Just released by Walt Disney and Marvel Studios, Ant-Man a family-friendly superhero film in the vein of The Avengers and Captain America.
Scott Lang has had a rough past few years. He got caught embezzling money, lost his marriage and his job, and ended up in prison. His greatest frustration is being estranged from his young daughter, Cassie, who he cannot see until he can provide child support. He’s a smart thief, though, and a bit of a Robin Hood character, so he attracts the attention of a man named Hank Pym.
Dr. Pym, former scientist at S.H.I.E.L.D., developed a suit in the 1980s that could shrink a man to the size of an ant while drastically multiplying his strength. He called it Ant-Man. Pym has kept this technology secret all these years. Now he has learned, though, that his former protege — Darren Cross — is about to offer his own shrinking technology for sale to Hydra, a terrorist organization.
Pym has to move fast if he wants to stop Darren’s malicious plans. He enlists Scott’s help, saying, “I believe everyone deserves a shot at redemption. Do you?” Scott, who feels hopelessly underqualified, is unsure. But his ex-wife urges him, “You’re [Cassie’s] hero, Scott. Just be the person she already thinks you are.”
Scott agrees to try. Hope, Pym’s estranged and beautiful daughter, helps her father train Scott to use the suit, control ants, and land a punch. Meanwhile, Cross has perfected his own shrinking technology for a suit called Yellowjacket, and the clock is ticking before it is released into the world — or until Ant-Man and Yellowjacket come head to head.
Overall, I found the movie entertaining and exciting, a classic action-hero flick. Scott’s sidekicks bring laughs, and the relationship between Scott and Cassie is endearing, as is the rekindled friendship between Pym and his daughter, Hope. Moviegoer Elliott was quick to point out that “Ant-Man also includes the requisite helicopter crashes, escapes from vaporizing buildings, and car chases — or make that ant chases.”
However, it is about ants, which takes away some of the Marvel testosterone and gives it a bit of the goofy Honey I Shrunk the Kids vibe instead. And that — judging from a theater full of parents and their tween-age kids — might be just what many summer theatergoers are excited to see.
Ant-Man
Starring: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly
Run time: 1 hour 57 minutes
Rated: PG-13
See upcoming showtimes for Ant-Man here.
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Becca Garber
Staff Writer
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