Ant Man
Don't Go! Too teeny for the big screen.
Tiny man runs around.
Marvel is taking over our brains (and wallets). It feels like every third movie that is released these days is about some comic book character conflicted between saving the world and their own personal dramas. In between solo films, we even have gangs of them doing the heroic equivalent of a Canadian Barn Dance in Edinburgh at Hogmanay - plenty of fireworks, lots of people getting hurled around and a few people who look like aliens (usually because of the drink). Nonetheless, apparently, there are not currently enough cinematic superheroes to keep the world safe, so there are more en route. The first of these is Ant-Man - a character that must have been invented on a Friday at around 4.55pm. Judging by the name alone, it won't be long before he is joined by Paper Boy and Traffic-Warden Woman.
In the meantime, what of Ant-Man? Predictably, this is a superhero who can shrink down to the size of an ant. He then has super concentrated strength, like a bullet; and can also communicate with and control actual ants. In logic terms, these are known as "leaps of the imagination", but they are also the foundation of the film, so let us not quibble it. In this, Ant-Man's origin story, we discover that good-hearted ex-thief (Paul Rudd, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues) is appointed as the new Ant-Man by a wealthy old-timey Ant-Godfather of sorts (Michael Douglas, Wall Street); the man who invented the ant-suit. Their aim is to stop the Ant-Godfather's scientific protégé (Corey Stall, House of Cards) from developing the same, miniaturising technology and militarising it for profit. The protégé does bad things. Everyone fights...But who will win?!?! Pretty standard stuff.
As you might expect, given the inherent silliness of a superhero the size of an ant, the film is more light-hearted than those of the other Marvel men, who are generally pretty daddy-issues-dark and boo-hoo-hoo-broody. This is welcome. Paul Rudd's comedic background makes for an entertaining ant, and there is good, goofy fun in the quintessential fight sequences, which take place in between carpet fibres and among toy train sets rather than skyscrapers and fighter jets. Sadly, however, the script is about as disappointing as the special effects are impressive, and for every giggly moment there are two eye-rollers to compensate. Corey Stall is a highly unconvincing baddie; ambling between playing his character "Yellowjacket" as theatrically insane or gratingly tedious. A couple of dreary father-daughter tales and a love story (starring Evangeline Lilly, The Hobbit) with as much heat and intensity as a frozen, fat-free yoghurt do little to improve matters. This is not unusual for origin stories - it is generally difficult to get the juices flowing, since the pace is persistently slowed by 'necessary' information. However, Ant-Man achieves it less well than its predecessors.
So don't go. Overall, Ant-Man is reliable comic book fodder, and it is perhaps legitimately directed at younger kids (who would thoroughly enjoy this) than some of the other outings. Although Paul Rudd will struggle to stack up to some of the bolder actors in the gang, Ant-Man as a character should make for an entertaining addition to the Marvel family. Soon the Avengers will have enough people in their team that there is no problem they can't solve. Hopefully then they'll shed the excuses, save the world once and for all, and finally retire to Krypton or New Jersey or wherever they crawled from. Until then, save your cash and wait for the insect to reappear in Captain America: Civil War, May 2016.
So don't go. Overall, Ant-Man is reliable comic book fodder, and it is perhaps legitimately directed at younger kids (who would thoroughly enjoy this) than some of the other outings. Although Paul Rudd will struggle to stack up to some of the bolder actors in the gang, Ant-Man as a character should make for an entertaining addition to the Marvel family. Soon the Avengers will have enough people in their team that there is no problem they can't solve. Hopefully then they'll shed the excuses, save the world once and for all, and finally retire to Krypton or New Jersey or wherever they crawled from. Until then, save your cash and wait for the insect to reappear in Captain America: Civil War, May 2016.
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