There’s only been one Marvel
Cinematic Universe (or MCU) film I’ve disliked, Iron Man 2—Ant-Man will
NOT be joining Iron Man 2 in the
losers’ circle, though it does find itself alongside my least favorite MCU
films (alongside Thor: Dark World and
Guardians of the Galaxy). Ant-Man
makes some stupid mistakes, and is held back by severe letdowns and a bland,
forgettable villain—yet it also possesses likable protagonists, entertaining heist
elements, the MCU’s signature brand of lovable humor, and several refreshing
features…and some not-so-refreshing features, but I’m getting ahead of the
review.
The plot concerns former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), whose ruthless ex-protégé Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) has come close to replicating Hank’s shrinking technology; if Cross succeeds, he will sell the invention to various terrorist organizations for large profits, which in turn will cause mass chaos and destruction throughout the globe. Hank’s daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) has used their estranged relationship to gain Cross’s trust, becoming his senior board member; in reality she too sees the monster in Cross, and is secretly working with her father to sabotage his Yellowjacket shrinking technology. Realizing they’ll need more help, Hank discovers a genius burglar named Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), recently released from prison after having broken into an unbreakable company. After some manipulation and persuasion, Hank recruits Scott to burgle Cross’s Yellowjacket suit, giving Scott access to his greatest invention, the Ant-Man suit!
Let’s cut to Ant-Man’s biggest disappointment—why is there no Wasp in the film,
why wait for the sequel? In the comics Wasp
is a founding member of the Avengers, alongside Captain America, Thor, Hulk,
Iron Man, and Ant-Man. Wasp has
significant history when it comes to the Avengers (the core link between every
MCU film), yet despite ample opportunity to introduce her superhero persona, the
film stubbornly refuses to do so. Yes technically
the original Wasp appears in the film (briefly in flashback format), and yes they
reveal the updated costume during the post-credits, but why build her up for a
sequel—why not introduce Wasp in Ant-Man!? Sure the film would have to change stuff
around, maybe add a co-villain as additional conflict, but it’s a doable
approach.
What baffles me is Ant-Man’s overemphasis on Hope’s combat experience
and mental capability, which is far greater than Scott’s own. Hank’s reasoning for choosing Scott over Hope
feels half-assed, explaining how Scott is “expendable” yet Hope is his priceless
daughter; if this’s the case, then why does Hope still participate in the
film’s climax, where she could have gotten herself killed!? Wouldn’t it have been safer for Hope to utilize
the super-suit (not to mention the size-shifting disks) rather than fight bad
guys in her work outfit? Ant-Man misses a grand opportunity to
have Ant-Man and Wasp work together in a pseudo-Avengers spectacle similar to The Winter Soldier—it forfeits having
two superheroes for the price of one, which is a true disappointment.
Yet enough negativity (for now), as
Ant-Man possesses some rather
refreshing elements to the MCU formula. Michael
Douglas as Hank is the film’s smartest casting choice, as he balancing MCU’s
signature comedy with emotional depth. Hank
can be aggressively serious, lightheartedly witty, deadpan sarcastic,
emotionally compelling, and comically serious on an almost satirical level. SPOILERS BEGIN: There’s an opening
scene where Hank states “as long as I’m alive you’ll never get my
formula!” Usually such statement
indicates the old man’s eventual death—instead Ant-Man pulls an unexpected turn by NOT killing off Hank, a simple
yet refreshing twist to a tiring cliché (though Kung Fu Panda did it first). SPOILERS
END
Scott Lang is the first MCU hero
with both a daughter and an ex-wife (both who are living), a rarity to see in any
superhero film—though far more common in the comics. Fitting with its tiny superhero, Ant-Man takes a smaller approach in plot
focus (though the fate of the world’s still at stake), feeling more aligned
with the Mission Impossible/Ocean’s
Eleven genres—focusing majority on Hank, Hope and Scott training and
preparing for their single mission to infiltrate Cross’s building and steal his
technology. Such approach works in the
film’s favor, having a refreshing edge from the other MCU films while giving time
and effort towards effective character development. Though Ant-Man
fails to provide Wasp, it at least recognized the comedy gold provided with
Ant-Man’s shrinking abilities. The
film’s finale doesn’t miss a beat exploiting the humor between Ant-Man and
Yellowjacket’s tiny death battle; while stuck inside a suitcase falling from a
plane, Cross threatens to disintegrate Scott, prompting a foot activated Siri
to play the song Disintegrate—later on
Scott manages to swat Cross with a Ping-Pong paddle right into a bug zapper,
prompting a very small, very funny zap.
I’ve noticed a pattern with my
least favorite MCU films—bland, forgettable antagonists. Ant-Man’s
antagonist Cross is an utterly sub-par villain, one of the blandest, most
clichéd examples from the MCU—and I’m counting Dark Elf what’s-his-name from Thor: Dark World. He’s just a crazy, rich, extremely hammy guy
who can never be taken seriously, but isn’t hammy enough to be fun or
entertaining. The film has these bizarre
scenes where Cross tests his un-perfected shrinking technology on lambs; Hope
is shocked they’re using lambs over mice, and gasps at the utter inhumanity as
the machine instead turns the lamb into goop!
First off, Cross kills humans like it’s a walk in the park (he
previously murdered a skeptical business partner in the men’s room), is killing
a sheep really the point of no return—or were the writers worried cold blooded
murder wasn’t enough to indicate Cross as the bad guy? Secondly…it’s a lamb, humans butcher and eat
lamb on a daily basis—in fact lamb
chops literally has the creature’s name up front! Lastly why is it okay to use the experiment
on mice over lambs? Is it because
they’re smaller, so it’s less inhumane (guess Hope never read Horton Hears a Who)—sounds like a double
standard on Hope’s part.
