Ant Man: The Superhero of Comedies

Sadly when the time came to catch the premiere of Ant-Man at Fantasia, I had to miss out because of work. Thursday night was the official film premiere and the theatre was packed for the first showing, that was presented in a 3D Dolby Atmos theatre. The crowd was gleamed with excitement as they traded Marvel factoids that made me wish I brought the Marvel Encyclopedia from my coffee table. Everyone including myself is asking the question will the comedic actor of the Judd Apatow franchise of films pull it off. All eyes were on Paul Rudd to make everyone forget Seth Rogen started in The Green Hornet.

Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is hoping to turn over a new leaf as an ex cat burglar being released from prison into the real world. Let's just say his reintegration into the common workforce is a hysterical failure. With his back to the wall due to his family duties,  he accepts a burglary job that  Luis (Michael Peña) got tipped on by a friend of a friend, where there is a montage of each person involved in the tip in pure Wright brilliance. The heist ends up as a bust and Scott is now in possession of the Ant-Man suit, which he test drives. Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), the original Ant-Man, gets in contact with Scott and offers him a chance at redemption. Scott will have to stop Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) from developing the same serum as Dr Pym created for Ant-Man. Cross wants to create an army known as Yellow Jackets that  would be used for militarization, rather than for good. Scott and Hank get help from Hank's estranged daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly). So begins Scott's training, which includes running into other Marvel Characters all in order to stop Darren Cross aka Yellow Jacket.

Right away the screenwriter Edgar Wright's vision to make this a comedic superhero movie has success with the crowd, as he is no stranger to the comedic adaptations too graphic novels (Scott Pilgrim VS The World). Paul Rudd is at ease playing to his dramatic and comedic superhero strengths. This is what separates him from the goofy actors who try out for the superhero role, but don't succeed. Ant-Man fits well alongside Star-Lord (Guardians of Galaxy) in the Marvel universe, as a superhero who grows to be good over time. There will definitely be a sequel and I hope that Marvel solves their creative differences with Edgar Wright so that he has the possibility to direct the sequel. Remember a true Marvel fan stays till the credits stop rolling.

4.5/5