REVIEW : Ant-Man (2015)

When you really think about it, Ant Man's basically Iron Man without all the metal. I mean, both of them are superheros because of their suits. But then, Tony Stark is the famous genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist, while Scott Lang is the infamous skilled-poor-noble-criminal.

So perhaps Ant Man is the anti-Iron Man, I guess?

Paul Rudd joins Marvel's evergrowing team as their latest superhero offering, as Scott Lang, and as the titular Ant-Man. While he's determined to put his life of being a cat burglar behind him after being released from prison, it's easier said than done as employment is hard for someone with a criminal record to his name, and he's not allowed to visit his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson) before settling child support payments. It's not that he doesn't try, but life's not cutting him any slack.

Before becoming the Ant-Man, he was already the hero in his daughter's eyes. Brb, crying ugly tears

Thus. Scott resorts to the one thing he knows best: pulling off a big score once and for all. With the help of a few friends (Michael Peña, T.I, David Dastmalchian), he breaks into the house of Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), with some really mad skillz might I add, only to find not the riches he was expecting, but a strange red suit and helmet. He soon finds out that the suit is able to shrink him to the size of an ant, and also that him stealing the suit was all part of Dr Pym's plan for him to steal a similar suit from the hands of his now estranged protege, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), with the help of his estranged-but-not-really daughter, Hope Pym (Evangeline Lilly). You know, save the world from chaos and all that shebang, the usual.

"This is not the score I was looking for."

It's a breeze to sit through Ant-Man, considering the fact that it doesn't even break the two-hour mark. It's nice how they decide against dragging Scott's transformation into becoming the real Ant-Man, and instead just take us through with training montages of him throwing punches and talking to ants.

The writing isn't great, that I won't deny. It's formulaic and thus predictable, the deus ex machina trope is thrown into the film every chance it is needed; it's everything you've seen, and nothing new is brought to the table. But if there's one thing that sets it apart from films the likes of The Avengers, Iron Man, Ant-Man is actually pretty funny. I mean, Marvel films are pretty lighthearted generally speaking, but think giant Thomas the Train crashing out of windows, and Rottweiler-sized ants skittering down the street.

Now that I think about it, it's more creepy than funny, isn't it? But with context, it's quite hilarious. 

Squad goals, but with all else considering, not really. 

Sometimes the movie plays out like a self-aware parody of the genre it belongs to, doing things and saying stuff as if they're trying to tell the audience "Yeah I'm aware how silly all these 'high-stakes' seem, but bear with me". Pretty sure Paul Rudd has a line in the film that is somewhat to that effect. Maybe the comedy's expected considering director Peyton Reed is more commonly associated with films like Bring It On, The Break-Up, and Yes Man. 

(Then again, with a superhero named Ant-Man, I don't think they could have pulled it off if they wanted to walk down a more serious road with the movie.)

I mean, Ant-Man, really? Ant-Man???

Acting is very much meh in Ant-Man with every character  but I guess the actors did the best they could with the script they were handed with. Everyone from Scott to Hope to her dad Pym Senior are typical figures that are just vessels to move the plot along. Not even Rudd's charisma translates here as he just comes off as bland. Poor Michael Peña's basically playing your good ol' stereotypical Latino gangsta. 

Let me tell you who really stole my heart though: Cassie and Luis. The moment either of them first came onto the screen—especially Cassie—right off the bat I knew I love them already. Cassie, because no one can resist those puppy eyes; Luis because he's that funny, comic-relief of a sidekick that every superhero needs, even if he's a gross stereotype.

Cassie/Abby Appreciation #1

But hey, mediocre writing and even more mediocre acting aside, Ant-Man is entertaining and fun, and that's pretty much all superhero blockbusters really need to be. 

Other trivial musings:  

• That one comment about the Avengers being too busy dropping cities out of skies had me in stitches. 
• What's up with blockbuster female leads and The Lob (See: Bryce Dallas Howard in Jurassic World)
• Why can't these movies learn from the likes of Mad Max or Pacific Rim on how a film is perfectly fine even if you don't force a romantic relationship into it???
• That's it, Abby Ryder Fortson wins the "Cutest Kid on Screen Award". Hands down.

Cassie/Abby Appreciation #2

TL;DR : A fun but typical superhero flick  that's refreshingly small when compared with all the other behemoths of MCU. 

I rate it : 7/10 stars

Should you watch it? Yes. Even if you're a little sick and tired of all these superhero films, give Ant-Man a try. For one thing, it's different, and the fact that it's hilarious doesn't hurt.

ANT-MAN (2015)

Genre : Action Comedy Superhero

Runtime : 117 mins

Director : Peyton Reed

Cast : Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll