Marvel. Superheroes. Summer movie. Blockbuster hit. No, I’m not describing "The Avengers: Age of Ultron," but I am describing Marvel Studios’ newest addition to their cinematic universe, "Ant-Man." Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas and a long list of talented actors star in this summer blockbuster hit, and they all come together and perform marvelously.
The plot consists of an ex-convict Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) who is just released from prison. He also has a daughter, who he’d love to see, but is unable to due to his ex-wife who will only allow him to see her if he provides child support. Unfortunately this is easier said than done for Scott because nobody seems to want to hire an ex-convict (which is understandable). He then has to find a way to earn money to be able to pay off the child support, and meets Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), who provides him with a job (it's actually not this simple, but spoilers). From here on out, Scott and the rest of the protagonists in the movie have to figure out a way to execute the actual task. This is where the movie becomes a “heist movie,” which if done correctly, is very entertaining. The heist aspect of the film keeps the audience on their toes because you never know when or where the heist could go wrong.
So many people may be wondering what makes this different from every other Marvel movie that gets released every year. The answer is comedy. Paul Rudd and Michael Peña’s characters are undoubtedly the funniest ones in the movie. The dialogue exchanged in this flick is also very comical, and the movie utilizes size changes to their comedic advantage as well (you will understand what I mean once you see the movie). This is what, in my opinion, allows this movie to stand out among the purely action based movies that Marvel releases each year. Don’t get me wrong, those movies are very entertaining and visually eye catching, but it gets old when many of them are just the same template of a movie with a different skin put on top of it. It seems as if Marvel Studios noticed this and decided to change things up by putting in a lot of comedic value into Ant-Man. This film also doesn’t forget that it is a Marvel movie, and so references were made for the fans of the Marvel cinematic universe.
If there is anything that I learned from this and "Guardians of the Galaxy," it's that Marvel Studios can make a good movie out of any comic book franchise. I had doubts about both of the previously mentioned movies and was proved wrong both times. I would definitely recommend this movie to any fans of the Marvel cinematic universe, or people that enjoy action comedies. This movie does a very good job of being entertaining, all while having funny scenes every now and then. The characters in "Ant-Man" (both serious and funny) are played out wonderfully by a star studded cast. Overall, "Ant-Man" receives a 87% from myself.
