Ant-Man





It so desperately wants to be IRON MAN. Scott is snarky and cool, just not as snarky and cool as Tony. The training sequences are cute, but never as funny or exciting as the armoring up sequences in IRON MAN. And to top it off, it's really dull for long stretches, never hitting the highs of the film it's so desperate to imitate. I'm not even going into the massive tonal swings, where at one moment we're supposed to care about a desperate father trying to connect with and care for his daughter, and then in the next deal with Michael Pena auditioning for ANCHORMAN 3 (and, to be honest, doing a good job of it).

ANT-MAN is to IRON MAN as I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER is to SCREAM.

From the sounds of it, you'd have no idea it was written by four different writers with at least three different mindsets.

I thought it was good. Very solid. Very funny (mostly because Michael Peña). Paul Rudd proves himself worthy of a superhero movie. Douglas was great (no surprise there) but interestingly enough Corey Stoll is my favorite villain of the MCU so far. He has actual motivation and you believe the performance. He was very good in it. There are some things I can nitpick, probably more than some other MCU films but I liked it. Makes me excited to see more of these characters.

B+

It's an uneven film but it's not hard to watch. Paul Rudd does what he can with what he's given, and some of the fight scenes are pretty cool. Overall this is on the lower tier of the MCU imo.

My favorite Marvel origin since Iron Man, hands down. It copies that formula down and imitates it not at well, but enough to still be rock solid. But it exceeds in a better villain, cooler style, and great supporting cast. Also, going down in scope is refreshingly fun for it. Also the first film post Avengers to say "Why not call the Avengers." Really fun cameos too. Pena telling stories is one of the funniest yet simple mechanic I've seen in a while. Too bad Edgar Wright didn't stay on, a lot of him is still very much there. And Paul Rudd is fantastic. His first starring role over 100 million! Only took him 20 years.

Also one note I will make is that this has one of the best visual effects I've ever seen in a film. For the first time the "De-aging" effect is absolutely flawless on Douglas. Seriously never expected to see him look and sound that fantastic. Hands down one of the greatest visual achievements, and it's in Ant-Man of all things (Could have watched an entire film of him.) I was expecting Sharon Stone to pop up, spread her legs and start fucking. Cudos to the effects team that even 3 weeks ago on T5, which looked great, still was an obvious CGI looking Arnold.

A+

It is an easily passable film which ranks it near the top of Marvel's films. It's nice to see that some of Edgar's touch on the film is still present throughout. The film actually conquered the comedy better than it did the drama here when its usually the opposite for Marvel.

A dramatic step up from the terrible Age of Ultron.

I'm going to chalk this one up as a mini-miracle. Usually when a film goes through what's seemingly an endless amount of directors and writers (I think four and five respectively) just coming and going and doing it so publicly, the end result is usually a disaster. Can I name an example? Not off the top of my head, but it's happened. Fuck off.

Yet somehow, Ant-Man emerges as something that not only shouldn't work, but does so and then some. The action scenes / special effects are well crafted and choreographed, the movie is sharply funny (it had no reason not to be with Wright, McKay and Rudd's fingerprints on the screenplay), the hero is compelling (yes it uses a lazy route to get there...estranged father - but fuck off, it works), and the villain is a good old fashioned slimeball (could've done without the Hydra part). Speaking about Hydra, I'm so happy the film didn't get bogged down in Avengers bullshit. It easily could've gone down that route, but the scene with Howard Stark at the beginning, the Falcon fight at new Avengers HQ and the scene after the credits with Falcon and Cap were nice touches.

So, where does the rank in the Marvel oeuvre? Well for me, it's the best Marvel movie since the first Avengers. It's the best solo/origin film since the first Captain America (though Guardians could use another watch). Does it touch the heights of the original Iron Man though? Not quite, but it's really damn close. Rudd, while very good, is no Downey Jr. Is it unfair to compare the two? Probably, but Downey Jr. became Stark. Scott Lang doesn't quite call for the same melding of both actor. That's both a plus and a negative. A negative because it puts Stark on another level dimensionally, but a plus because Lang is a relatable everyman - you know, an incredibly intelligent burglar everyman. And Ant-Man has a better villain (sorry Jeff Bridges) though I wish he spent more time in the suit.

Everything was pointing toward Marvel's first disaster. Instead, I think we got one of its finer efforts. Now just go have a nerd cry for yourself when you think what Edgar Wright could've done with full control.

**** (A-)

Peyton Reed just upstaged your ass Joss Whedon!

