Marvel's new superhero adventure is in cinemas from Friday. Harry Guerin gives his verdict and talks to star Michael Douglas.
Depending on who you believe, the best things either come to those who wait or in small packages. In Marvel's latest, it's both.
Paul Rudd fans have been dreaming for ages about him getting his own marketed-to-the-hilt starring vehicle proper - something that makes full use of his everyman charm, comedy cool and impeccable timing, and is seen by the widest audience possible. Sure, he had top billing in Role Models, I Love You Man and This is 40, but there was always the feeling in those movies that Rudd had even more to offer. Ant-Man shows just how much.
He plays Scott Lang, a burglar with a Masters in electronic engineering whose sense of social justice ends up with him doing a stretch in San Quentin. Determined to go straight on his release, Scott finds work hard to come by and visitation rights to his daughter (Abby Ryder Fortson) even tougher.
Enter inventor and industrialist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), who has an offer Scott really can't refuse. There are just one or two, ahem, tiny matters to attend to first...
The omens didn't look good for Ant-Man when original writer-director and longtime champion Edgar Wright departed the project (that old 'different visions' chestnut), but the upheaval has not impacted on quality control. Like Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014 - which similarly employed lesser-known (to the masses) characters from the Marvel universe to great effect - this is the surprise of the summer. More caper than cape and super-heist than superhero, it's fast and funny, with the quirkiness of Wright and co-writer Joe Cornish's script surviving the arrival of new director Peyton Reed and story polishers, among them Rudd. His character here talks about calling The Avengers; there's no need for them.
Marvel's overused global annihilation storyline always carries with it the danger of fan fatigue, but it's not rolled out here, meaning that Ant-Man really increases goodwill towards the genre and gets you excited about what's to come in Doctor Strange, Deadpool and the rest. Unlike some of its peers, Reed's film doesn't outstay its welcome or try to shoehorn way too much into the story, coming instead from the 'less is more' school of thought.
Granted, the villain is a bit identikit, but the chemistry between Rudd and co-stars Douglas and Evangeline Lilly does much to diminish that disappointment. They're simply too good together to be denied a sequel.
Marvel knows pest.
4/5
