#also another funny thing is that sebastian thor in many ways did something that martin luthor failed to

[sistersorrow]

Something in 40k which I find interesting, very funny, and also both realistic but a really weird worlbuilding choice for a setting that is meant to be at least somewhat satirical is that the Imperial Cult of the Imperium of Man is in many ways more tolerant of heterodoxy than the real world Catholic Church

[martens-movie-reviews]

Released: July 17, 2015 Running Time: 1 hour 58 minutes

“Forced out of his own company by former protégé Darren Cross, Dr. Hank Pym recruits the talents of Scott Lang,, a master thief just released from prison. Lang becomes Ant-Man, trained by Pym and armed with a suit that allows him to shrink in size, possess superhuman strength and control an army of ants. The miniature hero must use his new skills to prevent Cross, also known as Yellowjacket, from perfecting the same technology and using it as a weapon for evil.”

Marvel Cinematic Universe – Source – Marvel Studios

You can find all of the reviews for the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the link here. At that link, you can also find the dates that the other reviews for the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be posted. My plan is to release one every single day, and because I’ve already reviewed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 here, and Spider – Man: Homecoming here, they will not be included in the two weeks leading up to Thor Ragnarok.

As such, I will now move onto the actual review of the film, and I hope you enjoy!

Ant Man Trailer – Source: Marvel Studios

Cast and Crew

This film was directed by Peyton Reed, after a very controversial parting of the ways between Edgar Wright and Marvel Studios over creative differences. I wish we could have seen Wright’s vision for this film, but I was still happy with what we got from Reed. Reed’s work as a director includes the ‘Back to the Future’ television show, the 2000 film ‘Bring it On’, 2008’s film ‘Yes Man’ as well as other works not mentioned here. He is currently filming the follow up to this film, ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ which is coming out in late 2018.

The original story was written by Joe Cornish and Edgar Wright, the adapted screenplay was re-written by Paul Rudd & Adam McKay, who adapted the screenplay that Cornish and Wright had written. As such, I will mention Rudd and McKay’s previous work as writers. Rudd has previously written the 2008 film ‘Role Models’ as well as the television show ‘Party Down’. He has since written the screenplay for ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’. McKay has worked on many Will Ferrell films such as ‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’ in 2004, ‘Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby’ in 2006, ‘Step Brothers’ in 2008 and ‘Get Hard’, and ‘The Big Short’ in 2015.

Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man – Source: Marvel Studios

The cast featured Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, Anthony Mackie, Judy Greer, Abby Ryder Fortson, Michael Peña, David Dastmalchian, T.I., Wood Harris, Hayley Atwell, John Slattery, Martin Donovan, Gregg Turkington, Carlos Aviles, Nicholas Barrera, Lyndsi LaRose, Anna Akana, Robert Crayton, Danny Vasquez, Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan and Stan Lee

Review

Paul Rudd’s portrayal of Scott Lang was a lot more charming than I would have thought given the brash nature of his comic book counterpart. He got into the shape that was required to play the slender Ant-Man, and the scenes with his daughter felt real, and was really touching. I’m happy that he did such a good job at playing another sarcastic, funny genius in the MCU.

Michael Douglas played the elder and original Ant-Man, Hank Pym, a now retired superhero after the unfortunate ‘death’ of his wife Janet. As he was distant with his daughter Hope after the passing of her mother, she aided Darren Cross in ousting Pym from his own company. I feel like Douglas did a really good job at playing the mentor / hurt father figure. I thought that it was a good idea to have an actor of his quality join the ranks of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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Evangeline Lily did a really good job at playing the bad-ass, tough and emotionally hurt Hope Pym. I feel like the relationship that she and Douglas felt very real. I can’t wait to see how she portrays the new Wasp, and what kind of relationship she will have with Scott going forward after the last scene with the two of them. I’ll talk more about the relationship issues between the fathers and daughters below.

The standout and surprising star of the movie, Luis, who was perfectly played by Michael Peña. I think that every movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe needs a little bit of Luis, narrating mini flashback scenes. It could have easily been annoying, however it somehow worked, and was done brilliantly. He also turned out to be the MCU version of ‘One Punch Man’ (except that one guy took 2 punches), and I enjoyed how excited and lovable they made him and the rest of the gang.

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Corey Stoll’s take on the villain of the film, Darren Cross, was interesting because it was essentially a reverse story from the first Iron Man film, where the villain was a protege of the original hero, and was still a businessman. He did a good job at playing the genius that was hurt by his mentor and started to go mad as he was being exposed to the shrinking chemicals without protecting his brain which would be affecting his brain chemistry, as mentioned by Hank Pym to Scott Lang.

