Ant-Man

Reno 5/16/2024 3:18:27PM 8.4

> Size doesn't matter if he's a superhero who committed to save the world. My confession is I never read 'Ant-man' comics and I never knew such kind of superhero even exist in Marvel till this movie was announced. (But I know Danish film 'Antboy'.) So I'm glad they brought cinematic version of 'Ant-man' and I'm sure he'll return to the next 'Avengers' as they promoted strongly in this film itself to know what would be the audience response. I don't know others, but I definitely welcome the idea. Another CGI magic, another Marvel's wonder. As long as they pick the right cast and crew with a good story, the sci-fi like this continues to rule the cinema world. It was a great team work, that must be appreciated. As usual the top notch visuals as well the performances, even the sidekicks. But I was surprised to see when Paul Rudd was attached to this project. I believed it would be a comedy sci-fi packed with full of action, and I was wrong. It was a simple tale, a heist theme and of course it was fun to watch, but never was a comedy movie. A wonderful beginning, especially for the first film in the series. You know strong foundation is the key to raise a building above. I know the sequels would only get better by progressing and it should be. Because in all the Marvel's superhero flicks, this one was the most family and young kids friendly. That does not mean there were no violence, but from the title to the characters and presentation, all were so casual and can be understood by all. It was so great to see a legend like Michael Douglas to be a part in the modern movie. Now I am eager to see Evangeline Lily as Wasp-girl in the follow-up. It would be like Peter Pan and Tinker Bell, but in a sci-fi version. The extras were very interesting, I enjoyed them as well. If you're are yet to see the film, don't expect anything like Disney's 'Honey' trilogy, after all, if you enjoy the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) then you would do same for it which is the twelfth to follow. 7.5/10

Per Gunnar Jonsson 5/16/2024 3:21:16PM 8.4

I have to say that I did not have great hopes for this movie. However, I found it surprisingly enjoyable. As can be expected from a Marvel super hero movie it is not the most intelligent plot around but instead rather heavy on special effects. Having said that the plot is not bad given the context. I have never read any of the Ant-Man comics so I had no idea what to expect. The little expectation I had was of some guy turning into some ant like creature smashing things left right and center. So it was somewhat of a surprise to me when I found out that the guy was actually shrinking himself to ant size. Actually I went a bit “what the f…” when I first realized this and felt that this was going to be boring. However, in the end, I felt it worked out quite well. If it would have just been about some guy shrinking himself then it would indeed have been somewhat boring but the added coolness of this guy being able to command armies of bad-ass ants really helped stave of the boredom. As I wrote above it is a Marvel super hero movie so it is heavy on special effects and, personally, I felt they where quite okay. There is of course quite a bit of action in the movie as well as a bit of humour. I quite liked the parts where the Ant-Man and his nemesis slugged it out in a children’s room and a giant size Thomas the Tank Engine was thrown through the roof and into the garden. Maybe I liked it because Thomas the Tank Engine is a TV show that my kids liked to watch when they were smaller. There where of course a few of the usual Hollywood silly, brain-dead stunts like the tank scene. It could have been so cool but it was really ruined by the total lack of intelligence in the stunt following the cool revelation. I really liked Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym as well as Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne. I was not too impressed by Paul Rudd but on the while I guess he was not too bad. It is a bit of a shame though that when Hollywood feels they need to throw in a bit of family drama they always have to throw in a divorce. It is rather depressing for us that have lived through such a tragedy after all. Bottom line, this was a surprisingly enjoyable movie. Far better than quite a few of the super hero movies that Marvel/Hollywood have produced like for instance the abysmal Spiderman movies although that is of course a personal opinion.

Wuchak 6/23/2021 3:58:15PM 8.4

***Ant-Man?*** Released in 2015, "Ant-Man" stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, a cat burglar who is offered redemption and the opportunity to be a hero. Michael Douglas plays his mentor, Hank Pym, and Evangeline Lilly Pym's daughter; meanwhile Corey Stoll co-stars as the heavy. In my vast arsenal of old comics I have only one issue where Ant-Man is the main star: Marvel Feature #10, which featured Hank Pym as the hero, not to mention his wife, the Wasp, AKA Janet van Dyne. The character's run in that comic ceased with that very issue. By the 80s Scott Lang, a good-intentioned thief, became Ant-Man after stealing Pym's Ant-Man suit to save his daughter. With the encouragement of Pym, Lang became Ant-Man full-time. The movie is based on these events and I was surprised at how entertaining it is considering how relatively minor the hero is. The movie even makes a joke about this when Ant-Man comes face-to-face with the Falcon (Anthony Mackie). Speaking of which, it's great to see the Falcon in action. It's also great to see Yellowjacket who, in the comics, was Hank Pym after Lang took over as Ant-Man. In the movie Yellowjacket is the villain (Stoll), which is okay since Pym's Yellowjacket in the comics sort of became a villain when he had a mental breakdown and was eventually divorced by Janet, the Wasp. The filmmakers incidentally did an excellent job with the Yellowjacket suit. "Ant-Man" was a surprise hit at the box office and understandably so. It's a quality superhero flick done with style and brimming with confidence. It's nothing more than this, but that's all it needs to be. It's nice to see Michael Douglas who was, believe-it-or-not, 70 years-old during shooting. He shines in the movie as Pym and could easily pass for ten years younger. I also really liked the Quantum Realm sequence when Lang is reduced to microscopic size. The film runs 117 minutes and was shot in Georgia and San Francisco, CA. ADDITIONAL CAST: Judy Greer, Bobby Cannavale and Michael Peña. GRADE: B+/A-