Ant-Man

The idea seemed silly to me at first but because this is Marvel, I was willing to give "Ant-Man" a chance. I advise everyone else to do the same because while it wasn't the best movie, it is still worth seeing. The film's protagonist, Scott Lang, is the best element of this movie as well as his motivation for becoming Hank Pym's successor. The film's story is good but not as strong as for past Marvel movies and the show is funny but not as amusing as say "Guardians of the Galaxy". I saw "Ant-Man" as having the same purpose as the movie "Thor", which is to establish a superhero that will be more entertaining when he is part of team in a later movie. This view was validated with the next Marvel film that began Phase three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The first scene of "Ant-Man" impressed me because I am fascinated when actors are effectively rendered younger by CGI such as in "Tron: Legacy" or "Terminator Genisys". The effects are pretty seamless in this opening scene in creating a 1989 version of Michael Douglas' character. As mentioned, the best part of this movie is Paul Rudd's character. "Romeo + Juliet" was the first time I saw him in a movie but "Ant-Man" is the first time I took full notice of him. Rudd did a lot to make this movie good because he was funny but not to the point that he overshadowed the supporting comedic characters. Rudd even help to write the final script after the departure of Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish from the project. You like Scott but hope for his redemption. The fact that he is breaking and entering after vowing not to is a little discomforting. Even though he is doing this for his daughter, we all know that it is not the right choice. We must be able to relate to the protagonist and Scott's love for his daughter was very well portrayed. This is a very strong center on which to build the story of "Ant-Man". Despite all these good points, the movie didn't offer the same level of fun and action that we have seen come out of the studio in recent years. For example, a hero is only as good as the villain. Marvel has successfully brought to life on the big screen many of their great villains such as Loki, Ultron and Red Skull. Yellowjacket for me failed to balance with the entertainment level from Ant-Man. I am becoming impressed with Albertan actress Evangeline Lilly because there is a great differentiation between all of her film roles. Her performances are unique enough that while watching this movie, you forget about her characters in "Real Steel" and The Hobbit Trilogy. This is the funniest character that I have seen Michael Pena perform and he has great chemistry with Rudd. As you might expect, we have actors that have previously appeared in the MCU such as John Stattery and Hayley Atwell. Anthony Mackie's inclusion was a very welcome piece of entertainment. His scene with Ant-Man is my favorite in the whole show and Ant-Man's reaction to discovering Avengers headquarters gets funnier every time. I didn't recognize Wood Harris from "Remember the Titans" and "Creed" until I watched "Ant-Man" a few more times. Garrett Morris' cameo was great as was Stan Lee's. This movie also introduces another superhero besides Ant-Man and I applaud the casting of this new hero to the MCU. The end-credit sequence creates a few questions that were thankfully answered in "Captain America: Civil War". As a side note, composer Christophe Beck has gained my attention with his work at Disney and he appears to have taken well to creating a Marvel musical score.

As a "Tintin" fan, I know who Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish are and I am a little bummed out that they left over creative differences. Maybe their final version of "Ant-Man" would have been even better. I really get a kick out of the Baskin-Robbins gag as well as other funny moments in this show but I wasn't as entertained as I wanted to be. At least the story of this movie was given the attention it needed and as a result, I had some faith in this character from the start. "Ant-Man" was the final installment in Phase Two of the MCU but if you ask me, "Avengers: Age of Ultron" had a better conclusion. In hindsight, it was better to have "Ant-Man" conclude Phase Two than to kick off Phase Three in comparison with "Civil War". Either way, Ant-Man seemed a little lost in the shuffle of this franchise at first but after "Civil War", I hoped to see him included in more crossover films after his sequel. I got my wish.

3.5 Stars out of 5