Fun, imagination propel Ant-Man
FILM | Chuck Koplinski
After the rather somber and at times pedestrian entry that was Avengers: Age of Ultron, Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man is a much needed breath of fresh air. Lighthearted, fun and imaginative, this is by far the most fun of the Marvel features, a movie that has no problem acknowledging how absurd it is, while reveling in it at the same time. Credit the script by English filmmakers Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish, as well as Will Ferrell partner, director Adam McKay, and the film’s star, Paul Rudd, for setting the proper “sit-back-and-enjoy-theride” tone that the director is able to convey to the screen. This and the movie’s inventive special effects help obscure the many plots holes and array of flimsy supporting characters that would have spelled doom for more serious productions.
While aficionados of Marvel Comics will recognize the names in the cast of characters, they’ll have to change their perspective of them as things have been altered a bit for the big screen. Having devised what he calls the “Pym Particle,” Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas, bringing the proper degree of gravitas) devotes his time and energy to other scientific pursuits, realizing that what he’s discovered has the potential to be used towards violent ends. This does not sit well with the board of directors of Pym Industries and control of the company is wrested from him, given over to his protégée Darren Cross (Corey Stoll). Cross eventually stumbles upon his mentor’s research -- seems he’s discovered how to move atoms closer together to achieve greater density and the ability to shrink -- and develops it into a weaponized uniform called Yellowjacket, technology to be used in warfare and sold to the highest bidder. Pym realizes that he must sabotage this plan before it reaches fruition, so he recruits recently paroled burglar Scott Lang (Rudd), a Robin Hood-like thief who reluctantly agrees to don a suit of the scientist’s own making, which will allow him to shrink to the size of an ant, communicate with ants (just go with it…) and retain the full strength of a man. He’s charged with breaking into the lab where the Yellowjacket suit is stored and destroy it. Pym’s daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) is more than a bit skeptical of the plan.
Reed dispenses with the premise very quickly, while giving us the necessary background for each character. That Lang agrees to do this so he might be able to see his estranged daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson) puts us in the character’s corner in an instant, as does Rudd’s disarming turn. With equal economy we learn Pym is haunted by a past tragedy, Hope is bitter over an event in her past, Lang’s buddies Luis, Dave and Kurt (Michael Pena, T.I. and David Dastmalchian) are on hand solely for comic relief and that McKay owes actor Bobby Cannavale big time for taking on the thankless role of Cassie’s potential stepfather. The last four roles mentioned above are so poorly written they make cardboard boxes look dynamic, but the skill of the four actors saddled with them prevents them from weighing down the movie completely.
The innovative visuals only enhance the fun quotient of the film, as the perspective through which Lang sees the world adds a sense of dynamism to the production. After shrinking for the first time, he finds himself outrunning a sudden flood in a bathtub, being caught in the grooves of a spinning record and tossed into an air duct only to be sucked up by a vacuum cleaner. This sequence, scenes in which Lang converses with armies of ants and the climax that takes place on a table-top train set are so inventive and entertaining, we willingly overlook the one-dimensional villain he’s forced to contend with as well as the flimsy science and convenient coincidences that are thrown our way.
While I doubt (hope…) the Marvel films will ever be as dark as their DC Comics bigscreen counterparts, some of the fun has been missing from the last few entries from the studio. If nothing else, Ant-Man succeeds in reminding us, and hopefully producer Kevin Feige, that these movies are, at their core, supposed to be amusing and a bit of a lark. Hopefully, this film’s lighthearted approach and the hero who embodies it, will prove infectious where the next few Marvel epics are concerned.
Contact Tom Irwin at [email protected].
