Ant-Man

From Derivative Studios, here comes Derivative-Man!

Hello fellow connoisseurs, as promised earlier, today we add the final addition of the Marvel Cinematic Universe phase 2: Ant-Man. Who? you may be asking, Ant-Man is a founding member of the original Avengers team, of course this didn't happen in the live action films so non comic book readers (I hope you're not a part of that bunch of posers) may not know who this character is. Marvel Comics has printed stories about 3 very different Ant-Men in the past, which one made it to the movie?, and which one didn't? The film comes packed with two out of three Ant-Men. Hank Pym (masterfully played by Michael Douglas) & Scott Lang (Paul rudd) The third Ant-Man, Eric O'Grady was not a part of this film due to his kinky nature which may seem not suitable for an all ages film (that is why I'm officially declaring the forthcoming Deadpool movie, the greatest comic book film since Sin City)

Comic Book & Film reality.

So, what the live action movie teaches us is that, the great inventor Hank Pym is in the comic books, is already retired and occasionally visits his multimillion firm in the film. Nevertheless, we do get to see him don his Ant-Man suit in a flashback scene where we also see he didn't work alone as there was also a previous version of the Wasp. If you had to compare source material versus script writers ideas, the film does get a lot of stuff right in a respectful manner, only changing a few things to add consistency to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Scott Lang, our main man in the flick, has already served in prison and is ready to come back to the real world once more, only to find nobody would hire a former thief. To make matters worse, he won't be able to legally visit his daughter until he gets a proper job. In the comic book, Lang's daughter is suffering a lethal disease, and the only way to help her is by stealing the Ant-Man's suit in doctor Pym's house, while in the movie he wants to steal whatever valuables doctor Pym has in his house so that he can get some money to start his own business and eventually being allowed to visit his little daughter.

Ant-Man's lead cast.

What the fuck is this shit?

The last re arranged comic book element was the presence of the antagonist Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) which as in the original source, is the owner of Cross Technological Enterprises.  However, since Lang's daughter is not sick in the films, he's no longer holding captive Dr. Erica Sondheim (the one who saved Lang's daugther in the comic book) a character that is not part of the film. Nevertheless, Cross' rivalry with Hank Pym is clearly there, since he could never gets his hands on the super secret technology Dr. Pym developed for his Ant-Man suite, namely the sub atomic Pym particle. Unfortunately, Cross comes up with a similar shrinking technology and is ready to full scale manufacture his latest invention: The Yellow Jacket war suit. In the original source, Yellow Jacket is another invention of Dr. Pym, let's remember he's not only been known as Ant-Man, but also as Yellow Jacket, Giant-Man, Goliath and The Wasp.However,  Darren Cross has never worn the Yellow Jacket suite in the comic books. 

Explanations set aside, Ant-Man proves to be quite an entertaining film, but let's be clear, entertaining is not a synonym for good. Having seen so many comic book films show up in the last ten years the inevitable surfaces: Comic book films are cheap entertaining material that are nothing but derivative. Derivative means "unoriginal" my uneducated minds. Now, is it Ant-Man's exclusive fault? Absolutely not, if we're to blame someone for this, let's just look in the mirror. 

Bang my daughter later, now gimme a hand with Darren Cross.

Hope he doesn't have a subatomic sized dick.

The more we think we're original people, the more we realize we love repetition in any shape. Examples are out there almost everywhere! we have music that sounds the same, trends that look the same, movies that are about the same story and we even drink coffee that tastes the same despite the many coffee franchises out there.The whole pop culture is now a dime a dozen! 

To make matters worse, DC Comics & Marvel Comics, the two world leading comic book authorities, are aware of our taste for repetition. In fact, they've been ripping off characters from each other faces since the late 60's! And it doesn't stop in the rip-off business! let's not forget the many reboots their comic book universes are currently undergoing!

Ant-Man came just like today's review: way too late. Had this film being released by the time Iron Man 2 premiered, it could have been way better but nope, that didn't happen and it wouldn't have been possible anyways. Most of the people who like comic book films, and I've said this before many, many times, have no idea about the original source material, so they would have had no idea about who Ant-Man was unless they were comic book fans. 

Hit me, and I'll blow your balls dry.

Wow, peeping tom in showers takes a whole new meaning now.

Pointless Comic Book Fan Complaint.

Anyways, being a lifetime avid comic book reader there's only one thing I want: Multi million producers, please stop making any more comic book movies!!! We have enough already! We don't want people who has no real interest in our art form to come by and filled their pockets out of our fandom. Let's be honest! how many of you have read an Ant-Man story arc before this film was made? How many of you did know Ant-Man is an original founding member of the Avengers? I know, I know, grab a snickers! I'm not saying I want the comic book world to be exclusive to a few chosen ones, all I'm saying is that if you want to become a part of this wonderful, the first and only thing you need to do is reading a comic book!

Useless complaints set aside, Ant-Man does entertain. Nevertheless, it seems to be a film made without any effort. Every single cliche established in previous films, fit here way too easily, and despite a rather acceptable plot we still don't know why world famous biochemist Hank Pym would pick a low life thug to aid him on the capture of the Yellow Jacket suit just because. Pym utters way too many times about "second chances" but it is still unclear the connection he feels Lang has with his plans. 

Army Ants.

Up, Up and away!

The villain, well...uhm...Darren Cross is perhaps the number one cliche in the movie. A former brilliant assistant of Hank Pym's enterprise who couldn't get any further "because I saw too much of me in you" as Pym himself puts it. Hence, Cross quits, starts his own copycat enterprise and comes up with a copy of the Pym Particle just to have it sold to Hydra! Yes, he wants revenge over his former master, how original!

The love interest, well..uhm... Evangeline Lilly surely is a beatiful woman but her portrayal of Hope Van Dyne seems dull at all times and there is clearly no onscreen room for the developing of a love relationship between her and Scott Lang, and just when you thought nothing would happen between them, a kind of magic has them kissing behind Dr. Pym's back. Love works in strange ways, even in movies!

Enter: Yellow Jacket.

The after credit scenes, an element which I'm deeply against since it's the number one derivative idea Marvel keeps on teasing to "tie in" their universe, well, they're not that spectacular. the first misleading scene, suggests Pym's daughter will become the next Wasp while in the original source, we know this never ever happened. Instead, she became the Red Queen, leader of the villain team The Revengers, but who fucking cares about source material anymore (sic) The second scene has Falcon accomplishing the previously assigned mission Cap America himself ordered him to do: Find Bucky Barnes AKA The Winter Soldier. Does he succeed? sure! the problem is, they don't know what to do with Barnes, since he still is a Hydra criminal wanted for, well, stuff criminals do y'know. Therefore, Cap says "let's keep this a secret" and Falcon suggests they could use the aid of Ant-Man for their next endeavor.

Overall, Ant-Man delivers entertainment, a couple of fantastic fights but it still remains a forgettable superhero movie. hope I'm wrong. Time will tell.

Here's the movie trailer: