The problem with the “Ant-Man” movie is they made an “Ant-Man” movie.
Not that it would be impossible to make an entertaining big-screen version of a pretty fascinating comic-book character, but in the modern-day superhero movie library, director Peyton Reed’s take on the incredible shrinking fella belongs on the same shelf with the 2005 version of “The Fantastic Four,” various “Hulk” misfires and “The Green Lantern.”
This is a lightweight, cliché-riddled origins story that veers between inside-joke comedy, ponderous redemption story lines and admittedly nifty CGI sequences that still seem relatively insignificant compared to the high stakes and city-shattering destruction that take place in most of the “Avengers” movies.
(It’s reasonable to assume this uneven mixed-bag product is the result of writing credits shared by everyone from Edgar Wright to Adam McKay to Paul Rudd to Joe Cornish. Wright was slated to be the director of “Ant-Man” but dropped out last year. Joss Whedon says Wright’s screenplay of “Ant-Man” was the best script Marvel ever had.)
The casting of Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man seemed inspired — in the vein of Robert Downey Jr. playing Tony Stark/Iron Man. Like Downey, Rudd is a likable, verbally nimble performer, and he has his moments as the paroled heist man who is manipulated into becoming Ant-Man. It’s just that Lang is nowhere near as tortured, temperamental, narcissistic, horny or focused as Tony Stark. At times he’s borderline dull.
There’s often room for an iconic actor to play a crusty mentor in these origins stories, and Michael Douglas plays it straight and serious as Dr. Hank Pym. Years ago, Pym developed the technology to enable a human to shrink to the size of an ant; he shelved his work after it led to a devastating personal tragedy.
Cut to the present day. Corey Stoll’s Darren Cross is now running the corporation, and he’s hell-bent on picking up where Pym left off, because if men and women can be reduced to micro-size, they’ll be the ultimate weapon in warfare. Millions, no billions, can be made!
Again with the ultimate weapon in warfare plot.
Stoll has no room to give Cross any character depth. The guy’s practically frothing at the mouth from the get-go. He’s clearly bonkers. The more he talks, the more we wonder why anyone in the company would listen to this guy.
Evangeline Lilly, sporting either a terrible haircut or a terrible wig, plays Pym’s daughter Hope, who vehemently objects when her father recruits the talented but small-time heist man Scott to wear the Ant-Man suit and learn the ways of leading an army of ants. In one of the most ridiculous training montages in any movie of any kind, Dr. Pym teaches Scott how to bond with various types of ants and command the ants to move sugar cubes (I’m not kidding), while Hope teaches him how to fight. OK.
This is a movie lacking in confidence. References to the Avengers seemed forced and self-conscious. (When Ant-Man is tasked with breaking into an Avengers stronghold, a lone, second-tier character is on security duty. It’s as if the movie is saying, “All the other Avengers are off on bigger and better adventures!”) Dramatic moments are undercut by snarky quips, including one scene in which Scott openly acknowledges he just ruined a touching reconciliation. How does that make us like him more?
Every once in a while there’s a flash of inspired lunacy, as when Ant-Man and an equally diminutive, size-shifting rival known as Yellowjacket are going at it in miniature, and an iPhone and a child’s train set, among other familiar items, come into play. But once you go broadly comedic with such gags, it’s a bumpy road back to making us feel as if the battle sequences carry any real-world consequences.
The always reliable Judy Greer has the usual, too-small Judy Greer role as Scott’s ex-wife. Bobby Cannavale plays her second husband, a cop who is extremely slow to catch on that something … weird is going on with Scott. Michael Pena scores laughs as one of Scott’s ragtag bunch of petty criminals, who are called into duty to help Scott save the world.
Obviously, Ant-Man isn’t the first comic book superhero with a creepy and/or crawly connection. But Spider-Man pretty much avoids spiders after he’s bitten, and while the Dark Knight isn’t averse to spending time with bats, it’s not as if he rides one into battle. Ant-Man can name his flying ant/horse “Antony” and say “Good boy!” to his beloved steed, but Antony and the rest of the flying, soaring ants still look like creations in one of those commercials for anti-bug sprays or exterminators. They’re pests, and that’s just a weird place to start for a superhero, especially if he never strays too far from his origins.
[s3r star=2/4]
Marvel Studios presents a film directed by Peyton Reed and written by Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, Adam McKay and Paul Rudd. Running time: 117 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for sci-fi action violence). Opens Friday at local theaters.
