Ant-Man – Film Review

Second chances do not come around that often and neither does redemption but for Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) that is proven otherwise. Donning a suit that allows him to shrink in size while maintaining his strength, the cat burglar becomes ‘Ant-Man’ and is now able to pull off any heist without getting caught.

So many film studios come up with ways to expand their film franchises. Sometimes this goes well and sometimes, instead of raising the stakes, they just instill doubt in the average film lover’s mind.
Marvel Studios year after year prove that they are still the top dogs when it comes to their super hero film franchises. Even with many super hero films under their belt they still come up with fresh and out of the box ideas. ‘Ant-Man is one such idea. Lang is a man whose single goal is to make his daughter happy and being the hero that she thinks he is. In this process, he tries several ways to prove that he is a fit father to his ex-wife (Judy Greer) and her new partner (Bobby Cannavale). One night after being convinced by one of his gang members to perform one last ‘big heist’ at the house of maverick inventor Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), he finally gets his breakthrough but instead of finding jewellery, he finds a suit. Annoyed but yet intrigued by the weird looking suit he tries it on and voila the next Ant-Man is born.
In comes Pym who takes Lang under his wing with a mission to retrieve Pym’s shrinking potion from the hands of evil mastermind Darren Cross aka Yellow Jacket (Corey Stoll) whose intentions for the shrinking potion are far more dangerous than useful. In the beginning the pace of the film lags a bit and it feels like it is more about snail man than it is about a fast moving creature. However, things quickly pick up some thirty minutes into the film and then action and adventure begins.
The cool stuff starts as a miniature Lang dodges death by water in a bathtub. Then his mentor’s lawn transforms into a training field where Lang gets to go underground to train with different ant species from fire ants to black garden ants. Viewers are treated to a visit into the ant metropolis of different ant colonies as well as lot of thrills and chases riding on ants, bursting through keyholes, ant control (you can train ants with your mind) and my favourite, the fight scene between Lang and Cross in his daughter’s room in front of a moving ‘Thomas the Train’ toy train.
The Computer Generated Imagery in 3D is simply out of this world. It is top notch, witty and did I mention that they threw in an encounter with an ‘Avenger’ as well as not one but two post-credit scenes. Talk about going all out, hey!
Michael Pena (Luis) and Abby Ryder Fortson who plays Lang’s adorable daughter, stole the show as Pena is simply hilarious and Fortson will melt your heart. What is great about Ant-Man is that it is unexpected, you get blown away with each scene and with all the special effects that have never been done before.
So roll out the red carpet and welcome the latest addition to the Marvel Comics superhero franchise, our very own miniature wonder, the Ant-Man.