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Friday, July 24, 2015

An Appropriately Short Discussion of a Tiny Super-Hero

We saw Ant-Man last night, and I have few small thoughts about a surprisingly delightful movie (spoilers beyond the break):




First, the movie was wonderfully silly.  The whole concept of Ant-Man is silly, so I was glad that the filmmakers drove into it rather than tried to run away from it.  The big battle scene not only took part on a Thomas the Train engine set, but kept moving back and forth between the high stakes fight among the tiny combatants and how it looked to those of normal size.  The tank gag was great as well.

Second, and relatedly, a movie can have stakes and even a dead mom (or really, really tiny mom lost in quantum space) and not have to be dark.  I have long railed here against darkness for the sake of darkness.  So, this movie might not be cool like the various Chris Nolan Batman movies, but it was entertaining as hell and probably had fewer people acting stupid to move the narrative along.

Third, despite leaving the movie as director, Edgar Wright left his fingerprints all over it and for the good.  Whenever Michael Peña had to describe who told someone who told someone, it was very Shaun of the Dead/Hot Fuzz-y and in a good way.  I can see why he might have been annoyed about cramming Avengers tie-ins or whatever, but the spirit of the movie was his.

Fourth, Paul Ruud.

Finally, it did a great job visualizing what Ant-Man could do with his powers and with his communication with the ants.  Sorry about Anthony, by the way.  

Always, make mine Marvel!

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