What’s up, my know-it-alls! It’s literally the week of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and we’re all losing our minds. At least I know this guy is. I’m ready to see some Kang action. I’m ready to see what’s going on with Scott turning into spaghetti. I’m ready.
But now you have to be. So I’m going back to the first Ant-Man, the 2015 movie, for our first Know-It-All retro review. There’s another one coming Thursday for Ant-Man and the Wasp, because I’m trying my best to keep us all super excited. Come Friday and Saturday it’s going to be time for that movie, and I can’t wait to review it.
The Short Version
Ant-Man is a Marvel superhero movie released in 2015. It stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, a thief who’s given the ability to shrink in size but increase in strength through a special suit created by Hank Pym, played by Michael Douglas. Hank, the original Ant-Man, is trying to stop his former protégé, Darren Cross, from creating a similar suit with evil intentions. Got to hate when the evil intentions come in, man.
Scott is reluctant to become a superhero at first, but Hank and his daughter, Hope van Dyne, eventually convince him to help stop Cross. Along the way he learns how to control his powers and works to become a true hero. The film is filled with action, humor and heart as Scott learns the importance of being a good person and a loving father. In the end, Scott and Hank stop Cross and keep the dangerous technology from falling into the wrong hands. It proved to be a fun addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it sets the stage for the character’s future adventures.
Simple. Short, sweet, to the point.
It’s a Heist Film, Flat Out
One of the things I really enjoyed about this movie, and I remember it from when I first saw it, is that it’s a heist film. Flat out. It is straight up a heist film. They’re not trying to dress it up, they’re not trying to decorate it, they’re not trying to put lipstick on a pig, if you will. They flat out said it’s going to be a heist movie, and that’s what you get.
And the break-in is not a slouchy burglary scene. It really isn’t. The place they’re hitting turns out to be Hank Pym’s, a townhouse-looking type of place, and the scene kicks all kinds of butt. I love that they show Scott run up that little roof corner, so he’s got some parkour skills. He’s not about breaking things if he can avoid it. You’ve got the one dude, played by David Dastmalchian, up where the electrical lines are, knocking out the phone lines and making sure nobody can call the cops and no alarms go crazy.
Once Scott’s inside, he comes up against the safe that’s supposed to be there, and you find out there are some curveballs. So he’s got to find a way in, and the crew is in his ear the whole time.
“Remember what that iceberg did?”
“Yeah, man. It killed DiCaprio.”
“Killed everybody.”
“Did not kill the old lady. She still throw the jewel into the oceans.”
He puts water into the thing and freezes it, and that makes the metal start to bulge out. Again, you get to see that Scott knows what he’s doing. He’s a really good burglar, and he makes the distinction himself: robbery involves the threat of violence, burglary does not. He’s very particular about it. He doesn’t like violence.
Michael Peña Is a National Treasure and a Gift
Michael Peña, by the way, is both a national treasure and a gift.
“I was at a wine tasting with my cousin Ernesto. It was mainly reds, and you know I don’t like reds, man. But there was a rosé that saved the day. It was delightful.”
It’s the wrong details. It has nothing to do with the story. And he steals the show every time he’s on screen.
The movie opens with this Spanish music over the Marvel logo, and then you see Scott in jail. There’s this big ceremony they’re doing, I guess, where when somebody leaves they knock you out, give you a punch, a black eye, I don’t know. Then Michael Peña is there to pick him up, and he does this really fast-talking Spanish guy routine, which is so funny, because if you know anything about Michael Peña, he’s not like that at all in real life. In fact, if you watch a lot of his roles, he usually leans away from it. In this he leaned all the way in, right down to the van he drives. It’s great.
He’s also the one trying to pull Scott back in. He’s got these friends he wants to introduce him to, they’ve got this real sweet little job. And Scott says no. He’s not doing it. He has his daughter to worry about.
“You know that jobs don’t come easy for ex-cons, right?”
“Look, man, I got a master’s in electrical engineering, all right? I’m going to be fine.”
“Welcome to Baskin-Robbins. Would you like to try our mango fruit blast?”
They set up that whole opening really nicely.
The De-Aging Holds Up
I remember a lot of people really criticizing the de-aging of Michael Douglas at the beginning of this thing. I tell you what, I watched the movie again in preparation for this review, and it holds up.
Is it Luke Skywalker perfect? No, but I think Luke Skywalker is a whole new thing anyway. For those of you playing at home, I’m talking about all the Star Wars de-aging stuff, and the Luke Skywalker that was in The Book of Boba Fett.
Michael Douglas looks amazing in this. And what’s hilarious is that everybody else has to look older, because they’re all younger actors than him, so they have to be aged up to be closer to what their characters would be in that scene.
Keep the Suit
Scott finds the suit, and when he goes home he does the whole thing we’ve seen a million times. He tries it on in the bathroom, he accidentally hits the button, he shrinks, Michael Peña comes in, and he ends up having to escape. He rides out, has to get through the sewer, and eventually comes back up into the building. There’s an apartment downstairs with rave music playing, so he’s got to run around that. It’s very Honey, I Shrunk the Kids on steroids. He’s dodging giant shoes and things falling and eventually an animal, and the whole while he’s just saying, I’m taking this back.
So he goes to take it back, and you find out, no, man, you’re stuck with this.
“Not bad for a test drive. Keep the suit. I’ll be in touch.”
“No. No, thank you.”
I love Michael Douglas. He’s so good, and he plays a really good Hank Pym. Anybody who knows anything about the comic books knows Hank Pym is one of the oldest Avengers. He’s been around forever. But he was abusive, and they actually showed some of that in the books. Here they let a little bit of his attitude and his personality start to come out. Overall, I like what they’re doing with the character. You do have a Scott Lang in the comics, and I think there’s another guy too at some point. But Michael Douglas is playing a version of Hank Pym that I’m down for.
Cross, and Why Is He a Jerk
Then you get to Cross. Hank Pym’s protégé in this thing is Darren Cross, played by Corey Stoll. I think Cross is a character from the comic books. I can’t remember for the second.
I like Corey Stoll. I think he played this a bit aggressively. He felt like a Biff Tannen type of character, where you want to sit there and go, why are you a jerk? Just because? He keeps trying to say it’s because of what Hank did and didn’t do. Hank got voted out. Voted out of his own company.
The Outline When He Shrinks
What I really love, as a comic book fan, is the enlarging and shrinking effect. You see this repetition, this outline of a person. That’s Marvel Studios doing their best to make the visual effect from the comic books happen on screen. Look at the comics. Every time he shrinks, you see the outline of his person. I thought that was such a cool little detail. As a comic book guy, I’m a big fan.
New Characters You Already Know
This takes place after Captain America: The Winter Soldier. So it’s been revealed that Hydra was running S.H.I.E.L.D., the whole nine yards. You get this one guy who used to be part of S.H.I.E.L.D. and is actually part of Hydra, and he comes in to buy the thing.
What this movie does a really good job of is introductions. All these characters are new to the average moviegoing audience. But they introduce them in such a way that you feel like you know them. In a very short amount of time they give you backstory, history and enough interactions that you go, oh, I know these characters. That’s really the fun part of what’s happening here.
There you go. Now you know. And if knowing is half the battle, you’re halfway to being a know-it-all yourself.
The Verdict
Ant-Man (2015) is a 9 out of 10 on the Know-It-All Index.
That’s forgetting Ant-Man and the Wasp, forgetting Quantumania and anything else that’s coming. Just the first movie. It does not blow you away. It’s not blowing your socks off. I’m giving it a nine because it is an expertly done heist film that is then overlaid with the concept of the superhero film. It marries those genres together so well.
Your turn. Tell me what you thought of the 2015 Marvel Studios film Ant-Man, and then tell me how excited you are for Quantumania. I know I’m thrilled. I’m ready for Kang. I’m ready for what’s coming. The conversation lives in the comments on the video above. Never forget, everyone loves a know-it-all.
