Review: Ant-Man

Ever since The Avengers, Marvel's formula for their cinematic universe seemed unbeatable, last year alone saw their two strongest efforts in Winter Soldier and Guardians, and while it didn't fit right with some people Age Of Ultron proved to be a strong sequel to the original Avengers. I bring this up because Ant-Man, the closing chapter in Phase 2 of the MCU, inadvertently turned out to be the biggest test of the Marvel Formula when original director Edgar 'Cornetto' Wright dropped the project due to creative differences. With the loss of the visually unique Wright and the fast change to director Peyton Reed - a man whose last film was the middling Yes Man from 7 years ago - it felt like this would be the film to really see if Marvel was as fool-proof as everyone thought they were. The results...

Film's pretty good.

Following his release from prison, professional burglar Scott Lang tries to set himself straight so that he can get back to a steady life and stay in contact with his young daughter Cassie who currently lives with his ex-wife Maggie and her new cop fiancé Paxton. However the steady live proves difficult for an ex-con and eventually Scott takes up the offer from old cellmate/current roommate Luis to hit up the safe of a rich old guy who's out of town for the week. The theft is a success but rather than money Scott finds a strange, futuristic suit.

General curiosity gets the better of Scott and he puts the suit on, only to discover it's shrinking abilities, scared and confused Scott puts the suit back but is caught by the police. While being processed Scott is approached by former scientific entrepreneur Dr Hank Pym, the original owner of the suit who not only allowed Scott to steal from him, but offers him a chance of freedom in return for his assistance. Hank's former protégé Darren Cross has discovered the hidden secrets of The Pym Particle, the element that powers the shrinking capabilities of the suit, and use it for a weapon called Yellowjacket to be sold to the highest bidder, knowing how dangerous the possibilities are Hank gets Scott to help him break into Cross' laboratory and steal the Yellowjacket before Cross can sell it to the wrong people. Scott agrees much to the annoyance of Hank's daughter Hope who wants to take up the suit herself in memory of her late mother but regardless she and her father set about training Scott to take up the mantle of the Ant-Man.

Following on from the massive movies before it, having this film be a light-hearted heist film does put it at odds but it also sets it apart, this is its own thing and it's a simple enough introduction to who Scott Lang is and how the Ant-Man suit operates. Keeping it confined to just Scott's story with some future hints towards his introduction into The Avengers is the right way to go, it keeps things contained without worrying too much about the bigger picture.

I will say that there is a strange moment towards the end, not to give anything away but it's a scene that goes to places that the MCU hasn't even touched upon yet. However its implications towards a possible future character do ring strong so its works in the overall story. Speaking of which there are two post-credit scenes, the first hinting at a character's future in the franchise, the second serving as a lead into Civil War.

Characters were a lot of fun and it's clear everyone is having a good time with their roles, the Marvel Villain Flaw is still in effect, basically every bad guy not named Loki or Thanos is a one-film menace not given enough time to properly work their way into the franchise. However I felt like Darren Cross (played by House Of Cards' Corey Stoll) was better than most, his personal connection to Hank worked better for his overall schemes and at times he actually turned out smarter than most other Marvel villains. Cross was hand-chosen by Pym to be his assistant only to be pushed away when Hank realised his mistake in choosing a man too much like himself, frustrated by his apparent mentor, Darren sets about proving himself as better than Pym ever was, leading to a frustrated psychosis brought on by multiple failures at replicating the Pym Particle as well as unprotected exposure to the particle's effects. Cross is suitably cold for the villain role but it's his surprising way of being one step ahead that makes him a surprisingly worthy advisory following some weaker characters in the same role.

While it would've been nice to see more of Scott's family they were included well, his ex Maggie - played by Judy Greer - isn't bitter towards him, she even says that she's willing to talk if Scott can stop with the criminal lifestyle. Their daughter Cassie might have been scientifically designed to be the cutest damn thing on the planet but it works because she's the cutest damn thing on the planet, more than that though, her willingness to look passed her father's shortcomings plays a big part in why Scott decides to help Hank. And Maggie's new husband Paxton, played by Bobby Cannavale, does initially have a problem with Scott but you realise he's not being a dick, he's just trying to protect Cassie as much as Scott is and by the time the finale comes around you see that the two of them have that in common despite their differences, it's actually pretty refreshing to see an old and new husband/father rivalry where one of them isn't an asshole.

Scott's team of three inept but well-meaning criminals had some fun comic-relief moments, the most obvious being Luis played by Michael Pena, this guy nearly steals the movie, he's this pulsing ball of energy and positivity, every time he opens his mouth you get the feeling that he's trying to get an entire paragraph of speech out at once and more often than not his excitement gets the better of him and he goes off on some ridiculous tangents. Even with all of that though and everything that goes wrong Luis is still so damn excited to be a part of it all that he's willing to overlook a lot of the more insane aspects of what he's doing just to be a part of it, he's a lot of fun to watch.

Michael Douglas takes on the role of the original Ant-Man Hank Pym, now to get into some comic-book lore for a moment, Hank Pym has some troubling back-story, due to his decades in the Ant-Man suit and exposure to the Pym Particle he ended up a schizophrenic wife-beater, naturally this is why the focus is on Scott Lang, the second Ant-Man and not Pym - it's also why Tony Stark invented Ultron rather than Pym as was originally in the comics. There is some hints that Hank does have some of that violent past but it's not overtly stated, Hank for the most part is in a mentor role, with his work about to be made into a weapon he's making up for the mistakes of his past, losing his wife, alienating his daughter, etc and using Scott to help hi achieve that goal, in fact the main reason he uses Scott and not his more capable daughter is the fear brought on by losing her mother and not wanting to risk the same with her. Douglas slips right into the MCU, even making some of the more Out-There dialogue sound fitting for the character, he's able to make Pym a regretful character without losing sight of who he is and what he's done, it's a good role but made better by his inclusion.

Evangeline Lilly plays Hank's daughter Hope, right from the start it's clear these two have issues, most of them brought on by the death of Hope's mother, Hank didn't handle it well and Hope hasn't forgiven him for abandoning her. In fact it's stated in the movie that one of the only reasons they're working together is because Cross found the Pym Particle and she understands the need to stop it. Being the daughter of two superheroes, Hope is no stranger to the concept and actively wants to take on the heist herself, much to her father's dismay and Lilly showcases that with a performance equal parts stoic when hiding in plain sight and emotional when clearing the air with her father. There's some good groundwork laid on here for Hope's character that should be examined further with future Marvel films, I look forward to seeing where she goes from here.

And finally we have Scott Lang himself, played by Paul Rudd. Scott is something of an original to the Marvel franchise, he's the first hero to be a criminal - not counting the Guardians who never fully embrace their roles as heroes anyway - so his redemption arc through the movie takes on a big turn. He's also the first hero to be a father, now Marvel has done a lot with Parent/Child relationships (Thor and Odin, Loki and Odin, Tony and Howard) but it's always been the hero that was the child, Scott's the first one to be an actual parent and that ties into his redemption arc, having messed up in the past due to his burglary skills - not robbery as he's quick to point out, robbery is violent - Scott takes the opportunity for a second chance from Hank and sets about using his skills for good, it's also why he's able to connect with Pym, seeing how regretful Hank is over missing the chance to connect with his own daughter helps Scott try harder not to lose his own. Rudd fits right into the character, giving him a sense of fun, a sense of curiosity and a sense of not really knowing what he's doing but going along for it anyway. He's a man that needed responsibility in his life and found that in the Ant-Man suit, with great responsibility comes great power, or something like that. As an introduction we get a good look at Rudd's wit and charm in the role, he's going to do some great things in future films.

Now I won't lie and say that I didn't want to see Edgar Wright's version of this film, given his lightening fast directional style I think it would've fit right into this film and set it up as one of Marvel's most unique. But as it stands it's Peyton Reed's film now and I'll hand it to him, for being given the wheel of a sinking ship Reed manages to salvage the whole damn thing into an pretty damn entertaining movie. It is a lot of set-up which I have to say is the film's biggest weakness, being a heist film I can't fully criticize it for taking the time to set up all the necessary events and plans before heading into the final act but when you're following on the heels of three of the biggest Marvel movies to date, the less is more approach seems redundant. But like I said, the confined story keeps things on a much simpler level for introducing, not only Scott Lank, but Hank and Hope as well so not having so many huge scenes is probably for the better, even though it does render the film a little slower than you might expect.

The film's ace in the hole is the Ant-Man ability to shrink and grow because then we get some inventive action sequences, particularly in the third act once Scott's gotten use to the suit's abilities. There's some humorous moments beforehand - including Scott's first traumatic experience with the suit has him tackle everything from a loose belt buckle to a mousetrap and a routine theft from an old warehouse turns ugly once a certain Avenger turns up leading to a small but funny fight scene - but it's in that final act that things get pretty crazy, from ants carrying miniature explosives to the inner-workings of a computer grid shown in full technological detail. And that's just the heist itself, following on from that some of the set-pieces take everyday objects and manages to turn them into action tent-poles thanks to the shrink/growth factor of the film, everything from an IPhone misunderstanding to a literal train-top fistfight on top of a child's toy track is used and more, I don't want to spoil what happens because some of the funniest and most inventive moments of the film come when things that shouldn't grow, are hit by the growth particle, it's quite insane at times but very fitting for the Marvel movie formula.

The sad thing about Ant-Man is that it's always gonna carry that question of 'What happened if...' and people wondering how it could've been has Wright stayed with the project. As it stands, for all its flaws and smaller nature compared to previous MCU flicks, what we got as an Ant-Man movie works, it's light-hearted, it's funny and it's a comic-book heist movie, just that alone makes it something original and fun. Rudd's Lang is a great new hero that fits into the MCU and I'm looking forward to seeing how him, Hank and Hope all go on from here and if Reed's direction shows us anything, there's plenty of imagination in the character's abilities that we won't be getting bored of him anytime soon.

7/10