“Ant-Man” is the 12th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise that began with 2008’s “Iron Man”. And out of those dozen films, grossing billions of dollars at the box office, “Ant-Man” is, in my mind, without question, the weakest.
Paul Rudd (from “Anchorman”) and director Peyton Reed (whose previous film was “Yes Man”) are the pair at the center of it all. And they don’t make a good first impression. The entire first hour of “Ant-Man” is all talk/no action. In fact it’s one of the longest and most painful set-ups in recent movie memory. The film actually begins with a flashback scene involving a younger version of scientist mogul Hank Pym, but since the 70-year-old Michael Douglas couldn’t be made-up to look 25 years younger, we get a motion-capture version of Douglas’ face that even the veteran actor has to think is creepy.
Rudd plays Scott Lang – a professional burglar who’s just out of prison. After a rather odd series of events, Lang breaks into Pym’s house and steals his prized and highly secretive “Ant-Man” suit. It turns-out that Pym wanted Lang to take it all along, and soon he is training Lang on how to properly use the suit, which literally shrinks him down to ant-size (the only interesting element of the movie is watching the unique and passable visual effects). Lang’s task is to work with real ants to steal another very tiny suit, invented by Pym’s jealous prodigy, which has destructive powers.
Last year’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” was another rather unknown and quirky Marvel product (complete with a talking raccoon and tree) but that film was packed with legitimate humor, suspense, and captivating characters and action, which is why it became a true Marvel marvel. “Ant-Man” tries way too hard to be “cute and clever”, and has one of the most uninspiring plots of the year, with nothing to say. And the fact that the first action scene doesn’t come for an hour is shocking. It is the best scene in the entire film, but I don’t want to give anything away and spoil one of the few legit surprises.
Douglas (who may have more lines and screen time than Rudd) occasionally delivers a decent wise-crack. Evangeline Lilly, fresh off “The Hobbit” movies, tries to pull-off the Marvel “Bond Girl” look – it doesn’t work. But the biggest miscasting was Rudd – who’s just isn’t believable as a burglar, father, reluctant hero or love interest.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Ant-Man” gets a C-. I recommend you that you don’t go marching two-by-two to theaters to see it.
Running Time: 117 min.