Francis LawMovie Review: Ant-Man
The expansion of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe (MCU) to include more than the most well-known characters has brought Guardians of the Galaxy into the mix and now, Ant-Man has joined his compatriots. A key founding member of The Avengers in the comic books, Ant-Man has many fans stoked to finally watch the insect-inspired hero on the silver screen.
Enter Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), an ex-con and loving father, who is also the second person to helm the Ant-Man suit in an alternative version to the comic.. His beginning is unlike most superhero origins: the first time he puts on the suit is after he stole it from Hank Pym’s vault, without knowing about its abilities.
Afraid the secret to his suit would fall into the wrong hands, Hank (Michael Douglas), the original creator of the suit, works alongside Scott to teach him the ways of Ant-Man. Scott later begins his training as Ant-Man with combat training from Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), Hank’s daughter. The ultimate goal here is to stop Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), Hank’s ex-protégé; a brilliant scientist, albeit one with a disturbed mind, bent on replicating the Ant-Man suit.
2 of UrbanWire’s writers, Francis (a DC fan) and Samantha (a Marvel fan) share their thoughts on the movie.
Are you an Ant-Man fan?
Sam: YES.
Francis: Nah, give me the Atom (DC Hero) any other day. He gets tiny too, just that he’s cooler and isn’t named after an insect.
What were you hoping for from the movie?
Sam: When a Marvel fangirl walks into a Marvel movie, it’s with anticipation. Not only for the movie but also for the post (and also post-post) credits scene. I was hoping to see Hank Pym in action, but I guess Scott Lang isn’t half bad either.
Francis: As much as I’m a DC fan, I admit that the MCU is rather successful and I’ve really enjoyed some of their films. But to be brutally honest, I was hoping that Marvel would slip up with Ant-Man to put an end to this MCU hype.
What was your favourite part of the movie?
Sam: Definitely when Scott was caught by Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), in full Falcon regalia! I couldn’t help but scream when I saw him.
Francis: That’s just them pandering to the Marvel fan base….
Sam: It was hilarious how Sam gets knocked down by what looks like a black speck on screen and Scott runs from Sam as he stomps around. It was so cool to see the newest Avenger as Scott’s first real fight.
Sam: I also really liked Scott’s training where he had to do stuff like repeatedly jump through a keyhole, command a legion of ants and, of course, spar with Hope.
Francis: I “hope” you’re done. I really liked one of the side characters, Luis (Michael Peña). There was this part where he was narrating how he got wind of the heist job to rob Hank’s house. They dubbed Luis’s voice over the people he had talked to. It was hilarious!
Would you recommend others to watch it?
Sam: I think like most Marvel productions, Ant-Man is full of amazing CGI effects and action sequences for the fanboys and audiences alike. Self-deprecating humor is a key part of the film with Scott coming to terms with his less sexier superhero name and shrinking problems.
Sam: As a Marvel fan, I noticed a number of cameos throughout the movie such as usual suspect Stan Lee and Agent Carter (Hayley Atwell).
Francis: While Ant-Man didn’t crash like I hoped it would, it wasn’t exactly spectacular either. The action is great, Scott is pretty likeable and the timing of the humour is spot-on. But having watched almost every other Marvel movie, Ant-man feels like exactly every other Marvel movie.
Tell us what you think of Ant-Man in the comments section below! Are you with Samantha or Francis?
Information:
Release Date: 16 July
Runtime: 117 minutes
Language: English
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action/Sci-fi
Director: Peyton Reed
Main Cast: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Abby Ryder Fortson, Michael Peña, David Dastmalchian, Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (T.I.)