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<\/a><\/p>\nA previously untapped market for Marvel is that of the 4-7 year olds.\u00a0 But, those little moviegoers are no longer left out in cold with Marvel films thanks to ANT-MAN and a story that soars with the love between a father and a daughter and how Daddy, no matter how he looks or what others may say or think, is always a hero to his daughter\u2019s eyes. (Pulling out the tissues yet?\u00a0 You will when you see the film.)<\/p>\n
Directed by Peyton Reed from script and story that began with Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish but then handed off to Paul Rudd and Adam McKay when Wright left the project as director and Peyton Reed came on board, ANT-MAN taps into one of the \u201csmaller\u201d Stan Lee created comics, but by no means less important in the grand scheme of the Marvel Universe.\u00a0 Opening with a 1989 backstory setting prologue, we meet Dr. Hank Pym; a brilliant scientist whose particular research known as The Pym Particle took the form of shrinking technology and was designed by Pym as a U.S. military weapon.\u00a0 S.H.I.E.L.D. and others (HYDRA) wanted it, but Pym feared the technology would fall into the wrong hands so he and his particle suit disappeared.\u00a0 (Key to Marvel fans is that peppered throughout the story, we learn more about the Stark Family – aka Tony Stark – and the relationship between Pym and patriarch Howard Stark, thus interconnecting the franchises while both answering and positing questions.)<\/p>\n
Fast forward to present day San Francisco area and we meet Scott Lang.\u00a0 A cat burglar who burgles on the side of good, albeit still illegal, has just been released from a three year stint in San Quentin.\u00a0 As we quickly learn, Scott is divorced but has an adorable 4 year old daughter Cassie whom he loves with all his heart and now on the outside, faces the trials and tribulations of supporting himself, paying child support and showing his ex Maggie and her current fianc\u00e9 Paxton that he is a responsible parent who deserves to spend time with his daughter.\u00a0 And one look at Scott and Cassie is all it takes to know their love is deep and unquestioning. Unfortunately, Paxton is a cop which puts even more pressure and scrutiny on Scott.<\/p>\n Picked up by his old cellmate Luis who has been out for awhile, Luis offers a solution to Scott\u2019s plight; an offer that seems more attractive after Scott gets fired from his new job as a Baskin Robbins counter boy.\u00a0 Luis and his pals Dave and Curt have a few petty heists they want Scott\u2019s expertise for.\u00a0 Scott, however, is determined to go straight and stay straight.<\/p>\n After an unfortunate encounter with Maggie and Paxton, not to mention losing his BR job, Scott realizes he has no choice.\u00a0 He needs to take Luis up on his offer and so with assurances of\u00a0 \u201cI gotta guy who has a guy who has a guy who told me. . .\u201d, Scott soon finds himself in the basement of a house owned by Hank Pym, cracking open one of those uncrackable turn of the 20th century safes.\u00a0 But riches and cash are not to be found.\u00a0\u00a0 What Scott finds is battered up old suit and in short order, Hank Pym.<\/p>\n The suit, thanks to the principles of atomic compression, has the properties to shrink someone to the size of an ant; in fact, it used to shrink Pym to that size back in the day before he disappeared.\u00a0 The suit also imbues the wearer with lightning speed and super-human strength when ant-sized.\u00a0 But now, as Pym\u2019s company is in jeopardy thanks to his estranged daughter and a power-hungry Darren Cross (once a prize student mentored by Pym), Hank Pym needs someone to don that suit now, needs someone to become ANT-MAN.\u00a0 And while Scott may have thought his heist was a legit \u201cI gotta guy who has a guy who has a guy who told me. . .\u201d job, he soon learns, the whole thing was set up by Hank Pym.\u00a0 Scott Lang was hand picked to become ANT-MAN.<\/p>\n Seems that Pym\u2019s daughter Hope isn\u2019t too happy with what Darren Cross has planned for her family legacy and has reconnected with her father in an effort to stop him.\u00a0 She knows of the Pym Particle and ANT-MAN and thought she should and would be the one to don the suit and thwart a takeover and replication of the Pym Particle Cross calls Yellowjacket, for sale to enemies by Cross.