Ant-Man

 Action Style

 All Avenger films contain some form of combat and Ant-  Man features plenty of pugilism and gunplay which are as bland  as Scott Lang’s training montage.

3/6

 Action Frame

 Even if the fists and bullets aren’t flying around like ballet  choreography, movement within the frame (specifically all of  the miniaturization sequences) is really fun to look at; insects  and all. 

5/5

 Lead  Performance

 Paul Rudd does an acceptable job while Michael Douglas blew  me away with how genuinely interested he showed he was in  his role and its place in the MCU.  At some point, Ant-Man will  have to be “just” Scott Lang without the Hank Pym training  wheels.

4/6

 Supporting  Performance

 Evangeline Lilly provides a decent love interest, Corey Stoll  plays another 2-dimensional Marvel villain, Michael Pena plays  a dumb stereotype and who hired T.I. for this movie?

1/5

 Music

 All films can certainly use emotionally heavy orchestration to  make those epic moments on screen ascend to the next level.    That wasn’t the case at all in this film.

2/6

 Sound F/X

 Hearing a tiny world come alive is just as important as seeing it  come alive.

5/5

 Digital F/X

 Getting a glimpse of the land of Avengers from an entirely  different scale presented an excellent collision of “regular” and  “tiny,” without too much cheesiness from the likes of Honey, I  Shrunk the Kids.  Insects working together with Ant-Man were  also well animated.

6/6

 Special F/X

 Explosions?  Check.  Gunfire?  Check.  They’re simply nowhere  near the scope of any previous Avenger film (Even Iron Man 3)

2/5

 Costumes

 Not much can be said of all the regular suits in this film, but I  was much more impressed by the design of the “Yellowjacket”  over the retro feel of the “Ant-Man” suit.  Expect a redesign for  future films.

4/6

 Hair &  Makeup

 I was a bit distracted by Evangeline Lilly’s Jim Carey “bowl cut”  wig.  Why didn’t they let Kate from Lost simply grow it out?    Everyone else was acceptable.

3/5

 Exteriors

 Regular scale settings were about as average as Hollywood can  get, but at the subatomic level, “insides” and “outsides” (as  assisted by heavy CG) has no meaning.  There wasn’t too much  interesting to see beyond the walls of abstract green screens.

3/6

 Interiors

 I was more impressed with the tech look of the research labs  (thank you Iron Man films) especially when compared to the  antique nature of Pym’s personal domicile.

4/5

 Hook

 Who doesn’t love a tiny world perspective on things?  This  happens to be Marvel’s version of it and new angles on an ever  saturating genre are always welcome.

4/4

 Conflict

 Hank Pym can’t be the Ant-Man anymore due to obvious  reasons, but I wasn’t sold on Scott’s need to take up this fight  himself, despite personal desperation being a clear and present  motivator.

2/4

 Resolution

 I love all the connections made to the MCU, I appreciate the  obvious lead-in to Civil War, but I was a bit underwhelmed by  the cookie-cutter wrap up for Ant-Man himself.

3/4

 Dialogue

 Conversations in general seem natural enough, but every time  Rudd speaks, he seems far too casual for a character that’s in  the position he’s in.  Douglas delivers more demonstrative lines  in a more demonstrative manner.  Ugh!  I cringe at anything  Scott’s crew says.

2/6

Exposition

 The very first scene in this film gives the audience exactly what  it needs to understand everything about Ant-Man and how he  fits into this dynamic universe.  No need to be cryptic, yet.

4/5

 Character  uniqueness

 Hank Pym is my kind of scientist.  Everyone else was my kind  of been there; done that.

1/6

 Character  relatability

 Sacrificing and doing whatever it takes for one’s family is a  strong theme repeated amongst our heroes throughout this  film.  Can it be any easier to understand this?

5/5