ANT-MAN – The Review

If you follow film news or write for a film website, it’s nearly impossible to watch ANT-MAN and not think of its tumultuous behind-the-scenes journey. Both Joss Whedon and James Gunn have praised the original script written by Edgar Wright’s and Joe Cornish. Marvel brought down the house at Comic-Con in 2012 when they showed Wright’s test footage from the just announced film. Combining Wright’s singular visual storytelling with the unique world of Ant-Man seemed like a perfect pairing. But then something happened. What exactly that something is and how it played out is still a subject of online forums and lengthy articles. All that we definitely know is that Wright was no longer the director of ANT-MAN. Being such a fan of his filmmaking style that perfectly balances sharp wit, exciting action, and kinetic camerawork, I can’t help but wonder what Wright’s version of ANT-MAN would have been like. His ideas still fill the story but the parts that feel the most like him don’t feel exactly right. The timing is off. The visuals don’t pop as much. The chemistry between the actors is not there. These are all factors in what makes Wright’s films work as well as they do. ANT-MAN on the other hand doesn’t work. Like at all. Marvel has had their fair share of ups and downs, but ANT-MAN stands as their weakest entry to date and makes me even more concerned for future Marvel projects.

Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) has created a new scientific breakthrough: the Pym Particle. But his company doesn’t appreciate his advances and he is quickly ushered out of his position as the head of the company. His daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) still holds much weight within the company but doesn’t trust their new leader Darren Cross (Corey Stoll). In order to protect the company from heading into a deadly direction, Hank Pym hires the help of a convicted criminal and master thief to break into the company to prevent their future plans. Armed with Hank’s incredible shrinking suit and an ability to communicate with ants, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) becomes the Ant-Man.

Marvel has tried with the recent Phase Two films to differentiate each new entry from the last. For example, WINTER SOLDIER was more of a political thriller; IRON MAN 3 was a buddy-cop action film; GUARDIANS was a sci-if space adventure. ANT-MAN follows this trend of dabbling in different genres and can be best described as a mix of a comedy and heist film. Unfortunately the film doesn’t succeed in either respect.

Try as he may, Paul Rudd’s natural charisma and easy smile can’t save an endless amount of jokes and one-liners that simply fall flat. Whether it’s the direction by Peyton Reed or the script re-write by Adam McKay and Paul Rudd I’m not entirely sure (Joe Cornish and Edgar Wright wrote the original script). The film may be book ended with some high moments, but unfortunately the middle sags tremendously and misses the point of fun heist films.

The heist film is one of my favorite genres. I love the gradual building to an unbelievable or nearly impossible task. Seeing someone train or prepare to pull off the heist creates an anticipation to the point that when the climactic event happens, the audience is just as ready as the hero on screen. ANT-MAN doesn’t capture this. Sure, we see Scott practice shrinking to size under the guidance of Hank and Hope, but the suspense or fun is missing. Essentially the “cool” feeling is missing – that feeling you get when watching a film like OCEAN’S ELEVEN or MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE. Instead we are given one clunky, verbose speech after another by Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lilly. Their characters spend more time explaining what is happening and spelling out every character thought and motivation, instead of Reed showing the audience this through actions or simply just letting the audience enjoy the ride.

Outside of just the clunky script and unnatural lines of dialogue that many of the actors practically fumble over (Lily actually exclaims to the villain at one point, “Your brain is being effected by the…” insert pseudo-science brain wave jargon), the sense of wonder and awe is entirely missing once Scott learns to shrink to ant-size. The scene when he first puts on the suit should be a defining moment. He’s standing in front of a mirror and walks slowly backward into a bathtub. And yet, when he finally pushes the button and shrinks down in size… I felt nothing. I was let down. Sure we know it’s coming, but we also knew that Tony Stark was going to put on the Mach I suit and kick some ass. The scene isn’t played as a big moment (pun not intended) and isn’t a “WOW!” moment. What makes it worse are the effects once he is shrunk down. The Marvel films have showed us awe-inspiring CGI worlds, creatures, and characters, but this is without a doubt their cheapest looking film. Seeing a human run from a rushing wave of bathtub water should not elicit a yawn. Suffice to say, Ant-Man’s microscopic world of wonders is not a marvel to behold.

Where the film managed to sneak a laugh or two out of me was at the beginning and the end. Almost immediately we meet a crew of thieves and hackers that border on caricature but manage to be a highlight in large part because of the actors. Michael Pena has always been a character actor who manages to create a unique persona even if he’s just standing in the background. Here his comedic timing is put to good use. There’s a couple of instances where he’s asked to recount a chain of events, and these narrated flashbacks never got old. Likewise, the finale stands as one of the funniest and most inventive Marvel has staged yet. Staging the final fight in… well… seeing it will be a better surprise than me telling you. It speaks volumes that these two elements work the best and show the most influence of Edgar Wright.

ANT-MAN stands as the dark spot in the Marvel canon – because of both the behind-the-scenes drama and the lack of good drama on-screen. More and more we hear from directors that have worked for the studio and have expressed their lack of creative freedom. Both Alan Taylor and Joss Whedon have discussed this in interviews. The formula has taken precedence over the artist’s vision. Conveying a new character in the most digestible fashion as possible for an audience that is only familiar with known names like the Hulk and Captain America is their new goal. Not to mention, having to shoehorn other Marvel characters into these new character’s stories so that audiences can understand that they “fit” into the Marvel universe – like what they clumsily do in ANT-MAN – is a lazy way to connect all these films without letting their individual stories stand on their own. If Marvel continues this trend, I won’t have as much confidence for their future projects as I once did when IRON MAN once entertained me.

Overall rating: 2 out of 5

ANT-MAN is now playing in theaters everywhere.