Welcome back to another part in our MCU series. Today, we take a look at the first Ant-Man movie. In the pre-watch, it ranked just outside of the Top 10. Will it improve, fall, or stay the same after watching it?
Ant-Man Review
The Good
Lang/Luis
The casting in this movie is what really makes it so entertaining. Paul Rudd is an absolute gem and Micheal Peña plays his character perfectly. The two characters together give comedic relief that works amazingly.
From Louis’s long dragged-on story to the bodyguard scene, it’s always a good time when he is on screen. The development between him and Lang was also fun to watch as it wasn’t very serious. This is a change from lots of MCU movies. However, Ant-Man really nailed it.
Overall, Rudd as Ant-Man and Peña as Louis was pure gold. It felt like the perfect balance of comedy with great delivery that really made you enjoy yourself.
Supporting Cast
The supporting group was also very solid. Bobby Cannavale, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, T.I., and David Dastmalchian all excelled as a cast. There are some huge writing issues we will get to later. But as actors, they all played their roles really well.
Kurt and Dave had just the right amount of screen time to make them funny. The scene just outside of Pimm Tech where they steal the car is great. Cannavale plays a gullible-but-kind cop really well. Hope and Hank are also very entertaining characters to watch as the actors playing them were great.
Once again, this movie benefits massively from great casting.
Lang Learning His Powers
One of the funnier and cooler parts was watching Scott Lang learn how to master the Ant-Man suit. Once again, some of the storytelling wasn’t great but it was funny watching him learn what kinds of abilities he has with the suit on.
This all ends up with him in a final test to prove he can do it when he fights Falcon at the Avengers headquarters. It was a minor part but it was fun to see. It was a nice change seeing him fight someone completely different, who doesn’t have the same powers as him.
The Bad
Darren Cross
Darren Cross may be one of the worst villains in all of the MCU. There was so little background or effort put into this character it was so hard to even pretend to care what happens. He may be one of the most generic bad guys Marvel has produced. He wasn’t funny or anti-hero like, but he also wasn’t menacing or scary at all. There was no reason for fans to hate this character and it led to one of the most boring bad guys the MCU has seen. The lack of passion anyone should have for this character really hurt Ant-Man as a film.
Sticking with Cross, one of the biggest issues was the final battle and suit logic. One of the coolest parts was watching Lang learn of all his abilities and develop them through time. However, when Cross then puts on the suit for what is seemingly the first time, he is an absolute pro with it. This kind of rushed and flawed logic really hurt the movie throughout.
Hank Pym’s Logic
Another huge hole in the logic of the movie was Hank Pym having to get Scott. We’ll start with the plan that had him send a very long, dragged out, and unlikely useful message just to get Lang to break into his house and open the safe. From there, Lang has to actually take the suit and then also put it on and activate it too. All of this, when there was another alternative available.
Let his daughter do the job. Yes, he lost his wife from the suit. However, his wife died a hero. Isn’t that something he should admire? It seems crazy that he has someone as talented as Hope just sitting around while they have to train Scott from scratch. It leads to a nice moment at the end of the movie where he shows “The Wasp” suit, but it is still a massive flaw.
It’s made worse that Hope keeps bringing up this flaw that she should be in the suit because you think to yourself, “she is absolutely right.” Keeping this a relevant topic makes you really question parts of the movie.
Laws of Shrinking
This movie stays somewhat relevant with their set laws, however, it is still an issue in the movie. In the beginning, Hank explains why someone can shrink and grow with his particles. However, it appears to break all that logic when they do things like enlarge a tank later in the movie.
Also, they talk about weight as if Scott has the power to kill, but other times he is as light as a feather to make a cool looking shot. It’s not the biggest deal but it is annoying that they seemingly break their own laws of shrinking.
Disappointment, With Benefits
Overall, Ant-Man was a very below average MCU movie that was completely saved by casting. It is still a good watch because that’s how great the characters are. However, the storytelling and plot are some of the poorest the MCU has seen.
The movie sees some big ups when it hits on some of the comedic spots but then sees some big downs having to rush other things. This really makes the movie not make sense at times. It could have been an MCU classic if the writing had been a bit better.