Ant-Man (2015)

 

Making its way to the big screen, Director Peyton Reed and Producer Kevin Feige had to give some acknowledgements to Director Edgar Wright and his writing partner Joe Cornish who poured a decade of their time with the Ant-Man property.  Wright initially created the test screen action sequence which was ultimately recreated on the final product, and can be argued as the best action sequence of the movie.  Saturday Night Live Writer and now major Hollywood director Adam Mckay and actor Paul Rudd re-wrote the final script, but kept the heist and basic structure of the original script intact.  .

Ant-man is the comic relief to an otherwise worldly serious, action drama known as the marvel cinematic universe.  Comedy as found with the Oscars is largely unrecognized for its contributions and skill sets; Ant-Man in its relation with the marvel universe is a lower tier character, with lower tier set of problems.  By design, the movie won’t hold high in too many viewers list as a top ranking MCU property.   Kind of like a wrestling match before the main event, you normally place a lower tier match so that the headliner will close off the show on a high note in comparison.  Which were the case between infinity war and endgame; Ant-man and the Wasp was the buffer between films.  The film does have a broader appeal to a younger audience, keeping core values of family, with the love of a father and daughter being the sole motivation of fueling the movie.  Scott Lang after losing time in prison wants to be part of his daughter’s life and must adhere to certain caveats placed before him.  Hank Pym protected his daughter at arm’s length, has to mend his broken relationship to eventually realize the solution to his problems is really just under his nose.  The purpose of Scott Lang in any movie is all about the heist, his crew feels like an episode of the Marx brothers re-enacting the heist from ocean’s eleven.  Rudd had trained in gymnastics and low end parkour and got in ripped shape to play the part of Scott Lang. The flips and twirls over a wall was the actor doing those particular stunts.

Known for being a dramatic actor throughout his career, Michael Douglas contributing reason on why he took on the role is similar to that of Tim Roth.  Roth happily took to his part in the Incredible Hulk for his young son.  To show his work with, and that his son would be proud to share among his peers.  Douglas’s body of work is not tailored for a very young audience, he is still largely remembered for his role in Basic Instinct and Fatal attraction; Hank Pym was a character in a movie that his young children could go see, and think their dad was cool. Also his close circle of friends comprised of Danny DeVito and Jack Nicholson encouraged him as they were both featured in Tim Burton’s Batman movies respectively and helped him weigh the pros and cons of the decision.

Michael Pena is a surprising character; as the eternal optimist Luis, The van in which Luis picks up Scott from prison is a metaphor of the Character, he can experience deep personal loss, but looks at the smallest things and sees the positives in life.  That upbeat spirit and optimism, brings an aurora of positivity for the character, and the radio script he delivers in the movie on two occasions are a joy. Meaning the act of narrating a set of sequences at a constant rate of speed with prolific detail, as the recap showcases present individuals matching Luis’ speech in the process of telling his story.