REVIEW: Ant-Man

It's only just dawned on me how long I've been waiting for Marvel's Ant-Man to come out. Back before The Avengers even assembled, there was buzz (no pun intended) about Edgar Wright's attempts to helm an adaptation of the classic To Steal An Ant Man comic storyline, bringing Scott Lang and Hank Pym into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Finally, after suffering countless rewrites and losing Edgar Wright in favor of the much more obscure Peyton Reed, Ant-Man  finally hits the screen as arguably the most fun Marvel film to date.

Scott Lang is an ex-burglar who finds himself released from prison, unable to find a job or see his daughter, Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson, who is almost distractingly adorable). Desperate to make ends meet, Scott decides to pull off one last job, robbing the mansion of Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Lang manages to crack Pym's security, only to find nothing but what appears to be a fancy motorcycle suit. Of course, this suit is far from ordinary, allowing the wearer to shrink in size (while retaining proportionate strength and density). Scott eventually finds himself allied with Hank and his estranged daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lilly) as the three plan a heist on Pym's former company to prevent his protege, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll, turning it up to eleven), from misusing Pym's shrinking technology. It's one part whiz-bang comic book adaptation, one part Ocean's Eleven. If I had to compare it to another Marvel film, I'd have to go with James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy; both films stay connected to the rest of the MCU just enough to add to the overall narrative of the world Kevin Feige and company have put together, but they also are disconnected enough from everything else that's going on that they're left free to totally be their own, unique thing.

Paul Rudd is quite good in the role of Scott Lang, but I feel as though he's almost too much of an average joe. The idea behind Lang is that he's just a normal guy, not an elite agent like Hawkeye or a billionaire like Tony Stark. He's pretty good at burgling and working with electronics, but other than that he's wholly unremarkable. While Rudd brings a great sense of deadpan humor to the character, he just doesn't leave quite enough of an impression to be considered really amazing. He's good, but he's not about to generate the same level of audience excitement that one would get from Robert Downey Jr or Tom Hiddleston. On the flip-side, we have Michael Douglas as the former Ant-Man, Hank Pym. Douglas completely nails this part, playing Pym like a cynical old man, retired from a life of dabbling in mad science who now desperately wants to save the world. The film does drag at times, but never when Douglas is on the screen. Evangeline Lilly is quite good as Hope Van Dyne, but I feel as though she didn't quite get the character development she needed. Hank is such an interesting presence, but Hope's entire role can basically be summed up in that, ever since the death of her mother, her relationship with her father is somewhat strained. She bounces back and forth between working with him and being furious at him until their arc is wrapped up quickly and cleanly around the end of the second act. Similarly, I never felt all that invested in the relationship between Scott and Cassie; we know that Scott isn't a bad guy (they explain early on that, even though he DID commit a crime, it was decidedly Robin Hood-esque in nature) and Cassie continues to adore him no matter what. He essentially becomes Ant-Man to make himself feel more deserving of his daughter's admiration, which is fine, but it doesn't add anything to their subplot. There is literally no moment in Scott Lang's story at which point his relationship with his daughter is at stake; actually getting to see her and pay child support is what motivates him to invade Pym's home in the first place, but it's not like his ex-wife will grant him unlimited visiting rights now that he can talk to ants.

Filling the role of the villain, we have Corey Stoll as Darren Cross. On one hand, I think this is a terrible villain. He's got next to no depth behind the usual generic greed, ambition, and daddy issues that come with being a protege-turned-traitorous CEO. On the other hand, Stoll is just so much fun to watch in this role. It's not exactly a deep character, but the amount of maniacal cheese crammed into this performance saves it from being yet another pitiful Marvel villain alongside Malekith and Ultron. It's mentioned that Pym Particles (the secret to Hank Pym's size-altering formula) can have an adverse effect on the human mind, when the user is not properly protected. This basically gives Stoll full range to act as goofy and pulpy as he wants, and by God does he go all-out. This is definitely one of those love it or hate it kind of things, but I personally thought it was loads of fun, if not especially deep. In a similar camp is the trio of crooks who help Scott pull off various operations throughout the movie (Michael Peña, David Dastmalchian, and Tip "T.I." Harris); they provide the goofier comedic relief, compared to Rudd and Douglas' more dry, deadpan delivery. I found these characters to be really well-written and likeable, never stepping over that line between funny and annoying. However, like I said, these are the clearly designated comedic relief; if you don't find them funny, they serve little purpose in the grand scheme of things.

As much as I should praise the writing, I feel as though this may be the most visually interesting Marvel movie to date (aside from Guardians of the Galaxy); while the CGI is noticeable, the cinematography keeps things from looking like just another Summer blockbuster. The shrinking scenes in particular are a feast for the eyes, making for some of the most creative action sequences I've ever seen in a superhero film. It's got a wholly unique look and feel to it, setting it apart from what one might expect out of the MCU these days. At this point, Marvel Studios is basically a money-making machine; by no means do they have to really step outside the box when it comes to visuals or cinematography. If they wanted, they easily could have stuck to a bland, simple formula and still produced something that would go on to be hilariously profitable. Bland and simple, but profitable. However, there is noticeable effort to be found in the way this movie was put together, and I feel as though that's worth a lot.

Ant-Man has managed to succeed in that oh so important field where Age of Ultron failed; it actually lived up to the hype. I honestly didn't know what to expect going in; I was excited, of course, but the number of changes this movie had gone through made me just a tad worried. However, any and all of those fears turned out to be completely unfounded; this is definitely a strong contender for the best film of Marvel's Phase Two, easily landing amongst the cream of the crop of the MCU as a whole. While it's not a flawless feature, it more than makes up for it with great performances, imaginative sequences, and just being loads of fun in general.