The basis of the film follows convicted master thief Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) as he attempts to leave his sticky-fingered ways to be a better father to his daughter. However, seeing no other way to make ends meet than stealing, Scott makes one more ambitious attempt at a job and ends up stealing a magnificent suit that gives the wearer the ability to shrink. As the creator reveals himself to be Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), he enlists Scott in the largest heist he's ever pulled off to protect the world from a new evil.
Now, for those of you upset with how broad Age of Ultron seemed to be, rest easy knowing that this movie is on a much smaller scale, taking place within one city among only a handful of locations. This movie keeps itself well contained, and the story is better serviced in that aspect. While that may sound a bit boring for a Marvel movie, they give us plenty of eye-popping locations, such as the intricacies of a computer that Scott will run through, or the underground hills of his ant companions. The visuals compliment the set pieces very nicely, and it all looks great.
As for the story, I was seriously blown away. This movie, above any other Marvel movie, takes their comedy to the next level. The dialogue is witty and the characters are quirky, and the cast only raises the standard here. Paul Rudd is perfect as the guy out of his depth here, and Douglas' Hank Pym is a worthy mentor for our hero. The female lead, Evangeline Lily, plays her role well, and she's really showing the world that she's more than a television actress from LOST. My personal favorite actor walking out of this movie was Michael Pena, who plays Lang's lovable sidekick. Most of the jokes come directly from him, and his comedic timing is so on-point, he nails it every time. Seriously, this guy is good.
As for the villain Yellowjacket, A.K.A. Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), he's been getting a lot of hate for his character - people believe he's not compelling, that his motives were too undefined. Personally, I thought Stoll did great; his character was intense, and he was believable enough that I actually felt some sympathy for him. Yellowjacket was a good and serviceable villain, through and through.
All in all, Marvel's Ant-Man was an entertaining action-comedy, and the perfect summer movie. And trust me when I say that if my mom can have a fun time at a superhero movie (when she doesn't really love them in the first place), you can too.
Rating: 9.5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment