I was never a fan of Ant-Man in the comics. I always thought he was one of the weakest superheroes in that his power was basically he could turn microscopic and talk to ants. Last year Marvel released “Guardians Of The Galaxy” and they basically did quite an accomplishment by turning a story about a virtually unknown group of superheroes into one of Marvel’s best superhero movies to date. It looks like Marvel has done it again because “Ant-Man” was a really enjoyable and well done film.
Hank Pym played by Michael Douglas:
Within the very first few minutes of the film you will be treated to one of the most incredible effects of the film, the de-aging of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) by 25 years. We have seen this done previously with films like “Tron: Legacy” and in the recent “Terminator: Genysis”, but the results that were achieved in “Ant-Man’s” de-aging process blows all contenders away. It is absolutely flawless and it is the one thing that impressed me the most with “Ant-Man”. I definitely wanted to see more of it and it made me realize that we are at an age where a whole movie can be done with this process.
Scott Lang/Ant-Man played by Paul Rudd:
Scott Lang is an ex-con that has just been released from prison and is finding it hard to find work due to his criminal background. He is also trying to rebuild the relationship with his young daughter and just wants the best for her life. Realizing that the only way out of his financial problems is to make one big score with his friends he decides to burgle the house of Hank Pym. The score is not what he expected and is basically a setup to have Lang work with Pym to stop Pym’s former protégé, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) from militarizing Pym’s Particles which Pym fears could lead to disaster if the technology ends up in the wrong hands. Pym and Lang are joined by Pym’s daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lilly) as they work against time to stop Cross and the villainous Yellow Jacket from achieving their goal of selling their technology to the highest bidder.
Hope Van Dyme played by Evangeline Lilly:
“Ant-Man” is basically a heist movie with a bunch of lighthearted comedy and the introduction of Marvel’s newest superhero to it’s ever growing cinematic roster. If you throw out all of the superhero parts, it’s still a fun movie. What I liked about this movie was that it was something new and it feels different from the other Marvel movies that we have seen thus far. Paul Rudd has a certain kind of charm where you just can’t help but root for the guy and he is excellently cast as Scott Lang/ Ant-Man. Michael Douglas does a great job as the mentor to Lang and it is great to see him in a Marvel movie. Corey Stall does a great job as the villain and it is a shame that Warner Brothers did not choose him to play the role of Lex Luthor in “Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice”.
Darren Cross played by Corey Stall:
I think the director, Peyton Reed, deserves a lot of praise due to the drama that was created after Marvel and Edgar Wright, the original director, parted ways. I am sure that people that dislike this movie will say that it probably would have been better if Wright was still director and there will be others who really like it and basically say, well this was Wright’s vision and he deserves the credit.
I would say the only negative is although I enjoyed the movie and it made me appreciate the “Ant-Man” character, in no way am I looking forward to “Ant-Man 2” as I would say the next “Guardians Of The Galaxy”. He’s still just a guy that shrinks and communicates with ants, even though I know he has another power that will probably come to play in the sequel.
Since “Avengers: Age Of Ultron” came out recently, it is hard not to compare the two. I would say that by far “Ultron” had the star power, the roster and some incredible action scenes that many people would prefer it over the “Ant-Man”. But this was a fun movie with very likeable characters and a story that flowed a hell of a lot better than ir did in “Ultron”.
As per the norm, there are two after credit scenes once the movie is over. One occurs within a few minutes and the other one will have you waiting at least 10 minutes until all of the credits are finished. Is the second after credit scene worth it? It depends. It appears to be an actual scene from “Captain America: Civil War”, so if you are dying to see a little piece of that movie, you may want to stay. But dont be surprised if you end up saying, “I waited all this time for this?” Like most after credit scenes, it is short and probably floating around the internet somewhere.
I give “Ant-Man” 3 out of 5 stars.