Small Hero, Bigger Universe

Rating: 7/10 (16 July 2015)

Part of the brilliance of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is how they are able to seamlessly weave the stories together and connect our heroes into one giant story. Ant-Man manages to bring Marvel's smallest hero to life and further the universe/galaxy into an even more thrilling place. I really enjoyed the film. I found it to be one of Marvel's funniest pictures, which is no surprise when you have Adam McKay and Paul Rudd co-writing the script. I thought the action and unique fight scenes were well done. There's a ton to like about Ant-Man, and it's another solid outing for the studio. But I also unfortunately think it's is one of the weaker films Marvel has done. That's not to say I don't think Ant-Man is a good film, I do. I think it's really good, but it's not great. Especially after the last 3 films Marvel had done were Avengers 2, Guardians, and Cap 2. Three near perfect superhero films in my book.
Ant-Man tells the story of Scott Lang, an ex-con who just needs a second chance in order to prove to his daughter that he's worth something. That's the part of the film I really enjoyed. I like that this film is at it's core a father-daughter story. For both Scott and Hank, they are trying to prove to their daughters that they aren't washed up bums. Hank gives Scott a chance at redemption by training him to be the Ant-Man, in order to help save the world from Darren Cross' ugly ideas. Cross plays Yellowjacket, and the main villain of the film. The Yellowjacket scenes were pretty cool and much more entertaining than the trailers led me to believe, but I wasn't really a fan of Corey Stoll's performance as Cross. Perhaps it's because his character is way too similar to Jeff Bridges' character in the first Iron man, or maybe it's because the script just doesn't add depth to him. No matter, I thought that was one of the more glaring weaknesses, and a hero is only as good as it's villain. In terms of our hero, I loved Paul Rudd's performance. He's always been great at pulling off both drama and comedy, and Scott Lang was no different for him. I loved that it never seemed like he or the cast were taking the film too seriously, which is something Guardians also did really well. In these big superhero films, it's important to understand the scope and even the utter ridiculousness of the stories. I mean this film is called Ant-Man for crying out loud.
If we're talking about Ant-Man's buddies, I'll admit I wasn't as grossed out as I thought I would be by all the ants in this film. And I was a little hurt when Scott's main buddy, Anthony, kicked the bucket, something I never thought I would say about an Ant. But I wasn't sold on Hope, as both a character and as Evangeline Lilly's performance. There was an opportunity for a great character here, and perhaps there still is in the future (after credits scene), but I never felt connected to her at any point. Her emotional scenes are carried by Michael Douglas, who was brilliant, and her sassy lines come off really b*tchy. Of course, they have to push her for a love interest to Scott, which always felt awkward, as the chemistry was just not there. But the fact that she's pretty much becoming the Wasp, makes me have hope for the character. but overall, if we're just talking about her in this role, I found her to be kind of off-putting and unlikable, but that's just me. Onto the comedy, Michael Pena absolutely kills it. He's by far the funniest part of the movie and quite possibly of the entire cinematic universe. It would be fun to see him interact with some of the Avengers. Most of Scott's buddies hit the mark with their comedy, and speaking of the Avengers, man was that Falcon scene awesome. I was spoiled with him being in the film by a stupid TV spot, but I was impressed to see him have such a notable role and it never felt out of place. It was also nice to briefly see John Slattery and Hayley Atwell reprise their MCU roles.
So with Ant-Man being hilarious and imposing further implications on the universe, I was pleased with the outcome. It's not one of Marvel's better films and it has way too many plot conveniences and a few clichés here and there, but the film is still enjoyable. I just wish the film felt more special then it ended up feeling. The story is weird, but Guardians felt like nothing I have ever experienced. While the action is different then any Marvel film, I don't think the story built around it was all that special. It was also probably the most predictable of any Marvel film to date. Nevertheless, go see it, and stay for both credits scenes, because they are killer.
+Douglas & Rudd kill it
+Pena is hilarious
+Falcon scene
+Beginning cameos
-Hope
-Villain doesn't have much depth
7.7/10