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Ant-Man

A well everyone,  Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has come to a close. Starting with Iron Man 3, we have witnessed quite a lot with the MCU. Tony’s Malibu mansion being decimated, a group of misfits coming together to save the universe, and a menacing artificial intelligence bent on wiping out the human race. Yeah that is a lot for our superheroes to endure in the past few years. To me, at times it was a little heavy (well except dancing Groot). So why not end this Phase on a more lighter note…

Scott Lang (Paul Rudd This Is 40) is a thief just released from prison in high hopes of turning his life away from crime. Unfortunately for Scott, acquiring a job with a record is harder than he may have thought. Looking for any way to provide for his young daughter, Scott agrees to help his ex-cellmate  Luis (Michael Peña) on a job stealing from an ‘old man’. When Scott breaks into a very large safe, it isn’t jewels or money that Scott finds but a ‘biker’ suit with a helmet. Taking the suit home, Scott decides to try it on and without knowing what a button on the suit does Scott pushes said button and shrinks himself to the bottom of his bathtub. Scott becomes extremely freaked out and decides to return the suit to the safe, but when he exits the house he is immediately arrested. After stewing in his jail cell for a bit, Scott’s ‘lawyer’ arrives to talk to him. Scott’s ‘lawyer’ turns out to be Hank Pym (Michael Douglas Wall Street) and Hank wants to recruit Scott to help him destroy an old technology that Hank invented.

Ant-Man…Ant-Man…as my sister so wonderfully expressed to me when I said that was going to see the movie, “That sounds ridiculous…” She was absolutely right, the concept of the character and all the he is about is complete rubbish. I even said those words to myself when Marvel announced that this character was going to make its way to the big screen. However, this film is not as ridiculous as it sounds. The great thing about this film is, I think that it knows it sounds ridiculous and runs with it. There has not be a more fun Marvel movie since the original Iron Man. There are a lot of laughs, emotion, and action packed into this 117 minute movie.

I scoffed at the idea that Paul Rudd was going to be a superhero. Then again, that was then and this is now. Rudd unequivocally shines in this movie and proves to the world that he can be the single lead in a movie. Rudd brings his unique sense of humor to the role which I think made the character more tangible or relatable. Michael Peña turns a surprisingly comedic role here and does a magnificent job doing it. A little type cast, but I thought that Peña made it work. This is the part of the acting critique that is a Catch-22. I love Corey Stoll (This Is Where I Leave You), I think that he is a very underrated actor. Stoll plays the villain Darren Cross who is trying to replicate Pym’s technology and (of course) sell it to the highest bidder. Stoll is very unhinged in this film, but it is his character and how he is written that is the problem for me. There is really no rhyme nor reason on why Cross is delusional or why Cross does what he does, other than he can and he will.

At first the only reason why I was ever going to see this film was because one of my favorite directors, Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead), was going to be directing it. Sadly Wright exited the project  and Marvel put its faith in the guy who directed Bring It On (yep the cheerleading movie). Peyton Reed, BELIEVE ME, would not have be anywhere in the front part of my brain when trying to decide who to replace Wright with. Here again, I was proven wrong. Reed is exactly what this project needed. Reed was able to give light tone and humor to a project almost labeled dead after Wright left. Reed never allows this film to take itself too serious and amazingly mixes that humor flawlessly with the action that Marvel films are famous for. Mr. Reed, I apologize you did a great job. Please come back for the sequel.

You want a reminder why Marvel started making their films? A little glimpse at what made Guardians of the Galaxy work so well? Watch Ant-Man. This film resurrects the formula that Jon Favreau concocted with Iron Man. This is a funny, touching, and action packed movie that should be consider one of the best Marvel films to date.

The Verdict: See In Theatres.