Ant-Man (2015): Review

Marvel’s tiniest hero’s adventure turned out to be quite a distinct, refreshing yet completely filled with all the elements every marvel productions are known for. If compared against other cinematic marvel heroes then Ant- Man might be the smallest and even the least powerful but he sure got to get his own story forward in a dazzling and humorous tale of redemption and heist.

First off, the cast did a great job in bringing every character to life with Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Antman and Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym/ Antman giving particularly commendable performances. Paul Rudd might seem like an odd choice for playing a superhero but then again Ant-Man is not anyone’s buffed up and righteously all powerful superhero. He brings a sense of responsibility to the character as an out of jail convict who wants to do something else in his life and wants to become a hero in the eyes of his daughter. Along with his dilemma to lead a straight life with adequate funds to support himself and provide child support he also provides equally hilarious take on the character’s nature because by default this superhero is someone who hasn’t gone through any kind of tragedy and delightfully enjoys his role as the mini- savior of the world. Though he understands the fact the he might not be as important to the Ant-Man experiment as he’s chosen only as a person whose loss is bearable.

Paul Rudd in "Ant-man"

Michael Douglas at most times feels like the real star of the whole thing. He’s awesome to watch in the role of Dr. Hank Pym, the founder of a corporation which might now be selling the destructive Ant-Man tech to hydra against his wishes. He’s quite elegant as the previous Ant-Man who lost the love of life during an assignment and earned his daughter’s scorn. The lovely Evangeline Lilly looks convincing as Hope, Dr. Pym’s daughter who gradually learns to forgive her father for pushing her away.

What distinguishes the movie from other marvel cinematic adaptations is the fact that being the tiniest hero, the level of destruction is quite contained except at a few circumstances when things become too big. The fact that the movie’s deciding battle between Ant-Man and Yellow Jacket takes place in a toy train set is both uplifting and entertaining.

All the action sequences are very well shot and special kudos to the director and the cinematographer for such masterful rendering of the small universe as seen by eyes of ant man. No insect at any point looks disgusting but are displayed as an organized army of nature itself. The scenes when Ant-Man leads the army of ants and fly on them to places are particularly breathtaking and joyous.

The music of the movie though sounds a bit dated. There isn’t much to talk about in the music department as it all feels like some same old conventional tunes over typical emotions. Suspense, terror, sentiments are all just dependent on the actor performance and not much on the background score which is at times too loud or too unnoticeable and downright unsatisfactory. But then again, marvel movies were never known for their melodies. What makes them unique is the perfect blend of comic action , humour and palpable tension with a promise for entertainment for all.

Corey Stoll in "Ant-Man"

The Verdict

This time marvel delivers big in a very small package with Ant-Man coming out as completely new kind of a superhero and bringing a wave of speculation as to what more Marvel cinematic universe has to offer. In comparison with movies like hulk, thor, captain America and iron man; Ant-Man certainly stands out of the crowd and proves itself to better than any of them without a character with even half a decent fan following as the other avengers. But nevertheless, Ant-Man certainly proves to be an interesting addition to the avengers team which is now almost completely revamped. So, my recommendation would be to catch this summertime flick and experience the joy of watching a 2-inch guy fighting on a flying ant.