Tales to Astonish

Rating: 9/10 (19 July 2015)

With the departure of Edgar Wright to direct this film (director of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World's End and Scott Pilgrim), everyone went nuts. Everyone thought this movie would crash (with no survivors) and fail miserably because if you look at what happened with X-Men 3 (wherein Bryan Singer departed as well and Brett Ratner took the job as the director and we all know how that ended up). This film has been on the plans for years and some even stated that Edgar Wright's script for Ant-Man was one of the best they ever had. So without the snappy and hilarious cuts or shots that Edgar Wright usually makes, how did this film fair? Thankfully Marvel did not stray away from their magic and still was, at moments, reminiscent of Wright's style which benefited the film as a whole.
When going into this film, people are generally obviously gonna have mixed feelings for this. Whether you're a Marvel fan or just a general moviegoer, you're seeing this because it's a superhero film and it's by Marvel. Personally, that's how I felt and before entering the cinema. But once again, like in Guardians of the Galaxy, it was utterly surprising. Ant-Man is one of the special marvels that Marvel has accomplished considering the bold moves they've done. Right off the bat, when the Marvel logo starts showing up, the recurring Mexican music and happy-go-lucky feel is there. Paul Rudd is absolutely likable in playing Scott Lang and Michael Douglas provides an excellent and significant character in this film as Hank Pym. The dynamic of passing on the torch hasn't been as relevant and significant in superhero films and it was fascinating to see this play out really well. The acting was hilarious and outstanding. Michael Peña's charismatic and happy-go-lucky nature truly were the scene stealing moments. Evangeline Lily as Hope Pym was great as well and also surprising, is the fact that the villain in this film (Darren Cross/Yellow Jacket) was actually really menacing and had good exposition as to why he's "evil" which past Marvel films have suffered from not doing. The villain was like Obadiah Stane from the first Iron Man film and he was on par, if not better than him.
Moving on to the plot, I have to say, it truly is one of the better and special films Marvel has pulled off. The whole idea of emphasizing on a heist brought a whole new layer of excitement to this film. The whole set up in the first act of the film was average at best, but when the second and third act came along, the film started to boost to hyper drive and was nothing but pure fun and hilariousness. It was built with great tension mixed with comic relief that worked as a whole. The dramatic elements of the film was moving and did not feel out of place more or less. Now the tie-in to the Avengers was surprising for most people (who didn't see the TV spots). There were plenty of references that are sure to bring a smile and even hyperventilate some hardcore fans.
Now on to the action and visuals of this film, Industrial Light and Magic nails it once more. Whenever Ant-Man shrinks and if you take a look at his surroundings, it looks so real because it was indeed real. The use of photo realistic CGI to enhance the background and insert Ant-Man in there provided a great 3D experience and gave way to excellent and sometimes snappy and well timed action sequences. The action set pieces were small, however the film brought in a large scale feel into it. There's no city falling down, there's no headquarters being crushed by a helicarrier, but it felt so huge and grand that I was surprised it gave a great taste at the end of the film. Of course the humor was still intact while the astonishing action was ongoing which always have been proved to be a great mix when it comes to Marvel movies.
As for the flaws in this film, there really isn't that much that comes to mind because this film was just downright fun. If it's to be ranked and compared to the Marvel films, it's on par with the first Iron Man and definitely Guardians of the Galaxy. Much better than Marvel's previous film Age of Ultron.
+A well made plot and premise, +Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, Michael Douglas as Hank Pym and the cast, +An actual menacing villain for once, +Heist, +Action and Excellent use of visuals bringing a great 3D experience. Verdict: 8.6/10