Ant-Man (2015)

Back in 5th grade, I was told to do a poem based off of an animal that I was like. My pre-teen, short stature self decided on an ant, who was small, but a hard worker. I thought of this poem while entering Ant-Man, hoping for a sleeper of a film to be entertaining and possibly more.

Sadly, it was not the case.

Paul Rudd, one of Hollywood’s most charming actors, stars as Scott Lang, a recently released cat-burglar trying to make ends meat and pay child support so he can see his young daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson). His ex-wife Maggie (Judy Greer) is now dating a cop (Bobby Cannavale), who (surprise!) does not like Scott.

Eventually, Scott steals the Ant-Man suit, only to realize it was planned for him to do so by its creator Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas, who can never make a role boring to watch). He is wanting Scott to help steal a piece of armor from Hank’s former partner Darren Cross (Corey Stoll). While I am sure he is a talented actor, Stoll gives us one of the most forgettable villains in recent super hero films, and when a super hero film has a sub par villain, you are in trouble.

Other characters include Hank’s daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly, recently returned from Middle-Earth), who is, of course, opposed to Scott but eventually likes him, and Luis (Michael Pena), a kind hearted friend but, to me, annoying at the end of it all.

Of course, we expect the action (or is it ANTtion?) scenes to be stellar, and they do for the most part. Fighting scenes vary from the inside of a suitcase to a toy train set. We also get a quick cameo from an Avenger, which was nice in its own way.

Paul Rudd does fine as the title character (mainly because there are enough times for him to be Paul Rudd), and Douglas succeeds because, well, he is Michael Douglas for crying out loud! The problem with the film, mainly, is the script. For example, the time to train Scott in the Ant-Man suit is limited (according to Hope) to days, yet the montage (and there has to be one of those, of course) seems to suggest they train for weeks.

Parents, there is some swearing, and action, but nothing else. If your kids have seen any of the other Marvel movies, they would be fine seeing this. I would argue, however, that it is not one of Marvel’s best efforts.

Overall: