When ANT-MAN was first announced it was met with a mixed bag reply of “Why?” and “At least it will be different.” With Edgar Wright originally on the project, it garnered more support as the new energizer in the repetitive process of making Marvel superhero movies. Even when Wright left the project, with Adam McKay (STEP BROTHERS) and Paul Rudd rewriting the script and starring in the film, the film was still very likely going to break the mold. Despite all this going for it, ANT-MAN never manages to come into its own, instead opting to be the rehashed shadow of its predecessors.
The story follows Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), a Robin Hood burglar, being released from prison after three years in San Quintin. Despite his rag tag group of ethnically diverse petty crooks (Michael Peña being the most important), he is trying to right himself for the sake of his young daughter Cassie, who adores him. When his ex-wife (Judy Greer) and her cop husband (Booby Cannavale) demand that he pays his child support before he can see her more, he decides jump back into the burgling game. He gets a tip the there is a safe in a scientist named Hank Pym’s house, but when he breaks in he only finds a random suit. When Pym (Michael Douglas) finds him, he explains the threat of his old corporation and protégé (Corey Stoll) of recreating his technology and selling it. With the help of his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lily), they must train Scott to become the next Ant-Man.
Paul Rudd’s casting was met with about the same reaction as ANT-MAN itself upon announcement. It’s difficult to say he was good or bad for the role as so much of his lethargic goofball charm is suppressed by the strict path the movie sets itself on. His acting is fine, but it seems that anyone could have been in the role and it would have turned out the same. If anything, he never really falls into the ‘three years in prison because of master cat burglary’ aesthetic, but that is only a problem near the beginning of the film. He fills the Ant-Man suit just fine, and the middle aged everyman look works well for the hero.
Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lily are both fantastic, and the father daughter relationship is the center focus of the film for most of the training. It’s a relationship that has not been explored yet by Marvel, and those scenes are some of the best… though the strained plot never leaves room for it to be explored fully. And the shoehorned romance between Hope and Scott and the end is entirely random and almost infuriating. After spending the whole film looking at one relationship, the film throws it away to check of the romance box that was not telegraphed at any point in the production thus far.
The plot as a whole is constricted and often doesn’t connect. Why does Pym think he can trust the world in the hands of Scott solely because of his abilities as a burglar in stealing the suit? Scott and his daughter Cassie’s relationship is very one dimensional, and apart from two throwaway lines about a deformed doll, nothing we see shows us they are close. Another way to look at it would be that the plot is simple and contained, which allows more room for what the film does better, but passable is never a good foundation.
The worst offense of the movie has to be its main villain though. Marvel’s bad guys have been steadily weak throughout, but Yellowjacket/Darren Cross is simply an unfinished character. The movie contradicts itself by constantly picking up and putting down this idea that his brain chemistry has been affected by the suit, but it never explains why as Darren Cross has never worn the suit. In addition nothing in his backstory ever suggests that he was any different from the unambiguously evil character we see now. Lastly, Yellowjacket isn’t seen until the climax, and without any build up to his strength or power, it’s an unsubstantial waste of an overall very cool design.
The best scenes of the film are undoubtedly the action sequences and Micheal Peña’s bits. The action takes full advantage of what can be done flashing in and out of small and large scale. Watching Ant-Man grow large to fight then shrink to move and dodge and fight more is the basis of the hero. Even better is watching Ant-Man and Yellowjacket duke it out inside a briefcase or on a toy train set, which is incredibly interesting and unique. Peña steals every scene he’s in, fully convinced he is in the one time comedy-action Edgar Wright movie.
Worth noting is much of this is disappointment in the “what if” of ANT-MAN. Had Edgar Wright stayed on the project, had Yellowjacket received more screen time, this film would be a lot different. It’s funnier than most Marvel movies, thanks to Rudd and McKay’s script, but not to a noticeable difference where it would have a different tone. The action is great, the characters are likable and plot is passable. 3D added nothing for my screening, but others have reported really enjoying the film that way, so that should be checked out individually. If you haven’t seen superhero films before, you won’t be disappointed by the basic plot. If you are a huge MCU fan, you’ll have fun with this and it seems it was made solely because Ant-Man will be important in the next installment of THE AVENGERS. If you are in the middle, it might just be worth skipping.
ANT-MAN will hit 2D and 3D theaters on July 17, 2015.
