It’s funny to think that with all the other MCU movies trying to be bigger and more action packed than the last, Ant-Man is probably the only one that goes for a much smaller scale of a movie with a simpler story and somewhat tiny action set pieces. This makes sense since the entire premise of the movie is about a man that can shrink down to the size of an ant. Yet even with its smaller sized production, The MCU does it again in bringing us a superhero small in size but big in entertainment.
1989 former SHIELD agent Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) leaves the company to hide his shrinking technology to avoid it being replicated by SHIELD or other forces. In the present day, former thief Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is released from prison but is shunned away from seeing his one and only daughter Cassie from her ex-wife and new finance. Scott starts to turn back to crime to make some money but happens to come across the Ant-Man suit which can shrink a normal human being to the size of an ant. Hank Pym is impressed Scotts ingenuity and helps him break out of prison to train him into becoming the Ant-man in spite of her daughter Hope’s (Evangeline Lilly) doubts. Scott is now tasked into stealing a new piece of tech from Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) called the yellow jacket which has the same powers as the Ant-Man suit. Cross plans to sell it to other people who can use these new suits for evil purposes.
Think of this story as like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids if it was made into a superhero movie. You can separate the story into two bits. The first bit is the main storyline about Scott learning to use the Ant-Man suit to steal the yellow jacket tech and the other bit is about a redemption story about Scott starting himself from scratch after being released from prison and wanting to get equal visitation rights to see her one and only daughter. The action-packed plot is the more interesting and it's filled to the brim with creative ideas with the use of the Ant-Man suit and the unique locations that come from being shrunk down in size. There are plenty of laughs and a whole lot of fun characters that are just irresistible to resist. I’ll admit that the other plot with Scott trying to redeem himself after prison sounded a little too cliched on paper, especially seeing that there is a step father that is in the picture to make things more complicated. The great thing about this though is that they don’t make it the pure focus and they give that said plotpoint enough time to make its mark without overstaying its welcome and it becomes more hopeful than annoying which is great.
Scott Lang is another great addition to the long lineup of MCU heroes and his redemption arc is fun and likable. Scotts not the only one that gets all the attention though as the Pym family has a very interesting dynamic that is very well explained and decentally complex. Hope’s and Hanks relationship brings a good amount of heart to this action movie script and is some of the best deep writing of characters since Guardians of the Galaxy. Even the side characters like Scott's ex and her stepfather are surprisingly not annoying unlike in the worst family movies that push those kinds of character cliches. Thankfully, like some of the story elements, they get just the right amount of time for their characters to shine without being too redundant or sappy.
Despite the smaller size, The effects team for this movie is no different from some of the best MCU movies. They play around with size and scope when Scott is shrunk down and there are many cool action set pieces that come with it. They even introduce new techniques other than shrinking such as little blades that can make objects smaller or bigger and the ability to control an army of ants with a sort of radioactive telekinesis. The movie introduces some interesting locations for action to take place which in some respects may be some of the more interesting locations Marvel has come up in their entire movie library. Some of the biggest highlights include the montage with Scott learning his new found abilities and the final battle with the yellow jacket in a girls bedroom. The music is conducted by Christopher Beck who is most well known for scoring the soundtrack to Frozen. The overall music melodies bring a sense of fun and excitement while also taking its time to slow down and catch up with the characters feelings and desires.
Ant-Man in some respects is the MCU’s lesser grand movies compared to The Avengers or even Guardians of the Galaxy, but that still doesn't stop this movie from being such a fun superhero comedy that is small but hugely entertaining with its great storytelling, very likable characters, creative imagery and a suave and fast paced music score. This is another movie that is great on its own merits even without knowing previous MCU movies but it certainly makes it even greater knowing we will be seeing Ant-Man alongside Iron Man and Captain America in the Future.
(Final Grade: B+)