Ant-Man DVD Review

Age of Antron 

Released : July 17th 2015

Certificate : 12A

Director : Peyton Reed

Cast : Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Michael Peña

Plot : Scott Lang (Rudd) a master thief who has been in and out of prison, resulting in legal restrictions on seeing his daughter, has decided to go straight. However when one last job leads him to rob Dr. Hank Pym (Douglas) he discovers a suit with extraordinary powers.

As the film universe juggernaut that is Marvel continues with one of its biggest years to date, with Deadpool which has become the biggest grossing R-rated movie ever with a total worldwide gross profit of $745.7 million, beating The Matrix: Reloaded which grossed $742m worldwide. Additionally to this Captain America: Civil War is to hit British audience very soon, which contains the biggest development to the story since Avengers Assemble. Ant-Man was the little man slipped in next to Avengers: Age of Ultron, both together bring all the characters and plot points needed for the faceoff that is Civil War. So before Deadpool, Ant-Man was the first origins story that Marvel had put out in the Avengers universe since Thor and Captain America, both released in 2011. So did Marvel still have the capability to pull off the origin story, which had a chequered past with Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America, with only half really pleasing audiences. Of course with hindsight Deadpool has shown that they can, regardless of this films performance. And as with all origins story, there needs to be a different vibe created for each superhero, with Ant-Man they brought on funny man Paul Rudd to give it a light-hearted edge.

The establishment of this story has some issues that are not of concern for the target younger audiences, but might prove tiresome for everyone else. The film later in the story arc has its benefits but within its set up there was some annoyances. Firstly the film was very cliché and generic dealing with issues of the villain (Stoll) having a rather purpose built back story. Additionally the setup of the relationship with Rudd’s character and his daughter had scripting and an overall feel that had didn’t feel very genuine, of course not that Marvel has got to where it was today solely on the strength of its stories. Then there was the issues of Rudd’s team of thief friends, which were there for the purpose of providing extra comic relief to Rudd’s efforts, but Marvel could have been a bit less 2D. As despite the high quality humour they did provide, the racial stereotypes that were made are cringe worth at some points, no doubt the children will love them, but they at points bared resemblance to Skids and Mudflap (the two racially stereotyped mess that featured in Transformers 2). Of course not to the same severity by far, as Ant-Man had a tongue in cheek effect that makes it just about bearable. But having the thief gang of a Mexican, Russian and African American, was initially alike the film annoying.

Joined with this was an overall set up of the story that while was light hearted and fun in nature, wasn’t quiet as rich in origin story as Thor or Captain. With Thor having the fall from grace story which was well executed enough, and Captain being the down trodden weak man (which as familiar as it might have been, functioned, regardless of the rest of the films quality) used as propaganda piece. With Scott Lang it was just a lovable bad guy who happens across the suit, and has the skills that Douglas’s character needed. Of course this is all quiet hyper critical for a kids film, but these little things slightly gave the film a bumpy start in regards to appealing to a wider audience age group (something that Marvel has since addressed again with Deadpool) as it all felt a little purpose built and rushed in order to progress the narrative into Rudd’s training as the Ant-Man, lucky enough from here on out the film retained great entertainment to allow for the other aspects to be mostly forgotten. As once again the special effects joined with the needed good presentation, this time from Peyton Reed (a director with little mainstream success but experience in the comedy genre) which made for a thrilling visual rich action comedy flick vibe to continue throughout the film.

There was even has the film got into its full swing some dregs of the predictable and generic, most obviously revolving around the plot point introduced in the training, to avoid spoilers will just be referred to as the quantum realm. But overall there was great entertainment here with a friendly unique tone that hasn’t been quiet present in the Marvel world before, as all others did contain there darker elements for thrills. Ant-Man was able to effectively provide a light-hearted fun time, via a moderate dose of tongue in cheek humour (for some might translate into corny understandably) that dealt with the superhero element very well. This provided laughs and great vibes that joined with the lack of death and destruction present in most other Marvel films, made for a film that felt like a true children’s film (mins the use of ‘shit’ now and again). To summarise, it can be seen here the level of self-awareness and less serious approach that resembles where the series has been now taken with Deadpool, except in that film, there is the possibility to be more mature in the way it pokes fun at the source material. Rudd’s place in the film is a good choice which didn’t over sell his comedic side to push the film over the edge.

Ant-Man is a welcome treat to the Avengers universe, resembling Better Call Saul in the sense that it takes the structure and formula of the ‘originals’ and slaps more of a smile on its face. There are some aspects that where present in the other origins films that could have been used here. This could be in the form of a much stronger back story for our lead, a stronger villain, and a ditch of a cliché generic script that thinks it can slip by audiences with the bribery of jokes. Luckily the film is saved by the imagination that is behind the hero’s powers, as all scenes that bugs are on screen is a joy, an overall attitude and the jokes which a dosed well enough through the film. The laughs aren’t hysterical, but bring a grin to the faces of audiences that get us on board with this fun little flick. So while it can be argued that this is another pawn in the money making machine of the Marvel world, that gives you little extra than a good guy versus bad with some good special effects, it is the film recognition that it isn’t trying to be anything more than simply that joined with a fun script that makes Ant-Man a worthwhile watch.

Verdict : Welcome the next side man of the Avengers. He might be the least relevant, and you get what you expect, but he makes for a good time.

Verdict : 3/5

Quote : “That is one messed up looking dog.”