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Ant Man – the dirty pitch: Paul Rudd does Alice in Wonderland with a suit & charm instead of innocence & curiosity, but instead of finding chaos and confusion, he finds nobility and family.

America’s best friend Paul Rudd’s a new Marvel superhero. He’s 70% less asshole than Ironman, 60% less bulky than Thor, 50% less noble than Captain America, 40% less enigmatic than Hulk, 30% less unique than Hawkeye, 20% less sexy than Black Widow, and 10% less leader-like than Starlord… but he’s 100% more charming than them all!

Ant-man isn’t going to blow you way with originality or plot, but it’s going to make you not care, because the people and story are so damn charming. How charming is it that the 6 year old princess’ patriarch felon is still her most favorite person in the world? How charming is it, that by using a magic potion we can grow and shrink matter at the mere drop of serum. And how charming is it, that a CEO and ingenious leader of a corporate research powerhouse is plagued by issues of secrecy from his mentor! I keep using the word charming, because that’s what Ant-Man is, not a gut-buster comedy, not an action eye-suck, but just a smirking piece of good comic-book turned live-action at the movie theater!

Any story of redemption usually ranks high on America’s playlist, and if it includes an eerie mad scientist who is good, but shallow and stubborn, has a hot daughter, an evil protege, and the world’s most un-hatable everyman Paul Rudd, than it’s a wallet-dump for a couple of hours, amiright! That’s the plain & stale about Ant-Man. What’s golden is the return of the hero as an normal person!

Ant-Man takes us back to why superheroes can be so attractive, Ant-Man isn’t cosmic/ he isn’t altered by serums or formulas/ he doesn’t have any globally unique skills or powers/ he’s not altered, he’s just a smart dude, who happens to be quick on his feet, needing to make a bad situation good, and being helped by the right people who are mightily privileged and need someone to be “expendable”!

Bad dad, turns good, stops an evil entrepreneur, gets to have dinner with his daughter! Not a world-ending event, but an awesome story to tell people at a bar! Ant-Man keeps it familiar, but refreshing, with this simple and yet subtle addition to Marvel canon Ant-Man’s superhero status is currently so relevant to the point of making a deadbeat dad, not be a deadbeat dad, but a globally significant burglar.

Pivotal to every superhero is a weakness, and while Ant-Man’s weakness isn’t unique, it’s immersed into the plot, and it’s not a glowing chest or carnal rage, it’s just a daughter! Part of what makes superhero stories so enticing is the prospect that we can suddenly become a superhero and still be who we are!

That’s simple and effective, because it puts back the notion that any day, everyday, someone can turn into a superhero overnight! Something can come along, change your life forever- not make you a different person necessarily, and not necessarily make you larger than life, but in this case quite the opposite! Something can shrink you down to size, and make you think about what’s important to you, and what’s important to the world. Marvel pulled it off at the right time, small and plain and quirky at times! I like watching a movie where the protagonist knows some cool dudes and wants to have some time with family, and maybe before he does, he rides an ant across town and saves the city from destruction!

I know, that kinda thing shrinks on creativity, but it grows into a smile when you finish watching! When you do watch it, hopefully you’ll agree and thanks for reading!

 

Reviewed by: Wes Bernstein on July 27, 2015