Welcome to the first edition of On the Cutting Room Floor.
Sadly, not everything you write will be put into publication. Sometimes, extenuating circumstances can lead to some articles being left on the cutting room floor. Instead of having these articles sit on a hard drive to never see the light of day, I want to share them here for all to enjoy.
This review was originally written late July, early August 2015 for the theatrical release of Ant Man. Unfortunately, I took too long writing and missed my opportunity to be timely. Considering the DVD comes out very soon, it seems like the right time to post it.
To say Ant Man
had a troubled production is an understatement. Director Edgar
Wright, best known for his work on cult hits like Shaun of
the Dead and Scott
Pilgrim vs. The World, left the
film due to creative differences mid-2014 causing Marvel to scramble
for a new director and rewrite the script. This tumultuous
development has caused many fans and critics alike to fear the worst.
Could Ant Man be the
first flop for Marvel Studios?
No,
quite the opposite. Ant Man exceeds
all expectations despite being smaller in scale than recent Marvel
movies. In taking a step back from the grander events of the Marvel
Cinematic Universe (MCU), this movie centres around an emotional core
that establishes a brand new cast of lovable characters while
perfectly planting seeds for upcoming movies, namely Captain
America: Civil War.
Ant
Man centres around Scott Lang
(Paul Rudd), an ex-convict looking to fix his life after prison. When
Scott comes across a peculiar-looking motorcycle suit during a
break-and-enter, he will get the most unusual second-chance ever.
With the help of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Hope van Dyne
(Evangeline Lilly), Scott is entrusted to become the new Ant Man and
stop Hank's former protege Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) from using the
super-shrinking Yellowjacket suit for militaristic purposes.
Forewarning:
Ant Man starts off
slow. Slower than most superhero/action films, in fact. Once you get
past the plodding first 40 minutes, the movie moves at a wonderful
pace that never lets up. In particular, the climax of Ant
Man is nothing short of
spectacular. The fight between Ant Man and Yellowjacket may happen on
such a miniscule scale, but it is literally unlike anything ever seen
on the silver screen. Thomas the Tank Engine and all.
Michael Douglas'
performance as Hank Pym steals the show. Both Paul Rudd and
Evangeline Lilly are good in their roles, but it takes a while to
establish them as likable characters. From the moment Douglas steps
on screen, he looks comfortable in the role of Hank Pym—like it was
made for him.
Unlike
Age of Ultron's scenes
of forced set-up, Ant Man
naturally weaves its story with characters, events and themes from
the broader MCU. The inclusion of the MCU is not a side-story that
has no impact on the plot, it is a integral part of it. One pivotal
exchange between Ant Man and a certain Avenger halfway through the
movie perfectly encapsulates the MCU's importance to the plot.
For
all that Ant Man does
right, there is one glaring problem with it: Darren Cross. A villain doesn't
get anymore one-note and generic than him—even his name sounds
generic. In all seriousness, all the scenes setting Cross up as the
villain are just painful to watch. Instead of coming off as
threatening and unstable, Cross is wacky and cartoonish. Good thing
the movie stops focusing on his development about a quarter into it.
Although
the events of Ant Man
may seem microscopic in comparison to the world and even
universe-spanning adventures of recent Marvel movies like Avengers
and Guardians of the Galaxy,
it stands among the best movies Marvel has ever produced. While it
doesn't have the big names or explosive spectacles that make most
summer blockbusters, Ant Man is
a movie that you shouldn't overlook.
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