\u00a0 Needless to say, she\u2019s not too thrilled when Dad picks Scott Lang for the job.<\/p>\n And so the action and adventure begin as we learn the inside-out of ANT-MAN and the science behind not only the hero, but his control of ants serving as his Army.\u00a0 But the battle against Darren Cross is not without tension and terror – especially when Cross realizes it\u2019s Lang as ANT-MAN and he goes after that nearest and dearest to him – Scott\u2019s daughter Cassie.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 With an army of ants, a winged sidekick named Ant-Tony and human accomplices Luis, Dave and Curt, can ANT-MAN save Pym and Cassie?\u00a0 And what other secrets do we learn about Hank Pym and Avengers?<\/p>\n Paul Rudd puts the \u201cA\u201d in ANT-MAN.\u00a0 Affable, likeable, down to earth; not as sharp edged with humor as fellow Marvel stars Chris Pratt, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth or Chris Evans, but that\u2019s what makes ANT-MAN even more appealing, especially for younger audiences.\u00a0 There is a softer heroic element to the story and film overall which is brought to life by the authentic Jimmy Stewart \u201caw shucks\u201d persona of Rudd.\u00a0 This is particularly notable in the scenes between Rudd and Abby Fortson’s Cassie.\u00a0 Endearing almost to a fault, the dynamic of Cassie knowing who Dad is even when in super hero costume is an important distinction to make in that kids know the difference between reality and “fantasy” of super heroes but the exquisite metaphor of dads being heroes in the eyes of their children shines through.\u00a0 Wonderful familial elements are threaded throughout on so many levels – the Lang family dynamic – Scott-Cassie-Maggie-Paxton, the Pym family of Hank and Hope, and the Avengers family and connections.\u00a0 Extremely nuanced and resonant, but it all starts with Rudd at the core.<\/p>\n Michael Douglas is, of course, Michael Douglas.\u00a0 We know the style.\u00a0 We know his vocal inflections.\u00a0 And he plays them well to the advantage of Hank Pym.\u00a0 He is ideal with his wry wit and sage presence.\u00a0 You\u2019ll do a double take thanks to movie magic when a 1989 Douglas appears in the prologue set-up.\u00a0 (Imagine my shock as I saw ANT-MAN within two hours of seeing 1984 Arnold Schwarzenegger in \u201cTerminator Genisys\u201d.)<\/p>\n Corey Stoll plays the charismatic villain well, adding a level of laughable insecurity that kids will relate to.\u00a0 Evangeline Lilly captures both the confident and poised corporate Hope, as well as the bratty \u201cI want it now\u201d demanding daughter tones.\u00a0 And yes, she does make a nice romantic foil opposite Rudd with an undeniable and likeable chemistry between them.<\/p>\n All you Marvel fans will rejoice as John Slattery makes a brief re-appearance as Howard Stark with Martin Donovan also popping in opposite Slattery.\u00a0 And let\u2019s not overlook Bobby Cannavale who is having a great year with everything from \u201cSpy\u201d to \u201cDanny Collins\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 He easily steps into the role of Paxton bringing a paternal protective element to the character while providing an antagonistic tone that serves to instigate Rudd\u2019s Lang and move the story.\u00a0 Judy Greer is another actor who seems to be everywhere this year and again, she more than serves the role of Maggie.<\/p>\n But the scene-stealer is Michael Pena.\u00a0\u00a0 Talk about funny!\u00a0 He is beyond hilarious.\u00a0 A younger Luis Guzman if ever there was.\u00a0 Charming, blustering, childlike, impeccable \u201caw shucks\u201d (there\u2019s a lot of that with these characters and performances and it\u2019s fabulous) comedic timing.\u00a0 I can\u2019t wait to see more of Pena<\/p>\n Story construct is well done giving us the Pym backstory while retaining the mystery of the Pym particle and the Hank-Hope dynamic, unfolding and peeling back like an onion a little bit at the time.\u00a0 Keeps interest going and is well paced to the point where we are allowed to grasp the connective fibers of the Marvel Universe with S.H.I.E.L.D., the Stark family, HYDRA, Peggy Carter, etc. and let it all sink in.