ANT-MAN : TINY SOLDIER
Rating ***
The Ant Man movie wraps up phase 2 of what we know as Marvel Cinematic Universe, which started with Iron Man 3. Ant man is a marvel comic character who initially appeared back in 1962 comic and has been a regular part of the Avengers and the marvel comic book universe.
The movie had been in news for the various changes went into the development of the film. Earlier Edgar Wright was to direct the movie but he moved on citing creative differences with the studio. Though Joss Whedon commented that Wright’s script was one of the best Marvel had. Later Peyton Reed came in and took the charge and the screenplay credits are given to Wright, Cornish and Paul Rudd.
The story is of an engineer turned petty ‘burglar’ Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) who just released from prison and is trying to get back in life. Make it up to his family more importantly his daughter Cassie. He breaks into former S.H.I.E.L.D.’s scientist Hank Pym’s (Michael Douglas) apartment and steals something that is called the Ant man suit. Hank gives him a chance at redemption to be the Ant man and be a hero to save the mankind from a similar project that he has to steal.
Unlike the other marvel heroes Paul Rudd’s Ant Man is someone who doesn’t take himself seriously. This is not some guy trying to do good to humanity in the bigger scheme of things, he just took the job to get away from the burgling scene and be a hero in his daughter’s eyes.
The movie is crackling from the opening scene of 1989 where Hank shows his disgust to a committee of SHIELD and quits it. There is humor coherently written into the script and clever lines are dropped every now and then. Paul Rudd is credited for the screenplay as well which could be the big reason for comedy being an important part of the film.
Paul Rudd is first rate as not very heroic common guy, whose love for his daughter it the key emotion of the movie.
Michael Douglas is impressive as the scientist Hank Pym who is sure about Paul’s good soul and guides him to take the leap to become the Ant Man.
Evangeline Lilly is playing Hope, daughter of Hank who has an estranged relationship with his father due to some old issue. She definitely plays a vital role in getting Scott trained and be ready for the job. She might also play an important part in the upcoming Marvel franchise.
Michael Pena who plays Luis is amazing with his Cuban accent and amazing sense of comedy. His lines will leave you in splits every time he narrates a story to Scott. The rest of the burglary partners T’T.I’ Harris and David Dastmaichian are good too.
Ant Man can also communicate with ants which play pivotal role in his attempt at the heist and also in his battle against the bad guys. It is interesting to watch Scott and the ants work together.
The Hank and his daughters’ track is a bit of distracting and seem not that much needed. Corey Stall as the nemesis is mostly one dimensional and lacked some character.
The biggest power of the super hero movies is the computer generated special effects and they are aplenty here as well, all very well-conceived and executed.The movie takes an inverse approach than what we are used to watch in the super hero saga. There are no huge buildings getting demolished and destroyed, but in fact the sets are micro where all the action happens. Marvel calls them the macro sets that are used in the whole movie for the action that happens with the micro sized Ant Man.
As for Ant Man he has started well and of course ultimately will be joining the Avengers too, which will be an interesting thing to look for in the upcoming line up. Rumors are in that he is going to appear in Captain America: Civil War, which is getting bigger than Avengers as a lot of show ups are being heard of.
Watch it keep your self aligned with the MCU, if you liked Guardians of the Galaxy you will love this one too.
