4 Reasons Why Ant-Man is the Best Superhero Movie to Date

Ant-Man is the type of movie I could watch over and over and over again.  As a matter of fact, I have.  I’ve just completed my fourth viewing with my son last night.  

So, why the repeats?  Don’t I have anything better to do?  Yes, I do.  The problem is that this is the best superhero movie made to date!  I feel obligated to watch it over and over.  I do have my reasons for this irrational viewing schedule and here are 4 of them (in no particular order):

1.)  This is a breakout performance for Paul Rudd:

I’m a fan of Paul Rudd.  Not a huge fan, but a fan nonetheless.  He is remarkably funny and seems to be riding the rocket to fame due to his...well....funniness.  So, when I saw that he was cast in this, what I perceived to be, serious part I thought the movie was doomed.  Sure, there are superheroes that have made funniness the keystone of their popularity (such as Deadpool), but Ant-Man isn’t one of them.

I’m thrilled to report that I was dead wrong in thinking he was a poor decision.

Although the brilliant writers for this movie inserted many a humorous spot in the movie, Paul Rudd made them all the more funny.  Then, adding the antics of Michael Peña, you had what turned out to be a fantastic duo.  Who’d have guessed?  Apparently, the casting crew did.  Paul’s performance seems to have increased the variety of roles he can play in future movies.

2.)  The Special Effects:

This reason has an exception to it.  I was impressed by all the special effects in the MOVIE.  The odd thing is that the worst special effect was the movie PHOTO they are using for iTunes:

It looks great from far away, but as you step closer it looks doctored.

The head looks like it was photoshopped onto the body.  Now, whether it was or it wasn’t isn’t the point.  The point is it LOOKS like it was.  Some of you may disagree, but it leads me to wonder why they would spend so much time and money on special effects only to have a promo photo look crappy.  Anyway, let’s get away from the negative and focus on the positive.

The special effects in this movie are only rivaled by those used in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Whether Paul was riding an ant, floating on a raft of ants, or having Thomas the Tank Engine jettison from his second floor window, these were easily some of the best special effects I have ever seen.

(Thomas the Tank Engine was played by this little boy in the movie.  It’s hard to see the little boy in this picture because of the superb tailoring of the costume, but if you squint a little bit you can kind of see him.*)

All kidding aside, my hat is off again to Paul Rudd, and all the actors and actresses, who had to do their parts with nothing else on the set but blue screen.  In interviews with actor and actresses that have done parts such as this they all say how difficult it can be not only in speaking, but also in having the proper head and eye movements and appropriate body positioning.

3.)  Anyone can enjoy this movie:

The overall view of comic books, and the stories therein, has changed dramatically since I was a kid (and that’s a long time ago, you know...when rocks were still soft.)  Comic books weren’t so mainstream and they weren’t easy to come by.  You saw them in the corner pharmacy or market, but there were no stores that handled ONLY comic books.  It was also a time where comic books were meant for kids only.  The only time you ever saw an adult with a comic was if they were bringing it home for their kid(s) (or at least that was their excuse).  So, if a comic book movie came out back then it would be attended strictly by parents who were 'taking their kids'.   Nowadays it’s different.   With ComicCons, adult storylines, advanced special effects, many new characters, etc. it’s no longer just a kids thing.

In this day and age there are kids and adults who have their favorite characters, with each generation wanting to see the movies for different reasons.  It’s also a great way for parents to hang out with their kids.  The point is, even if you aren’t a fan of superheroes, this is a great movie.  Consider also the fact that this movie is really a standalone movie.  In other words, you don’t have to see ANYTHING else than this movie to understand it; there’s no cliffhanger ending that forces you to see the next one or a vague beginning where you had to have read 10 comics to understand where Ant-Man came from.  It’s just a great movie all by its lonesome.

4.)  Ant-Man is Cool!  (I’d say “Again” but I didn’t think he was cool to start with..):

Ant-Man was introduced in Tales to Astonish #27 in January of 1962 (hence the humor when, in the movie, there was a reference to Ant-Man not being some fictional “Tale to Astonish”, but I’m sure you caught it.)  He was just basically a guy who could shrink.  Big whoop.  He could talk to ants.  Another big whoop.  In addition, the other person who played Ant-Man in the comics was Hank Pym who was a mental train-wreck, a genius, and a wife-beater.  Sure, he was a co-founder of the Avengers, but his star wasn’t rising anytime soon.  Ant-Man was just not interesting or ‘heroic’.

In comes the movie.

Paul Rudd, as stated before, does an outstanding job playing Ant-Man.  His supporting cast is amazing.  The special effects and the costume designed for him were incredible.  Most importantly, he showed WHY Ant-Man is a superhero that can take on the likes of the Falcon and Yellowjacket.  It’s a transformation that had Marvel give him his own comic book, appearances in several other titles, people dressing up as him at ComicCons and the making of another Ant-Man movie.  

