“Ant-Man” is not your average Marvel film — it’s better than that. It’s not an eye-popping, apocalyptic, all-action gargantua like “The Avengers” or “Avengers: Age of Ultron” — it’s a fun, goofy and energetic popcorn flick, equal parts imaginative, well-crafted action and irreverent, laugh-out-loud comedy. And that’s exactly what the Marvel Cinematic Universe needed it to be.
Now to the pint-sized plot of this super movie: Scott Lang (Paul Rudd, “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues”) is a skilled thief fresh out of San Quentin who, after five years inside, finds himself estranged from his beloved daughter Cassie. While struggling to make his way back into Cassie’s life, Lang stumbles across a super-suit that shrinks him to the size of an insect while increasing his strength a hundredfold. The suit’s creator, Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas, “Beyond the Reach”), enlists Lang’s help in taking on Dr. Darren Cross (Corey Stoll, “This Is Where I Leave You”), Pym’s former protégé, who has appropriated Pym’s technology and intends to sell it to the highest bidder. With the help of Pym and his daughter, Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly, “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”), as well as a motley crew of Lang’s literal partners in crime, the ex-con must become the MCU’s most unlikely hero, developing a command of his super-suit, learning to lead his ant allies, and pulling off a heist to stop Cross from unleashing total chaos on the world. There’s no doom and gloom here, though — far from it. “Ant-Man” is an exciting ride buoyed by an unmistakable sense of exuberance.
Star Rudd, English writer-director and cult comedy hero Edgar Wright (“The World’s End”) and “Anchorman” mastermind Adam McKay all had a hand in writing the “Ant-Man” script, which speaks volumes about how funny this film is. But despite the frequent laughs the film inspires, it still manages to tell a superhero story viewers will be thrilled by. Director Peyton Reed (“Yes Man”), whose background is primarily in comedy, proves himself an adept action filmmaker, orchestrating one visually staggering, how-did-they-do-that sequence after another. Take the scene in the film’s third act where Ant-Man flies on ant-back between two walls of computer servers as they crackle with electricity and tower over him like skyscrapers. Watching our micro-hero try to escape from a bathtub 1,000 times his size is a blast as well, especially when the faucet turns on. And seeing Ant-Man shrink down, dive through a bullet hole in a glass door, then zap back to full size just in time to punch out the gunman … well, you get the picture.
Rudd brings his bulletproof everyman charm to the titular role, imbuing Scott Lang with every ounce of the lovable roguishness that the character requires. Douglas and Lilly turn in strong performances as well, balancing out Rudd’s goofiness with the real emotional heft of Pym and Hope’s fraught father-daughter relationship. Stoll goes way over the top as Cross, a.k.a. Yellowjacket, playing the villain like … well, a comic book character. It still works, but it’s a weak spot compared to the film’s other performances. Michael Peña (“Fury”) is hysterical as Lang’s fast-talking friend Luis, stealing just about every scene he’s in. And the rest of the cast is sharp all down the line, especially David Dastmalchian (“Chronic”) and Atlanta’s own Tip “T.I.” Harris (“Entourage”) as Lang’s fellow thieves, Martin Donovan (“Inherent Vice”) as a S.H.I.E.L.D. slimeball and Abby Ryder Fortson (“Transparent”) as Lang’s adorable young daughter.
“Ant-Man” is not without flaws, including, first and foremost, its messy plot and pacing — these issues likely stem, at least in part, from the film’s long, turbulent development. The picture mixes elements of a heist film, a screwball comedy and an action flick, often shifting abruptly from one tenor to the next. There are moments of total logical implausibility, especially during the film’s denouement. Also, some stand-out scenes are rushed, like the aforementioned bathtub sequence, in which the film jumps from one striking example of what the world looks like to an ant to another, again and again, wasting them all by moving too swiftly for us to savor each one. Last but by no means the least problematic is the film’s limited character development. In Lang’s lackluster arc, he goes from a crook who loves his daughter to a hero who loves his daughter, undergoing no meaningful changes except for the improvement of his fist-fighting and ant-commanding abilities.
However, it’s safe to say most audiences will be so taken with the energy, humor and charm of “Ant-Man” that they won’t notice these issues, or if they do, they won’t care — “Ant-Man” is designed to be a Marvel film that prioritizes gaiety over gravitas, a la “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Case in point: late in the film’s second act, a showdown between Ant-Man and one of the Avengers (no spoilers!) illustrates the difference between the two heroes’ respective movies. During their brawl, Rudd’s Ant-Man is all irreverent fun, a goofy little pest who somehow gets the better of the big, bad Avenger. That’s why both “Ant-Man” and Ant-Man win their respective battles, proving that the MCU can laugh at itself, and that you can’t count the little guy out.
