Ant-Man [Movie Review]

So I went and saw the Marvel movie I had the lowest expectations for since Captain America (I had my doubts, and I never saw it in theaters. Those doubts turned out to be unfounded.). I'm not including The Incredible Hulk in this list, because I did not see the Hulk until recently, and it was just awful... and barely a part of the MCU. It does not have Mark Ruffalo, so it is not really the Hulk to me.

Hi. My name is Scott.

My doubts about this movie were almost instantly blown away by the opening scene. The scene was mainly between Tony Stark's father and Michael Douglas... and two other people. 

4.5 out of 5 stars

Michael Douglas! A consummate actor for certain. That was an excellent move.

Michael freakin' Douglas! Could not have been happier.

As per the usual - SPOILERS AHEAD.
I'll just try to be as vague as possible. 

You know what other role she has played?
Tauriel. The Elf who loves a Dwarf.

The story is a very solid straight forward story, nothing surprising there. Criminal (Robin Hood type) is released from jail, can't find work, returns to life of crime because of course our system is all about continuing to punish people after they have paid their debt to society. However this time there has been a fly, er ant, on the wall observing him, waiting for him. He is in fact wanted for his skills, not the crimes he has perpetrated with them.

Okay! Now can you guess who she plays in a hilarious
animated Spy Comedy?

The it is a matter of training, practice, and focus.
Some heartfelt stories and memories, and a few punches to the face. 

Like I said, it is a rather straight forward story. The motivations and subplots are straight forward as well. There is honestly nothing super surprising here... and if you pay attention to details, you'll catch some very interesting tidbits as the story moves along. Just because there is nothing super shocking or super advant garde here does not mean it is bad, not in the slightest. It is normal but very well executed, and in modern film perhaps that is shocking.    

This is going to end badly... a lot.

Do you know how to punch? Do you?

Every Chekhov's gun is resolved (or at least I cannot think of any that are not - save the specific ones for the future), all plots dealt with. Of course there are super-science shenanigans, but what can one expect from a comic book movie? They try to explain things, and they do try a little to avoid just spewing techno-babble, but its all science fiction and comic book explanations. As we should expect. A 'serum' made Captain America bigger, and a 'particle' make the distance between atoms smaller. It works, we accept it while we watch.

And do not write off the humor in this movie. This movie has loads of comedy. A good chunk comes in the form of flashback told by Luis, our hero's friend. They are just spectacular. The film is sprinkled liberally with solid funny comedy. Proper comedy. 

Now, what did shock me a bit was the lack of Avengers in the movie. I really thought we might see more of them. The movie posters fooled me, or promo images... the ones with Cap's Shield, Thor's Hammer, or Iron Man's Helmet. I really thought we'd see more of them than we did. There is really one primary Avenger we see in the movie - Falcon... and he's uncredited.     

I don't even get that. Why is he uncredited? If you search up and down the IMDB page you will not find him listed, you actually have to look up the actor, Anthony Mackie, to find confirmation that yes, you saw Falcon on screen. Well you can trust your own eyes, but who does that?

Still lets get back to the movie.

I was never bored at all during the movie. My mind never wandered. I barely even touched my soda I spent good money on. I was engrossed in the film. That's a good thing. I'm not certain where this falls on the MCU in terms of favorites. I really liked Winter Soldier (I think I underrated the movie), I loved Guardians of the Galaxy, Age of Ultron was loads of fun, and I really enjoy Thor: The Darkworld. Okay... I'll admit it. I really enjoy the entire MCU. I'll do marathons of the movies, while also including Agents of Shield.  The MCU is up there with Star Wars and Harry Potter for awesome series.

So I'll end with my usual little blurb.
I wholeheartedly suggest you go and see this movie. Especially if you enjoy the MCU. This makes a great addition, and I went into this movie with great reservations. Go see it! 

 *      *      *

Ant-Man or Perv-Man? All I knew about Ant-Man before the movie was
that some of his comics were certainly more adult that I had imagined.
Maybe I should read some Marvel comics...