Now the real question is, “Is the bandwagon big enough to hold all the Ant-Man fans?”.  Personally, I love it.  Anyone starting to enjoy comic books and their characters is welcome in my home.  The part that gets me, though, is the person who says, “Ant-Man was always my favorite superhero.”  Ummm, yeah, OK.  I think it’s great that you have a newfound love of Ant-Man (as I do too) but let’s not go overboard.  I’ve been collecting, buying, selling and appraising for the better part of 45 years and, prior to the movie, I had never heard ANYONE even put Ant-Man in their top 50 favorite heroes.  

All that being said, I’m a convert.  The movie was EXTREMELY well done and broke through all the mental barriers I had about Ant-Man.  And, to all of you who have found a place for Ant-Man in your collections, or you just love the movies, I’m glad you did/do.  There’s always room for another comic book/comic character fan.  I hope to meet you one day.

Oh, one more thing, was I the only one who thought of a list of jobs for the ants around my house?  Fixing the screen door, folding the laundry, cleaning the bathrooms, getting rid of the ants in my kitch....

* - I was kidding.  There was no little boy playing Thomas the Tank Engine in the movie and there is no little boy in this photo either, so stop squinting.

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The Sides Taken in the Upcoming Civil War Movie, Do They Make Sense?

Let me start by saying that I have every comic, story arc, spinoff, you name it, of the original Civil War series.  It was well thought out and very collectible.  Looking at the sides in the upcoming movie, though, I have to ask...why have these sides been set up so poorly?  Or are they the perfect mix?  Let’s take a look:

Team Captain America:

Captain America
Falcon
The Winter Soldier
Hawkeye
Ant-Man
Agent 13 (Sharon Carter)

Team Iron Man:

Iron Man
Black Widow
War Machine
Vision
Black Panther

Let’s start with Team Captain America and their philosophy.

As we know, Cap isn’t a big fan of the government’s idea about revealing the faces behind the masks.  This, however, seems at odds with the beliefs that he espouses.  Cap is a “just follow orders” guy.  It doesn’t matter what the orders are...they are orders.  He walks and talks the American Dream, Apple Pie and Mom.  One could argue that he is becoming disillusioned by all that is happening around him, but I still don’t think this would call for a radical behavior change.

As for the rest of the cast of characters it’s not a huge secret as to who these people are under the masks.  Hawkeye doesn’t use one.  Ant-Man never worried too much about people knowing who he was under the mask.  The Winter Soldier doesn’t wear a mask anymore.  Sharon Carter is...well...Sharon Carter.  The Falcon never let on that he was even remotely concerned about this type of issue and, frankly, he doesn’t appear to be a big government fan either, and we already discussed Cap.

Now let’s shift to Team Iron Man and their philosophy.

First, if you didn’t do a double take at Tony Stark agreeing with the government and acting as a strong-arm for them, you haven’t been paying attention.  In every movie to date Tony Stark has thrown the finger at the government and went out of his way to make them look like idiots.  It’s really no wonder why he doesn’t mind being outed....he already did it to himself and everybody knows he is Iron Man.  But supporting the government?  Come on, Tony, really?

As for the rest of the cast of characters I find this team to be even more bizarre than Cap’s team.  Let’s start with Black Widow, she and Steve Rogers have been tight through every movie and have had each other’s backs at every turn.  Further, Black Widow doesn’t even wear a mask and everyone knows her full name.  She hates what her government did to her, she’s no fan of the bureaucrats that she has come in contact with in the movies, she has no real fondness for Tony, yet she wants people to unmask and sides against Steve.  I can’t wait to find out how this came to be.  Second is War Machine, well, since Tony made him who he is, and everyone already knows that he is under the mask, his choosing this side is no more of a surprise than the Winter Soldier siding with Cap.  The Vision?  Really?  The Vision who is not human, doesn’t wear a mask, or maybe he does, has an opinion?  What could he possibly have to gain either way?  Can the Vision even really unmask?  It makes NO sense.  Lastly is the Black Panther.  If ever there was a person who tried to remain on the fence and not take sides it’s the Black Panther.  The thought of him even taking a stance in United States affairs like this is surprising.  Why would Wakanda even care?

So, we have Steve who is a classic government man going against the government.  We have Tony who is always against the establishment now the defender of the bureaucracy.  We have unmasked characters on both teams (and how did Hawkeye and Black Widow who could easily be confused as brother and sister get on opposite teams?).  We have the classic “fence sitter” taking a firm stand in a country that isn’t his own.  We have an android who has an opinion on something he can never relate to.  Really, what we have are sides that are hard to make sense of.

