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Film Review: Marvel's "Ant-Man"

Image via Forbes.com

It would be a lie to sit here and pretend like I have been an Ant-Man fan my entire life. The truth is that I didn't bother learning much about him until a few years ago. You see, in 2012's San Diego Comic Con, Marvel showed a one-minute long video which turned out to be the test footage for this film. There was no dialogue nor any sort of story to it, but that didn't matter because what we saw was unlike anything we had seen before. My interest in this unknown superhero was sparked that night and while many people mocked this film leading up its release, I kept telling people that this movie was going to surprise everyone. What I saw in that footage was so much potential, and then adding the incredible cast elevated my enthusiasm even more. But now that I have seen the movie, I have to say that even I was surprised by the final product, and I couldn't be more thrilled about it.

***WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD***

Ant-Man opens up with some background information from a scene set in 1989. We see a much younger Hank Pym (Michael Douglass) in a meeting with Peggy Carter (Hayley Attwell), Howard Stark (John Slattery), and Mitchell Carson (Martin Donovan) and they are trying to have Pym hand over the particles he has created. Pym, however, refuses and walks away from S.H.I.E.L.D. and starts his own company. Then we switch over to present-time San Quentin State Prison, where our hero, Scott Lang, is being released from prison. Following his release, we meet the group that will eventually become the team that will assist him during this adventure which includes Luis (Michael Pena), Dave (T.I), and Kurt (David Dastmalchian). The trio tries to convince Scott to help them with a robbery, but Scott is determined to leave the life of crime behind in order to make his daughter Cassie proud. Following a stint at Baskin-Robbins, where he gets fired, Scott gives in and decides to rob the house. The house turns out to be that of Hank Pym and after failing to find money, Scott steals the Ant-Man suit and so begins his journey into becoming a superhero.

 What the movie Ant-Man brings to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is unlike anything we have seen before it. At first sight, this is a heist film and it plays out perfectly as such. But if you look deeper, this is so much more than just a heist movie. At its core, Ant-Man is a story about family as this film heavily demonstrates father-son and father-daughter relationships as well as a bond between brothers. It is important to understand that this isn't an action-heavy film, however, the action that is in it is fantastic. With that being said, lets take a closer look at what this film did right and what it did wrong.

 This is probably the most comedic movie in the MCU, yet the comedy is done in such a way that it doesn't become overwhelming. It also has a ton of heart and because of that we become emotionally invested in all of our heroes. One of the highlights of this film for me was the interaction between the characters and how those interactions helped make the story move forward without having to add a bunch of action scenes. For example, Scott's relationship with Luis is the main reason as to why Scott finds the Ant-Man suit in the first place and Hank's damaged relationship with his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lily) leads her into helping Hank's former apprentice Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) into creating his own shrinking technology. And after seeing Scott's relationship with his daughter, it is easy to understand why he would do anything to be with her.

 Another huge positive about this movie was the action. As I mentioned before, this isn't an Avengers-type of movie in the sense that you won't find the same amount of action here. Not only that, but the stakes here are much smaller than in the past few Marvel movies. For the first time in a very long time it doesn't appear as if the whole world is in danger and if I'm being totally honest, it is a refreshing change of pace. But having said that, you can't watch Ant-Man's fights with Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Yellowjacket and not be amazed by the way in which Ant-Man's powers are used. The shrinking itself looks incredible, but when added seamlessly into a fight in the way it was done here, it just leaves you in awe. Looking at Scott's final battle with Yellowjacket, it's hard to imagine that it takes place in a little girl's bedroom, but it does. Yet the fact that the fight still feels huge is a testament to how amazingly well-done that entire sequence was made.

 The interaction with the ants could have looked silly but instead it was actually very cool. Going back to how much heart this film has, the fact that we care about what happens to these ants should say enough. If your heart didn't break when Antony was killed then I don't know what to tell you. It was great seeing The Wasp and even better finally confirming that The Wasp will be showing up at some point. We also got a glimpse of the new Avengers headquarters, which was a nice treat. I thought that when Ant-Man went subatomic and ended up in that weird new dimension was important not only for this particular story but it also helps set up the upcoming Doctor Strange movie. While there was no reference to him whatsoever, having already visited a different dimension will make it easier for viewers to understand and accept the things that Doctor Strange is able to do.

 There wasn't a whole lot not to like from this movie. In fact, the things that I didn't like didn't take much away from this near-perfect film. For one, I don't understand why Hank didn't just tell Hope the truth about how her mother (Janet van Dyne, the original Wasp) died. He mentions trying to protect her but that just sounds like the typical excuse. Another thing that could have been explained better is why Darren Cross goes crazy. I thought he was a great villain, but I would have loved to see them explain his madness a little more. They mention that the suit is messing with his head but why doesn't it do the same to Hank or Scott? That's really about it though, there just isn't a whole lot to criticize Ant-Man about. This is a very funny, charming, and exciting movie that is hard not to love. Simply put, this is truly one of Marvel's best movies yet. I give it a 9/10 but I feel like I need to reserve the right to raise that score after a few more views.

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