Ant-Man (2015)

Ant-man. It isn’t immediately a title which sounds like something worth watching and had this movie been made about two decades ago, chances would be that it would have been a pretty terrible film. The times have changed though and every year various superhero movies are released. The Marvel Studios managed to have a lot of success with the Avengers movies (and the standalone movies leading up to it). Last year their Guardians of the Galaxy, with a group of completely unknown heroes, was an unexpected success. And now there is a movie about a person who can become as small as an ant. Does Marvel succeed in bringing this concept convincingly to the big screen

After having spent some time in jail for a burglary, Scott Long (Paul Rudd) is released and is offered to stay at his former cellmate Luis (Michael Peña). He tries to get a new job in order to be allowed to see his daughter again, but he runs into issues. When Luis tells him about a vault of a wealthy businessman who is on holiday he reluctantly agrees to burgle together with a team. He discovers a suit which is able to shrink him. The owner of the suit, Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) gives him an opportunity by breaking in somewhere and steal something.

Ant-Man begint starts as a relatively normal film, in which enough time in spent introducing the characters, adding little bits of drama (and some comedy) and slowly but steadily increases in scale. Scott Long gets to know Dr. Hank Pym and the possibilities the suit offers. The first time that Scott changes into Ant-Man is beautifully realised in which the minuscule superhero needs to survive a bathtub being filled with water, cross a dance floor in a club and the dangers of a vacuum cleaner. You quickly understand why Scott isn’t jumping for joy to try the suit again, but because of some convincing by Dr. Hank Pym besluit he decides to train.

The possibilities to change in scale offers is used in various ways and is brought to life with a lot of imagination (for example a fight on a toy train uses the concept effectively and makes various great jokes). The fact that Ant-Man is able to lead an army of ants really adds something to the film. Paul Rudd is great in his role and he plays it a bit more serious compared to how he normally acts. Michael Douglas, who has been convincingly made younger (digitally) at the start of the film, is also very solid. It is Michael Peña however who steals the show in every scene he is in. He’s extremely funny.

Ever since the first movie Marvel has been busy to link all its movies together in one big universe and this film is no exception. The characters talk about Tony Stark and the Avengers and there even is an action scene which makes the link even more prominent. With this new movie Marvel again proves that they still got their magic. Ant-Man is a fun, entertaining action movie.