Ant-Man Movie Review

Article by Gabe Zia

Lazy Film Critic Movie Reviews: Ant-Man

Ant-Man is the latest Marvel movie, within the Avengers universe, set shortly after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron. It stars Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Michael Pena, and Corey Stoll. Ant-Man follows a man named Scott Lang who, after recently being released from prison, is trying to support his daughter, and through a series of events, meets Hank Pym. Some stuff happens, I'd rather not get into the details, and Scott becomes the Ant-Man, a guy who can shrink and control ants.

When thinking of the actors who one would pick to play a superhero, rarely is someone like Paul Rudd the first that comes to mind. So, I went into this movie knowing Paul Rudd would commit a lot to this project, as Marvel's kind of a big deal. And, as I expected, he was fantastic in this movie. He was funny, he has great comedic timing, and he sold a lot of the action as well. As for Michael Douglas, going into this movie, I didn't expect much. But after seeing this movie, by god, I hope Michael Douglas was the most payed actor in this movie, because he completely nailed it as Hank Pym. 

Hands down the highlight of Ant-Man is it's absolutely brilliant action sequences. After Age of Ultron, and every Marvel movie between that and the first Avengers, essentially consisted of the entire world being at stake, so it's nice to see a Marvel movie with a much more toned down scale. Whatever effect they use for Ant-Man shrinking and growing back looks really good, and it works really well for a lot of the action here. As for the heist sequence, because despite Edgar Wright leaving the film, it's still a heist movie, it's a pretty great heist sequence, even if it's a bit unsatisfying.

Another highlight of Ant-Man is its sense of humor. Where Guardians of the Galaxy had a lot of humor in it, Ant-Man is essentially an action-comedy, with heavy emphasise on the comedy. What's great about the sense of humor in Ant-Man is that it has all the jokes you would want in a funny marvel movie. You get a lot of superpower related comedic moments, you get witty dialogue, Paul Rudd provides a lot of much needed dry wit to the Marvel Universe, and all this comes together in what is - even having seen Guardians of the Galaxy - Marvels funniest film yet.

What I really like about this movie is how much of a bold move it is. Sure, not many people knew about Guardians of the Galaxy, but it was still a space movie, which people were familiar with. Ant-Man is a movie about a guy who can shrink to the size of an ant, control other ants, and has the strength of a 200 ton man while the size of an ant. That's a completely absurd premise, and it's probably why it took this long for an Ant-Man movie to come out. Like I said though, it completely pays off in what is one of Marvels best films to date.

Final Rating
Ant-Man is a huge surprise, I didn't expect much of anything going into this movie, but it's one of my favorite current Marvel films, right up there with Winter Soldier. The film has a few minor gripes, but at the end of the day, they are minor gripes, and don't do much to this movie. I loved Ant-Man, I would totally see it again, and I highly recommend that you go see Ant-Man right away, especially if you're a fan of Marvel.

Ant-Man

4.5/5