Paul Rudd's Ant-Man is a Welcome Addition to the MCU

Rating: 8/10 (18 June 2016)

Marvel Studios loves to flaunt their skills. They made comic book/superhero movies a cultural juggernaut, nailed the idea of a shared cinematic universe, and proved that even their strangest properties can have a home on the big screen where audiences will embrace them. If GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY didn't prove that Marvel can pretty much do whatever they want, ANT-MAN does. ANT-MAN was probably their highest risk venture since the original IRON MAN; a wealth of behind-the-scenes struggles gave the impression that the movie might never see the light of day and left some of us wondering if whatever was left would taint Marvel's amazing track record. Well, ANT-MAN has come and gone and, no surprise, Marvel nailed it. Our hero in ANT-MAN is Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), a cat burglar freshly released from prison who hopes to turn his life around so he can spend more time with his young daughter. Society proves hesitant to forgive a feloneven when his crime was punishing a corporation for ripping off its customersand Scott starts to wonder if a life of crime might be his only option after all. Rumors of an easy score lead Scott to break into the home of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), a genius inventor with former ties to S.H.I.E.L.D., and the discovery of the fabled Ant-Man suit. Of course, Pym was the one who started the rumor to test Scott's thieving skills because he needs the ex- con's help. One of Pym's former apprentice's, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), has nearly cracked Pym's technique for shrinking matter by lessening the space between atoms and he intends on selling this incredibly dangerous tech to the highest bidder. Pym needs Scott to become Ant-Man and use the incredible shrinking ability to pull off his most incredible heist yet, saving the world.
ANT-MAN, from director Peyton Reed and a handful of screenwriters, is so much better than it had any right to be. I was admittedly bummed when Edgar Wright left the project, citing creative differences, because I was excited to see what such a uniquely creative force would bring to the project. I understand some of Wright's contributions survived to the final product and I couldn't tell you who contributed what, but I really like the end result. ANT-MAN continues a trend that'd been developing within Marvel's second "phase" of movies where they experiment with the idea of creating superhero movies outside of the usual "good-guy-punching-bad-guy" genre. ANT-MAN is a heist film that just so happens to utilize a superhero that can shrink and communicate with ants. And it's just as much a comedy as an action film. Ant-Man's first big screen outing could've easily just aped IRON MAN and followed a familiar route but instead they took some risks that paid off in one of the more fun recent Marvel movies. Perhaps taking a cue from Chris Pratt's casting as Star Lord, comedian Paul Rudd was cast as the shrinking hero and he knocks it out of the park. His charisma and sense of humor make him a perfect hero, and he's got great chemistry with little Abby Ryder Fortson who plays his daughter Cassie. Moment of honesty: I get a little choked in the big (small?) final battle when Cassie is in danger, Scott Lang arrives on the scene and pops his faceplate up with a "Hi, peanut!", and Cassie just smiles broadly, forgetting for a moment she's being held captive by a super-villain. I can't not (yes, double negative) feel for the guy and, because he's Paul Rudd, he's just inhumanly likable. The character of Scott Lang, as played by Rudd, is a welcome addition to the Marvel franchise.
I also can't get over how strange it is to see legendary Michael Douglas acting in a Marvel film. And he's not some throwaway side character like Glenn Close in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY; he's Hank Pym! And he's not phoning it in either so, you know, extra bonus. He's having some fun here. I'm not sure the same can be said for Evangeline Lilly as Pym's daughter Hope van Dyne. She's cold and humorless for most of the film and doesn't start to warm up until we're nearing the big heist, so it makes it a little difficult to cheer for the inevitable hookup with Scott that the movie telegraphs from miles away. Coming out the worst is poor Yellowjacket/Darren Cross. Marvel's notorious for having trouble putting out three-dimensional villains in the films and Cross is one of the worst examples. He's motivated by anger toward Pym for not letting him in on the world of Ant-Man and I guess he's also going sort of crazy from shrink-related malpractice. He'll never stand up along the likes of Loki (has anyone?) but we do get a super-fun battle between the tiny hero and villain in a child's train set. Speaking of the shrinking, the visual effects in this movie are fantastic. I love the shrinking/enlarging effects and the ant design, and every time we get to explore the world from a micro-level is a blast. So congratulations to Marvel for this one. ANT- MAN went from my biggest concern to one of my more anticipated franchises. This movie teases fun directions for future films and I'm excited for any chance we'll get to revisit Ant-Man's unique perspective. Just keep the light-hearted sense of fun and humor and I'm sure this series will continue to stand out in an ever-growing sea of superheroes.