Marvel’s Ant-Man is their longest gestating attempt to launch a new superhero movie. This time, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) can shrink down to the size of an ant to take on bad guys in what is being described as a heist flick!
Ant-Man
Scott Lang is a criminal. He’s done time. He’s struggled to make ends meet his whole life and has made plenty of mistakes. He has a daughter he loves, but he isn’t the best father. He just can’t get it right. But his heart is truly in the right place. He just needs a second chance.
Along comes Hank Pym. Old guy. Nice but kinda mysterious and at least a little odd. But he’s smart. You can tell right from the start this Hank Pym guy knows some stuff. He offers Scott an opportunity: become the Ant-Man.
But what is the Ant-Man? Well, he’s a superhero. Sort of. Pym invented the Pym particle, or discovered it, many years before, but he didn’t want to make it into a weapon. Pym’s protege, Darren Cross, did though. Cross stole the tech and has designed his own version of Pym’s suit, which makes the wearer shrink down to the size of an ant while also increasing in strength. Basically, you get little while being able to take on fully grown people still. It’s a cool idea. Oh, but Pym’s suit can also talk to ants. Real ants. The bugs. Yep. You wear the suit and they’re your army. Kinda cool.
The Pym particle is about to be unleashed on the world, and it all appears legal and such. Pym knows this is a bad thing, and he needs someone who knows how to break into places to help him steal his technology back. Hence Pym’s need for Scott Lang. So they work together to take down the bad guy and Scott gets a chance at redemption. His little girl thinks he’s a hero. It’s time to prove her right.
Who’s directing Ant-Man?
No offense to Peyton Reed, who got brought in at the last minute to take over for former director and writer Edgar Wright, but he definitely isn’t as cool a director as Wright. Years back, Wright approached Marvel with the idea of doing an Ant-Man movie. This was before Iron Man. Yeah, a LONG frickin’ time ago. He wanted to do something different with a superhero movie, which was to make a heist movie. Cool concept. Like Ocean’s Eleven, but with the incredible shrinking man!
But it was not meant to be. Wright and Marvel parted ways shortly before principle photography was to begin, so Reed was brought in to replace him. Reed isn’t bad, he’s directed some halfway decent comedies like The Break-Up and Yes Man, but he definitely does not have the level of nerd street cred that Wright has (but few do).
But the writer matters too! Who Wrote Ant-Man?
I’d say Ant-Man is still primarily Wright’s baby. I think the general gist of the film and many of the best jokes will come from his draft. It was rewritten by the Marvel machine though, specifically Joe Cornish, though there were 7 (YEAH, 7) other writers too.
Ant-Man Photos
Trailers for Ant-Man
Ant-Man Release Date
Ant-Man releases on July 17, 2015.
Best Actor or Actress in Ant-Man
This is actually a bit of a difficult question to answer, but I’m going to go with Paul Rudd. I like Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lilly (oh yeah), but Rudd is definitely the lead and he’ll carry this one to great success. It’s about time Rudd gets his chance to shine in a big time flick like Ant-Man. He isn’t the conventional choice, which is why I think he’ll make such a great addition to Marvel’s current roster.
Worst Actor or Actress in Ant-Man
Of the leads, I don’t think there’s a bad one in Ant-Man. Corey Stoll plays the villain, and he’s awesome on The Strain and other flicks I’ve seen him in, and the rest of the cast is either good or comedic supporting characters.
Is Ant-Man Worth Seeing?
Heck yeah. It’d be better if Wright had been in the director’s chair, but it should still be a fun ride and Marvel has been on a bit of a roll lately in case you hadn’t noticed.
Will Ant-Man make much money?
I have to admit I’m not quite sold on Ant-Man’s box office potential just yet. He’s a tougher sell than most of Marvel’s other properties, but after they made Guardians of the Galaxy one of last year’s biggest films I think there’s no way Ant-Man fails.
Final Thoughts on Ant-Man
Um… see it. Ant-Man should be fun and easy to enjoy. He’s going to ride an ant at some point. You can just check that off your bucket list and move on with your life after. See? Win-win.
Nice review. I’m a bit worried for the movie though, seven writers and a last minute change of director doesn’t bode well.