Ant Man Review

So I went to see Ant Man over the weekend, and if you are wondering where it ranks (at least to me) on the Marvel list of movies, well you have stumbled upon the right blog post.

I will say that I didn’t get the full movie experience of this movie because the theater I saw it at was having a few technical glitches before the movie started, and while it did eventually get rolling, it never really was at 100%. What I mean by that is that the computer running the movie decided to crash and so we awkwardly sat waiting for the movie to start. The wait isn’t so bad, but when you sit in a theater and everything is awkward, it is a breeding ground for people to yell out comments trying to be comedians. This isn’t even so bad, but it continued after the movie actually started and it really tends to take you out of the movie for someone to go “NICE LANDING BRO.” Seriously, if you are one of those people, do that shit at home. People paid good money for those seats. Also, the screen was slightly fuzzy the whole time, and I felt like I needed to keep cleaning my glasses but it was definitely just the screen.

Let’s get to the nitty gritty of this bi-atch. Okay, if you are just a casual fan like myself, I think whether you will like this movie will come down to how much of a fan of Paul Rudd you are. I personally love Paul Rudd, so I was stoked going into the movie that he was going to be a super hero. Especially since my favorite Marvel movie is Guardians of the Galaxy and I figured his performance would be on par with Chris Pratt’s. Don’t get me wrong, I like super heros and the avenger films do have their silly moments, but its so surrounded by non-stop action that its lost a little bit. I think Paul Rudd and his group of buddies (T.I., Michael Pena, and David Dastmalchian)

I’m not so sure on the whole lore of ant-man, so I can’t comment too much on it. If you haven’t picked up from the trailers, you have Michael Douglas playing Dr. Pym who made the ant-man suit. (Side-bar real quick: there is a flashback at the beginning of the movie with a young looking Michael Douglas, and it is freaky to see him young. Idk if it was CGI or what, but when it shows him present day its jarring)

Action-wise, this movie is pretty stacked. Because of how small ant-man is, the bugs that he is around are almost like giant beasts in his army. Also, when he is dodging bullets, its almost like dodging cannon fire. What really sets this movie apart, however, is a fight scene that occurs on a train set later on in the movie. With all these movies recently where the final battle is like New York or Chicago where you have a billion aliens flying around destroying the city and the universe opening up, its amazing to see a fresh new set. Even just watching the commercial and seeing the dramatic scene where the bad guy is hit by Thomas the Train, it made me have that feeling of being a kid again, and very few movies have done that. Seriously, for that scene alone, it is worth seeing the movie.

The thing about movies like Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant Man is that casual movie goers like myself who have never really read the comics can go and enjoy the movie without worrying about if it fits accurately within the universe. I understand (as a transformers fan) that sometimes not following the original story can be a little aggravating to fans. If you have read Ant Man and it disappoints you as a comic fan, I am sincerely sorry. However, if you haven’t read the comics, I say stop what you’re doing and go see the movie right meow.

In terms of where I rank this movie in the marvel universe, I can’t put it above Guardians of the Galaxy right now. If I re-watch the movie without hecklers behind me yelling like idiots it might be a better experience. I will say I liked this movie more than Avengers 2, so it comes in at a solid 2nd place. If I had to give this movie a number I’d say a strong 8/10. I hope if you go see it, none of the problems I ran into get in the way of the experience.