Much like when Guardians of the Galaxy was announced, I was entirely disinterested in Marvel’s announcement of Ant-Man.
Granted, Marvel has a stellar record with their in-house films and the impossibly cheesy sounding Guardians turned out to be among their top tier. But still. A superhero who controls insects and whose main superpower is shrinking. Boo! Give me more Captain America.
When Edgar Wright of Scott Pilgrim/Hot Fuzz/everything great fame hastily departed the product shortly before production, that did not bode well for the project. His replacement, Peyton Reed, of one of my favorite guilty pleasures, Bring It On, is more a journeyman director rather than the auteur aspect that Wright would have brought. But in spite of the turmoil and rewrites and likely studio mandates, Ant-Man turns out as a solid, if not spectacular, film. It’s certainly no Avengers or Winter Soldier but passable enough.
Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang, a recently released convict trying to turn his life around for his daughter, is a cheery, sarcastic, and enjoyable hero. His mentor, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), is enjoyable in his convictions and straightforwardness in spite of his strained relationship with daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly). Together, they reluctantly band together to teach Lang the power of the Ant-Man suit which rearranges atoms to minimize size but maintain density to allow Lang the power to disable henchmen while the size of an insect.
Pym is counting on Lang to infiltrate his old company, now run by the might as well be mustache-twirling Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), and steal Pym’s data that marked the creation of the Ant-Man suit to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. Along the way, Lang enlists the help of his trio of compadres, including the scene stealing Michael Peña, to avert a crisis and redeem himself in his estranged daughter’s eyes.
To a non-comic book reader, Ant-Man seems like an odd character to base a film around (and ultimately join up with The Avengers surely). In the film, Lang does not have a compelling backstory like Captain America nor is he seeking redemption for gross injustices like Tony Stark nor hapless victim like the Hulk. Cinematic Ant-Man is merely a guy in a suit who can talk to insects that wants to clear his name and see his daughter.
After the fictional globe-trotting and world saving in the latest Avengers, it is nice to see a superhero movie that is more localized and not a series of escalating potential catastrophes. While Cross’ plans to sell his version of the shrinking serum to HYDRA spells trouble, Ant-Man is more focused on the redemption arc of Scott Lang and his desire to get back into his daughter’s life.
That theme also runs through Pym and Hope’s relationship as Pym (the original Ant-Man) lost his wife under tragic circumstances and pushed his daughter away after. It doesn’t seem spoiler-y to say that both arcs come full circle as Ant-Man saves the day, patches relations with his former family, and Pym and Hope finally reconcile.
But, aside from some brief comedic interludes, there really isn’t much else of note here. The scenes of Lang working with his subservient ants are neat and all and Lang gets a decent shot at an appearing Avenger in the film, but the rest of it just feels like fluff. Without the novelty of the original Iron Man, the weirdness of Guardians, or the big team-up in Avengers, Ant-Man feels small and insignificant in comparison.
Reed does a fine job with the directing duties and the CGI is more than acceptable but ultimately, Ant-Man is probably the first casualty of Marvel’s never-ending release schedule that fails to offer anything new or jaw-dropping. It’s certainly not a bad film, but it’s not one that calls for a fervent following either.
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