‘Ant-Man’ is Marvel’s latest addition to their cinematic universe, it follows the story of Hank Pym (the original Ant-Man) who gives his suit to a low life thief Scott Lang, in order to achieve an intricate heist to stop Darren Cross from releasing a deadly new technology on the world.
Now Ant-Man has very few negatives, so let’s get them out the way quickly. Firstly, it suffers from the same problem almost every Marvel film has… a flat, tired and stale villain. Though they really did try to make Darren Cross a real life 3D character, the many talented writers failed. Despite Darren Cross having some emotional push for his actions, every thing he did even if it wasn’t evil (like a simple walk through a hallway) seemed evil. Which is poor if you’re trying to make a villain the audience can sympathise with.
Another problem the film posses is it’s very glaring obvious theme of father/daughter relationships. Having this theme isn’t a problem, but for some reason it became overwhelming, especially when Hope Pym mentions it in the film ‘He has a daughter just like you, you see yourself in him.’ I mean, yes I’m sure the audience knows this, don’t spoon feed us with dialogue that literally explain the themes of the film. This maybe a subjective touch, but it felt too much at times.
The great thing is, Ant-Man as a film and a character is a wonderfully awesome light addition to the MCU, while it’s not quite up to the ridiculous heights of Marvel’s last three releases. It’s still a solid, enjoyable and fun movie that would slot in just behind those films. This is thanks to it’s top notch acting from the fore front of the cast, Paul Rudd (who’s comedic timing is obviously perfectly on point) as Scott Lang, and Michael Douglas who added a real emotional depth to the character of Hank Pym. Not just this but the contrasting genre of the whole film being about the ‘heist’ was a surprisingly warm welcome, though it did mean the film lacked action. But for the character and the unrelenting comedy this wasn’t a downside at all.
Ant-Man’s powers a marvel to watch (pun intended), a dynamic and original ability of shrinking and being able to control all sorts of species of Ants make each sequence of him in the suit just that more interesting and engaging. Ant-Man’s encounter with one of the New Avengers (he shall not be named) was a superb way of showing how his abilities measure up with other Marvel heroes. Excellent visual effects help his shrinking ability become something very unique not just for Marvel but for cinema in general. There’s a great backstory that accompanies the film, sometimes making scenes predictable but still supporting the story, adding characters and elevating existing characters.
Make sure you stay for the mid and post credit scenes, probably 2 of the best yet. Introducing new characters and reintroducing previous characters that will play a massive part in Marvel’s next film Captain America 3: Civil War.
Rating: 8.5/10 (No challenge for Marvel’s top films like Guardians of the Galaxy, Age of Ultron or The Winter Soldier, but definitely a solid outing that’s more than ‘good’. It’s heist and comedy genre setting is contrast to the rest of the Marvel films.)
Words by Levi Eddie Aluede