Respond to these rapid questions in our Ant Man quiz and we will tell you which Ant Man character you are. Play it now.
The derogatory connotation of “lightweight” is not always appropriate. The comics-based superhero movie “Ant-Man,” which is centered around one of the more arguably goofy Marvel Comics characters (the first prize has to go to a guy named Paste Pot Pete—and don’t ask), achieves its particular magic by keeping its proceedings almost as weightless as its shrunken-down hero. This is how “Ant-Man” manages to achieve its particular magic. The film, which stars Paul Rudd and was directed by Peyton Reed (“Down With Love,” “Bring It On”), isn’t exactly or entirely fluffy, but it’s pretty damn agile, and as a result, it provides the most straightforward, uncomplicated fun, and even joy, of any Marvel picture I’ve seen.
The film begins in 1989, with a digitally de-aged Michael Douglas strolling into an intelligence-gathering fortress and facing off against some powerful adversaries. These adversaries include Tony Stark’s dad (John Slattery), a still-lovely-in-middle-age Peggy Carter (“Agent Carter” to “Captain America” and TV fans), and a new sneery dude named Mitchell Carson (Martin Donovan). Hank Pym, played by Michael Douglas, possesses a red vial that contains something referred to as “the Pym particle,” and SHIELD wants it. Carson is pretty adamant about making this point. It doesn’t end well. This appetizer of backstory not only sets up the narrative for this picture, but it also serves as the equivalent of, um, nation building for the larger conceptual continuity of the MCU, which, if everything goes according to plan, will be providing the entirety of the entertainment content for the United States by the year 2025. Specifically, the MCU will be providing the entirety of the content for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
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Ant Man Quiz
Even though there are a lot of inside jokes and references to characters in this movie, the good news is that your enjoyment of it will not depend on whether or not you understand all of those references and jokes. What is delivered by the movie for the majority of its running time is a surprisingly disarming amalgam of “The Incredible Shrinking Man” and “Rififi” by way of Brian De Palma’s first “Mission Impossible” movie, except with Jules Dassin’s goofball element thrown back into the mix. Condensed version: In the present day, Hank is too old to operate the suit himself, and he is too protective of his strong daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) to allow her to put it on. The “Pym particle” is what enables the Ant-Man suit, which is incredibly small but incredibly powerful. As a result, Hank employs a convoluted method to find a “job” for the recently released felon and computer hacker Scott Lang (Paul Rudd). The task at hand entails putting an end to Darren Cross’s megalomaniacal behavior (a shiny-headed and deliberately-atrociously-outfitted Corey Stoll). Cross is a former pupil of Pym and the current employer of Hope. He is about to make a killing on a weaponized “Yellowjacket” suit that steals Pym’s technology and is on the verge of making a multi-billion dollar sale. Hope is working for Cross.
Also, you will find out which character are you in this Ant Man quiz.
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The stakes are high, but they are not nearly as monumental as they are in the majority of contemporary comic-book movies. In those films, the destiny of the entire world or even the universe often appears to be at stake in each and every one of the stories. Yes, Cross is insane (because tampering with the sort of atom-manipulation that makes these suits work can mess with your mind), and he does want to make an army of Yellowjackets; however, his buyer, who is being represented by the aforementioned Mitchell Carson, is none other than an organization known as HYDRA. However, in order for this movie to accomplish its goals, it is not necessary to level entire cities. Intelligent and witty Scott is determined to succeed in the “straight” world so that he can spend additional time with his daughter. In addition to adding some emotional dad-rival complications, the fact that his ex-wife is now cohabitating with a defensive cop played by Bobby Cannavale introduces some plot twists as well. And after Cross smells some kind of rat in his system (it’s not a rat, by the way; it’s just a whole bunch of telepathically controlled ants), Scott’s lovable knucklehead criminal buddies are obliged to get in on the action as well. These lovable knucklehead criminal buddies are portrayed in varying degrees of hilariousness by Michael Pea, T.I., and David Dastmalchian.
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The different sizes of Ant-Man bring with them different worlds, and his interaction with ants has a crazy pop-art surreality, like a pulp reiteration of Dali’s imagery in “The Persistence of Memory” and other insect-packed artworks. This is a lot of material for any movie to juggle, and it’s also competing with a crazy visual-effects element. Rudd and Adam McKay are also credited for their work on the script, which was originally written by Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish. Although I’m not one to play “pick the authorial touches” (especially after only one viewing), I have a strong suspicion that quite a few of the visual gags in this movie were inspired by Wright’s contributions. Wright was originally slated to direct this movie. In any case, the movie that Reed directed features an exceptionally straightforward narrative; I kept waiting, in dread, for a flashback explaining how the antagonist got to be that way, but it never came; instead, we find out what we need to know via dialogue and action, which is very welcome. In spite of the lighthearted nature of the film, it is still capable of conveying the malicious nature of Cross and the gravity of the situation in an appropriate manner. It is both delightful and almost miraculous how this movie is able to work as a comic heist picture on a massive scale, as well as a comic science-fiction picture blended into it…while still managing to cohere to the whole, you know, Marvel thing. This movie is a triumph. Even the dreaded training-montage sequence manages to be compellingly choreographed throughout the film. It’s not often that a movie’s protagonist is shown attempting to leap through a keyhole or getting a group of ants to pile sugar cubes into a cup of tea, but the character work that Rudd, Lilly, and Douglas bring to the film is a big reason why it’s so successful. There’s a joke about an iPhone in the middle of a ridiculous (in a good way) climactic action sequence, and it’s devilishly clever. The size-matters humor that the movie works so deftly and unpredictably is also nifty. As is typical for Marvel movies, “Ant-Man” has more than one possible ending—in fact, it has more than two possible endings. The second one was my favorite, and since it’s likely to appeal to people who write thinkpieces or who are fans of Evangeline Lilly, I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about it very soon. For my part, when I heard the final promise that “Ant-Man Will Return,” I couldn’t help but crack a little smile.
For more personality quizzes check this: Spectre Quiz.
