When Marvel Studios launched in 2006, one of the films first announced to come from the studio along with "Iron Man" and "Incredible Hulk" was "Ant-Man". Due to years of development hell though led to the film being closing out Phase Two of Marvel's now highly successful cinematic universe. Some may say that Marvel only made the film because they said they would and believed it would be Marvel's first major failure. If you still doubt Marvel at this point, then you really haven't learned anything in the past seven years. While lacking a huge scale compared to past Marvel films, "Ant-Man" brings a variety of fresh and new ideas not seen before that makes it, in my opinion, one of their best yet.
To start off, I won't lie when I say that while I was watching it, I couldn't help but notice a lot of parallels between past Marvel films and this one. I mean, the whole "protagonist trying to stop a former trusted ally from selling/using their technology/science eventually leading to a battle between two similarly powered beings" thing? Sounds a lot like "Iron Man" and "Incredible Hulk" right? Even if you notice the similarities though, I would hope that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the film on its own. It didn't affect me that much. If there are two things this film succeeds in most, it's character interaction and comedy. To start with the former, this film brings something that has never been the focus of a superhero film before: a father-daughter dynamic. It's this dynamic that brings parallels between the two main protagonists of the film, Scott Lang, played by Paul Rudd, and Hank Pym, played by Michael Douglas. Both actors do a great job in their roles as a whole, but it's as father figures that creates common between these two vastly different characters. With Hank, while he feels his daughter Hope, played by Evangeline Lily, is more than capable of taking care of herself, he doesn't want to put her in harm's way since she's all he has left, although that over-protection causes tension between the two. In Scott's case, he's an ex-con trying to go down the straight and narrow so he can be a role model to his seven year old daughter, Cassie, who already thinks the world of her father. Between the two father-daughter pairs, I enjoyed Scott and Cassie's interaction more. Not to take away from Hank and Hope, but the relationship between Scott and Cassie felt really natural. I think what really stands out to me in their interaction is that the kid who plays Cassie is actually really good. Usually kid actors aren't that good or believable, but I can tell this girl has a future ahead of her. Between her and Ty Simpkins as Harley in "Iron Man 3", Marvel's apparently doing a good job at finding kid actors. Given Cassie's status as a superhero when she's older in the comics, I wouldn't be surprised if these kid actors are being prepped for a Young Avengers/Avengers Academy team in the future, but that's a topic for another time.
Comedy is also a big part of this film. Given the premise of a hero that can shrink, many people may see that as kind of ridiculous, so why not have some fun with that? It worked for Marvel before with "Guardians of the Galaxy", and that included a talking tree and raccoon. There's a lot of laugh worthy moments in this film, but it doesn't take away from the seriousness of some situations. The comedy really shines during Scott's training sequence of learning how to shrink on cue, to control ants to help do his bidding, and hand-to-hand combat with Hope. While a training montage is nothing new, it's still done in a fresh way compared to something like Tony first building his Mark II suit and going on a test flight. A lot of the comedy though comes from Scott's heist crew, who are the last group of people you'd think would be competent, but actually are. That aspect is similar to "Guardians", though the superheroics are only left to one person. There are two other outstandinly hilarious moments that happen in the film that I won't spoil here, but I guarantee you they are the two most random moments you will ever see yet in a Marvel movie, the second one even more random than the first.
Of course the biggest aspect that "Ant-Man" brings different to not just the MCU but the superhero film genre as a whole is the hero's ability to shrink. This opens up a wide variety and use of special effects. While there's the obvious idea or exploring a normal area on a larger scale, like standing in a bathtub and ending up getting washed down the drain, there are a couple of scenes with the hero very small that are actually very creative. Without spoiling part of the film's climax, it does get kind of trippy. It's the shrinking aspect of the film that makes it highly recommendable to see in 3D.
After "Age of Ultron", I think Marvel's made a good call at coming out with "Ant-Man", a film more personal and small in scale (I know people are probably getting tired of that pun) as a follow-up. It gives audiences a breath of fresh air before the next film takes on a grander scale, especially considering that next MCU film is "Civil War" and will feature around a dozen heroes (including the return of Ant-Man). Will "Ant-Man" be Marvel's most successful film? Obviously not, but it's also obvious that it will not be a failure in any way. I can't say for sure that a sequel will be lined up for Phase Four, but it still gives audiences a new kind of superhero film, and when you have a whole universe of heroes to pick from, variety is definitely needed and is what will keep bringing Marvel success.
RATING: 8.5/10
My Marvel Cinematic Universe Film Rankings:
1. Avengers: Age of Ultron
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
3. The Avengers
4. Guardians of the Galaxy
5. Ant-Man
6. Iron Man 3
7. Thor
8. Captain America: The First Avenger
9. Iron Man
10. The Incredible Hulk
11. Iron Man 2
12. Thor: The Dark World
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