Marvel's Ant-Man: July 17, 2015 (1 Viewer)

[Todd H]

Just got back from watching it in 2D. It was a bit quirky but fun. Ejnoyed the

Spoiler

fight between Ant-Man and the Falcon.

Be aware there are two stingers...one mid credits and another one at the end.

 

[Patrick Sun]

While I thought the story was a little light in the dramatic heft department, I saw it in 3D, and I would say the 3D enhanced the viewing experience, so if you like 3D, this film is one to see in 3D.


Cast chemistry was good, the bad guy was okay, probably what made it a little too benign for me.


I give it 3 stars (for the 3D, mainly), or a grade of B.

 

[Yavin]

In short:


In Ant-Man, Paul Rudd plays Scott Lang, the new guy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. An electrical-engineer-turned-cat-burglar who's just been released from San Quentin State Prison, Scott becomes the Ant-Man when he's recruited by inventor Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lily). You see, 30 years ago, Hank discovered a chemical that enabled him to shrink down to a mere 3.5 millimeters while retaining his full-size strength, transforming him into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s smallest and most secret Cold War weapon. Now Hank's former protégé, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), is on the verge of duplicating Hank's revolutionary work and selling it to H.Y.D.R.A. And only Scott can stop him. The result is another bona fide win for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a movie that eschews the usually massive scope of superhero films in favor of more self-contained storytelling. But while director Peyton Reed exercises admirable restraint for the pint-sized hero's first big screen outing, given Marvel's current track record you can be sure that even bigger and better things lie ahead.


Click here to read my full review.


Film rating: 4 out of 5

 

[Sean Bryan]

I really liked Ant-Man.

It's a smaller, charming, fun, Sci-Fi heist movie, with some nice family drama mixed in.

I'd say it certainly had a different feel from most of Marvel's movies, but it also still appropriately felt like part of that world. The aspects that crossed between Ant-Man and the larger MCU were nicely done, IMO.

I enjoyed the family, father-daughter (two fathers, two daughters) aspect of Ant-Man. There were one or two moments that made me a little misty eyed. Which was nice. Scott's daughter is absolutely adorable.

The back and forth shrinking and how that was used in action scenes was really cool, especially the view from Lang's perspective in many of the scenes when he is ant-sized.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of Scott Lang in Civil War next May.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I saw it last night and I really liked it - it was probably the most fun I've had watching a Marvel movie since the original "Avengers". Which is not to say it's the best overall, but in terms of just being fun and flat-out enjoyable to watch, it beats most of their recent output. I liked that while it was definitely still a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it wasn't a direct continuation of anything we've seen before - it had a few winks and nods to the earlier films, but you could also watch it as a stand-alone and enjoy it just as much.


I've really liked pretty much all of the Marvel movies, but earlier this summer I was really disappointed in "Avengers: Age Of Ultron" which I thought kinda forgot to be fun. It's definitely a formula movie, it's somewhat predictable, but the actors are good, the chemistry is good, and, did I mention fun?


I loved Michael Douglas in the supporting role of Hank Pym. Great to see him in a big blockbuster.

 

[Sam Favate]

It was a hell of a lot of fun. And how cool is it that after 12 other movies, Marvel is still original. A sci-fi heist movie is something I don't think I have ever seen before. The cast was great; I hope they do another one.

 

[DavidJ]

I REALLY enjoyed Ant-Man. I'm afraid that it won't do as well at the box office as maybe it deserves to do. I had to drag my wife out to see it tonight. She normally really likes or loves the Marvel movies, but she thought this looked dumb. She had a great time watching it and really thought it was fun.


The cast is really strong especially Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly and Paul Rudd. There are some nice tie-ins to the bigger Marvel universe as well as some good backstory for the characters. The characters actually have arcs too. Yay! Too many summer blockbusters ignore character development.


Josh, I tend to agree with you. I loved the first Avengers movie, but found the second one, despite some very enjoyable moments, a bit lacking in fun. It was nice to see a movie without the overblown, end-of-world stakes where there is an army of interchangeable bad guys for the good guys to fight.

 

[TravisR]

Considering all the behind the scenes problems this movie had, I was willing to give it some leeway but none was needed because it was a solidly fun time at the movies. As others have said, I liked the smaller stakes (not every movie has to deal with the fate of the planet) but like Guardians Of The Galaxy, the sense of humor and the cast's ability to pull it off is what made this movie work for me. The whole cast was good but I was really glad to see Michael Pena get some laughs.



I stayed for the end-end credits tag but as per usual, I had no clue what the hell anyone was talking about or what it alluded to.

 

[Sean Bryan]

I stayed for the end-end credits tag but as per usual, I had no clue what the hell anyone was talking about or what it alluded to.

