LogFAQs > #970287332

Ant-Man
Release Date: July 17, 2015
Stand-Out Character: Ant-Man aka Scott Lang (played by Paul Rudd)
Best Scene: Ant-Man vs. Yellowjacket in Cassie's Bedroom

Alright, enough of a bad movie like Age of Ultron. THIS is the good stuff!

I love Ant-Man. I think it's an awesome film that's tons of fun and does so many interesting and fun things. This is the kind of wild stuff I really love to see from the MCU, and I think it really pushes the boundaries in such a fun way.

I guess I can try to talk about the negatives but... There's not a lot of negative here. Maybe Darren Cross, our villain, isn't developed enough. Darren Cross is still a solid villain though. He's an asshole who just isn't all there, he's petty, and he just wants power and money. And then when he's pushed far enough, he just absolutely loses his god damn mind. Perfectly fine. I would have liked to see more of him though.

Aside from that... I don't really have too many complaints. It's just such a solid film all around. I think what feels really good about this movie is just how different it feels than the rest of the MCU films so far. We have our generic action movie fair, and we have a couple spy action films thrown in. But Ant-Man? We got ourselves a trippy heist movie. It feels the most risky and daring of any movie so far, and that includes Guardians of the Galaxy too. Nobody cared about Ant-Man. They thought he was a dumb idea. But there's a vision here that really helps it stand out.

Fun with ants, shrinking, and just loads of scenes that take full advantage of the cool shrinking idea. The entire final act from the moment that Hank Pym escapes from Pym Technologies with his tank on his key chain turning huge, to Darren Cross losing his mind and using the Yellowjacket armor for pint-sized battles inside a suit case, to battling in a little girl's play room, to the quantum realm. This final act absolutely rules. It never lets up. I love the final battle between Ant-Man and Yellowjacket.

The script is great too. It gives us a lot of heart-warming moments, tons of fun, and then some really good comedy. I think pretty much all the humor lands here. Some actual laugh out loud moments are had here.

But hey, let's go over our characters. Because I like our major players here.

Hank Pym played by Michael Douglas is great in this film. He's a determined, intelligent scientist who feels really eccentric while also managing to feel really compelling. I really enjoy Michael Douglas in this movie as he navigates his relationship with Cross, with Scott, and his daughter Hope. As a mentor, he does great too. He just doesn't want his science in the hands of anyone else but himself, and he understand the danger of it all. Just a great anchor in this movie where everything circles around.

Hope Van Dyne played by Evangeline Lilly is a character I remember originally not liking very much, but liking her a ton on this re-watch. She's cold at first, but then naturally begins to break down her shell and becomes really likeable and playful, as well as quite a badass. Hope is great, and I loved watching her evolve through the movie and become pretty charming.

Luis is a stand out comedy character though, because Michael Pena has such good comedic timing. He got me laughing so many times. He's just such a weird, uncomfortable dude at all times. His other crew members, Dave and Kurt, also get some laughs but they're clearly not as much of a focus.

Cassie is great as a little girl character. Just a perfectly adorable little girl that you really root for Scott getting to re-unite with. They make her really fun and endearing, and I loved seeing her. Bobby Cannavale as her step-father and cop is really good too. He's fair, but also clearly cares a lot. And Judy Greer is a wonderful actress as Scott's ex, but doesn't get anything to really work with, which is a shame considering she's a hilarious actress.

And then there's a fun little bit with Anthony Mackie's Falcon and the fight with Ant-Man. Just a fun little bit and a cameo at the end. Not much to say there, but his presence is great.

And of course, the highlight of the movie and our main character, Scott Lang by Paul Rudd, is just a lot of fun here. He's a well-meaning crook and Paul Rudd does a great job showing he's always thinking and being resourceful. And he has enough charisma to make him instantly endearing in touching scenes with Hank, Hope, and Cassie. And watching Ant-Man move is so much fun too. Just loved it, especially once he has mastery of his powers.

Overall, Ant-Man is loads of fun. Completely love it. It's a fresh, fun idea, and it's not necessarily the best at anything, and the stakes aren't enormous by any stretch, but I will forever appreciate a creative and fun superhero movie. Quality stuff here.

Girlfriend Thoughts: She thought it was funny. She said at first that she didn't really want to watch it because she thought the idea was dumb because Ant-Man can just turn small. I told her she'll love it though and she did. She seemed to like Hope a lot and really wanted to see her as Wasp, which obviously we don't get here. She loved Luis as well. Any scene with Cassie got her going "Awww". She was dying laughing at the final act of stuff and was enamored by the Quantum Realm. She was appalled by Darren Cross killing that one dude in the bathroom by making him splat and then the one lamb. And then she was just yelling about how crazy he was when he was shooting and firing lasers on the plane. Darren Cross was a hit for her as a villain! She also loved the Falcon vs. Ant-Man fight. She was high on the movie as a whole.