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#510 - Ant-Man
Peyton Reed, 2015
A recently released ex-con attempts to pull a burglary and instead ends up being recruited by an old scientist who has designed a high-tech suit that allows the wearer to shrink to the size of an insect.
My general opinion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe varies pretty wildly to the point where I'm not inclined to think of it as a genuinely great franchise but it's at the point where I'm willing to watch virtually every entry, if only to keep up with all the other geeks out there. Even so, Ant-Man had my interest from the outset simply because it had Edgar Wright attached. Wright has been responsible for directing generally likeable pieces of work that combined raw pop-culture enthusiasm with some rather inventive filmmaking and I have yet to see him direct anything that I genuinely disliked. As such, I was intrigued when I learned that he would be handling Ant-Man and then disappointed when I heard that he had left the project due to creative differences. Even so, I figured that I had to see for myself what the final result would be like. At the very least, it seemed like it would be a film that knew how to have fun with its admittedly ludicrous premise even within the studio-mandated parameters common to the MCU. To this end, Paul Rudd is an example of good casting as he plays an ex-con recruited by the former Ant-Man (Michael Douglas) to be the new person to don the red-and-black suit that allows the wearer to shrink down to the size of an ant. The fact that said suit is driven by an incredibly advanced scientific formula also ends up being what drives the plot as Douglas's protege (Corey Stoll) seeks to develop his own version of the formula that can be weaponised and sold off to the highest bidder. In order to stop him, Douglas hires Rudd to help him steal Stoll's prototype suit with the help of his estranged daughter (Evangeline Lilly), who is able to train Rudd while also spying on Stoll.
Much like last year's Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man seems to compensate for its superficially bizarre premise by having its narrative beats play out with a certain degree of predictability. The juxtaposition of an invention being alternately used for good and evil has served as the plot device for many a Marvel film (the ones that don't revolve around magic stone MacGuffins, anyway) and it's getting to be rather repetitive. I can take the recycling of plot developments a bit, but it becomes especially egregious considering how long the film's first act takes to set all the pieces in motion. Origin stories always feel like a chore, though at least in this case it's helped along by the characteristically snarky Rudd and especially Michael Peña, who threatens to steal the show as Rudd's fast-talking and overly enthusiastic ex-cellmate (his speedy storytelling sequences definitely have Wright's fingerprints all over them). Lilly and Douglas also tend to provide good foils not just for Rudd but also for each other as they argue about training and mission specifics while also dealing with the conflict that has kept them apart for years. Stoll ends up being something of a weak link whose character does not stand out enough to avoid feeling like a composite of previous Marvel villains (specifically the ones from all three Iron Man films).
Being a Marvel film, Ant-Man boasts some relatively slick effects when it comes to depicting the hero's powers and how they allow him to provide a rather interesting variation on the standard heist film. The film also mines Ant-Man's powers for comical effect on a regular basis, whether it's through the rigours of the inevitable training montage or the delightfully absurd climatic set-piece (though I am rather disappointed that the fight that plays out to the sound of The Cure is awfully brief and forgettable - it is one of several things that I can't help but feel would have been improved by Wright's direct involvement). There are also an unsurprising number of references to a bunch of other MCU films (such as one scene where Ant-Man must fight off another member of the Avengers in order to recover a plot device), but nothing that feels like a major lock-out to neophytes. While the stand-alone Marvel films tend to vary rather wildly in terms of quality, Ant-Man can at least be appreciated as some fairly escapist fun. It doesn't reinvent the wheel or anything, but nobody really watches Marvel films for that.
Peyton Reed, 2015
A recently released ex-con attempts to pull a burglary and instead ends up being recruited by an old scientist who has designed a high-tech suit that allows the wearer to shrink to the size of an insect.
My general opinion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe varies pretty wildly to the point where I'm not inclined to think of it as a genuinely great franchise but it's at the point where I'm willing to watch virtually every entry, if only to keep up with all the other geeks out there. Even so, Ant-Man had my interest from the outset simply because it had Edgar Wright attached. Wright has been responsible for directing generally likeable pieces of work that combined raw pop-culture enthusiasm with some rather inventive filmmaking and I have yet to see him direct anything that I genuinely disliked. As such, I was intrigued when I learned that he would be handling Ant-Man and then disappointed when I heard that he had left the project due to creative differences. Even so, I figured that I had to see for myself what the final result would be like. At the very least, it seemed like it would be a film that knew how to have fun with its admittedly ludicrous premise even within the studio-mandated parameters common to the MCU. To this end, Paul Rudd is an example of good casting as he plays an ex-con recruited by the former Ant-Man (Michael Douglas) to be the new person to don the red-and-black suit that allows the wearer to shrink down to the size of an ant. The fact that said suit is driven by an incredibly advanced scientific formula also ends up being what drives the plot as Douglas's protege (Corey Stoll) seeks to develop his own version of the formula that can be weaponised and sold off to the highest bidder. In order to stop him, Douglas hires Rudd to help him steal Stoll's prototype suit with the help of his estranged daughter (Evangeline Lilly), who is able to train Rudd while also spying on Stoll.
Much like last year's Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man seems to compensate for its superficially bizarre premise by having its narrative beats play out with a certain degree of predictability. The juxtaposition of an invention being alternately used for good and evil has served as the plot device for many a Marvel film (the ones that don't revolve around magic stone MacGuffins, anyway) and it's getting to be rather repetitive. I can take the recycling of plot developments a bit, but it becomes especially egregious considering how long the film's first act takes to set all the pieces in motion. Origin stories always feel like a chore, though at least in this case it's helped along by the characteristically snarky Rudd and especially Michael Peña, who threatens to steal the show as Rudd's fast-talking and overly enthusiastic ex-cellmate (his speedy storytelling sequences definitely have Wright's fingerprints all over them). Lilly and Douglas also tend to provide good foils not just for Rudd but also for each other as they argue about training and mission specifics while also dealing with the conflict that has kept them apart for years. Stoll ends up being something of a weak link whose character does not stand out enough to avoid feeling like a composite of previous Marvel villains (specifically the ones from all three Iron Man films).
Being a Marvel film, Ant-Man boasts some relatively slick effects when it comes to depicting the hero's powers and how they allow him to provide a rather interesting variation on the standard heist film. The film also mines Ant-Man's powers for comical effect on a regular basis, whether it's through the rigours of the inevitable training montage or the delightfully absurd climatic set-piece (though I am rather disappointed that the fight that plays out to the sound of The Cure is awfully brief and forgettable - it is one of several things that I can't help but feel would have been improved by Wright's direct involvement). There are also an unsurprising number of references to a bunch of other MCU films (such as one scene where Ant-Man must fight off another member of the Avengers in order to recover a plot device), but nothing that feels like a major lock-out to neophytes. While the stand-alone Marvel films tend to vary rather wildly in terms of quality, Ant-Man can at least be appreciated as some fairly escapist fun. It doesn't reinvent the wheel or anything, but nobody really watches Marvel films for that.