(3 / 4)
In continued anticipation for The Avengers: Infinity War as well as the upcoming sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp, it seemed logical that Marvel’s Ant-Man was worth analyzing again. Although I hadn’t seen the film in several years, I remember enjoying the film a lot during its initial release and I’m happy to report that it holds up well upon a re-watch, however, I did come away with some new insights. With the slew of other films in the MCU portfolio, it would have been easy for Ant-Man to have been overshadowed by its more epic predecessors. Coming off the heels of the release of Age of Ultron during the Summer of 2015, Ant-Man was jarringly simple in scope as the stakes were nowhere near the grandiose peril demonstrated by its MCU predecessor. However, this simplicity is the film’s greatest strength and despite being less ambitious in some ways Ant-Man provides an oddly fresh experience that sets the film apart from the other MCU films.
The film centers on Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), a quick-witted thief who upon being released from prison moves in with his former cellmate, Luis (Michael Peña), and attempts to devise a way to support his ex-wife Maggie (Judy Greer) and his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson). The story also follows Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), a former scientist for S.H.I.E.L.D. who had created a suit capable of shrinking an individual to a microscopic state, but eventually parted ways with S.H.I.E.L.D. when he deemed the technology too dangerous to be used for military applications. After manipulating Scott into stealing the Ant-Man suit, Hank recruits Scott to help him stop his unhinged former protégé Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) from creating his own version of the Ant-Man technology, called the Yellowjacket. With the aid of Hank’s estranged daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly), Scott must master the Ant-Man suits capabilities and devise an elaborate heist in order steal the Yellowjacket suit before Cross can use it.
The performances from the entire group of protagonists are strong across the board and prove to be one of the film’s biggest strengths. Paul Rudd provides his trademark humor that is present in many of his past roles, however, it effortlessly fits within the story, resulting in a perfect portrayal of the well-meaning, but morally grey Scott Lang. Michael Douglas’s portrayal of Hank Pym is another great performance with his banter with Scott throughout the film being a highlight as well as his more emotional scenes with his daughter Hope.
Although I remember enjoying her performance when I first watched the film, I was even more impressed with Evangeline Lilly’s performance as Hope this time around, noting that she was probably the standout performance in an already strong ensemble. Lilly provided a multi-dimensional performance in which she easily conveyed Hope’s determination and discipline in regards to helping the world along with the deep emotional pain she felt regarding her conflicted relationship with her father. The romance between her and Scott was also very well done as it felt organic to the plot and probably ranks amongst the best relationships in the MCU. Michael Peña’s performance as Luis is another standout role as his comedic timing greatly enhanced several already humorous situations without ever becoming a distraction or overshadowing the plot driven elements of the film.
The action sequences featured in the film are also worth noting as their fun and creative nature provided battles unlike anything done in any of the prior MCU films. These sequences were simultaneously thrilling and humorous whereby one minute you would be worried Scott might fail and put his family in mortal danger, but soon after you would be laughing at the visual gags, such as a very memorable one involving a Thomas the Tank Engine toy.
I was also pleased for the most part with how director Peyton Reed managed to tell this new story while also situating it into the context of the other MCU films. Some might see this as a cynical way to cash in on the established success of the other MCU films, but I felt it provided an organic context as to how the Ant-Man story fits with the overarching Marvel mythology. Apart from the Falcon character’s appearance in the middle of the film feeling a bit forced, it was amusing to witness Hank Pym interact with other legacy Marvel characters. In hindsight this integration also adeptly provided an expedient way for Scott to have relationships with other characters in future installments as seen by his unfavorable feelings towards Tony Stark during their brief interaction in Captain America: Civil War.
Unfortunately the trend of underwhelming MCU villains continues with Ant-Man, as Yellowjacket fails to make much of a positive impression despite the character having an intriguing relationship with the other characters. I don’t believe the acting from Corey Stoll can be attributed to the character being a disappointment as the character was suitably depraved and detestable when the story called for this. Additionally, the story presented a compelling rationale for Cross’s plans, as Hank Pym refusing to trust him with the truth about the Ant-Man suit was sympathetic and seems like suitable motivation for creating his own shrinking suit at any cost.
The problem is that from the moment the film began Cross was already off the rails insane and so obsessed with his invention that he is comfortable killing a man just for having some objections with his creation. If the film had instead portrayed a gradual descent into madness in which Cross evolved into this madman by the end due to the perceived betrayal from Pym he could have been a notable villain. However, the generic brand of villainy presented makes the character rank amongst the worst MCU villains, somewhere between Iron Man 2’s Whiplash and Guardians of the Galaxy’s Ronan.
It is also worth discussing that during the film’s production it was widely publicized that Edgar Wright best known for films like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, stepped down as director of Ant-Man due to creative differences with the studio, despite retaining writer and producer credits for the film. In spite of the bad press the film proved to still be an entertaining flick that was largely deemed worthy of the Marvel moniker, however, upon further reflection it does feel like the film does hold back a bit and doesn’t quite fulfill the gonzo promise the story alluded to on a stylistic level. There are hints of this quirkiness such as during one of the film’s most entertaining sequences in which Luis recounts how he learned about a potential heist, but despite being refreshingly distinct from the other MCU films, it does feel as though the film could have taken this a bit further. Since the film already achieved critical and financial success, perhaps the studio will be a bit more comfortable with a bolder stylistic approach for the upcoming sequel this Summer.
Despite some minor flaws and the film not entirely fulfilling its potential, Ant-Man is another triumph for the MCU and much like Guardians of the Galaxy, further proves that there are other compelling stories to tell apart from the core Avengers characters. The film wisely chose not to compete with the strengths of the other Marvel films and instead scaled the story down to be a simple heist tale rather than a convoluted epic. This simplistic approach coupled with the strong performances and exhilarating action sequences, proves that Ant-Man is true to its name in proving that great things can indeed come from small packages.