Ha! Yeah, the mid-credits scene was directly part of this movie and showed us

Spoiler

Hank Pym giving his daughter, Hope VanDyne, the 'Wasp' suit he had been developing with her mother, Janet.

I'm not sure if Hope will be in Civil War (Scott certainly will be), but Kevin Fiege has said she'll have a significant role in an upcoming Phase 3 movie.

But the post-credits scene was less clear of the significance.

I believe this is because rather than being an extra scene done just to be a credits stinger, this may be a scene lifted directly from Civil War. So there was no context for what they were talking about.

But I think the take-away there is that

Spoiler

Cap and Falcon seemed to have found and captured Bucky. They have to do something but they don't want to involve Stark. And when Falcon says "he knows a guy" the implication is that they're going to get Scott Lang (Ant-Man) to help them.

 

[TravisR]

I believe this is because rather than being an extra scene done just to be a credits stinger, this may be a scene lifted from Civil War.

I didn't think of that but you may be right because the aspect ratio changed to about 2.35 on that scene.

 

[Sean Bryan]

I didn't think of that but you may be right because the aspect ratio changed to about 2.35 on that scene.

Yeah, I'll have to more nerd research on that, but I think I've read some comments elsewhere indicating that this may be the case. Loved that little bit of familiar unsettling music it used from my favorite MCU movie!

 

[Sean Bryan]

This just completely cracked me up. To tears.

Just thought I'd share.

 

[steve jaros]

Saw this in 2D today and regret I didn't see it in 3D. Was very fun, the best movie I've seen this summer so far (and I've seen all the major releases).


Witty, clever, fun, and loads of action. Heck, the way Disney-Marvel movies USED to be before "Age of Ultron", LOL.

 

[Sean Bryan]

Some thoughts about Hank's wife:

Spoiler

So she wasn't killed, but just lost forever in the microverse. However, Scott has now done what Hank thought was impossible and returned from the microverse.

Interesting that they never showed Janet's face. When she sacrificed herself on the nuke in ?1989? she had the helmet on. And in the picture they showed of her with Hank and Hope her face was obscured by her hat. That leads me to think that Marvel wants to leave the door open to either bring her back in the future or do more stuff in the 80's Hank Pym Ant-Man era at some point and retain flexibility with the casting options.

The movie certainly set up that it is possible she is alive in the microverse and that it might be possible to bring her back. You can see the wheels spinning in Hank's head about that possibility.

If Hank does manage to retrieve her from the microverse at some point in the future, do you think she'll have aged normally like him, or will she maybe be younger if all aspects of time and space are wonky at that quantum level in the microverse?

 

[Edwin-S]

Calling this sort of stuff science fiction makes my head want to explode.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Saw this in 2D today and regret I didn't see it in 3D. Was very fun, the best movie I've seen this summer so far (and I've seen all the major releases).


Witty, clever, fun, and loads of action. Heck, the way Disney-Marvel movies USED to be before "Age of Ultron", LOL.

I agree with your thoughts. Actually, "Ant-Man" might be the most fun of all the Marvel movies - well, those released under the "Marvel Universe" banner, at least. The Raimi Spideys remain my favorite of the Marvel character movies, but I think "Ant-Man" might be better than its "Marvel Universe" predecessors.


It's one of the rare Marvel Universe flicks that pulls off comedy without seeming forced and self-conscious. In the other movies - even the much-loved "Iron Man" - the comedy comes across as non-organic to me, but the laughs/quirks of "Ant-Man" feel seamless.


Rudd is a much better hero than I would've expected. I feared he'd "act down" to the material and wink at the audience in a smarmy way, but he plays it straight. He does the comedy better than anyone else in the Marvel flicks but still invests in the character's action and dramatic scenes.


Yeah, Yellowjacket doesn't make for the greatest villain, partly because Corey Stoll plays him in Nutbag Mode from the start. He's such a Capital V Villain at all times that it's tough to believe he was ever close to Hank or that Grace would be interested in him. Sure, the movie does explain his change in personality, but I still think we should've gotten a better hint of "normal Aaron".


Minor quibbles aside, this is an awfully fun movie, and one that kept me with it from beginning to end. It's up there with the two Captain America movies as the best of the Marvel Universe - and it's the second most fun I've had at the movies this year...

 

[Sean Bryan]

Calling this sort of stuff science fiction makes my head want to explode.

Just let it.

 

[Sean Bryan]

Alright, this is totally bizarre but possibly the best promo for a super hero movie EVER!

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=947727858601873&id=111382562236411&_rdr

 

[Edwin-S]

Just let it.

I'd post that gif from Scanners but watching the guy's head explode over and over starts to be kind of stomach churning.

 

[DaveF]

I haven't care about an ant that much since "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids."

Recommended. See it in the theater.