"Ant-Man" Film Review

Ant-Man (2015) - IMDb


"Ant-Man" Film Review

Rating: 5/5

By: Nathaniel Simpson


    The movies in phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been a hit or a miss. We have received great films, such as "Iron Man 3" and "Captain America: The Winter Soldier". But, we have also received major disappointments, such as "Thor: The Dark World" and "Avengers: Age of Ultron". To conclude this phase of their franchise, Marvel released "Ant-Man", which was a surprisingly fun and great superhero film. 

    The movie stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, an everyday criminal who is trying to turn his life around after getting out of prison. However, when he is desperate for cash to be able to see his young daughter, he and his friends (Michael Peña, David Dastmalchian, T.I.) decide to rob an old man who has a huge safe in his basement. Instead of finding money or riches, Scott finds a weird looking biker suit, disappointed as he went through all of this trouble for nothing.

    However, the biker suit isn't nothing. It belongs to Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), who was a famous scientist that worked alongside the likes of Howard Stark. When Scott tries on the suit, he realizes he can shrink to the size of the ant, terrifying him at first before Hank convinces him to be the Ant-Man to take down evil scientist, Darren Cross (Corey Still).

    Like almost every film he is in, Rudd has such a charm to him. He is always hilarious on-screen, and this film is no exception. He has great chemistry with almost every character that is in this film, especially Douglas and Evangeline Lily, who plays Hank's daughter, Hope. 

    The cinematography is incredible in this movie, and is a change of pace compared to the other Marvel films. We are able to explore what it would look like if we were the size of an ant. It's awesome how the filmmakers were able to capture the atmosphere and setting for Rudd's character by showing the small-scale view of the world, and the amazing graphics used to create such things as the ants Scott works with when he is wearing the suit.

    The film is also hilarious and a whole lot of fun. This is perhaps one of the funniest and most relatable MCU movies. While we can't really relate to Tony Stark or Thor, we are able to relate to Scott and other characters in this film. At the same time, the movie has great timing for its jokes, and almost every single joke or gag hits. This isn't surprising as Edgar Wright wrote this script, and is known for writing such jokes and gags in his other films; take "Shaun of the Dead" for example. I would say this movie includes one of the best gags in the entire franchise as Peña's character tries to tell stories a couple times in this movie, and they are absolutely hilarious every time he tries to explain things to Scott. 

    The movie concludes with the hint at where Ant-Man will go now in the MCU. It's obvious he's going to join Captain America and the rest of the gang in the next film of the franchise, thanks to the post-credits scene. For me, personally, I'm very excited to see where they take Scott in this franchise as I think this movie did a great job setting up his origin story and just providing a fun experience for fans. 

Comments