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Movie Reveiew: ANT-MAN brings us someone to relate to

ANT-MAN brings us someone to relate to in Scott Lang

I never thought it would be a flop, but I wasn’t sure how people would take to an Ant-Man major feature film. Even I, who had raved about Guardians of the Galaxy when it was first announced at Comic-Con, wasn’t sure how much I’d like it.  Of course, it helps when Ant-Man brings us someone to relate to.

So, yes, I liked it a lot! No, it’s not The Avengers, as Scott Lang would heartily agree. And no, it’s not Captain America: The Winter Soldier or Thor or any of the other previous Marvel films out there, but it surprisingly does have a place in the Marvelverse.

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Paul Rudd, the actor/comedian who obviously has a stash of juju from the Fountain of Youth holed up somewhere, plays Scott Lang, a master thief who is trying to stay out of the criminal life now that he’s been given a second chance and to be a more positive role model for his young daughter. Alas, attempting to do good and actually doing good is easier said than done, and he can’t help but take the first “easy” chance to score some big money.

He attempts to rob a place and finds only a weird looking “motorcyle suit.” In his frustration and hurry, he takes the suit anyway. But then he finds out it’s no ordinary suit, and he’s given a chance to do real superhero-type good.

So, the story starts there, and it’s a pretty well-conceived story. Since I’m not familiar with the comics, we aren’t going to delve into whether Scott Lang’s story stays true to the source material, but Paul’s portrayal of Lang feels genuine and heartfelt. He’s not intended to be one with major superpowers. He has a suit that makes him powerful, much like Tony Stark, but where Stark is all confidence about his abilities, Lang is not so much. He does it, however, because he knows that he wants to protect his daughter, and if protecting his daughter means saving the world as well, then he’ll do it. And as a normal human being who isn’t filthy rich or super-powered or not military-trained, I believe he’s probably the closest character we as regular human beings can relate to. Rudd plays that everyday guy perfectly, as he has seemed to perfect that type of person in his previous films.

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Michael Douglas plays Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man, and the one who asks for Scott’s help to prevent his creation to be misused. Evangeline Lilly plays Hope Van Dyne, Hank’s daughter. These two characters play a hefty role into helping Scott become the Ant-Man, and although they are somewhat supporting characters, they are important to the Marvelverse. Both Douglas’ and Lilly’s portrayals of the characters are believable and bittersweet and it adds more heart to the story and I loved their dynamic between each other as well as both their dynamics with Rudd’s character.

Corey Stoll‘s portrayal of the antagonist Darren Cross, aka Yellowjacket, unfortunately wasn’t as menacing as other villains in Marvel, and although it was okay, I think Stoll could’ve done better.  He just seemed too in control and there was a part of Cross that needed to show why he was the way he was.  It’s talked about, but I think it needed to be something that we could see on the screen and not just imagine.

As far as comedy relief, as Marvel movies tend to have plenty of, it was no different with this movie. Michael Pena stole the show when it came to the humor. His part of Luis as pretty much a sidekick to Scott Lang was absolutely spot-on. Every time he was on screen, you basically couldn’t help laugh. He doesn’t do as much comedy as drama, and he’s very good at drama as well (see Fury, End of Watch, Gracepoint), so to see this side of him is a real treat. I really hope they bring this character back for other movies.

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As far as the story goes, it’s not a bad story, nor is it a great one, either. But it’s a decent one and it helps to bring Scott’s story into the fold. And I’m really looking forward to seeing how this character plays a part in future Marvel movie(s).  Yes, you’ll want to stay for the mid-credits and post credits scenes to get a hint of what I’m talking about.

Probably the weakest part of the film was the visual effects, but basically because of the massive amounts of scenarios they have to deal with. Doing macro-scenery is probably trickier than we can imagine, especially when dealing with such elements like water and insects zoomed in. It probably does look fake when you look at small things up close. There was another scene involved that had to deal with more of a creative mind and to have to make that a visual realm was different. Still, it wasn’t horrible.

In short, the acting was not overdone and well received, the story was simple and easy to relate to, and the effects were good, but not great. Overall, I’d give the movie an 8 out of 10 Fandom Stars.

Paul Rudd & Michael Douglas lead the ant charge! See Marvel's Ant-Man in theaters today!

Posted by Walt Disney Studios on Saturday, July 18, 2015

By Nat, the Geek Girl

Southern California native who likes movies, books (Shadowhunter Chronicles, NA, YA fantasy, Red Rising series), TV shows (The Sandman), and San Diego Comic-Con. I also like to write, but don't get to do much of that aside from on here. I fell into the BTS rabbit hole, and I refuse to leave.