Ant-Man

Rating: 6/10 (28 July 2015)

Marvel Comics created many great superheroes that have graced the screen and become especially big in the 21st Century, but the title character of this next incarnation was not a household name, but this movie certainly looked worth a go, directed by Peyton Reed (Bring It On, Down with Love, The Break-Up, Yes Man). Basically well-meaning thief Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) has been released from prison, he moves in with his old cellmate Luis (Crash's Michael Peña), he is determined to go straight and get a job to provide child support, this is the only way his ex-wife Maggie (Jurassic World's Judy Greer), now engaged to policeman Paxton (Blue Jasmine's Bobby Cannavale), will allow him to see his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson). Unable to hold a job because of his criminal record, Scott agrees to join Luis and his crew to commit a burglary, he breaks in past security systems and cracks the safe, but he finds only what looks like an old motorcycle suit, but he does take this home. Scott tries on the suit at home, and accidentally presses a switch that causes him to shrink to the size of an insect, Ant-Man, he survives a flush down the drain and onto the streets before returning to normal size, terrified by the experience he returns the suit to the house, but he ends up arrested. Former S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), the homeowner, visits the jail and smuggles the Ant-Man shrinking suit into Scott's cell to help him break out, at his home Pym explains that he resigned from S.H.I.E.L.D. after discovering that they attempted to replicate the suit shrinking technology, Pym's former protégé Darren Cross (Non-Stop's Corey Stoll) is close to perfecting a shrinking suit of his own, the Yellowjacket. Pym manipulated Scott through Luis into stealing the suit, it was a test, he wants him to become the new Ant-Man to steal the Yellowjacket, Pym's estranged daughter Hope van Dyne (Lost's Evangeline Lilly) has been spying on Cross despite her strained relationship with her father, she helps train Scott to use the technology of the suit, to fight and to control ants. Scott is first sent to steal a device from the Avengers' headquarters, where he briefly fights Sam Wilson / Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Hope shows anger towards Pym about the death of her mother Janet (Hayley Lovitt), he explains that she was The Wasp and disappeared, whilst disabling a Soviet nuclear missile, into a subatomic quantum realm, he warns Scott this could happen if he overrides the suit's safeguards. The Yellowjacket is perfected and Pym is invited to the unveiling, Scott meanwhile, with the swarm of ants, flyers, builders and others, infiltrates the building, sabotages the servers and plants explosives, but Cross traps him, he intends to sell both the Yellowjacket and Ant-Man suits to Hydra, led by Mitchell Carson (Martin Donovan), Scott manages to escape, Carson flees, and Scott pursues Cross, while the explosives detonate and the building is destroyed. Ant-Man and Yellowjacket fight until Scott is arrested by Paxton, but Cross holds Cassie hostage to lure him into another fight, but this time Scott shrinks to subatomic size to penetrate Cross's suit and sabotage it to shrink uncontrollably, Cross is killed, Scott disappears into the quantum realm, but tampers with the safeguards and manages to reverse the mechanism and return to the real world. In the end Paxton covers for Scott in gratitude to keep him out of prison and allow him to be with his daughter, Pym wonders if his wife is also alive in the quantum realm, Luis tells Scott that Wilson is looking for him, and Pym shows and offers Hope a new prototype Wasp suit. Also starring Wood Harris as Gale, David Dastmalchian as Kurt, Tip "T.I." Harris as Dave, Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, John Slattery as Howard Stark, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes and Stan Lee as Bartender. Rudd manages to pass off being just-about serious and the leading hero, but leaves room for deadpan quips, Douglas is a good choice for the wise scientist, Lilly gets her time being the feisty scientist's daughter, and Stoll is good at being the nasty villain, the supporting cast members get their good moments too. You almost ignore the fact that you may not have heard of the title character before this film was made, you buy into it fairly quickly, and there's small references back to the Avengers, you can just settle back and enjoy the fantastic special effects that take you into the microscopic world of insects and create fast-paced chase and fight sequences, and there is funny stuff too, all together it is a fun action adventure. Good!