\u00a0 Packed with Marvel lore and legacy, we learn, among others, that Hank Pym was a founding member of the Avengers along with Howard Stark (listen to the dialogue folks – quick but detailed) and that Pym was the very first ANT-MAN while his wife Janet Van Dyne was his sidekick Wasp.\u00a0 While the story and first drafts of the screenplay are courtesy of Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish, the cadence and syntax of the dialogue is very naturalistic and easy-going, much like Paul Rudd\u2019s way of writing and speaking, making Rudd\u2019s screenwriting contribution immense.\u00a0 It\u2019s that natural style that embraces the heartfelt story elements.<\/p>\n The father-daughter bonds are explored not only via Scott-Cassie, but Hope and Hank, and truly celebrate and showcase the primal parental urges of a mother lion protecting her cubs no matter what.\u00a0 According to director Reed, \u201c[I] was the thing that I hung the whole thing on.\u00a0 You can have a movie that has amazing effects, and this certainly has that, a lot of action and whatever.\u00a0 But whenever you see something you can connect to that\u2019s emotionally resonant, it stays with you in a very different way.\u00a0 I think that\u2019s the key to any movie and that\u2019s what I thought about throughout this whole film.\u00a0 This is what the movie is about.\u201d\u00a0 Hand in hand with that story construct is the production design, most notably with the Pym home where a large portion of the story takes place.\u00a0 You feel the warmth and the history and the love.\u00a0 Dark woods, heavy carpet on wooded floors, floor to ceiling bookcases, well worn tapestried furniture embrace the past and the longing of better days for Hank, Janet and Hope; a metaphoric sense of time having stopped.\u00a0 Similarly, in the Paxton home and Cassie\u2019s room.\u00a0 Golden glows in the home with Cassie\u2019s room done up in princess pinks with touches of tulle and jewels.\u00a0 A perfect little princess bedroom.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Production designer Shepherd Frankel has done an outstanding job of embracing \u201cfamily\u201d.\u00a0 Countering that are striking visuals with the glittering steel and glass high tech look of Pym Technologies.<\/p>\n Fun is the ANT-MAN training montage as Scott learns not only how to communicate with ants, but control them, while also undergoing his own physical super-hero training.\u00a0 The montage is fast and fun thanks to editors Dan Lebental and Colby Parker, Jr.\u00a0 Part and parcel to this montage are the special effects and, in particular, the shrinking.\u00a0 For director Reed, \u201cI went back and watched all the shrinking movies. . .The drum I kept banging was that you can\u2019t have a movie where you\u2019re in the normal world that\u2019s realistic and when you go down it feels like an animated movie.\u00a0 It had to feel photorealistic.\u00a0 Jay Morrison who is our effects supervisor, we spent a lot of time together and we talked about how we were going to achieve it and how we were going to shoot it, what lenses we used, what does the world look and sound like when you\u2019re down there, when you see dust particles floating around – how does the light play.\u00a0 I\u2019m really really happy with where we ended up because it with a movie like ANT-MAN, it\u2019s gotta look real.\u00a0 And that applied to the ants, too.\u00a0 That was really one of the challenges – ants that looked photoreal and also giving them some real character – especially in the case of Ant-Tony.\u00a0 The idea that we were going to create sort of a Roy Rogers\/Trigger, Lone Ranger\/Silver relationship in ANT-MAN because in the comics, one of the iconic images was ANT-MAN flying around on an ant.\u00a0 I wanted to embrace that.\u00a0 I was thrilled with what we did with digital effects.\u201d\u00a0 One downfall with editing, however, are some of the \u201cbattle\u201d sequences which get a bit convoluted and muddied.\u00a0 Outstanding are the SVFX\/CGI sequences with the armies of ants! All are so well designed and, for lack of a better term, choreographed.\u00a0 Would love to see more of the collective gatherings.\u00a0 Standout are visuals that take us into the sub-atomic world.\u00a0 Eye-popping and jaw-dropping \u201cwows\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n