Ant-Man (2015)

#marvel #antman

At first I thought this movie shouldn’t work. I mean, come on, Ant-Man???  I know the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) really hasn’t missed yet in any movie that has been made, sure Iron Man 3 was weak and Thor:  was iffy, but none of the ten movies were out and out bad.  The MCU was due for a miss.  Ant-Man appeared to be headed to that miss when the original director and co-writer Edgar Wright, who is known for such wonderful movies as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, left the film a few weeks before principle shooting was to begin over disagreements with Marvel over new re-writes. Despite all of this, Ant-Man turns out to be a very enjoyable film that, in my opinion, is probably the 4^th best MCU movie.

Electrical Engineer and petty thief Scott Lang, played by Paul Rudd (The Forty-Year Old Virgin,) just released from prison, being sent there because he was caught being a high tech Robin Hood stealing from his rich, evil boss, is trying to go legit so he can see his young daughter who is with his ex-wife.  Scott is unable to find legitimate work so his friends convince him to break in to the home of an old man that turns out to be an ex S.H.I.E.L.D. agent named Hank Pym, played by Michael Douglas (Wall Street.)  Pym has been watching Scott since he read about his high tech theft of his former boss.  Pym wants Scott to take on the secret Identity he had when working for S.H.I.E.L.D. as Ant-Man.   Ant-Man is created by the use of what is called the PYM Particle and Hank Pym has been trying to keep it from falling into the wrong hands, including S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony Stark, etc.  The Pym Particle allows a person with the right gear to shrink to the size of an Ant with the power of a bullet shot from a gun.   Pym’s former business partner, Darren Cross, played by Corey Stoll (The Number 23,) has been able to recreate the Pym Particle and mix it into his own weapon, Yellowjacket, and plans on selling it an agent of Hydra.  Pym wants Scott, as Ant-Man, to break into Cross’s place, steal the Yellow Jacket proto type, and destroy the research to the new Pym particle.

While I am sure I haven’t done the story synopsis justice, I assure you it is quite good. The main reason why it’s good is that for all intents and purposes it’s basically a new telling of the Iron Man story from the first Iron Man.  We have a man who hasn’t lived up to his potential, Scott, who is mentored by a father figure, Hank, with a love interest from Hank’s daughter Hope, played by Evangeline Lilly (The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies,) to help overcome the bad guy, Cross, who wants to use new technology to profit and control the world.  When I finally right my review of Iron Man (2008,) that plot summary will look very familiar(***UPDATE:I finally did an Iron Man review and here it is.)   While this sounds like a big negative, I assure you it isn’t.  The characters are different, the father figure is alive in this version, the love interest isn’t as easy, and the learning how to use the suit is just as entertaining as it was in Iron Man.

The cast I thought was wonderful for the most part.  Stoll did a good job of being a different version of Obadiah Stane (again an Iron Man reference.)  It was nice seeing Paul Rudd in an action movie while still being very Paul Rudd like.  Michael Douglass was fun as the mentor with a few secrets that haunt him.  My only slight problem with the casting was with Lilly as the love interest.  I love her in The Hobbit films, but her tough girl image is not as likeable as Scarlet Johansson’s Black Widow.  I can’t quite put my finger on it.  But I think I am nitpicking a little because it really doesn’t distract from the film.  She just seems like she is not quite sure how to play her sometimes.

My final thoughts are that the action scenes are very much in line with what you expect from the MCU movies, fun, not completely over the top, and appropriate for the content.  I will say the final fight between Ant-Man and Yellowjacket was exciting and comical.  The whole toy train sequence is worth the price of admission for me.  Also the fight scene between Ant-Man and The Falcon at the Avengers compound is quite entertaining as well.  The special effects were quite good in this movie.  Overall for me, this movie is an excellent addition to the MCU.  I rank it behind Iron Man, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and The Avengers.  I assure that when I write the reviews for those movies you will see that I mean this as a compliment.

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