Marvel films have performed incredibly well with both critics and audiences and, most importantly, the box-office. Their success is such one can’t help but wonder if the studio’s gotten courageous and is willing to gamble on making films featuring lesser known characters.
Guardians of the Galaxy, for example, starred relatively obscure (at least before the movie’s release, natch) characters yet was a HUGE box office hit (I really didn’t like the film so don’t look for explanations from me as to why it clicked so well with audiences).
Following Guardians of the Galaxy came word Disney/Marvel were, along with writer/director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs The World) working on a movie version of Ant-Man. This character was another decidedly (ahem) small-time Marvel superhero yet the presence of Mr. Wright, a man who built a great reputation for creating clever and at times manic comedies, gave reason for optimism.
Then the roof fell in.
Creative differences resulted in Mr. Wright leaving the project and Peyton Reed taking over. Fans of Marvel films were concerned. Because of these behind-the-scenes problems, could this be Marvel’s first outright failure?
As it turned out, there was little reason to worry.
While Ant-Man may not reach the high bar set by Captain America: Winter Soldier (my personal favorite Marvel superhero film), it is a solid, entertaining feature and another win for Marvel.
The movie starts in the distant (cough, wheeze) past of 1989 where Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) confronts his fellow scientific whiz-kids about his experiments. They want him to share his reduction technology but Dr. Pym fears it will be militarized and angrily leaves the company he founded. Though he is gone, it is clear his ex-workers (including Howard Stark) will continue pursuing his work.
Fast forward to the present where Scott Land (Paul Rudd), electrical whiz and, more importantly, master thief, is released from jail. He is a very likable guy (hey, he’s played by Paul Rudd, how could he not be?!) and is determined to straighten out his life. He wants to re-connect with his daughter but his ex-wife is now dating a police officer who doesn’t care for or trust this ex-con.
Meanwhile, Dr. Pym’s successor, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) continues to work on the reduction formulas Dr. Pym claims he failed to create. Under the watchful eye of Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), Dr. Pym’s supposedly estranged daughter but actually secret mole, the two realize Darren Cross is getting too close to replicating this formula and fear he will sell it to the highest military bidder.
They are running out of time and have to stop Cross and destroy his work. How to do so?
Why, by using the reduction formula and breaking into the heavily secured laboratories.
Naturally, this leads to Dr. Pym recruiting the reluctant Scott Lang to do this skullduggery and things move from there.
Without getting into spoilers, suffice to say we’re soon following along as Scott Lang tries his best to master the reduction technology while planning and, eventually, breaking into the top-secret laboratory.
To my eyes, Ant-Man retains much of Edgar Wright’s DNA (the screenplay is still credited to him) within and, as a result, is a cool and breezy ride. The movie is never too terribly serious or dark, instead giving us a more lighthearted affair that doesn’t place too many demands on its audiences.
To me, the movie’s biggest fault is that Darren Cross is never a terribly well defined villain. As a result he never elicits the fear we probably should have regarding the possibility of succeeding.
Still, Ant-Man is a fun ride that even those who know or care very little of Marvel superhero movies should find entertaining. Recommended.