Jonathon_Natsis

"Give the audience what they want": it's been a staple of Marvel's on-screen storytelling for years. It's produced franchises, crossovers and billions of dollars, but along the way someone forgot to tell the studio giants what keeps movies fresh: variety.

Paul Rudd is Scott Lang, a cat burglar ex-con keen to quit "the life" and make amends with his young daughter. After denying several advances from his old crew of bumbling thieves (Michael Pena, David Dastmalchian and rapper T.I.), Lang is approached by Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), the original Ant-Man, with an offer to steal a copycat suit and prevent it being sold for warfare.

Even a screenplay co-written by the clever Edgar Wright (The World's End, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) can't polish the studio's insistence on returning to the same tired, formulaic jokes time after time.

With each new film, Marvel's cinematic universe continues to cross more broadly the line separating action and comedy. This is all well and good, provided the humour carries some wit or originality with it, which this film does not. Were it not for the comedic sensibilities of Rudd and the malleable Pena, Ant-Man would be the most groan-inducing Marvel release yet.

Rudd makes a very likable hero, and Douglas gives a typically committed performance. Corey Stoll's Darren Cross, though, makes for a pretty goofy villain. His involvement in the story may have worked better did he not take himself so seriously, as he sticks out sorely in an otherwise lighthearted movie. His cliché-ridden dialogue during the climax feels lazy and brutally exposes the character's hollowness as a true threat.

Still, the film has its positives. The story is well paced, and the balance it strikes between a smaller scale adventure and one that still manages to feel important is a welcome change from the unfettered CGI carnage that comes packaged with some of the studio's bigger names.

The refreshing absence of exploding buildings and forty-minute firefights allow director Peyton Reed (Yes Man) to explore fun, unique fight scenes that make the most of Ant-Man's abilities.

The film also does a good job of taking what could've been the lamer aspects of the character – namely, his ability to make actual ants do his bidding – and explaining them in a way that sounds practical and important.

Ant-Man isn't the most insulting film of the summer. It just falters in the same places that have kept the MCU in a rut for far too long.

*There's nothing I love more than a bit of feedback, good or bad. So drop me a line on jnatsis@iprimus.com.au and let me know what you thought of my review. If you're looking for a writer for your movie website or other publication, I'd also love to hear from you.*