In the lead-up to Avengers: Infinity War (in cinemas 25 April), Liam Maguren re-watches Ant-Man.
Picture the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a plastic sushi container and each individual film is a slab of sashimi rolled in rice and seaweed. They’re packed to the brim. They kinda look alike. You question why THAT one has pineapple but, overall, they clearly belong together.
Ant-Man is not a roll of sushi; it is the side of ginger that many people ignore. However, when used properly, the gari is a necessary part of a container of sushi, for it cleanses the palette.
And that’s exactly what Ant-Man is to the MCU – a palate cleanser.
Before this film came along, there was a galaxy-ending event (Thor: The Dark World), a genocidal event (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), another galaxy-ending event (Guardians of the Galaxy), and a world-ending event (Avengers: Age of Ultron). The constant destruction of everything was getting pretty tiring, so thank Feige Ant-Man came along to…
*brace for impact*
…scale things down.
It came at the perfect time and I suspect it’s why people are so forgiving of its somewhat average first half. Most of it is set at Hank Pym’s house, the camerawork hardly ever goes beyond over-the-shoulder shots, the editing leaves a lot to be desired (this 2min vid makes a great comparison), there are more whooshing transitions than a season of Scrubs, the Russian character’s accent reaches Zangief-level of corny, and – a personal nitpicky pet peeve of mine – they put 1980s videogame sound effects on a modern gaming console.
There’s even the dreaded training montage, a rote blueprint that the MCU had generally done well to avoid. At least it comes with a fun showdown between Ant-Man and Falcon.
The filmmaking isn’t that good off the bat. It couldn’t have been easy for Peyton Reed, director of the forgettable Yes Man and the legendary Bring It On, having to run with the ball that Edgar Wright planted when he dropped out of the production. Fortunately, the film never stops being likeable thanks largely to Paul Rudd and partly to Oscar winner Adam McKay – both of whom helped with the Ant-Man re-write.
Rudd does so much of the heavy lifting here and he has the Ab Shot™ to prove it. Even the blandest scene pulls through thanks to Rudd’s comedic timing and every-guy charm. In Taika Waititi fashion, he even manages to defuse origin story clichés, essentially eye-rolling with the audience at every dark-past speech and the father-daughter moment the film flops out.
This approach makes it more inviting to take Ant-Man less seriously. It’s a Get Out of Jail Free card, which is appropriate for a heist film. More appropriately, the heist itself is fantastic.
When Scott Lang changes sizes, the film changes with him. The camera shots creatively grasp the magnitude of the surroundings, the sound effects imaginatively depicts what giant insects might sound like, and Christophe Beck’s classy caper score kicks in.
Everything amps up in the final act with moments incomparable to any other film out there. The team’s infiltration plan is easy to follow and everyone plays an important role in making it tick, though just being able to see Ant-Man size-shift in a fistfight makes the scene a winner. So it’s even more rewarding when its ambition shifts even higher the moment they get out of the facility.
I think it’s psychologically impossible to not fall in love with the perfectly foreshadowed keychain tank that grows out of a building or the tiny Ant-Man v tiny Yellowjacket fight that takes place in a freefalling suitcase. In a brilliant move, the film goes against the MCU obsession with massive-and-explosive climaxes by mockingly shrinking it down to the size of a Thomas the Tank Engine train set. It leans on creativity ahead of spectacle and it’s much better for it.
It all leads to an actual train-sized Thomas bursting out of a house, a giant ant being mistaken for a “messed-up dog,” and Yellowjacket dying in a really horrific way in front of a particularly unfazed little girl. The film also gives some flavours of the Doctor Strange universe when exploring the subatomic state, which is cool to see in hindsight.
Because the first two acts are so paint-by-numbers, the third really surprises. Nevertheless, it’s frustrating that the rest of the film couldn’t live up to it.
For avid believers in the saying “A movie is only as good as its villain,” Ant-Man is another classic example. Like the film itself, Yellowjacket feels like he has a lot of great things going for him that don’t get fully realised like his mentor relationship to Hank Pym or the way the chemicals make him psychotic Doc Ock-style. Corey Stoll’s performance delivers something better than what he was given, which makes you wish he was given more.
Nevertheless, the way he ruthlessly murders a guy with a tissue is pretty awesome and no cash reward can match his priceless sookie-face reaction to seeing his company literally turn into nothing.
There are other valuables in the nooks of this film. Michael Douglas is a satisfying Hank Pym, the film’s treatment of the rival step-dad as a genuinely good parent is refreshing, Michael Peña’s neverending chain of stories always gets a laugh, and Evangeline Lilly’s Hope carries a very understandable amount of irritation towards not being allowed a super-suit of her own.
Then we get to the stinger, which sees Hope staring at The Wasp costume and declare “It’s about damn time.” It was a promise of finally having a female superhero in a lead role, some pre-ordered thunder that the DCEU took when Wonder Woman turned out to be awesome.
Previous MCU films revisited:
Revisiting Iron Man – the humble-brag beginnings of the MCU
Revisiting Incredible Hulk – the one that time shredded
Revisiting Iron Man 2 – unfortunately
Revisiting Thor – proving itself worthy
Revisiting Captain America – an honest to goodness film
Revisiting The Avengers – a true epic
Revisiting Iron Man 3 – Tony Stark’s finest two hours
Revisiting Thor: The Dark World – look, it’s not *that* bad
Revisiting Captain America: Winter Soldier – the game-changer
Revisiting Guardians of the Galaxy – fresh, flawed, & fun
Revisiting Avengers: Age of Ultron – a warning sign for Infinity War
