From the opening scene, which we get *before* the 'Marvel Studios' logo appears, you know things will be a bit different with this movie compared to the previous ones. It was a nice surprise to see Hayley Atwell (once again rocking the convincing old age makeup) as an older Peggy Carter, who appears alongside a more youthful-looking Michael Douglas as Hank Pym (which remains the BEST de-aging I've seen in a film) and John Slattery's Howard Stark.
After this set-up, we're introduced to Paul Rudd's Scott Lang in a scene you think you've watched many times before (the hero getting beaten up in jail, only to fight back and win), but it's something else. I appreciated this shake-up to the formula we've become accustomed to over time. And that's this film's main takeaway: it mixes things up, which is sometimes a positive/sometimes a negative. The beginning, for example, feels slower-paced with its setting up of the characters and rather 'low-key' in comparison to other Marvel films. Paul Rudd has an easy likeability about him, which is important since Scott's a burglar...but he's also a mostly-good person. Seeing our hero working at Baskin-Robbins may come as a surprise to some, but he's just an ordinary guy trying to do right by his daughter (the heart of the film). Unlike certain other jerky superheroes, while Scott gets some funny lines (Rudd's extra-dry delivery helps), thankfully it's not of the rapid-fire mumbling snark variety and he also knows what he's good at, without being full of himself.
Playing well off Rudd is Evangeline Lilly, sporting toned arms and a questionable bob haircut as Hank's daughter, Hope van Dyne. While she starts off seeming like the typical 'tough chick' who argues with her father, teaches Scott to fight and doesn't seem to like either of them very much, we learn why that is (Hank fed her a lie about the death of her mother and also refuses to let her wear the Ant-Man suit despite her proving time and again how qualified she is to be a hero while Scott struggles to be). So, she has good reasons for acting the way she does and is far from 'one-note'. Eventually Scott earns her respect; her dad tells her the truth and that's when they become a team. Lilly displays her range, showing she's not only capable of throwing a punch and delivering verbal barbs, but also displaying humanity when it counts whilst never losing her edge. Her final line in the mid-credits scene, "About damn time.", is not only in regards to Hank finally allowing her to don a superhero suit (that of The Wasp, as her mother was before her) and join Scott, but also about it being well-past time we had a female superhero working alongside the male lead as an equal partner. I really liked her dynamics with Scott and Hank.
Speaking of, Douglas lends some real weight/gravitas to the film, playing the old Ant-Man who needs someone to take over from him. He gives a layered performance and the way Hank tests Scott makes for the film's first memorable 'shrinking' sequence. Regarding the shrinking effects on display, these aren't the old-style Honey, I Shrunk the Kids type of thing, but much more refined. The concept of Ant-Man allows for something completely different to what we're used to when it comes to MCU action sequences. Scott's first shrinking was quite effective, conveying just how dangerous everyday normal things can be when you're the size of an ant. The upside is that he gains strength and ants become his allies. He even develops a friendship with one particular winged Carpenter ant he names Ant-thony (if you *didn't* see the outcome of this friendship coming from a mile away...clearly you've never seen Honey, I Shrunk the Kids). We soon learn of various types of ants, all of which have different sets of skills that come in handy, and it's nice to see Scott's bonding with his various insectoid allies.
At the other end of the spectrum is nasty badguy, Darren Cross, whose experiments reduce test subjects to bloody piles of goo (WHY'D they have to do that to the CUTEST LAMB EVER?! At least Hope was upset by it). It's weird that he's so focused on this shrinking tech when he has a gun that TURNS PEOPLE TO GOO (which can be flushed down the toilet) that's a more powerful weapon. His is the latest in a long line of MCU bad guys, and as unhinged but otherwise relatively 'normal' human villains go, Corey Stoll does a decent enough job (though he missed an opportunity to use "Dead-ant, dead-ant/Dead-ant, dead-ant dead-ant dead-ant dead-ant..." when threatening Ant-Man). Scott also battles a less-likeable-than-he-was-in-CA: TWS Sam Wilson/Falcon at one point. Scott's heist buddies, referred to as "wombats" by Hank, are mostly played for laughs (with varying degrees of success), but are alright/not entirely useless. Michael Peña's Luis walks a fine line between being entertaining and annoying, especially with his storytelling about tips he's given. Judy Greer has the rather thankless role of Scott's ex-wife, Maggie, while her new husband, Paxton (Bobby Cannavale), seems kind of a jerk for most of the movie, but eventually shows he's a decent guy.
There are some really great moments (unfortunately, the trailers spoiled the Thomas the Tank Engine scene) throughout, plenty of heart, a likeable hero and new/fresh type of superhero power that we haven't seen before which isn't just about causing explosions. There's *real* imagination/creativity to it. Best of all is the catchy/memorable 'Ant-Man Theme' (it's nice to have a clearly identifiable superhero theme after so long). While I was a bit underwhelmed by this film after my first viewing, and really wanted to know what Edgar Wright (who dropped out due to 'creative differences') would've done with the concept, I've appreciated this movie more with repeated viewings. It mightn't be one of the 'big' MCU films...but you know what they say about good things coming in small packages.