One of the things that I enjoy about the movies in the MCU is the inter-connectivity, an example of this is when one of the interested buyers of the Yellowjacket suits and shrinking technology that Cross developed from the idea from Pym were from Hydra, who are now out of the shadows.

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The scene that takes place in 1989, when Hank Pym goes to see Howard Stark, Peggy Carter and Mitchell Carson, to resign from S.H.I.E.L.D. as they were trying to copy his formula for the Pym Particles. The way in which they Deaged Michael Douglas was both creepy and cool, as it looked weird, but something felt off about it.

Another point of inter – connectivity was the fact that the old Stark warehouse was turned into the new Avengers facility, which forced Lang to try to steal from the Avengers, which he did a surprisingly good job at. Anthony Mackie made a ‘surprise’ cameo as Sam Wilson / Falcon in a fun scene in which Scott decides to negotiate ‘borrowing’ a piece of technology from the Avengers, after he so kindly introduced himself. The fight and the subsequent mention of keeping what just happened from Cap was entertaining.

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The relationship between the fathers and the daughters in this film is something that was really well portrayed and displayed a both the good and the bad. Lang’s relationship with his daughter is sad as he wants to be involved in her life, but is unable to because he can’t afford it, but is still seen as a hero in her eyes, and loves the ugly bunny that he gives her for her birthday. Pym’s relationship with Hope is a distant one as he didn’t make time to grieve with his daughter in the years following the disappearance of Janet in the Quantum Realm, but he wants to protect her at all costs. Pym doesn’t want Lang’s daughter to lose the look in her eyes when she looks at her father, as Hope doesn’t think of Hank as a hero anymore.

One of the best things about this movie was the decision by the filmmakers to make the step father, Paxton, who was played by Bobby Cannavale, not be a total dick and actually be a really great guy. He cares about Cassie, and only wants what’s best for her. I was really happy that they made that decision and the relationship between Paxton, Scott and Maggie was mature, and real.

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This movie had some parts of it that was very much straight out of a heist film, which I enjoyed seeing a different genre in the MCU. I would have prefered it to have a bit more planning, and details about the plans, but I think they did an okay job at what they did show.

There was many similarities from other MCU films where the villain has a very similar ‘gimmick’ to the hero of the film, and that is something that can be seen by some as boring or to be copying their formula, however my response to that is that it’s obviously working out for them, and it also displays both ends of the spectrum and shows the differences between the hero and the villain. is very similar to hero

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The macro cinematography in this film was something new to the MCU, and I feel like they did a really good job at showing the perspective of Lang when he was tiny. The cinematography as a whole was also really well done, thanks to the director of photography Russell Carpenter.

I found the use of the Quantum Realm to be lots of fun, and gave people a taste that we would eventually get in Doctor Strange. They also showed what people were thinking, in quickly showing the outline of Janet Pym / Wasp on Scott’s helmet as shown in the picture below.

Glimpse of a reflection of Janet Pym (Wasp) on Scott’s helmet in the Quantum Realm – Source: Marvel Studios

The mid credit sequence was Hank Pym showing his daughter Hope a prototype Wasp suit that he and his wife Janet were working on back in the late 1980s, telling Hope that it turns out they were making it for her, and maybe it’s her turn to get into the suit. She then turns to the camera and says that it’s about damn time.

Mid Credit Sequence – Hope finally getting a suit – Source: Marvel Studios

The post credit scene for Ant-Man was a fragment of a scene from Captain America: Civil War, setting up the accords, and the rift that has grown between Rogers and Stark. Wilson and Rogers have managed to ‘lock’ up Barnes in a vice grip. Wilson then goes on to tell Cap that he knows a guy that might be able to help them, implying the new superhero he encountered in Scott Lang.

Post Credit Sequence featuring Sam Wilson / Falcon, James Buchanan Barnes / Winter Soldier and Steve Rogers / Captain America (Scene from Captain America: Civil War) – Source: Marvel Studios

Overall, I was entertained by this movie, and while yes the story wasn’t original, the way it was told made it a lot better. I really enjoyed the characters in this movie, especially Luis and his narrations. I loved the fact that they gave us a heist type film and they managed to make ants cute and adorable. At the end of the day, it’s not a perfect film, but in my opinion it was just good enough to be a great movie. It set up the character and possible future characters well, while also integrating it within the larger MCU. It’s time for me to give this film a score, and I’m sticking with the score that I originally gave it when I first saw this film in theatres 2 years ago, and that’s a score of 8/10.

What did you think of the film? Are you excited for Thor Ragnarok? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading,

Alex Martens

Ant-Man Review Released: July 17, 2015 Running Time: 1 hour 58 minutes "Forced out of his own company by former protégé Darren Cross, Dr.