I often complain when a sci fi/action blockbuster takes a story that could build up to something major, but instead settles into a low-stakes third act in which hero battles villain mano-a-mano in a mundane locale – see Men in Black or even Iron Man.
Ant-Man
Directed by Peyton Reed – 2015
Reviewed by Mark Kines
But after the exhausting third acts of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Age of Ultron, with their jillions of CG spaceships and robots, it’s actually a relief that Ant-Man eschews the planet-in-peril bombast and is content to keep its scope, well, minuscule.
More of a heist movie than a superhero film, Ant-Man concerns altruistic thief Scott Lang (Paul Rudd, likable if out of his depth), who is freshly released from prison and trying to rebuild his life when retired inventor Hank Pym (Michael Douglas, in a much larger role than I expected) enlists him to don his secret shrinking/growing Ant-Man suit, and stop an evil corporate usurper (Corey Stoll) who’s trying to perfect his own suit, known as the Yellowjacket. It’s one of many nods to the complicated comic book backstory, here tweaked to include Pym’s late wife (a.k.a. Wasp) and a brilliant and beautiful daughter (Evangeline Lilly) who is Lang’s age and – well, you can guess where that one’s headed.
With its corporate one-upmanship and its hi-tech power-suits, Ant-Man owes a lot to Iron Man. If it was released any earlier, it would have seemed like a retread. But in the middle of Marvel’s mind-numbingly ambitious five-year-plan, with cross-film plotlines leading to an all-out intergalactic war in the next Avengers installments, Ant-Man is refreshingly light summer fare. Ideal for families and a bucket of popcorn.
That said, it’s well-known that original director Edgar Wright was fired from the production (he and partner Joe Cornish retain story and screenplay credit), so film geeks must surely wonder how Wright’s Ant-Man would have differed. Was he reluctant to bow down to Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige’s demands to shoehorn various Avengers references into the plot? Did his turn up his nose at the studio’s insistence on a draggy first act, filled with exposition? Or was his approach just too hyperkinetic and goofy for the Marvel brand? As of now, no one will say, though it’s hard to resist guessing what aspects of the film are true to Wright’s vision. (Some witty montages bear his signature.) In any event, I don’t envy Peyton Reed, a middling but not untalented comedy director. Fanboys are dismissing him as a studio hack, but what if his Ant-Man is better than anything Wright would have made?
Anyway, it’s a good time at the movies. It’s predictable but fun. Michael Peña provides welcome comic relief, Michael Douglas is committed and appealing, there are clever moments throughout the film, and I liked the score (by the incredibly prolific composer Christophe Beck).
> Playing at ArcLight Pasadena, iPic Theaters at One Colorado Pasadena, and Edwards Alhambra Renaissance Stadium 14 & IMAX.
Mark Tapio Kines is a film director, writer, producer and owner of Cassava Films. You can reach Mark here.
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