You may never have heard of Ant-Man. A superhero with the power of shrinking and controlling ants is as silly as it could get. But following "Guardians of the Galaxy" last year, Marvel has brought another lesser-known superhero into the big screen and become a part of its universe post-Avengers.
Paul
Rudd is Scott Lang, an affable everyman, ex-thief trying to do the right thing
after a life of crimes to get back into his little daughter's (Abby Ryder Fortson) life. When the going gets tough again, he resorts
to one last heist with his crew (Michael Pena, T.I., David Dasmaltchian);
inept-looking, but does get things
done. Little did he know what lies ahead
when he tries to rob a retired CEO and scientist's home, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas, "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," "Haywire").
The
first time Scott finds the suit and accidentally shrinks himself, having to
dodge things and running for his life, is bewilderingly hilarious. Eventually
he's recruited by Hank, who's impressed by his ingenuous breaking, entering and
stealing skills, which includes bypassing an elaborate security system,
fingerprinting lifting method and infiltrating a safe room.
Hank
needs Scott to be Ant-Man in order to stop his former protege and current chief
of Pym Technologies, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll, "Non-Stop,"
"Midnight in Paris") from proceeding with his ominous plan. Darren has finally figured out the formula of
the revolutionary technology of Pym Particle (you'd shudder to see what happened
to his test subjects) and realized it in the form of Yellowjacket suit. He intends to sell this to the highest
bidder.
Darren
is seemingly supported by his colleague, Hank's estranged daughter, Hope Van
Dyne (Evangeline Lilly). Although you'll
find out soon enough that blood is thicker than water. A martial artist who understands the inner workings
of the technology, she helps train Scott to learn how to fight, control the
suit's shrinking power and exponential strength (like a bullet with the
strength of a 200 lbs. man), and command an army of ants. And apparently, there are different kinds of
ants; crazy ants, carpenter ants, bullet ants and fire ants. The final act is action-packed, including ground
and air pursuits by the aforementioned ants and miniature-sized duels in a toy
train set. These look much better
onscreen that they sound!
The
unique visuals take advantage of the novelty factor of things shrinking and
growing in scale, juxtaposing the varying impacts between what take place in
the shrunken universe and in the real world.
Douglas
brings a strong presence of a world-weary mentor and father. Rudd is so
likeable in this laidback, 'aw-shucks' role that you can't help but root for
him. Pena is a comical sidekick with his hysterical storytelling and
mannerism. Lilly is believable enough to
have a central role as a female protagonist than merely a supporting
character. Stay for the post-credit
scenes, which may give you a hint about Ant-Man's and Hope's future. And yes, there are cameos by well-known
figures here as well.
http://www.sdentertainer.com/movies/movie-review-ant-man-marvel/
DVD: http://tinyurl.com/antmandvd
[Ant-Man at 2015 Comic-Con]
