Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios.
“Please let this be good, please let this be good”- Me on my way into the theater to see Ant-Man.
IT WAS GOOD. Thank Odin this movie was everything I was hoping for it to be. It actually delivered a fun Marvel movie despite following the high stakes of the Avengers.
I have been incredibly worried for at least a year now that Marvel would release a bad movie in their string of awesomeness that they have been building since Iron Man. I was even more worried when I found out that Ant-Man was going to be released two months after Avengers Age of Ultron hit theaters. I was afraid that Ant-Man would not live up to its predecessors and would be marked as a dark period for Marvel Studios. However, it was a well put together, well acted, action packed charismatic movie that Marvel is known for.
Ant-Man was awesome for a few different reasons. Number one is that it is not only a super hero movie, but could also be classified as a heist movie. This is the perfect combination to follow Age of Ultron because in a heist movie you inherently feel the drama based on whether or not they will be caught. It is the perfect formula to keep the action and the stakes raised after a powerhouse like the Avengers.
Second is the acting. The acting in this movie is exceptional. Michael Douglas as Hank Pym KILLED it, and if he was 30 years younger an Ant-Man origin story prequel petition would be in process as we speak. Paul Rudd was the perfect choice, and there was no surprise there that he would be charismatic and really hold his own.
The other thing I loved about Ant-Man that is unlike its predecessors was when those heroes were being introduced it was done through an origin story. This movie is in no way an origin story. They obviously let you know the origins of Ant-Man but Scott Lang, Paul Rudd, is not the first man to wear the suit.
Was this movie filled with vague references to the Avengers, which would cause the audience to ask the question, “hey why can’t the Avengers maybe, I don’t know, come help with this devastating issue that they clearly would have heard about by now?” No. However, there are references to the Avengers, but they actually flow pretty seamlessly with the story and do not feel shoe horned in there after the fact. Also, because this doubles as a heist movie and the plan of action is a secret it makes sense that the Avengers would not be coming to the rescue.
The one gripe I had, if you can even call it that, was that my favorite director Edgar Wright was originally supposed to direct this movie. However, he was replaced for reasons unknown to me. Now since I knew he was the original director on the project I couldn’t help but to think about what could have been during this movie. On the other hand if you’re not as big an Edgar Wright fan as me then you won’t even notice this little issue.
Was this the greatest super hero movie you’ve ever seen? No. Was this a good movie with cool action sequences and a smooth plot that was definitely worth $6.75 and two hours of my Tuesday night? Hell yeah.
