Ant-Man

Ant-Man is ostensibly the Marvel Cinematic Universe spoofing itself. But then, while not specifically comedies, all Marvel films up to this point have been marked by a terrific sense of humor (the humor being the only redeeming element in some cases). In fact, I’d argue it’s an integral part of the company’s appeal. So Ant-Man isn’t so much a parody of Marvel as the company just upping the comedy factor.

The mantle of Ant-Man is worn by Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), a paroled thief who, during a robbery, finds a suit that shrinks its wearing to the size of an ant. It turns out he was set up to find the suit by scientist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), the original Ant-Man. The two of them, as well Pym’s daughter Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), must then work together to prevent Pym’s former prodigy Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) from developing similar shrinking technology to sell to the highest bidder.

The movie was set to be directed by Edgar Wright of Three Flavours Cornetto fame for a long time until his sudden and much-publicized departure just before filming. Wright remains credited as a writer, but as for how much of his touch remains in the picture, it’s mixed. Missing is his the director’s kinetic style which mocks flashy rapid editing techniques by using them on humorously mundane activities. Also, one thing about Wright’s work is that his parodies are made with such skill and love that they’re legitimately good entries in whichever genre they’re spoofing (Shaun of the Dead, while a parody on the surface, is better than most zombie fare that plays it straight).

Well, that’s not the case in Ant-Man, in which the origin story and villain arc are pretty standard. In fact, some of the exposition would be downright excruciating if the tone were serious. But it’s not, and that works in the comedy’s favor. Whenever the picture is venturing into cliché or bad character drama, it knows it, and comically tears apart the scene. Applying the same attitude to a better story could have made important character and plot developments feel insubstantial (such was the case in Avengers: Age of Ultron, which overall seems rather slight two-and-a-half months later). And most importantly, Rudd’s usual lovable smart aleck everyman fits right into the role, and the rest of the cast plays well to the comedy, whether it’s the aforementioned leads chewing the typical superhero scenery, or simple comic relief from Michael Peña, T.I., and Bobby Cannavale.

What most definitely bears Wright’s fingerprints are the action scenes, which, like the violence in his Cornetto trilogy, are expertly choreographed pieces of physical comedy. Here, though, the comedic gore is traded for all the top-notch effects at the disposal of Marvel Studios. The movie takes full advantage, too. Each fight scene or special effects sequence is an imaginative trove of sight gags and slapstick, with tiny household products becoming projectiles and machines of death to the shrunken combatants. Particularly amusing are a setup involving an iPhone and another that’s so utterly predictable, and yet the absence of which would have rendered the filmmakers remiss.

I tried to focus only on the Ant-Man we got and its merits, but as a big fan of Wright’s work, I can’t help but imagine what his film might have been like. But ultimately, the movie didn’t need him in the director’s chair. It’s easily the lightest, most detached Marvel picture so far (the connections to the Avengers storyline is limited to a cameo and the standard post-credits scene), but that’s not a bad thing. With Comic-Con just reminding us the superhero film world is about to get even more dense and expansive (for both Marvel and rival DC), it’s refreshing to see a comic flick that’s less about complicated franchise-building than just fun.