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In preparation for Avengers: Infinity War, I’m watching all the Marvel Studios movies leading up to it.
Ant-Man (2015)
So, with Ant-Man, we’re getting into the Marvel movies that I’ve seen far less. I don’t know why, exactly. I just didn’t see most of these over and over and over like some of the past movies. it wasn’t anything to do with the quality of the movies. I just think between the amount of content that’s out there and some life-stuff, I just got less of a chance to view over and over.
This happened with Ant-Man for certain, as I only got to see it once in the theater and only viewed it once since then. It’s a shame, because it’s a really fun, solid movie. The humor seems to have held up less well for me than, say, Guardians of the Galaxy. But I am still amused by a lot of it. Paul Rudd is so likeable, and I really enjoyed the supporting cast they built up around him. It was interesting to me that they made Hank Pym and older mentor and gave him and Janet a daughter. It’s one of the bigger moves away from a hero’s core canon that I can remember. Story-wise, it really pays off.
I actually was introduced to Scott Lang as an Iron Man guest star initially, and then as a supporting cast member of the Fantastic Four during the time I got into that book as a kid. It was the DeFalco/Ryan run, and IIRC, Sue Richards brought Scott (and his daughter Cassie) to the Baxter building after Reed was presumed dead to help out with the technical equipment. I really liked the way the character was depicted, and his past as a criminal gave him some extra wrinkles that I feel like Hank Pym never really had. That’s not to say I don’t like Hank in the comics, but he’s kind of just another white guy scientist in a universe that’s full of them. His main characteristic, eventually, became his guilt over creating Ultron.
So, using Scott Lang here works really well, especially as it gives him an interesting dynamic with Hank as they are both fathers. And just having a hero who is also a parent is a nice change of pace. Yellowjacket is an awesome-looking villain. I’m still mad that Hot Toys seems to have scrapped plans to release a figure of him, because it looked amazing in prototype. As a villain in the story, he’s kind of a middle-of-the-pack villain. The fact his brain has been warped by exposure to his experiments is never REALLY explained that well and kind of just feels thrown in. So his villainy comes off as a little cartoony, especially as we never really see his relationship with Pym from the past. But, he’s perfectly serviceable as a villain.
Speaking of the past, Ant-Man features one of my favorite opening scenes. What a thrill to see Peggy Carter and Howard Stark at Shield! I hope we get to see more of that some day. I just need more Agent Carter, damn it.
Finally, the action sequences in Ant-Man area lot of fun. The ant scenes start to feel very CGI-ied after a bit, but the use of shrinking powers and the proportionate strength (talk about comic book science there!) are a blast. It’s hard to believe this is the end of Phase 2!
