Ant music - uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh!...

Rating: 7/10 (15 July 2015)

From the opening scene, which we get *before* the 'Marvel Studios' logo appears, you know things are going to be a bit different with this movie compared to the other Marvel films thus far. It was a nice surprise to see Hayley Atwell (once again rocking the convincing old age makeup) as an older Peggy Carter, who appears alongside a more youthful-looking Michael Douglas as Hank Pym and John Slattery's Howard Stark. After this set-up, we're introduced to Paul Rudd's Scott Lang, the film's hero, in a scene that you think you've watched many times before - the hero getting beaten up, only to fight back and win - but is in fact something else. I appreciated this shake-up to the formula we've become accustomed to over time. And that's this film's main takeaway - it mixes things up a bit (no small feat), which is sometimes a positive and sometimes a negative. The beginning, for example, is much slower-paced than perhaps most are used to. The setting up of the characters, etc is rather low-key in comparison to other Marvel films.
Paul Rudd is likable enough as Scott, who's a burglar, but also a guy trying to do right by his daughter (which is at the film's heart), an ordinary guy who gets some funny lines (Rudd's extra-dry delivery is welcome), but isn't some rapid-fire snark-spouting machine, and thankfully not an a-hole (unlike certain 'billionaire playboy philanthropists' who'll continue to take over EVERYTHING). Playing well off Rudd is Evangeline Lilly, sporting toned arms as Hank's daughter, Hope van Dyne. While in the beginning of the film it seems like she's just going to be filling the 'mean pretty lady' role, teaching Scott how to throw a punch and not getting along with him, she does eventually go from despising him to almost-liking him, and this is where you see her character is much more than she may first appear (just like how Scott's ex-wife's new husband, Paxton, played by Bobby Cannavale, seems kind of a jerk for most of the movie, but eventually shows he's a decent guy). She also clashes with her father, but shares a number of emotional scenes with him, where Lilly displays her range. She's not only capable of throwing a punch and delivering verbal barbs, but also showing humanity when it counts, softening somewhat in later scenes, but never losing her edge. In the mid-credits scene, she even gets to deliver a line which not only serves her character well, but also sums up the viewing public's thoughts when it comes to women headlining comic book movies. Lilly proved herself more than capable in a female action role as Tauriel in the last two Hobbit movies (even if the final one did her character a disservice), and this movie promises more great things to come from her. She does a lot with a little and I really liked her dynamics with Scott and her father. Speaking of Hank, Douglas lends some real weight to the film, playing the old Ant-Man who needs someone to take over from him. The way he tests Scott makes for the film's first action sequence.
The shrinking effects on display aren't the old-style Honey, I Shrunk The Kids type of thing, but more refined, the concept of Ant-Man allowing for something definitely different to what we're used to when it comes to Marvel movie action sequences. Scott's first shrinking was quite effective, conveying just how dangerous everyday normal things can be when you're the size of an ant. The upside is that ants become his allies and he develops a friendship with one particular flying ant who he names Antony (and if you didn't see the conclusion to this friendship coming from a mile away...clearly you haven't seen Honey, I Shrunk The Kids). It's nice to see Scott's bonding with his various insect allies, especially given that at the other end of the spectrum is Corey Stoll's nasty badguy, Darren Cross, whose experiments lead to a virtual Violence of the Lambs horror show, reducing test subjects to bloody phlegm (why'd they have to do that to the cutest lamb ever?! At least Hope was upset by it). His is the latest in a long line of sub-par/underwhelming villains Marvel has dished out (really, the memorable ones can be counted on one hand...after losing a few digits), but at least he didn't get all shout-y (like so many seem to) until towards the end - which I was thankful for. He's adequate in the role, but nothing particularly memorable. Perhaps if he could've worked in "Dead-ant, dead-ant/Dead-ant, dead- ant dead-ant dead-ant dead-ant..." when threatening Ant-Man? Scott's heist buddies, referred to as "wombats" by Douglas' Pym, are alright. They're mostly played for laughs, with varying degrees of success, but aren't entirely useless either.
Apparently director Edgar Wright, who was a big fan of Ant-Man, proposed his idea for the movie and had begun developing it, only to drop out due to 'creative differences'. After reading that Joss Whedon thought it was "the best script that Marvel had ever had", I'm itching to know what that film would've been like. There's some real nice elements to this movie (with, unfortunately, some of the best moments given away in the trailers - like the Thomas the Tank Engine scene, although there's another funny scene involving Ping-Pong), but it feels very different to what's come before. For people having trouble with the concept, remember this is the same universe that asked you to buy a talking raccoon and Treebeard's monosyllabic cousin. While this movie must be commended for bringing something new to the table, it didn't quite reach the levels of enjoyment set by the Thor, Captain America and Avengers movies for me, but others might enjoy it more. Look out for a couple Avenger-related cameos and stick around, while Christophe Beck's catchy/memorable Ant-Man theme music plays, for the mid-credits and after-credits sequences promising more interesting things to come.