Ant-Man - Iron Man is an awesome film

No, you read the title correctly – this isn’t a review of Robert Downey Jr’s first outing as the 'man IN steel.' This is a review of Paul Rudd’s turn as the titular ‘Ant-Man’ – yet another entry in the seemingly never ending ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe.’ Basically, Marvel has a formula where you have (a) (the conflicted) hero (b) an incident that gives him superpowers (c) a nemesis who happens to be a bad version of the hero.  Now, before any MCU fans jump down my throat and point out that NUMEROUS superhero films follow this template, not just Marvel – I know this.  DC and various independent efforts have all done exactly the same thing, right back from their comic origins.  However, no other franchise is this prominent and turns out one film so quickly after the next, making it hard to forget what’s come only just a year or so before.

‘Ant-Man’ follows Paul Rudd’s character who’s a down on his luck ex thief, freshly-released from prison, who gets more than he bargained for when he steals a top secret suit which allows him to shrink down to the size of an ant, along with all the benefits of super speed and strength which goes with it.  Now, first of all many people wondered whether Rudd would pull this off.  Typically, he’s been known for his romantic comedies, rather than his action films (let alone 'leading man' status).  I’m pleased to say he did well.  He brings  a lot of humour to the role without making it an outright comedy, often poking fun at the genre, not to mention the general ludicrousness of being known as ‘Ant-Man.’

The film does suffer from the same typically-forgettable villain that many Marvel films seem to be known for (whenever Loki’s not trying to take over the universe); this time we have a bald businessman in a yellow version of the 'Ant suit.' However, also on the cast list we have Michael Douglas as the Obi-wan/mentor role to Rudd’s fledgling superhero.  I was delighted to see him back on the screen again as it seems like a long time since he’s been at the forefront of the industry and he brings the charm he used to exhibit back in the nineties to the proceedings.  Yes, there’s a love interest in there, too and some ‘comic relief’ characters who you won’t be able to remember their names once the credits have rolled - they were some pretty bad stereotypes if ever I saw them!

Then, once the cast is assembled, they proceed to go on what is effectively Marvel’s take on a ‘heist movie,’ i.e. think ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ but with more insects.  Did I mention Ant-Man can also control ants?  Well, he can.  This leads to – in my opinion – one of the film’s only real let-downs – the special effects.  Now, for ninety per cent of the film the effects are up there with what you’d come to expect from a big budget film. It’s just sometimes the insects do look a little ‘drawn on’ after the footage had been filmed.  I guess I should just forgive this on account of how unfeasible it would be to train an army of bugs to put in a convincing performance (although, saying that – didn’t Disney do that in ‘A Bug’s Life?').

So, ‘Ant-Man’ hardly reinvents the wheel in terms of cinema or its genre. However, its biggest flaw is also its strongpoint.  It goes with the ‘winning formula’ of hero/powers/baddie and it certainly feels like a modern Marvel movie and, when you hold it up closely to others like ‘Iron Man’ and ‘The Hulk,’ you’ll see that it copies them practically beat for beat.  Normally, this would feel like a let-down, but when it copies something so good and just so happens to be such great fun in the process, I really can’t bring myself to hate this film as much as I might have wanted to.  Ant-Man will never be as big as Iron Man or Captain America, but this film’s existence (and success!) proves that there is scope for the lesser-known heroes to also shine.  Don’t think too hard about this film, just break out the popcorn and enjoy.  Oh, and apparently Ant-Man WILL return!  And I hope his 'pet' ant known as 'Anthony' goes on to bigger and better things!

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one