Ant-Man

Poster courtesy of harrymovieart.com

Ant-Man is a fun movie. 

I had no idea what to expect, especially for all the time the movie spent in development hell; but Ant-Man succeeded in being everything I look for in a Marvel movie: (SPOILERS AHEAD)

1. ACTION 

Ant-Man fighting is so awesome to watch. I was always obsessed with the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" movies as a little kid, and having tiny action scenes in huge everyday environments is so much fun. I was really impressed by how crisp everything looked.

2. A GOOD AMOUNT OF HUMOR 

Some Marvel movies fail to find the balance of humor, or mistake their identity for a comedy, (cough A:AoU cough) but all of Ant-Man's humor fit the tone and hit the nail right on the head. You could even call Ant-Man a comedy if you wanted to, but it worked because it was genuinely funny and had me laughing out loud. Paul Rudd is absolutely perfect for the smart-ass known as Scott Lang and it's gonna be interesting to see him as a part of the Avengers. You could definitely see traces of Edgar Wright's writing, and I can't help but believe the finished product would've been better with him at the helm, but the end result was hilarious nonetheless. Michael Peña stole the show as Lang's enigmatically goofy/sophisticated best friend. I hope we haven't seen the last of him either.

3. MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE-NESS

I love seeing connections to other Marvel movies. Plenty of awesome lines are dropped (Why don't we just call the Avengers?) and Ant-Man even fights an Avenger. At the end of the movie, a line even nods toward Spider-Man. How exciting.

4. MEANING

This isn't just a disaster porn movie or even a superhero porn movie. Even though she may seem like a plot device at times, Lang's daughter Cassie is adorable and you can't help but root for him on his quest to prove to her that he's a good guy. "Be the hero she already thinks you are".

Since this movie hit all of my Marvel checkpoints on the head, I instantly loved it. Here's some other great stuff it has going for it:

- I liked how the stakes of this movie seemed simultaneously big and small. The fate of the world wasn't really at stake, but it didn't need to be - the main goal was to save Lang's own image of himself in his daughter's eyes. That was enough.

- The ending was really cool in that it would've been so easy for the writers to make the step-dad a bad guy and have Lang completely replace him in the end, but I liked the route they went - the movie ends with Lang eating with his daughter, his ex-wife, and her new husband in harmony. It was refreshing.

- This movie made me seriously sad when an ant died. That alone is an accomplishment.

Here's some stuff I didn't love about it:

- The chemistry between Dr. Pym and his daughter wasn't quite right. I still can't put my finger on it but something was off. Kinda awkward maybe.

- It suffers from the typical Marvel syndrome of having a villain with the same powers as the hero and weak, uninteresting motives. 

Overall, this was such a fun flick and I'd definitely see it again. Can't wait to see what's in store for Scott Lang.

AFTER CREDITS SCENE? 

Yup. 2. Stay planted in your seat 'till the lights come on.

8/10