440: Ant-Man

[00:00:00] 147. Let's get to Ant-Man, the first one. And this is now also going to be a bonus show available now at filmbuds.bandcamp.com so I can get the full trilogy review uninterrupted and all together there. So Ant-Man came out in

[00:00:19] 2015. It is directed by Peyton Reed, co-written by Edgar Wright of Anna and Adam McKay, and it stars Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Corey Stoll, Evangeline Lilly, Bobby Cannavale, Anthony Mackie, Judy Greer, Michael Pena, and a few others. And the

[00:00:40] synopsis is, armed with a super suit with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, cat burglar Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor Dr. Hank Pym pull off a plan that will save the

[00:00:53] world. So I remember when this one came out, and this was pretty much Paul Rudd's introduction, although he had been in Civil War, but his main introduction as Ant-Man and into the MCU. But I also, I think with Guardians as well, there was

[00:01:12] the hesitation of this sounds really stupid and goofy, it's not gonna work, you know, and why are they picking this character, etc. etc. So I think I was even though I loved Paul Rudd, even at the time and I had good hopes, I was still

[00:01:27] like, eh, is this gonna work? I don't know. And I think it's definitely one of the most underrated movies and characters of the MCU so far, and even though it's not a masterpiece, I think it's very easily watchable. It's always entertaining, it's

[00:01:47] not too long, it doesn't take itself too seriously, it's got a good cast, like it's just very well-rounded. Even though it doesn't do anything, you know, five out of five best of the best, it's still a very solid, refreshingly solid movie. And I've

[00:02:04] seen it maybe four or five times over the years, and I think it's about the same every single time. I don't think it's ever gonna get much higher or lower, but I think Paul Rudd is a perfect choice, first of all. I'm so glad that he has

[00:02:19] really broken out into the blockbuster world, because I think he can really do anything and he's always charming, he's always sort of grounded relatability to him in everything he does just naturally. But the origin, I think, you know, Marvel

[00:02:33] can sometimes struggle with good origin story movies, but this is definitely one of the better ones where he feels more like an actual regular guy, he's got normal kind of struggles, it's not a interplanetary, magical, super fantasy,

[00:02:49] sci-fi sort of coming-of-age, it's very, you know, very normal everyday person, which Paul Rudd does very well. And I think everything with Ant-Man, and of course Edgar Wright who did Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, he was supposed to direct

[00:03:06] this originally but then that fell through, but he still has the writing credit. The creativity with Ant-Man and how that is directed and injected into the story of him getting big, getting small, running through little spaces,

[00:03:20] being literally ant-sized, I think all that stuff looks really good and it's very fun and there's good humor there, and where he'll magically shrink and like when he's in the bathtub, he's going through the nightclub, flying through the

[00:03:35] city, or running through like sewers or little dirt tunnels, all that stuff to me, like I can't really get enough of that. I would just wish there was even more of that. So I think that's something that not really any other character in

[00:03:47] the MCU has. I think that does make the character unique and obviously he does get made fun of within the context of the story and of the big MCU, which is a good thing because it is still a very silly character, but there is definitely

[00:04:01] a purpose and advantage that he has over others, you know, in terms of escape. And the heist aspect of it is very well done. I think that the direction is good, it's pretty fluid, and there's good twists and turns with that, and the

[00:04:20] overall, jumping to the end here real quick, the villain, Corey Stoll, he's a good character actor. He's someone who just pops up and he can do pretty much any sort of character fairly well, so I'm never really upset to see him in a

[00:04:32] movie. He's always solid, always reliable, and his character is basically the classic dynamic of there being a good version of a character and then the evil version of the same sort of character where he's Yellowjacket and then Ant-Man

[00:04:46] is Ant-Man, the good version. And I'm fine with that, it's nothing super inventive, but the writing is okay, I think the motivation is alright. Like I'm not really on his side or hoping he wins, but I'm like alright, he's a jerk and he's

[00:05:01] definitely twisted, but he's not some super distant crazy character that just is evil for no reason. He's just kind of gone off the deep end, and that whole fight, that's something where some of the Edgar Wright-isms comes through and the

[00:05:14] really creative aspects of Ant-Man are showcased with like the Thomas the Tank Engine fight and that getting big, the huge ants coming alive, and then the humor of them seemingly having this super, super dramatic epic fight and

[00:05:31] they're actually tiny on a little train set. Like all that stuff works, you know? Maybe some people don't like that or just roll their eyes, but I think that's really fun. So action-wise, very solid. The cast, otherwise... Michael Douglas is

[00:05:45] someone who... he's not a bad actor, he's a good actor for sure, I'm not hating on him, but he's not someone who I seek out. Like if he's in a movie I'm like alright, cool, you know? I don't think we're gonna get a bad performance

[00:05:58] here. He's not someone who I really relate to immediately or I seek out his movies. I'm just not that person, I don't know why exactly, just always felt that way. So I think he's good in the movie, you know? And Evangeline Lilly,

[00:06:13] however, someone I really like. I think she had already been in... maybe the second Hobbit movie hadn't come out just yet, but I think she's awesome. I'm sad to hear that she's quote-unquote retiring at this point, which I don't know if

[00:06:26] that's gonna be true or for how long, but I think she's very solid in everything. I like her, really like her in The Hobbit, I really like her in these movies, so she's just a good fit. She has good physicality, she has good emotional range, so no

[00:06:38] complaints there. Michael Pena, for the most part I like him. I think he has good versatility and I know some people don't like the whole replay of stories and flashbacks through his voice, like the crazy montage super long stories

[00:06:55] that he tells. I think that's good. That's something that is sort of iconic with these movies. I look forward to it, maybe some people are like, oh god here we go again, but to me I'm laughing at that. I just think the timing and how they

[00:07:10] incorporate actors speaking for him or like mouthing what he's saying, I think all that is really really funny and I get a kick of that every time I see it. So I have no complaints with that part of the writing, that's just always solid.

[00:07:25] So I feel like I'm always, you know, the group of characters, the group of cast, I'm always with. You know, I'm not really rolling my eyes or hating who I'm spending time with. But some other standout scenes, I like

[00:07:38] the scene where he, Paul Rudd, is working at Baskin-Robbins at the beginning. That's good. I like the relationship with his daughter where he breaks out of the jail and is flying through the city on the ants. The training montage I think is

[00:07:54] very enjoyable and yeah I really don't have any big complaints with the movie. It's occasionally a little long, I think all these movies are a little too long. I'm glad they're not two and a half hours each, but I still think they can

[00:08:07] maybe lose 10-15 minutes and they'd be a little bit more solid. But it's still not that big a deal in comparison to a lot of other movies that go on way way too long. So I think that this trilogy, and we'll get to the other two coming

[00:08:21] soon, I think it's one that I can always, if I need a laugh, if I need an easy watch, you know, if I need a comfort movie, I think this one especially is, it's the

[00:08:33] best spoiler of the three to me and I think I'll always have a soft spot for it. It's kind of hard to hate on Paul Rudd, I think I doubt anyone really hates Paul Rudd, he's one of those actors who you just immediately seem to like and I

[00:08:47] think it's hard to really hate Ant-Man too. Like he's not some super showy crazy comic book character, he's just a guy with a suit, you know, kind of hard to be too mad at that. So highly recommended. That one is a heavy 4 out of 5.