Honey, I shrunk the superhero
The new installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe introduces us to a superhero who comes sized XXS — the Ant-Man. Topbilled by Paul Rudd, known as a goofy romantic-comedy lead, the film utilizes his charm and affability to give us a superhero who nimbly blends action with comedy.
While naturally executed on a smaller scale, Ant-Man the film has more in common with Marvel films such as last year’s Guardians of the Galaxy, where the running gags, comedic lines and visual jokes have as much to do as the action in providing a winning formula. With several cross-references to the Avengers, the film is markedly a Marvel product, and should prove to be this year’s Marvel pleaser, in a bigger way than say, Avengers: Age of Ultron proved to be. With the film being directed by Peyton Reed who definitely knows his comedy — he was behind such films as the cheerleading cult classic Bring It On and Jim Carrey’s Yes Man — the question was more on whether he could deliver on the action front. And thanks to the special-effects aspect of the film, Reed passes with flying colors.
I mentioned the Avengers link, and one highlight of the film is Ant-Man’s encounter with Falcon at the Avengers HQ. The film’s plot is basically about con-man Scott Lang (Rudd) being recruited by Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) to take on the mantle of AntMan and infiltrate the corporate laboratory where Duncan Cross (Corey Stoll) is out to sell technology with earth-threatening implications to the highest bidder. The technology is based on a special suit that shrinks a person’s size but increases his strength. Pym first developed the technology but set it aside when he realized how it could fall in the wrong hands.
Suspension of disbelief is the entrance pass to a film that manages to disarm and charm, while providing enough moments of action and human drama. The drama comes courtesy of the parallel father-daughter relationships at the core of the film: Between Pym and Hope, and between Lang and his daughter who lives with his ex-wife and her police detective boyfriend. As for the visual gags, look out for Thomas the Train Engine and the Ant-Man in training sequences. As an ex-con, Lang has his own “gang” and they provide a number of comedic highlights; none better than scene-stealer Luis (Michael Pena). Literally every scene with Luis will crack you up, especially when it involves flashbacks with a multiple of characters but all shown to us with his singular voice-over. Here is director Reed showing off his undeniable penchant for
comedy.
At the heart of the film’s crowd-pleasing qualities is Rudd. He deflates every high drama or heart-tugging moment with supreme ease to provoke laughs, and still manages to stay believable when donning the superhero suit or choosing his own moment for family drama or wistfulness. His redemption as father and human being is what has us rooting for his ex-con portrayal. Much bigger than its parts or the size of its superhero, Ant-Man should prove to be a runaway success; and I look forward to seeing Rudd reprise his role in an Avengers context.