Ant-Man is easily one of the harder characters, and super abilities, to pull off properly. Many could argue that only certain comic storylines have gotten it right. The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes animated cartoon gave it a great shot with Hank Pym's fractured personality creating the Yellowjacket persona, but like stated, hard to pull off for mass appeal. The funny part is, Ant-Man leaves you realizing that it was the perfect time to attempt such a concept. Even though the film doesn't capture all the underlying wonder of some classic comic storylines, what it does capture it does well, making it a unique Marvel movie much like last year's Guardians of the Galaxy.
Coming right after May's Avengers: Age of Ultron with only Guardians of the Galaxy offering a different aspect of the Marvel Universe, Ant-Man takes the heroic concepts we are accustomed to from Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor and combines them with a unique landscape ala Guardians. With Ant-Man, that landscape is the size-changing universe created with Pym Particles.
With a mostly spoiler-free review, we can at least say that the Microverse comes courtesy of one Hank Pym, played pleasantly by a Michael Douglas that really appeared to understand the character's leveled mentality. Right from that aforementioned first scene, Doctor Pym and his Pym Particles, establish Hank as an enigmatic genius. Sure the Starks, both Howard and Tony, can create tech like no one's business, but Hank Pym is decades ahead with the science of it all without breaking a sweat.
Enter burglar with a conscience Scott Lang. Special thanks to Paul Rudd who instills Scott with all the humor, heroics, and heart a guy needs from his humored response to precarious life predicaments, to his stance against injustice, to the love of his daughter. Scott is also no slouch in the brains department with a Masters in Engineering but with art imitating life, as it tends to do, its hard to find good work with the ex-con label hanging over your head. Here's where the worlds of Hank and Scott collide - they each need the other for the redemptions they both deserve.
This is what separates Ant-Man from much of the Marvel movie pack. There is quite a bit of heart here in these two main characters and their journeys something many fans missed with 2013's Man of Steel. Hank understands that his science could change the world, but the price is too high, the path too risky and he's seen that struggle up close. Scott wants to be with his daughter in a world where the good guys, and girls, win. Sometimes, like his ex-wife said, Scott gets "confused" with how to approach this and corrects an injustice through burglary which lands him in jail, effectively altering his life forever. It compares to what would happen should Hank Pym's scientific breakthroughs make it to production for corporate and military gain.
Throw in Evangeline Lilly's Hope Van Dyne, daughter to Hank Pym, who struggles with her mother's death and the part her father played both before and after the tragic event. Now add in Corey Stoll's Darren Cross, protegé of Hank Pym, who doesn't understand why his mentor has pushed him away keeping them both from goals that Cross so desperately desires to attain. Four struggles of the heart, a pinch of humor from Michael Pena's Luis, and all the ant-action you can throw a giant sugar cube at gives Ant-Man the ability to exist on its own and away from the rest of the Mighty Marvel Cinematic Universe. One could even argue that Ant-Man tends to get stifled when forced to connect to the rest of Marvel's films but - SPOILER ALERT - one great action scene with Anthony Mackie's Falcon was simply fan-frickin-tastic.
Ant-Man stands on its own insect legs while becoming a large piece of an ever-growing and changing super heroic quilt. It does so right from that opening scene and it does it with a heart that understands what it means to do the right thing. Sometimes it comes with a price, and sometimes the heroes get what they deserve.
The Guy in the Hat