LIST!

1. The Avengers - A+

2. Iron Man - A

3. Captain America: The First Avenger
4. Ant-Man - A-

5. Iron Man 3
6. Guardians of the Galaxy
7. Captain America: Winter Soldier
8. Avengers: Age of Ultron - B+

9. The Incredible Hulk
10. Thor: The Dark World - B

11. Iron Man 2
12. Thor - B-

Was this in anyone else's version of the movie, or was mine just missing it? I'm happy to say it wasn't in my version. Then again, I went out to get a root beer just right before they were about to pull the heist. Was there a flashback in the van?

Seeing a lot of people saying it's a top 5 Marvel movie. Which brings me to...

What does that say about the Marvel universe?

The only MCU films Ant Man shits all over is Thor 2 and IM2.

That they're consistent at putting out movies that are good but not great.

Give this man a goddamn cookie, with milk.

The MCU isn't batting 1.000 but has two amazing ,near perfect films, four great films that are highly enjoyable, two good films that after each viewing get better, the far superior Hulk film, two Thor films that I'm fine with not watching again anytime soon but still pretty decent and Iron Man 2.

In my opinion of course.

To recap:
1. Guardians of the Galaxy
2. Captain America: Winter Soldier
3. The Avengers: Age of Ultron
4. The Avengers
5. Ant-Man
6. Iron Man
7. Captain America: The First Avenger
8. Iron Man 3
9. The Incredible Hulk
10. Thor: The Dark World
11. Thor
12. Iron Man 2

I meant the tone of his performance, not actually acting out anything from ANCHORMAN!

Last year, the Marvel-Disney union scored a gargantuan hit with Guardians of the Galaxy, a bright and zany space opera set in a distant corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the shared space dominated by such flagship heroes as Captain America and Iron Man. In general, Ant-Man has a similar spirit: the story of a thief with a heart of gold (Paul Rudd) and his discovery of a suit which can transform a man into an insect-sized soldier, it is a type of outlandish Marvel side note. And it is an entertaining film, escapist by nature and light as a feather at its best, though it falls short of Guardians of the Galaxy for a few reasons. The references to the central storyline of the overarching franchise, including a shoehorned-in fight with a second-string Avenger, are more strained; there is a certain cut-rate-serialized-television quality to every scene mentioning S.H.I.E.L.D. or Hydra. And while Rudd is a charismatic presence, lacing the heartfelt heroism with moments of deadpan humor, he cannot top the magic of the Guardians' combined chemistry even with the help of a game Michael Douglas (exuding cool authority as a curmudgeon slash mentor), a fetching Evangeline Lilly, and a few others.

On the plus side, no prior Marvel film's action-and-suspense set pieces have amused, fascinated, and riveted me as much as the ant-scale chases and fights here. I simply never grew tired of the neat and wondrous spectacle of an ultra-minute Rudd riding atop a winged ant, clinging to a speeding toy train, etc. And while his antagonistic character is nothing special—a chip-on-his-shoulder corporate fiend who scowls and blandly gestures toward his evil master-plan while awaiting an inevitable third-act vanquishing—Corey Stoll's Darren Cross has the most chic and menacing costume of any cinematic-universe heavy to date, and this instantly renders him more memorable than such dullards as Thor: The Dark World's Malekith or the Winter Soldier.

B

God, the Yellowjacket costume kicks ass. So cool. Compensates for the fact Stoll is mostly just playing Jeff Bridges in Iron Man.

Ah, ok. I wouldn't have put it past McKay to put that in there.

I can't wait for Excel's review.

Why? He wrote it weeks before he saw it, it sucked.

A-
1. Captain America: The First Avenger

B+
2. Guardians of the Galaxy
3. The Incredible Hulk

B
4. Avengers: Age of Ultron
5. The Avengers
6. Ant-Man
7. Iron Man
8. Thor

C+
9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
10. Iron Man 3

C
11. Thor: The Dark World

D
12. Iron Man 2

Out of all the Stan Lee cameos Ant-Man has the funniest & brilliant cameo.
A+

Rudd & Pena knocked it out of the park.
Can't wait for his next movie appearance in Civil War.

I seriously need a super hero movie to get ripped too. Seriously Rudd My idiot Brother was no that long ago. Crazy training for one shirtless shot

Hm. I found the Stan Lee cameo here completely forgettable.

I don't even rember it to be honest, they're all weak. Actually found ASM to be the best

He is a bartender during the final Michael Peña montage.