Paul Rudd vs. The Marvel Formula

Rating: 6/10 (22 July 2015)

Imagine if a female co-lead went through an entire Marvel movie without kissing the protagonist. Imagine a Marvel villain who has realistic motivation and a complex personality. Imagine a Marvel plot that is confident enough to refrain from utilizing humorous quips after every line of exposition. Okay, do you have that vision of a unique superhero movie in your head? Well, you might want to hold on to that idea and head to Marvel Studios with your pitch in the future because Ant-Man offers none of that. It is a little structurally different; instead of a non-stop explosive superhero vs. supervillain tale (a la Age of Ultron), it's actually a heist moviethe same way Captain America 2 is a "spy movie," of course. That means that it's not exactly edgy or narratively revelatory; it's just a refreshing take for kids and families new to the genre.
Ant-Man centers around an adept thief, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), who has just been released from prison . After failing to reconcile with his family, he is again forced into another heist operation after discovering a miraculous suit that transforms one into an ant—the perfect capability for a man who's required to sneak through various tunnels and vents. I guess I'd have to thank Marvel this time on not giving us another abnormally muscular and chiseled hero. No, we get Paul Rudd, and you know how everyone has their man-crush even though they don't want to admit it? Well, Rudd is definitely mine. The guy is so charming, and thankfully, Marvel allows his quirky-toned sarcastic humor to truly shine from time to time here. He's the perfect man to play this goofball who ruins emotional moments between father and daughter and endlessly struggles to finally adapt to his superhuman abilities, and that's why he's one of the best characters/heroes in this universe alongside the guardians of the galaxy. Unfortunately, he somewhat gets lost in the shuffle as Michael Douglas brings his terrific acting chops along and Evangeline Lilly once again showcases her sheer badassery (the woman refuses to pick gender-humiliating roles).
At that point, Rudd is expected to just stick to his guns and play the typical action hero with the ultimate goal to save the world. The more I think about it though, the more I absolutely love the cast that was assembled for this film—probably Marvel's most intimate and lowest- budgeted production. We also get Michael Peña and rapper TI together, and they totally deliver when it comes to nicely-balanced comic relief (even though Peña is basically playing the Mexican stereotype). These two are not solely present for a couple of scenes. No, Peña is given ample screen-time to steal the screen whenever he's there, rambling on with his convoluted monologues that bounce from stories about one contact of his to another and on and on until we finally get to the point with a dumbfounded expression on our faces. It's certainly one of the film's most clever elements, which makes me wonder if it was due to Edgar Wright's prior involvement (before he unfortunately left the set for a new director, Peyton Reed, to step in—few films made me lose enthusiasm quite as fast as the day those news came out a year ago).
Now, I feel like I mention this every year, but Marvel simply doesn't understand the importance of introducing stakes into films and occasionally taking itself seriously in order to successfully convey the true danger of the situation. This movie, more than any other of theirs, commits this narrative crime. It continues to juxtapose action scenes between Ant-Man and his equally-sized rival with a wider shot that reveals just how silly this concept is. So, for example, Ant-Man's fighting on a train with the villain in what looks to be a cool action sequence. Cut to a further shot that reminds us this epic fight is really transpiring on a toy train, which lightly bumps into another object. At this point, Marvel is more focused on producing a light comedy that we can all laugh at than a legitimate action movie with a menacing villain and a hero who's fighting against the odds.
On the other hand, Douglas is given a lot of meat to work with in a role that I surely appreciated. He's a once-successful scientist who chose to shut his work and the company behind him only for the wrong person to take his place. His daughter, Hope (Lilly), continues to profess her desire to stop this corporation from leading down the wrong scientific path while also working there. She's the kind of female character that's understandably stubborn and ambitious at first only to hand over the reins to the leading man halfway into the movie. "Okay, my work here is done. Time to let you save the worldand now I just really want to be with you even though we spent a lot of time competing with each other earlier in the film." When we go back and consider Black Widow and Gamora in addition, we come to the epiphany that Marvel can't resist the temptation to create boring and useless female characters. Speaking of boring, phenomenal actor Corey Stoll plays this evil mastermind, Darren Cross, who plans to use these shrinking experiments/technologies for–of course– murderous means. It's yet another villainous role in this world that has nothing to offer beyond "I'm evil just because!"
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