Review // Ant-Man

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Marvel Studio’s Ant-Man is going to take the weekend – and summer – by storm. I’ve criticized the studio before for being too interested in the big picture to focus on the film at hand but Ant-Man is refreshing return to form for the studio. Ant-Man delivers a compelling, action-packed adventure more akin to a good old heist film than the modern day superhero romp.

Paul Rudd stars as Scott Lang, a corporate whistle blower turned cat burglar who was recently released from San Quentin. Looking to get his life back on track in order to get visitation rights to see his daughter, Scott is determined to stay on the straight and narrow but finds that it’s a tough world out there for an ex-con. When his former cell mate and legendary storyteller Luis (Micheal Pena) comes to him with a chance at one big score, Scott eventually agrees to join the criminal enterprise. The pair, along with two other associates, T.I.’s get away driver Dave and computer hacker Kurt (David Dastmalchian), break into the house of Pym Technologies founder Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and raid his huge safe. Unbeknownst to Scott, the whole raid was orchestrated by Hank whose been following Scott for years, hopeful to pass on the Ant-Man mantle to the righteous, good-natured burglar.

Once acquainted with Hank and his daughter Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), Scott is drawn into their mission as the new Ant-Man, a former S.H.I.E.L.D designation Hank once held. Scott is tasked with breaking into Pym Tech and stealing a weapon of great power before it is sold to the highest bidder.

At its core Ant-Man is a superhero origin story and it follows the mould. There’s a hilarious montage as the new Ant-Man learns to use his gear, a super villain with little motivation but a whole lot of crazy (well executed by Corey Stoll), and a load of daddy issues (although, this time predominantly from the perspective of the father). But what makes Ant-Man exciting is that it literally shrinks the format. The epic battles of The Avengers are recreated in miniature form – cities aren’t destroyed in Ant-Man, rather his battles take place in mundane settings like bathtubs and briefcases, turned deadly by the miniature format – and its exciting. The same adrenaline pumping action is infused into these miniaturized scenes that have ants dodging bullets and bug zappers all while toppling para-military goons.

The script is great; originally written by Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish and eventually punched up by Paul Rudd and Adam McKay, it brings in a lot of laughs and avoids the over dramatic “end of the world” mumbo jumbo over-utilized by the genre. It also cleverly incorporates the MCU world without allowing The Avengers to overshadow the events of the film. Rudd is fantastic in the lead while Douglas is stalwart as the tormented scientist. Marvel continues to introduce strong female characters with Hope. While she’s often called mean by her male counterparts, Lilly brings Hope’s true character to light effortlessly, a strong, smart, determined woman capable of kicking more butt than any guy in the room – suit or no suit.

While the science behind the suit might be a bit convoluted it doesn’t dwell on it for too long, favouring quirky jokes, slapstick humour and exciting action sequences instead. Ant-Man is a fun adventure for the whole family and it makes me believe in the superhero origin story once again.

Reviewed by Vithiya Murugadas.