Review: Marvel strikes again with ‘Ant-Man’

Posted on July 24, 2015

By MARK VIOLA

With last summer’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” serving as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) most serious film to date and “Guardians of the Galaxy” its most fun, “Age of Ultron” provided a solid mixture of both, even if it did divide some audiences concerning its overall quality (I’m not one of them).

And so into the breach comes “Ant-Man,” whose seemingly easy accessibility and generally light attitude is almost a relief after all of the seriousness. That being said, it more than lives up to the expectations of a MCU film. Indeed, after “Jurassic World” and “Terminator Genisys,” this movie proves a good MCU movie is still better than just about any other good summer blockbuster.

(It should be noted that while some knowledge of the overall MCU plotlines will help here and there, you can go into this one without having seen the earlier films.)

“Ant-Man” is directed by Peyton Reed (“The Break-Up,” “Bring It On”) and continues Marvel’s trend of finding the right director for the right movie, even if at first glance it doesn’t make complete sense. The film is probably the funniest Marvel film outside of “Guardians,” but still manages to have a core strength that makes you not only believe the characters and their zany adventures, but also care about them. While it doesn’t rank up there with “The Winter Soldier” or the other top-tier Marvel films, it does provide plenty of entertainment and fun.

“Ant-Man” is a lot of fun and proves Marvel knows how to make enjoyable action films and do so even when dealing with the more obscure characters of the comic book landscape.

The film is rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence.

(This is a shortened version of the full review available in our printed or e-edition papers.)

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