Movie Review: Ant-Man


I wasn't entirely sure to expect from Ant-Man, as the trailer was pretty vague. I love all of Paul Rudd's movies, though, so I was definitely game to give this film a try.

This might be the first Marvel movie I've seen where the main character is an ex-con. At the beginning of Ant-Man, Scott Lang (Rudd) gets out of jail, and his former bunkie, Luis (Michael Peña) shows up to pick him up. Lang had been incarcerated for being a "cat burglar," as well as a Robin Hood of sorts (stealing from rich, corrupt men and giving their money back to those they stole from), but he now wants to get clean so he can be a father to his daughter. His ex-wife, Maggie (Judy Greer), doesn't believe he'll stay on the straight and narrow, and she's already moved on and is engaged now to a cop (Bobby Cannavale). Lang starts to realize he can't make money working at a legit job, since he's an ex-con, so when Luis approaches him with a "business opportunity" to crack open a safe at "some rich dude's house" who will be out of town, Lang accepts, which starts a spiral of events that culminate in some very "small" changes for him.

Paul Rudd was great in this role, and so was Michael Douglas, as Dr. Hank Pym, who created the Ant-Man concept and suit some 40+ years ago. Pym had quit his own company (or, technically, was fired) and his eventual successor, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), now wants to create his own Ant-Man formula and sell it to the highest bidder, even if they have malicious intent. Evangeline Lilly also had a good role, as Pym's daughter, and Greer, Peña, and T.I. had nice supporting roles, as well.

Yes, see this movie, and definitely see it in 3D - this was the best use of 3D I had seen in a while, especially when Rudd's character is small (when he's the Ant-Man). I ended up enjoying this film a lot more than I thought I would, due to the combination of action, humorous lines/scenes, and casting. It's rated PG-13 so it's not really appropriate for younger kids, but if you have a tween or teenager who likes bugs, they would probably really enjoy it; there are a lot of bug-related things here. Also, make sure you stay for two post-film scenes: one is midway through the credits, and the other is at the very end of the credits, as is custom with Marvel movies (and keep an eye out for Stan Lee's cameo, near the end, as well!).

Ant-Man is in theaters today, July 17th, and is rated PG-13 with a runtime of 117 minutes. 4 stars out of 5.

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