MCU Rewind #12 - Ant-Man - Review
Release date (US): June 29th, 2015
Directed By: Peyton Reed
Rating: PG-13
Directed By: Peyton Reed
Rating: PG-13
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lily, Michael Douglas, Michael Pena, Corey Stoll, Judy Greer
MCU REWIND REVIEW EXPLANATION: In these reviews, I will be going back to all the Marvel Cinematic Universe Films that have been released to date, reviewing each one in a retrospective manner. Expectations and background will detail how I felt about the film before the repeat viewing. This review will contain spoilers for these movies. You have been warned.
Previous Rating: 8.4/10
MCU REWIND REVIEW EXPLANATION: In these reviews, I will be going back to all the Marvel Cinematic Universe Films that have been released to date, reviewing each one in a retrospective manner. Expectations and background will detail how I felt about the film before the repeat viewing. This review will contain spoilers for these movies. You have been warned.
Previous Rating: 8.4/10
Expectations/Background: Much like Avengers: Age of Ultron, this was a film that I purchased after the initial release and watched countless times. I saw this film at least 10 times after it came out on home video; I'm not quite sure why, but perhaps it was because I had fond memories of the theater experience. I can truly say that when I saw the movie, it was one of the most fun theater experiences that I had ever had. The humor, the novelty, and the story and heart had me hooked, and for a time, I thought that this film was better than Age of Ultron. However, much like Age of Ultron, it did get repetitive watching the film over and over again, and because of that, I had not seen the film in a long time.
The Movie: This was another movie on the heels of Age of Ultron that completely shocked me, but for the completely opposite reason. This movie bored me. I doubt it was because the quality had somehow decreased in the time that I Had last seen it, because I was watching the same film, but the novelty completely wore off. I was watching the film and finding the cliches, tropes, and rehashes became very apparent.
Positives: Paul Rudd carries this movie. From the beginning scenes you see that Paul Rudd is carrying this film on his shoulders. Because of the performance and the charisma that drips from his delivery, every single scene that features Paul Rudd as Scott Lang is pure gold.
Additionally, supporting players Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lily work well as Hank Pym and Hope van Dyne. When Marvel announced that they had signed an A-list star to the caliber of a Michael Douglas, fans became excited because of the sheer amount of talent that he would bring. And while he doesn't deliver an Oscar-worthy performance, he does his part, serving as a very real, believable Hank Pym. While I had problems with the storyline and dialogue that they gave Lily, she played her character to the best of her ability.
Another strong selling point of this film is the visual effects and the CGI. It's almost hard to believe that this film would be more reliant on visual effects than Age of Ultron was, but to its credit, Reed and his team pulled off the shrinking in a very believable way. The way that Scott shrunk throughout the film is very organic, and I especially enjoyed the sequence in the bathtub where Scott first tries on the suit.
Another huge selling point of the film was the humor, and for the most part the humor landed. This was a very different kind of comedy than say an Avengers film, relying more on physical comedy and Rudd's goofiness versus traditional Whedon banter. Luis especially (as many critics have pointed out already) is one of the highlights of the film as he tells his stories and delivers the best jokes throughout the entire film.
Also, one of the best scenes by far was the scene with Falcon. Though maybe it wasn't necessary to the plot of the movie, seeing another Avenger that could go toe to toe with Ant Man was so fun to see, especially the banter between the two. The fight choreography was especially great as the directors found new and exciting ways to take a typical action scene to the next level.
Negatives: However, while this film does hold up in a certain sense, it doesn't hold up nearly as well as I had hoped. Unlike Age of Ultron, which got better after I rewatched it, this film actually crumbles under its generic plot.
Here's the thing - while the tone and the concept is very unique, this film is built on a crumbling foundation - when you rewatch this film, at least for me, I began to realize how much this film in particular relies on the "Marvel Formula". And upon the first few viewings, this was fine and, in fact, made the film a very fun experience for me. But having seen 11 previous MCU films, the generic storyline stood out.
More on him later, but the villain was terrible - I don't know whether or not I prefer Yellowjacket or Malekith as one of the worst villains in the MCU (honors go to Whiplash) but regardless, any attempts of characterization are wasted as Yellowjacket falls completely and utterly flat.
It's not that this movie didn't lack in concept, or lack in originality in terms of concept - it's just when it came to execute, underneath all the "cute" jokes and all the fun "Marvel" action, is a boring, bland film in my opinion. This is a great film on first viewing because of how different it is and how fresh it feels, but underneath, it's a whole lot of nothing.
