Ant-Man Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: A former thief must take on the role of a superhero and prevent a madman from recreating a dangerous technology.

Review: This was another instance where I thought things looked like shit. I mean, Paul Rudd...really? Thankfully, I was wrong on this one. Marvel has been such a hit or miss that I didn't want to take a chance, but, after seeing how Ant-Man was presented in the awesome "Captain America: Civil War," I figured it couldn't be as bad as I was imagining. Sure enough, Paul Rudd worked surprisingly well in the role, and the film, as a whole, spiced things up with a heist theme. I was most worried about the lighthearted nature of the story, but this aspect turned out to be complementary instead. Come to think of it, a lot of things were so cheesy--in a good way--that this felt like the formula for an '80s movie.

If you're burning out on all of these superhero movies then I think you might appreciate "Ant-Man" all the more. Although it's still technically an origin film, the pacing takes us through these formalities quickly enough. We get a seamless blending of the training to be Ant-Man fused into the buildup to the pivotal heist. As such, the film follows a heist structure more accurately which helps relieve the burnout from tired superhero cliches. Paul Rudd's sarcastic tone works better than I'd hope given the crazy situation he's been thrust into; it just feels apropos. In fact, the comedic tone throughout had a certain charm to it. I really liked Michael Douglas here--I didn't think he'd ever do a superhero movie, but he was a natural for the role; in fact, I wanted to see more adventures from his days as Ant-Man especially with the apparent death of the original Wasp. The peripheral characters are at that edge of entertaining and plain stupid, but they kind of won me over with the little things like Stan Lee's cameo. Hell, I even cared when Ant-Man's main, ant friend, Anthony, got killed. NO! The highlight moment is definitely when they're fighting near Ant-Man's daughter's Thomas train. It was such a fun combination with the cops wondering what the hell is happening and how Ant-Man and the villain, Yellowjacket, kept forgetting that it's not a real train. I wouldn't go as far as to say the film itself was a comedy, but there was a lot of successful genre-mixing at work.

While I was pleasantly surprised with this movie for the most part, there were still plenty of shenanigans afoot. For instance, the one-dimensional villain, Yellowjacket, was not fleshed out properly. And, even though I don't know much about the Ant-Man comics, I at least knew the real Yellowjacket was supposed to be a persona of Hank Pym...so that was a disappointing change. As I alluded to, some jokes and characters are outright moronic. I get that a huge draw for these films are the kiddies, but something like "Iron Man" balanced the comedy/action more substantially; this idiocy just wreaks of Disney's slimy hands. My last gripe is simply in regard to the simplistic nature of the plot: a stereotypical criminal with a heart of gold becomes a reluctant superhero against an over the top, evil villain who doesn't appear to even have a motive? Seriously, what did Yellowjacket hope to accomplish? To make more money despite being a successful, corporate CEO?! This cartoonish plot does feel '80s-ish, which I like, but that wasn't the vibe they were going for so it's more incidental than anything. So, in this case, it's a situation where a plot aspect can be both a positive and a negative.

This may not be anywhere close to the best superhero film out there, but it's better than you'd think at a glance. Having a heist plot line helped considerably to keep things fresh in, what's becoming, an oversaturated market. The comedic aspects are done well, but jokes lean heavily toward the PG crowd. A huge positive is the quick pacing which carries the audience through the running time unaware. There are noticeable flaws spread throughout that are compounded by the heaps of superhero tropes, but nothing really drags down the experience. "Ant-Man" was intended to be viewed before seeing "CA: Civil War," but, if you were like me and passed on it, I'd highly recommend going back and checking it out. I'm now actually excited about the sequel and seeing what the new Wasp is capable of doing.

Notable Moment: When Ant-Man and Yellowjacket fight near the Thomas train set. It may have been part pandering or shameless product placement, but it was handled hilariously nonetheless.

Final Rating: 7/10