Ant-Man - An Unexpected Success From Marvel

Rating: 8/10 (19 August 2015)

Ant-Man (2015) directed by Peyton Reed PG-13
Ant-Man is yet another marvel movie, but this time with quite a few tricks up its sleeve. Instead of starring a muscular boring hunk, it stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang a.k.a Ant-Man himself, for example. But the biggest twist you can see earlier on and probably know about is the size of its hero, in particular how small he is. However the movie shows that It doesn't have to rely on a gimmick to work.
First of all, I want to say I had my doubts about this film, mainly with Edgar Wright. When I heard that the writer and director of The World's Ends and several other films that I was dying to see one of these days was writing it, I got excited. Joss Whedon himself (the director of The Avengers, and Avengers: Age of Ultron) said that the script Wright turned in was great, I was ready for the first truly superb marvel superhero flick, since the original Iron Man back in 2008. But, then news broke out that Edgar Wright left the project after creative feuds with Marvel and my anticipation halted to an abrupt stop. Since everyone loves this guy's ideas then Marvel must have been wrong to cut ties with him, and while they may have been, they certainly did not make a bad film, its quite the contrary actually.
First of all I'd like to say that Marvel Studios has finally made a blockbuster that I can proudly say is hilarious. It's filled with inevitably soon-to-be quotable lines, silly imagery, and surprisingly sometimes witty storytelling. Sure, there may not have been a single moment in which I was uncontrollably laughing, but there were definitely laugh out loud moments. For example Michael Douglas has a line that is unexpected enough that it got an amazing giggle out of me. But, the real highlight is a couple of the subplots and little stories Scott's friends tell. These scenes in particular have near perfect editing and sitcom qualities that merge successfully with the story being told. They provide entertaining diversions from the story seemingly, but at the same time the two times they are used, they have a clear reason for them. This is one of the funniest movies of the year.
The performances are rock solid in this film for the most part. Paul Rudd while seemingly playing himself, he throws in more emotion and heart then what he would usually be asked of for any movie. While in terms of comedy, he may be serving up the same cup of tea, an exceptional one at that, never has Rudd been this serious in a movie, even though he may be the biggest goof ball in the entire movie. It proves that Rudd has a place to stay in Hollywood, and could take his shot at significantly more dramatic roles. The scene stealer though is Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man. Douglas delivers every line he has with depth, every line has character, charm, distinctness, and emotion to it. He has one of the best voices in Hollywood and puts it to affect quite well. Every line he has is well written, yet has a comic book like feel to it. His performance is exceptional for what it is. The one weak link in the cast is Corey Stoll as Darren Cross a.k.a Yellowjacket. Stoll is a fine actor in general its just his character is so bland, unoriginal, simplistic, and most of all boring that he can't seem to pull out anything worthy of a film. He doesn't add anything to his character, and honestly doesn't do a good job at proving why no other actor could have played his role just as good as him. But, this isn't to big a deal, when the film has some of the best comic book performances in recent memory.
The best thing about the film though, is what any memorable blockbuster's biggest selling point should be, it's action. Using the size of its lead character, Marvel has made creative action sequences that incorporate both humor and super hero qualities.
Ant-Man is one of the best blockbusters of the 2015 summer. It is funny, it's got excellent performances for the most part, and it has great action scenes. Ant-Man get's a B+.