After this set-up, we're introduced to Paul Rudd's Scott Lang in a scene you think you've watched many times before (the hero getting beaten up in jail, only to fight back and win), but it's something else. I appreciated this shake-up to the formula we've become accustomed to over time. And that's this film's main takeaway: it mixes things up, which is sometimes a positive/sometimes a negative. The beginning, for example, feels slower-paced with its setting up of the characters and rather 'low-key' in comparison to other Marvel films. Paul Rudd has an easy likeability about him, which is important since Scott's a burglar...but he's also a mostly-good person. Seeing our hero working at Baskin-Robbins may come as a surprise to some, but he's just an ordinary guy trying to do right by his daughter (the heart of the film). Unlike certain other jerky superheroes, while Scott gets some funny lines (Rudd's extra-dry delivery helps), thankfully it's not of the rapid-fire mumbling snark variety and he also knows what he's good at, without being full of himself.
Playing well off Rudd is Evangeline Lilly, sporting toned arms and a questionable bob haircut as Hank's daughter, Hope van Dyne. While she starts off seeming like the typical 'tough chick' who argues with her father, teaches Scott to fight and doesn't seem to like either of them very much, we learn why that is (Hank fed her a lie about the death of her mother and also refuses to let her wear the Ant-Man suit despite her proving time and again how qualified she is to be a hero while Scott struggles to be). So, she has good reasons for acting the way she does and is far from 'one-note'. Eventually Scott earns her respect; her dad tells her the truth and that's when they become a team. Lilly displays her range, showing she's not only capable of throwing a punch and delivering verbal barbs, but also displaying humanity when it counts whilst never losing her edge. Her final line in the mid-credits scene, "About damn time.", is not only in regards to Hank finally allowing her to don a superhero suit (that of The Wasp, as her mother was before her) and join Scott, but also about it being well-past time we had a female superhero working alongside the male lead as an equal partner. I really liked her dynamics with Scott and Hank.
Speaking of, Douglas lends some real weight/gravitas to the film, playing the old Ant-Man who needs someone to take over from him. He gives a layered performance and the way Hank tests Scott makes for the film's first memorable 'shrinking' sequence. Regarding the shrinking effects on display, these aren't the old-style Honey, I Shrunk the Kids type of thing, but much more refined. The concept of Ant-Man allows for something completely different to what we're used to when it comes to MCU action sequences. Scott's first shrinking was quite effective, conveying just how dangerous everyday normal things can be when you're the size of an ant. The upside is that he gains strength and ants become his allies. He even develops a friendship with one particular winged Carpenter ant he names Ant-thony (if you *didn't* see the outcome of this friendship coming from a mile away...clearly you've never seen Honey, I Shrunk the Kids). We soon learn of various types of ants, all of which have different sets of skills that come in handy, and it's nice to see Scott's bonding with his various insectoid allies.
At the other end of the spectrum is nasty badguy, Darren Cross, whose experiments reduce test subjects to bloody piles of goo (WHY'D they have to do that to the CUTEST LAMB EVER?! At least Hope was upset by it). It's weird that he's so focused on this shrinking tech when he has a gun that TURNS PEOPLE TO GOO (which can be flushed down the toilet) that's a more powerful weapon. His is the latest in a long line of MCU bad guys, and as unhinged but otherwise relatively 'normal' human villains go, Corey Stoll does a decent enough job (though he missed an opportunity to use "Dead-ant, dead-ant/Dead-ant, dead-ant dead-ant dead-ant dead-ant..." when threatening Ant-Man). Scott also battles a less-likeable-than-he-was-in-CA: TWS Sam Wilson/Falcon at one point. Scott's heist buddies, referred to as "wombats" by Hank, are mostly played for laughs (with varying degrees of success), but are alright/not entirely useless. Michael Peña's Luis walks a fine line between being entertaining and annoying, especially with his storytelling about tips he's given. Judy Greer has the rather thankless role of Scott's ex-wife, Maggie, while her new husband, Paxton (Bobby Cannavale), seems kind of a jerk for most of the movie, but eventually shows he's a decent guy.
There are some really great moments (unfortunately, the trailers spoiled the Thomas the Tank Engine scene) throughout, plenty of heart, a likeable hero and new/fresh type of superhero power that we haven't seen before which isn't just about causing explosions. There's *real* imagination/creativity to it. Best of all is the catchy/memorable 'Ant-Man Theme' (it's nice to have a clearly identifiable superhero theme after so long). While I was a bit underwhelmed by this film after my first viewing, and really wanted to know what Edgar Wright (who dropped out due to 'creative differences') would've done with the concept, I've appreciated this movie more with repeated viewings. It mightn't be one of the 'big' MCU films...but you know what they say about good things coming in small packages.