Had it been too
desperate and hopeless, ANT-MAN would have shrunk its way for admission
to the almost-complete, Avengers team. But neither such concern nor
saving the world from an impending catastrophic destruction, holds
weight heavy enough to pull this miniature superhero from his top
priority: winning back his daughter. The emotional weight of the
narrative comes across as an anomalous content to the generally comedic
structure of the film, but they serve purpose for the overall flow of
the proceedings, nonetheless.
The film follows Scott Lang (Paul
Rudd), who has just been released from prison after committing burglary.
He has been prohibited to see his daughter due to his inability to
provide financial support, no thanks to his being an ex-con that keeps
hindering him from getting a job. He meets the highly-intellectual yet
solitary scientist, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), who has a job for him:
pulling off a heist on his ex-protégé, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), who
is in possession of a size-changing prototype, that poses massive amount
of threats to worldwide security. Using a military suit that allows him
to shrink back and forth, in size, Lang carries on with the mission
with the hope that by doing so, he would be able to reclaim and earn the
reputation and respect he lost, especially his daughter's.
It's
easier to see Ant-Man as a beautiful mess, rather than a well-crafted
superhero flick with profound depth and sense . There's a lot of
illogical nonsense that always nearly sends the film to wreckage, but
there's also so much of the fun side to make up for the eventual
narrative shortcoming. At the center of its comic efforts, Paul Rudd's
Scott Lang/Ant-Man shines with his general amiability, pulling off his
role with credible wit and comic allure. Rudd is such a delight here,
and his presence and effortless take on his character make the mostly
messed-up flow of the events, extremely palatable. There's also much to
say about Michael Douglas, how his character, Pym, easily integrates
well with Lang and his daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lily) , to provide a
firm and well-knitted character framework. Corey Stoll, on the other
hand, is less impressive, barely providing the needed threat to make his
presence felt and his belligerence imminent. But on moments where he
and Lang engage in beautifully-choreographed fight scenes, the
ineptitude gets relegated below the more important aspects of the
proceedings, and once it does, the breathtaking visual schemes work
under the spotlight, capturing Lang's size-changing skill with epic
elaborateness. There's magic in every size shift, and the visual
artistry is at its peak to deliver the moment.
Perhaps, one of
the most immediately-noticeable difference of Ant-Man from its Marvel
fellows is that it doesn't engage, nor rush too much, to explosive
battles that generally results to immeasurable destruction. It is
noticeably evident on the fact that its most interesting and most
jaw-dropping action setpiece, happens in a toy train set. Most
importantly, this new addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe places
its comic prowess at the center of its general effort to validate its
entry to the franchise, and that is achieved without putting the natural
action/adventure tendency of its superhero, nor the inevitable
emotional nature of its characters, at risk of getting overshadowed by
the rudimentary elements of the narrative.
It's actually hard to
gauge ANT-MAN using the same measure that made the rest of its pack,
mammoth and omnipotently powerful. But in its own right, and sub-atomic
scale, this microscopic superhero is clearly a power behemoth, and it
will surely spring back to its even bigger form, once the Avenger call
is delivered.
