First off, let me say this blog will contain spoilers for the Ant-Man film. If you don’t want to ruin anything, I suggest you stop reading now.
Let me also take a moment to apologize for how late I am in reviewing this film. Ant-Man hit theaters on July 17th. Between traveling and then once getting back home and having to catch up on a lot of work and also work on getting the The Main Street Monthly ready for August 1st, I haven’t had the time to get out and see this film, however I finally had the time and we decided a night out at the movies was needed, so here is my review of Marvel’s Ant-Man.
If you didn’t already know, i’m a HUGE fan of The Avengers. Not just the movies, but the comics as well. When Ant-Man was first announced I have to say I was pretty excited. I know many fans of the Marvel films were probably wondering where does Ant-Man fit into the world with Captain America and The Hulk? Well , in the first Marvel Avengers Comic published in 1963, The Original Avengers were:
- Iron Man aka Tony Stark
- Thor secret identity Dr. Don Blake
- The Hulk aka Bruce Banner
- Ant-Man aka Hank Pym
- Wasp aka Janet Van Dyne
In that first comic, the Avengers come together to battle and defeat Loki. It was after they captured Loki, Ant-Man told the others that each had their special powers and that they should join forces to create a team to battle evil. It was actually Hank Pym that is credited with creating the Avengers team. It was after they all agreed to join forces, that Wasp came up with the name, The Avengers and history was born.
The movie first and foremost was excellent. Marvel did a great job of explaining some of the backstory to help those watching to understand without knowing the comics at all. In the opening scene of the film, we go back in time to 1989. We see the Triskelion that appears under construction at the time. You will remember the Triskelion from Captain America: The Winter Soldier as the headquarters for S.H.I.E.L.D. Hank Pym barges into a meeting with 3 others, they are Peggy Carter, Howard Stark and Mitchell Carson. You probably recognize Peggy and Howard. Mitchell Carson is making his first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and he is no doubt a bad guy….HYDRA.
The reason Hank Pym goes into the room with the other three, is that he is telling them they will not use his invention “Pym Particle,” after Hank realizes his invention would not be used for good. The particle is what makes it possible for someone or something to be shrunk or become larger instantly.
Pym Technologies, is the company Hank started after leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. Years before, he was voted out of his own company and it’s now run by his former assistant Darren Cross. Darren is power hungry and on a mission to create something similar to the Pym Particle he has heard about, but never knew if it really existed. Darren is out to build the Yellowjacket, a military grade uniform that will create an army that no other person or nation can stop. The one who created this will give that person the power to rule everything. We also meet Darren’s second in charge at Pym Technologies, Hope Pym. Hope is Hank’s daughter, Hank and Hope had a falling out years before but she came back to her father to help her stop Darren from his creation of the Yellowjacket.
The Yellowjacket is actually a character that Hank Pym became himself first in the comics, but in this film it’s the technology that Hydra is wanting for their own use for world domination. Hank’s version is the comics wasn’t good, Hank was not in his right mind as Yellowjacket due to a problem in his lab.
Next we meet Scott Lang on his last day in prison. In the comics, Scott Lang is another character that was Ant-Man. He was in prison serving time for a burglary that he did to actually give back to the people who were taken advantage of. Scott’s former cell mate picks him up at the prison and doesn’t waste much time telling Scott there is a burglary job for him and he can make a lot of money from it if he helps. He says no as he want’s to turn to a life without crime in order to be able to spend time with his daughter. At this time Scott is not interested at all in continuing his life of crime but realizes soon he doesn’t have many choices. The crime he goes back to committing ends up breaking into the safe that Hank Pym has stored the Ant-Man suit in and there is no money in the safe. Scott takes the suit and is curious about it.
After putting on the suit, he presses the button and shrinks himself. Scared of what he just did, has a few obstacles in his head but hears a voice telling him what he is doing. The voice in Hank Pym and he is trying to explain everything to Scott. Eventually Scott passes out while he is the Ant-Man but wakes in Hank’s home, the very home he robbed of the Ant-Man suit.
Hope and Hank explain what they need from Scott. They need him to break into Pym Technologies, steal the Yellowjacket suit and erase and destroy all the back up data about creating the suit. In exchange for his help, Hank promises to help Scott get to spend time with his daughter and be a part of her life.
Hank and Hope begin to train Scott and how to use the suit and the Ant’s to his advantage. It’s during this that Hank and Hope become closer as a father and daughter and Hank shares what happened to Hope’s mother the Wasp. Darren is becoming more and more power hungry and making advances with his suit each minute that passes.
This is where I’m going to stop with the “recap” of the film, but I have to let you know, this movie is fantastic. There are a lot of Easter Eggs in the film, so keep your eyes open. From the green soda that Stan Lee drinks in The Incredible Hulk to the man with the symbol of the 10 Rings from the first Iron Man on his neck. In one scene after Scott first is Ant-Man, after stealing the suit and putting it on, he lands on a car and when the camera shows the inside you see Garrett Morris. You will know Morris from CBS show Two Broke Girls, but he was also a member of Saturday Night Live and that is the reason for his cameo. In a SNL skit, called Superhero Party he was the Ant-Man. Speaking of cameo’s, Stan Lee does make his cameo, keep your eyes opened for him.
In the film also, there is a part where Hank needs Scott to recover something that is stored in one of Howard Stark’s old warehouses. He believes this warehouse to be empty, but when Scott gets there he sees the large Avengers logo on top. You will recognize this building from the end of Age of Ultron, it’s where the “New” Avengers come together to get trained by Captain America and the Black Widow. We do get to see Falcon here and he interacts with Scott.
One thing I noticed in Ant-Man, as opposed to the other Marvel films, this one is filled with jokes and humor. You will be laughing a lot in this one. The way Scott’s friend tells stories and the voices and characters used will have you cracking up.
The action scenes and filming with the ants is pretty great. Paul Rudd really played the character perfect, as well as Michael Douglas as Hank Pym. There are two after the credits scenes. One mid way through and a second after the final credit. The first one was cool, but the final one had me walking out going WOW!
Marvel fans, we have 10 months till the May 6th 2016 release of the highly anticipated Captain America: Civil War. News breaks on that film all the time, just yesterday I read that Spider-Man will appear in Civil War. At the end of Ant-Man, it does say Ant-Man will return, we are just not sure when exactly. One can assume during Civil War, but we will see in time.
Have you seen Ant-Man yet? If so let us know what you thought in the comments below and on Facebook. Thank you for reading!!!
As co-owner and co-creator of The Main Street Mouse.Working in a technical support position for 18 years, it was time for a change.As the Webmaster and Project Planner, I spend most of my time researching everything from the latest Disney News, technology advances and of course keeping up on all the Marvel news that comes out.I never considered myself a writer but I’ve come to like blogging and sharing news with all.I feel blessed everyday that I get to spend my days working with my best friend and love of my life while we continue to grow and expand what started as a hobby all those years ago.
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