There is no doubt that Civil War is shaping up to be an incredible movie, and I will be right there with everyone buying a ticket, but they should have done the lead up to this movie much differently.  They aren’t following the comic book Civil War already, why try to with Cap and Iron Man?  Picture it differently:

Cap comes out saying that everyone should unmask.  Most on his team are unmasked and no harm has come to them or their families.  There aren’t too many people who don’t know that Steve Rogers is Captain America and he hasn’t had too many issues.  After all, it comes with the turf doesn’t it?  If we turn against the government now it would be anarchy!  Brother killing brother!  The rules must be followed and this is a rule set down by the government.

Iron Man states that this is clearly the wrong solution.  Sure he came out and revealed his identity, but he has a multi billion dollar security system around him constantly, he has nothing to fear.  But the government telling him, or anyone else, what to do?  What a load of crap that is.  He won’t stand for it and neither should anyone else.  No one tells Tony Stark what to do!

Drop Sharon Carter out of the mix, she’s not a hero anyway so her opinion is as worthless as the Vision’s.  Drop the Vision as well.  Both are non-entities.  Also, drop out Black Panther as he would NEVER take sides on any issue let alone this one.

The Winter Soldier and Falcon stay with Cap out of loyalty whether they agree with the overall philosophy or not.  War Machine sticks with Tony out of loyalty whether he agrees with the overall philosophy or not.

Hawkeye and Black Widow then take Cap’s side because he is now saying everyone should unmask.  After all, neither of them wear a mask, they are also very tight, so they would both be of the same opinion on the topic.

Ant-Man can stay with Cap as even though he isn’t really trying to hide who he is in his movie, he will want to keep it a secret based on what happened to him and his family in the movie.  Remember the huge Thomas the Tank Engine scene?

Now the teams are looking a little different aren’t they?

To round out Tony’s team shirking the government would be Bruce Banner, Wolverine and the currently absent Spider-Man.

Here’s how they look now:

Captain America’s Team:

Cap
Hawkeye
Winter Soldier
Falcon
Black Widow

Iron Man’s Team:

Iron Man
War Machine
Bruce Banner/Hulk
Wolverine
Spider-Man

Now things have gotten interesting.

You may or may not agree, but I would like to hear your opinion on this.  Who would you put on each team and are Cap and Tony fighting for the right causes?

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Ant-Man: The Best Single Action Hero Film?

I went to see Ant-Man with my wife and son at the local theaters.  It was far more than I had anticipated.  Far more.  Movie goers agree; as of this writing Ant-Man was #1 for two weeks in a row at the box office.

I have to admit that I was quite surprised with the line for the movie...there was none.

No line for the snack stand, no line for tickets, no crowd in the lobby....nothing.

How could this be?  You couldn't view a web page or drive down the highway without seeing ads for this movie.

Then we went in the theater and it was PACKED!  We were lucky to find 3 seats together.

As a person who has been reading comic books for over 40 years I was only seeing the movie because of the hype.  In the comics Ant-Man was never much of a hero in my book.  A guy who could shrink and grow bigger.  So what.  Hank Pym and his wife Janet had that market cornered and in the newest run of Ant-Man comics he got his head handed to him by Taskmaster in the first few editions.

After leaving the theater, however, I have a completely different impression of him.

The computer generated graphics were one of a kind.  At no point did one look and say, "This isn't real".  It was real.  It was flawless.

The casting?  Perfect!  Every single character was cast perfectly! (unlike some of the other movies where some actors had no business being there.)

The writing?  Perfect!  A serious film laced with comedy at the right moments.  Not kitschy comedy or slapstick, stupid stuff.  Comedy that related to the topic and got a laugh...all perfectly timed.  (I was afraid that this was going to have the typical gratuitous humor filled with puns and wordplay.)

The computer generated imagery?  Stunning.  Ants came to life.  People grew and shrunk.  Thomas the Tank Engine toys broke through walls.  All of it done without any blurring or choppiness or camera cuts that you couldn't follow. (I'm referring to the Age of Ultron movie where the camera cuts were so fast and often that you couldn't keep up with what was going on.)

This movie rivaled Guardians of the Galaxy in it's casting, content and computer generated imagery.  It may have even surpassed it.

Whether you are a super hero fan, a comic book fan, or a fan of movies that just take you away for 2 hours go see this movie.  Heck, even if you're NOT a fan of comics and superheroes you will appreciate this film.

My hat is off to Marvel, Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll and all the others that made this movie just flat out awesome.  In my opinion, this is the best single action hero movie put out by Marvel.  I liked Captain America, but this was a step above.

As a hint to those who are going to see it, stay to the very end.  I mean the very end, like when the credits are done rolling.  The scenes that follow are critical to upcoming releases.

Will there be an Ant-Man II?  You bet there will and I'll be there.

P.S.  If you are so inclined, there is a club you can belong to that will send you custom Ant-Man stuff that you can't get anywhere else.  It's called the Marvel Collector Corps.  I'm not paid to advertise it, I'm just a member who is thrilled with the contents of the boxes I get.  Here are some of the pics from this month's box.  It's an Ant-Man T-shirt, a collector's edition Ant-Man comic and some bobbleheads.