By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)
A few big surprises are in store for true believers following the unraveling Infinity Stone story arc in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The latest entry, Ant-Man, may well hint at how they operate if one tiny tell-tale scene is supposed to be read that way. When the scene showed crystalline structures becoming protons and turning into quarks, just how small anyone can become begs the question of what lurks within singularity? When time and space become irrelevant, is what’s there still represented and controlled by thought (i.e. Stream of Consciousness)?
When the ideas presented in this latest film jives with what Guardians of the Galaxy unveiled about these stone’s origins, the truths revealed can be mind-boggling! When a singularity from a black holes are put into a containment system, a stone, just what kind of quantum states exist in there needs to be examined. Perhaps, when all these movies from the second phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are available to purchase, one enterprising fan will make an edit of the scenes specific to this story arc into a mini documentary about the upcoming Infinity War.
In this current entry that explores the world of entomology, not much about the greater world at large is explored. I wondered what kind of superhero program existed prior to the formation of The Avengers? After the bust of the Super Soldier experiment and the disappearance of Captain America, other heroes had to have emerged to pick up the mantle. But did they operate as a team? When the first Avengers film had Nick Fury wanting to reactivate the Avengers Initiative, there had to have been a former unit.
When Hank Pym once worked with this industrialist as a scientist for S.H.I.E.L.D., he must have been part of a group of superheroes. Hopefully this possibility will be explored more in season two of Marvel’s Agent Carter. Although this film is meant to be standalone, the allusions to a greater world can not go unnoticed. Viewers are supposed to see it within its own microcosm.
With this film, the action takes place in San Francisco. This metropolis is home to its own menagerie of troublemakers. Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is a Robin Hood type figure. He steals from the rich so he can give to the poor — so he claims. Unfortunately, he was caught. After serving his time in prison, he hopes to make a new lease on life but Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) finds something in him that he likes. This movie mixes in a bit of a Karate Kid type of narrative with an Ocean’s Eleven style of plot. Ultimately, the stories that I found to matter more concern Lang and Pym’s relationship with their respective daughters. The very young Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson) misses her daddy and Hope (Evangeline Lilly) has issues with her father not opening up to her. Both parents wants to do what’s best for them and that makes this movie a great watch. Just how the two men meet seems to be out of happenstance but it was ordained when Pym realizes he needs help to prevent his shrinking technology from falling into the wrong hands.
Douglas is wonderful as the scientist who discovered the secrets to manipulating mass. He has a vitality that I like watching in the many characters he’s played throughout the years and that’s infectious who watch. I was drawn to this film a lot more because of him than anyone else in the cast, Rudd’s performance is fine but there are moments where he channels the personality of Starlord (Chris Pratt) from Guardians; that’s more distracting than complementary. Even more annoying are the sidekicks he partners with. Luis (Michael Peña), Dave (Tip “T.I.” Harris) and Kurt (David Dastmalchian) are basically The Three Stooges of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and their only talent is to provide comedy relief to an action-adventure heist film. The humour is good, but Peña really needs to work his body language more to sell the scenes he is in with Rudd better.
When the plan is to break into Pym’s former business, a tech company, to stop Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) from selling to the military, little would they know that it would be to HYDRA, a terrorist organization from Captain America‘s world. I was not too surprised that a few people from S.H.I.E.L.D. would make a cameo, and if there’s more to come, I’ll be welcoming it. The full plate of programs have been revealed by Marvel Entertainment leading up to the Infinity War, and hopefully new material can be made to fill in the gaps that fans like me are wanting to see.
When the next movie is Civil War and Rudd is confirmed to appear in it, the likelihood of new filler material (new Marvel One-shots) will depend on whether they will appear in the video release of Age of Ultron or Ant-man prior to Civil War. I certainly want to know what HYDRA is up to lately.
4 Stars out of 5
