{"id":3972,"date":"2015-07-16T19:19:24","date_gmt":"2015-07-17T02:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=3972"},"modified":"2015-07-16T19:19:24","modified_gmt":"2015-07-17T02:19:24","slug":"review-ant-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=3972","title":{"rendered":"Review: ANT-MAN"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Screen<\/a>\"fixbutton\"<\/a>M<\/strong>arvel gets small, really small, and that\u2019s a good thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnt-Man\u201d seemed like an odd choice for a big budget superhero movie. The title, integral to the Marvel comics universe, isn\u2019t the most well-known property. And the problems with the production hinted that the studio might not be confident in their choice. Edgar Wright (\u201cShaun of the Dead\u201d) was originally slated to direct from a script he had written. Fan-boys the world over warmed to this idea. Wright\u2019s cult film sensibilities generated all kinds of goofy goodwill. He was the auteur, after all, who satisfied hard-core graphic novel fans with his 2010 adaptation of \u201cScott Pilgrim vs. the World.\u201d But when Wright suddenly exited the project just as it appeared to be finally going into production, it seemed that all hope of delivering something unique and fresh seemed lost.<\/p>\n

While we may never know what motivated Wright to leave his vision of \u201cAnt-Man,\u201d the result under the direction of Peyton Reed (\u201cBring it On\u201d) is still very hip and entertaining. Wright still gets a writing credit, so, it is likely that his touches are partly responsible for the film\u2019s success. And it sure helps that the cast is comically inclined, with Michael Douglas lifting the literate quality of the material. But the ants steal the show. No doubt the creation of computer generated genius, these little insects make for lovable (yes, even huggable) and heroic characters. By the end of the movie, you may have found new appreciation for the ant, especially the crazy ones.<\/p>\n

In \u201cAnt-Man,\u201d Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) discovers a particle that when properly housed can shrink organic matter. When used to shrink a human being, that man or woman retains all the strength and mass he or she had when full-sized. The advantage of this trick is demonstrated in various ways\u2014an ant-sized man that still weighs 200 pounds is a force to be reckoned with.<\/p>\n

After leaving the company he founded and refusing to provide access to his research, Dr. Pym (a computer generated Douglas made to look years younger) retires for decades. But when his former protege Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) appears to be getting closer to Pym\u2019s discovery, it may be time for Dr. Pym to take action. The world isn\u2019t ready for the Pym Particle. But time has taken a toll on the good doctor and he must find a new hero to put on the Ant-Man suit.<\/p>\n

Pym\u2019s daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly), who still works in Pym\u2019s company, wants to don the suit herself, but Dr. Pym has another guy in mind, cat-burglar Scott Lang (Paul Rudd). Lang has just finished a stint in prison and wants desperately to go straight. His young daughter lives with his ex (Judy Greer) and her police officer boyfriend (Bobby Cannavale), and in order for Lang to see his daughter regularly again, he\u2019s got to find a job. And Ant-Man might not be the best source of employment for an ex-con dad looking for a little unsupervised visitation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnt-Man\u201d fits nicely into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with references to the Avengers and even the appearance of one in an amusing scene. Lang isn\u2019t the most charismatic hero, but actor Rudd (who has amused viewers for years in film\u2019s like \u201cThe 40-Year-Old-Virgin\u201d) manages to establish a comedic, affable, self-effacing personality that plays extremely well. He even has a sidekick in Luis (Michael Pe\u00f1a) who is one of the movie\u2019s most endearing highlights.<\/p>\n

But the best thing about \u201cAnt-Man\u201d is that is starts small and stays that way. Unlike the familiar rhythm that has marked almost all the Marvel films to date, the action here is on a slightly more restrained level. Things do blow up, even a building, at one point, but big explosions and action sequences are deemphasized. There\u2019s even a scene with a key fight involving a toy train set that is funny and thrilling.<\/p>\n

It is hard not to like the direction that Marvel has taken with \u201cAnt-Man.\u201d While not as much fun as \u201cGuardians of the Galaxy,\u201d it manages to capture the tongue-in-cheek fun that makes some comic books so enjoyable on the page. One wonders if the new incarnation of \u201cSpider-Man\u201d will take a cue. Not all superheroes are angst-filled drips that mope around worried about the world\u2019s problems. Sometimes the hero is a regular guy with regular problems who solves them in irregular ways. And for Scott Lang, he has to get small to have a big impact on the world around him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Biggest Marvel Hero Yet Might Be The Smallest<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","no-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3972"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3980,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3972\/revisions\/3980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}