong. Now, while I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, I do admit that the quality is a small step below the majority of films in the MCU. That has proven not to be an issue in the past (The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 3 were slightly weaker, and the connected universe has always bounced back). So, this film is a step below where we'd like it to be, but given its troubled production, it's a lot better than many people expected.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron