Like most people, I’ve been a bit skeptical of the viability of Ant-Man as a hero capable of carrying a movie. After seeing how well Marvel handled Guardians, I think I relaxed a bit. If anything, I think I like the idea more than seeing another well-known property get a big-budget treatment.
There’s something nice about this movie, and it’s that I didn’t feel like it needs a sequel. I’d rather that it didn’t. It’s fun, it adds more to the Marvel Cinematic mythos, and it’s an enjoyable movie. It doesn’t have anything special to say, but it did tell an enjoyable story well.
There is a strange aspect, something that will slip past most viewers, but it might be clear to anyone who has heard of the troubled history this movie had. There’s a strange imbalance to the movie. You can tell which aspects were added in at Marvel’s request. You can tell what elements are Edgar Wrights’. These tonal shifts are strange, but they actually help keep the movie interesting. Instead of simply hitting all the beats you expect, it hits those beats in an accent pattern you didn’t expect.
Despite being a mostly self-contained plot, I found the ties into the larger universe simultaneously a little awkward, but also very rewarding. The Avengers mansion gets to be used, which makes the ending of Age of Ultron feel more meaningful. It’s nice to see the Falcon get a little more attention. Even the wedged-in reference to Spider-Man was pleasing.
It’s good. It hit the right spot, it was new enough, but it also did everything I expected it to do well enough. Personally, I probably liked it a bit better than Guardians. Probably better than Iron Man 3 and Thor 2. Given the character, this is a really impressive job.
On an unrelated note, there was the trailer for Fantastic Four. It’s hard to express how little enthusiasm I have for that project.
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