The growing collection of Marvel superhero movies aren’t all that different than a colony of ants, and not just by virtue of being nuisances in my book.
It’s not necessary for any one cinematic drone to truly stand out anymore after the big splashes of “The Avengers” and Marvel’s infestation of the TV airwaves (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”) and Netflix (“Daredevil”).
The expectations of any Marvel flick these days — and the inherent meta-textual gags and references — means that no one project must survive on its own legs; someone or something will drop in to protect the superorganism.
Such is the case with director Peyton Reed’s “Ant-Man,” the platonic ideal of a Marvel film that brings a new character to the forefront without much imagination, yet solid execution and just enough opportunity to advance the Marvel brand and its multi-film narrative.
There’s no shortage of intriguing casting choices, starting with the Unhateable himself, Paul Rudd, as Scott Lang, a fresh-from-jail, socially conscious burglar who can’t resist the allure of another score to make the kind of money to be respectable in the eyes of his ex-wife (played by Judy Greer) and his adorable young daughter.
Michael Peña provides perfect comic relief as Scott’s former cellmate who finds him to a job that leads Scott to discover pseudo-retired techie Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), his career-focused and adventure-hungry daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) and — most importantly — the super suit that allows its wearer to shrink and expand back to normal size on command.
Pym’s been hiding the suit for decades lest it fall into the wrong hands — those hands are affixed to the arms of Pym’s one-time mentor Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), who’s developed his own suit with the goal of selling it to the highest bidder who, presumably, will use it for either world peace or world domination.
But for the viewers, there’s just not the sense of urgency or world-in-the-balance stakes that most of the modern crop of comic-book adaptations have put forward.
In some ways, the plot’s simplicity is endearing: A rogue such as Scott who wants to go straight, gets thrust into action and forced to help take down evil. “Ant-Man” doesn’t attempt to play with weighty, contemporary political issues such as the surveillance state in the way that “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and other Marvel films have dared — just action, jokes, more action and a cameo from at least one Avenger (Anthony Mackie’s Falcon) before the end-of-credits scene rolls (which is what many Marvelheads are really excited for instead of the main feature).
There’s nothing heavy or emotionally gripping beyond some scenes of Cross testing his version of a shrink ray on some exceptionally cute lambs. The tone, with its bloodless laser deaths and “Interstellar”-level focus on a father trying to win back his daughter, plays perfectly into Rudd’s unique charm as a leading man and Peña’s unreal ability to provide legitimate levity in any scene.
Our screening offered up “Ant-Man” in 3D, but like so much of the film’s story line, visual effects and acting, it was thoroughly average and certainly not strong enough to warrant shelling out the extra money for a spectacled screening.
In fact, the longer you spend thinking about “Ant-Man” and its frivolous dramatics, the less it makes sense as a fully formed movie if divorced from its place in whatever phase of the Marvel cinematic master plan it’s in.
But like we see in nature, there are queens and workers. What “Ant-Man” shows is that Marvel has developed another trait of the animal kingdom: Alphas and betas, varsity and junior varsity. Though it may be a lesser effort, at least they’ve got the same name on their jerseys as the big-leaguers.
“Ant-Man” is rated PG-13. One hour, 57 minutes. Two and a half stars out of five.