It was always more than just a heist! It’s a by the numbers heist film disguised as a Super Hero movie. Anyone who follows comic books knows that in that medium Hank Pym is a giant wife-beating douchebag who invented Ultron, but in the movie verse, Pym is sexy old guy Michael Douglas. How can you hate on that? You have to admire the Marvel Cinematic Universe, now that they have their formula and vision down to a science, they can afford to take chances with off beat projects like Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant Man.
Based on all the behind the scenes drama, this movie should have been a disaster, but it proves my theory that film goers should never pay attention to the voice behind the curtains and let the finished product speak for itself and there’s something about this film that just works. It works because unlike the DC Universe, Marvel understands that you can have Super Hero films be serious and realistic without being “dark and grim” all the time. The sheen and gloss of their productions give their projects a comic book glow to them, while keeping them very grounded. Once again it’s the characters that make Super Heroes work.
I hate the term “Every Hero,” but that’s what the Ant Man film feels like. The little movie that could. Headed up by Paul Rudd (Scott Lang/Ant Man) the cast clicks and looks like they are having fun with the material. When we first meet Scott, he’s fresh out of jail and is determined to stay out so he can rebuild his relationship with daughter.
Marvel’s Ant-Man..Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd)..Photo Credit: Zade Rosenthal..? Marvel 2014
The former industrial thief is having a hard time walking the straight and narrow and manages to gets caught up in corporate shenanigans with original Ant Man, Hank Pym and his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly). Lang and his heist team, Davie (T.I.), Luis (Michael Peña) and their computer guy Kurt (David Dastmalchian) have to stop Pym’s former protégé Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) from stealing his Ant Man formula.
I love that the producers went with a cast of people that you don’t see everyday. Pena and T.I. were solid as the comic relief and I loved seeing Lilly. She’s someone who just isn’t in enough stuff. Which is a contradiction of my first sentence, but you know what I mean.
Peyton Reed has taken a script that has 7 credited writers to it and crafted a fairly simple, straight forward story and that is filled with heart and humor. The story is appropriately small and intimate, but has larger than life moments. I loved the moments when Reed pulled the camera back to show what the fights must look like from a normal prospective. It conveys in picture how truly unique and terrifying it must be to shrink down into “nothingness.” It strangely added more weight to the actual fighting. Reed and his special effects team do a great job of taking a character that many see as a joke and turn him into a bad ass.
Blu-Ray
There’s a full length audio commentary with Director Peyton Reed and Paul Rudd, several deleted and extended scenes with audio commentary, a gag reel, and 2 featurettes.
Audio and Video quality is sharp as expected. I love that it’s not letter-boxed (I’m not going to go into my I hate letter boxing rant). The set includes a Disney’s MovieAnywhere Digital copy that works with all the various streaming providers and in some cases like iTunes includes all the bonus features. I wish more companies would do this, it drives me nuts getting a digital copy that only works with one service and doesn’t include the Blu-ray extras.
Grades
- Movie – B
- Video – A
- Audio – A
- Extras – B
Final overall Grade B