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
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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