Okay,
I admit it. When I heard that Paul Rudd would be the ANT-MAN, I about cried!
Holy crap! Could there be a worse actor to cast in a “serious” action movie?!
Horrible images of good actors doing bad things to our belovèd Comic book
heroes flashed in my mind: Ben Affleck’s
puffy-chested, Daredevil (stoic to a fault), Seth Rogen’s dopey, misplaced humor
in The Green Hornet, and let’s not forget the gratefully dead Fantastic Four
franchise that was so pathetically NOT FUNNY when it was trying so hard to BE
funny! No, please, no Paul Rudd! Now, don’t get me wrong, I actually love Rudd in
romantic comedies (Clueless {1995} for example) and stupid comedies (Anchorman:
The Legend of Ron Burgundy {2004}, The 40-Year-Old Virgin {2005} which really
aren’t my cup of funny but Rudd was good
in them). No! A comedian taking on a serious, action-packed Marvel super
hero film? No way, Michael Peña! Comic book heroes are serious business! You
can’t mix straight-up comedy with hardcore, intense comic book action!
Now
having got all that out of my system, let me say that . . . ANT-MAN IS ONE OF
THE GREATEST ACTION/COMEDY MOVIES I HAVE EVER, EVER SEEN! And it’s due to two
important elements:
1.
One hell of a great script! It is intelligent, very witty and when it needs to
being extremely earnest and action packed. And the comedy, the humor isn’t forced on the
script but comes directly from the actions of the characters. The writers (Paul
Rudd, Edgar Wright, Adam McKay, Joe Cornish) created a well-balanced
comedy/thriller that had me laughing and hootin’ and hollerin’ and totally buying
the drama of ANT-MAN!
2.
Just great casting! Paul Rudd (as Scott Lang/ANT-MAN) and Michael Peña (as
Luis) are a frigging comedy duo of awesomeness, never losing the momentum or
diminishing the terrifying, super villain
. . . villainy of YELLOWJACKET (played by hairless Corey Stoll). Not to
be dismissed are Michael Douglas (Hank Pym, the “mad” scientist who created and
wore the first ANT-MAN suit), Evangeline Lilly (as Hope van Dyne, Hank Pym’s
Kick-Ass-And-Take-A–Few-Names daughter) Annnnnd Abby Ryder Fortson as Scott
Lang’s seven year old kid who is outrageously cute, and extraordinarily lovable
and a heck of an actor! Hell, the whole cast is GREAT!
The
only complaint that I might have is that every now and then the ant army’s CGI
was a tad out of sync. But to be honest again, it’s such a slight hiccup I
can’t complain about it too much. Look, ANT-MAN is one of Marvel’s best super
hero/action movies to ever grace the screen. Sure, the action is powerful and
somewhat frightening but not overly so. It is rated PG-13, but tends to be more
PG than 13. ANT-MAN has a different feel
to it than say the Avengers, Captain America or even the X-Men. However, if you
love Marvel movies, you should . . . GO
SEE IT! GO SEE IT! GO SEE IT! Right NOW!
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