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Review: Marvel’s ‘Ant-Man’ is smaller but still not fun size By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer If ever there was a sworn devotee — a chanting, face-painted worshipper — of the Big, it is Marvel. So the prospect that Ant- Man, the miniscule Mighty Mouse of Marvel’s stable of powerhouses, might join the brawny big-screen ranks of the Hulk, Thor and the rest has long held some pleasing irony. But that enticement — Oh, if it was something different! — went out the he- licarrier window when, just weeks before shooting was to commence, Edgar Wright, the British blender of genre and comedy who had worked on the project for eight years, departed over “creative dif- ferences´ — a sacri¿ce, seemingly, to the Marvel co- lossus. The precise source of the dispute is unknown, but it’s clear enough from the ¿nal product, pushed forward with the quick insertion of direc- tor Peyton Reed (“Bring it On,” “The Break-Up”) and a rewrite by Adam McKay and others, that “Ant-Man” Zade Rosenthal/Disney/Marvel via AP This photo provided by Disney shows Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man in a scene from Marvel’s “Ant-Man.” Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Paul Rudd, left, star of the film “Ant-Man,” poses with executive producer Stan Lee at the premiere of the film at the Dolby Theatre on Monday, June 29, in Los Angeles. became bedeviled with stay- ing true to its more modest size and idiosyncratic nature, and with the larger, blander demands of being a Marvel movie complete with super- hero cameos and (optimistic) +(/3 sequel set-ups. The result is a ¿lm not quite sure of itself, like it’s wearing clothes a size too big. Paul Rudd plays Scott Lang, a politically motivat- ed cat burglar being released after three years in San Quentin. He has an ethni- cally diverse group of petty criminal friends: Tip “T.I.” Harris, David Dastmalchian and Michael Pena, the only actor rightly convinced he’s in a comedy. Lang is try- ing to right himself for the sake of his young daughter, Cassie (Abby Ryder For- ston), and for paying child U-Pic k 100% Natural Blueberrie s Open Daily ‘til 6 pm $2.00 lb. 113th & Sandridge N. Long Beach, WA 8 | July 30, 2015 | coastweekend.com support to his ex-wife (Judy Greer, an actress too good to be twice relegated to the domestic sidelines in this summer’s blockbusters). But spry- ness (an es- sential quality for any movie about an in- sect super- hero) or any much purpose, at all, is missing from these scenes. The movie is too controlled for Rudd’s goof- ball charm — best on dis- play when simply standing in front of a mirror (“Wan- derlust”) or animated about music (“I Love You, Man”) — to break free. Through some strained plot mechanics, Lang is re- cruited by the original Ant- Man, the scientist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), to succeed him in the suit. Along with his daughter (a bob-sporting Evangeline Lilly), he’s conspiring to prevent a former apprentice (Corey Stoll) from unlock- ing the atomic secrets that led to Ant-Man in the ¿rst place: the ability to shrink down to bug-size, yet main- tain strength. Somewhere in Wonderland, Alice is tapping her foot. With the press of a button, he can toggle between big and small, and appear all but invisi- ble when tiny. The perspec- tive change al- lows for some unlikely su- perhero foes, like a bathtub drain. During training, while Lang tries to perfect his com- munication with other under- ground ants, he sometimes pops out of the ground like a sprouted cabbage. With a screenplay cred- ited to Wright, Joe Cornish, McKay and Rudd, “Ant- Man” unfolds in pleasingly human-sized fashion. It’s a heist movie. Not one city is leveled; it’s like Marvel has gone on a diet. But it’s only in the climac- tic scenes where the movie unlocks the antic potential of its shape-shifting. Rath- er than taking place above the skyline of a metropolis, The result is a film not quite sure of itself, like it’s wearing clothes a size too big. the big action scenes are set inside a briefcase and in Cassie’s bedroom. Such mo- ments, sprinkled throughout, are like glimpses of a better “Ant-Man” that might have existed. Change, we are told, is afoot in the Marvel Cinemat- ic Universe. “Ant-Man” is the ¿nal movie in the studio’s “Phase Two,” with prom- ises of bigger, intergalactic battles looming in “Phase Three.” But as a parent might say, it’s just a phase. Because you have to squint pretty hard to spot the differences from Marvel movie to Marvel movie. If “Ant-Man” proves anything, it’s that any diversion in this universe is likely to get stomped underfoot. “Ant-Man,” a Walt Disney Co. release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for “sci-fi action violence.” MPAA definition of PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. Running time: 124 minutes. Two stars out of four. Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