The Villain(s): In the grand scheme of things, Darren Cross/Yellowjacket isn't the worst villain. He services the story well enough. But the fact of the matter si that Marvel has a villain problem and Yellowjacket is no exception. There is an attempted set up, talking about how the Pym particles are messing with Cross's mind and the whole "he wasn't the most stable guy to begin with", but that does nothing to his character in the end when he goes absolutely insane.
Positives: Paul Rudd carries this movie. From the beginning scenes you see that Paul Rudd is carrying this film on his shoulders. Because of the performance and the charisma that drips from his delivery, every single scene that features Paul Rudd as Scott Lang is pure gold.
Additionally, supporting players Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lily work well as Hank Pym and Hope van Dyne. When Marvel announced that they had signed an A-list star to the caliber of a Michael Douglas, fans became excited because of the sheer amount of talent that he would bring. And while he doesn't deliver an Oscar-worthy performance, he does his part, serving as a very real, believable Hank Pym. While I had problems with the storyline and dialogue that they gave Lily, she played her character to the best of her ability.
Another strong selling point of this film is the visual effects and the CGI. It's almost hard to believe that this film would be more reliant on visual effects than Age of Ultron was, but to its credit, Reed and his team pulled off the shrinking in a very believable way. The way that Scott shrunk throughout the film is very organic, and I especially enjoyed the sequence in the bathtub where Scott first tries on the suit.
Another huge selling point of the film was the humor, and for the most part the humor landed. This was a very different kind of comedy than say an Avengers film, relying more on physical comedy and Rudd's goofiness versus traditional Whedon banter. Luis especially (as many critics have pointed out already) is one of the highlights of the film as he tells his stories and delivers the best jokes throughout the entire film.
Also, one of the best scenes by far was the scene with Falcon. Though maybe it wasn't necessary to the plot of the movie, seeing another Avenger that could go toe to toe with Ant Man was so fun to see, especially the banter between the two. The fight choreography was especially great as the directors found new and exciting ways to take a typical action scene to the next level.
Negatives: However, while this film does hold up in a certain sense, it doesn't hold up nearly as well as I had hoped. Unlike Age of Ultron, which got better after I rewatched it, this film actually crumbles under its generic plot.
Here's the thing - while the tone and the concept is very unique, this film is built on a crumbling foundation - when you rewatch this film, at least for me, I began to realize how much this film in particular relies on the "Marvel Formula". And upon the first few viewings, this was fine and, in fact, made the film a very fun experience for me. But having seen 11 previous MCU films, the generic storyline stood out.
More on him later, but the villain was terrible - I don't know whether or not I prefer Yellowjacket or Malekith as one of the worst villains in the MCU (honors go to Whiplash) but regardless, any attempts of characterization are wasted as Yellowjacket falls completely and utterly flat.
It's not that this movie didn't lack in concept, or lack in originality in terms of concept - it's just when it came to execute, underneath all the "cute" jokes and all the fun "Marvel" action, is a boring, bland film in my opinion. This is a great film on first viewing because of how different it is and how fresh it feels, but underneath, it's a whole lot of nothing.
The Villain(s): In the grand scheme of things, Darren Cross/Yellowjacket isn't the worst villain. He services the story well enough. But the fact of the matter si that Marvel has a villain problem and Yellowjacket is no exception. There is an attempted set up, talking about how the Pym particles are messing with Cross's mind and the whole "he wasn't the most stable guy to begin with", but that does nothing to his character in the end when he goes absolutely insane.
The Verdict: When people say, "This isn't a bad movie," I wholeheartedly agree. This is nowhere close to a bad movie. But this movie takes awhile to get going, and what it ultimately culminates into is a cute, small-scale, and original climax that was built on a generic foundation that Marvel fans have been used to seeing. Letter Grade: B-. Number Score: 7.8/10
Should I Skip?: Not knowing what will happen in Ant-Man and the Wasp makes this hard, but I think as of now it is a very skippable film. There isn't much here that we haven't seen before.
9-10: Nearly Perfect
Should I Skip?: Not knowing what will happen in Ant-Man and the Wasp makes this hard, but I think as of now it is a very skippable film. There isn't much here that we haven't seen before.
**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER**: Letter grades and Number grades do not mean the same thing. Just because I give a film an A does not mean it gets a 9.5 or above. They do not line up like a traditional school grading system To see specifics, see below.
A- to A+: Amazing
B- to B+: Enjoyable, but Flawed
C- to C+: Redeemable in some cases, but heavily Flawed
D- to D+: Nothing but Flaws
F: A Failure of a Film
8-9: Very Good
7-8: Good
6-7: Okay
5-6: Average/Mediocre
4-5: Apparently Flawed
3-4: Heavily Flawed
2-3: A complete and utter mess
0-2: A Failure of a Film
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