One of Marvel Studios’ biggest risks finally hit cinemas this summer after months of speculation of whether the film would survive or even pay off after original director Edgar Wright exited the project after spending ten years working on it, but in the end did Ant-Man entertain the fans and earned a rightful place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Ant-Man follows convicted thief, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), who gains a second chance to redeem himself after former SHIELD scientist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), asks Scott to use his shrinking technology to pull off a heist to stop a similar shrinking technology falling into the wrong hands.
The story of Ant-Man is very different from anything we’ve seen in the MCU so far. For starters, the film is essentially a heist film, which includes all the conventions of the genre, planning the job, getting the materials needed, training for the job, all ultimately building to giant action set piece at the end. For Ant-Man and Marvel, this is both a good and bad thing. Marvel lately have done a great job of setting their films in conventional genres and adding the superhero elements into the genres, for example, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is spy thriller with a superhero in the lead instead of a secret agent and Ant-Man is no different. The film is a heist film with scientific elements of physics and theoretical physics strongly embedded into the story and in the end Ant-Man becomes a superhero through his heroic actions. While this is a good idea, it does cause the film to be very slow, especially in the second act, as the film builds towards a giant finale without having enough to hold us over till that comes. There is a fight scene between Lang and The Falcon, played by Antony Mackie, at the Avengers facility, but you feel this has been shoehorned into the film so they can make the connection between Ant-Man and Captain America: Civil War. I believe this may have been the “creative differences” that Edgar Wright had to deal with when he was attached to the project and possibly, he simply didn’t want to work with the Marvel system, but who knows what exactly forced Wright to quit.
Marvel does a great job of hiring actors who look the part as their superheroes, but I bet no one really saw Paul Rudd taking on the mantle of Ant-Man. Rudd is primarily a comic actor who is usually the sidekick and very rarely leads a film, but Rudd shows in this film that he can lead. Rudd puts in a wonderful performance as Scott Lang, helping to portray a man with little options left to be with the people he cares most and willing to do anything to look after them. While Rudd showcases what a great serious actor he can be and commits to the film’s action scenes, it is his comedic ability that helps to round out the character. Not only is he funny on his own, but he also has great comedic chemistry with a large number of the cast, especially with Michael Pena. One of the biggest names in this film is Michael Douglas who puts in a nice performance as Hank Pym, but it isn’t anything too ground breaking for the legendary actor. Pym works as a father figure to Lang and while the relationship between the two is good, the dynamic is familiar and doesn’t bring anything new to a clichéd relationship. Evangeline Lilly appears has Hope Van Dyne, aka Pym’s daughter, but while you know she’s about to be a big part of the franchise, she isn’t really given anything to work with. The film portrays her as being this kick arse female character but never gives her the chance to show it. They show her potential in the training scenes with Lang but the film doesn’t allow the chance to showcase her skills fully later on.
Corey Stoll is the main villain of Ant-Man as Pym’s protégé Darren Cross, who develops a suit similar to the Ant-Man suit called the Yellowjacket, but Stoll isn’t believable enough to be the villain. It’s written that Cross starts to go insane due to over exposure to the suit’s chemicals, but Stoll never gives the impression that he is playing a man who is slowly disintegrating from the inside. The character of Cross is another problem that Marvel faces with every one of their films, a memorable villain who can’t seem to last for more than one film. With the exception of Loki and possibly Ultron, Marvel hasn’t made a villain that creates a huge impact with the film itself and the MCU as a whole. It’s obvious that Marvel is relying heavier on Thanos and Josh Brolin and if they don’t deliver on it, Marvel could be in big trouble.
Ant-Man does encounter some problems but there are some fantastic elements for the film to be proud of. First of all the comedy is brilliant, which is very important for a film like this, because you can’t take a film about a man who shrinks down to the size of an ant too seriously. The humour is incredibly clever and shines best when comedic actors take on the materials. Also Michael Pena makes the most of the comedy, having the film’s funniest moments and ultimately stealing every scene he is in. The action scenes are amazing to watch, especially the third act of the film, which balances action and comedy perfectly. The third act in general is a fantastic spectacle as everything we’ve sat through, waiting for, finally pays off and has some of the best moments of the MCU to date featured in it.
In the past Marvel have been a little short when it comes to Blu Ray extras, but they are steadily making the Blu Rays worth buying. For Ant-Man, they offer two great 10-15 minutes featurettes into the making of the film. The first is “Making Of An Ant-Sized Heist: A How-To Guide”, which showcases more of background into the character of Ant-Man and into both versions of the character portrayed by Hank Pym and Scott Lang. It also looks at the heist elements of the film and gives a deeper look into the characters, action pieces and the visual effects for the scenes. The second is “Let’s Go To The Macroverse”, which shows off the technology used to bring Ant-Man to life. They use a variety of techniques, which includes CGI, motion capture technology and macro photography to help bring the audience closer to the action even when the character is ant size. There is also some special content made for the Blu Ray showcasing the events leading into the film. To do this they bring back Leslie Bibb as Christine Everhart to cover the story of Lang’s burglary that lead to his incarceration and there is an interview between Everhart and Lang while he is prison. There is also a spoof interview between Darren Cross and Wired Magazine a couple of months before the events of the film, with Cross hyping a big reveal this summer. The special content is great to watch, it’s funny and gives extra backstory to the film, but they’re not as good as the One Shot shorts Marvel used to do, which are still sorely missing from the Blu Rays. To round out the extras is the obligatory Gag Reel, but this one is probably the funniest one yet for Marvel, with a large amount of humour coming from Rudd acting silly in between takes.
Ant-Man is a fun and entertaining addition to the MCU and helps to set events for Captain America: Civil War and beyond, but in the end you don’t say, “It’s one of the best films Marvel has ever done.” While the comedy and the action hit the tone of the film, the performances are still a little lacklustre with the exception of Rudd and Pena, who equally steal the film. But I think the biggest problem Ant-Man has to deal with is the style and essence of Edgar Wright is still there, and makes the film feel like that the director Peyton Reed is ripping off Wright’s style of filmmaking. We will always wonder what Wright’s version would have been like and how it would differ from Reed’s version, but in the end Ant-Man is an enjoyable ride and has earned a worthy spot in the MCU.
Ant-Man is available on Blu-ray and DVD from 30 November.
