(The Disneycember logo is shown, before showing trailer clips and screenshots from Ant-Man)
Doug (vo): Following in the style of Guardians of the Galaxy, that is, taking something that seems totally ridiculous and making it awesome somehow, we have Ant-Man. Again, a seemingly stupid idea that anyone with half a brain would say would never sell, but you put some talented people, some great effects, some creative ideas, and you get a really fun superhero.
Story
Doug (vo): Paul Rudd plays an ex-con who's just been let out of prison. He wants to be let back in in his daughter's life, but the mother sees him as exactly what he is, an ex-con. He tries to take the route of getting an honest job and standing upright, but his background is sadly not giving him enough credit. So, through the help of his friends, he tries to take on another con in order to get his life back on track. Yeah, you figure out the logic in that. But he gets caught by a scientist, played by Michael Douglas, who's frustrated that his company is working on a weapon that he thought he got rid of years ago, a weapon that can shrink people down but still give them unbelievable strength. Afraid that this technology has fallen into the wrong hands, Douglas talks to Rudd about breaking in and getting the weapon to destroy it forever. Using what? The weapon, of course. A suit that shrinks him down but still gives him unbelievable powers. On top of that, he's also given a device that can control ants as well. It's about as adorably silly as it sounds. With the help of Douglas' daughter, played by Evangeline Lilly, it's a heist movie of both the largest and smallest of caliber.
Review
Doug (vo): The reaction to this movie when it came out was pretty much the same. Everyone said it was...good. Not great, b-but good. It's a movie that we've seen a million times, a heist film, all the superhero stuff, but it's done creatively and uniquely enough that people seem to like it fine. I think I liked it a little bit more than everyone else. I agree with what they're saying, that this has been done a million times and we see the superhero stuff all around, but I feel like there's more effort that was put into these characters than you see a lot of times in these kind of stories.
(Stills and footage of the film's characters are shown)
Doug (vo): This is a really good cast. They help breathe new life into a lot of these cliches that we've seen over and over, but they deliver it in their own unique and likeable way. Even though I've heard this story about how Douglas doesn't want to lose his daughter, and how Paul Rudd realizes that family is the most important, and all this stuff, something about the way they say it and the way they do it, it feels like you're hearing it for the first time. I really appreciate actors that can pull that off.
(The film's action sequences are shown)
Doug (vo): But on top of that, they take advantage of this situation. They make it fun, they make it visually interesting, and you really feel the size of this person. The idea of being shrunken down has been done a million times, and honestly, when I heard they were making a movie out of this, I was thinking, "Oh, God, another Honey, I Shrunk the Kids? This is so done to death." But again, they add new elements on top of it. The fact that it is a super-suit, the fact that he can get bigger and smaller whenever he wants, the fact that they can make anything they want bigger or smaller. They make key chains, toys, all sorts of various things gigantic, and it's great. It's wonderful to see. The climax actually takes place on a Thomas the Tank Engine railroad set. That's both really funny and really action-packed at the same time.
Final thought
Doug (vo): Again, it's taking kind of a standard idea and it's adding a new spin to it. I love how Marvel can do that. It feels like no matter what subject matter they're doing or talking about, they can add something that's unique to it. Whether it be a writer or a style of acting or effects, they always add that element of cool. So I like this movie, actually even more than most people like it. Is it an action classic? No, and it's no kind of masterpiece. But I was invested from beginning to end, and I want to know what's gonna happen in the sequels. The idea of this guy joining the Avengers sounds like a really good idea. I'd love to see how he interacts with everybody, hell, I'd love to see how all these characters interact with the Avengers. Maybe that's how I judge a really good movie, that when it's done, I don't want to be done with it, I want to see even more with it, I want to see more explored, I want to see more of these characters, I want to see more of their interactions, I want to see more things get bigger and smaller, I want to see more of those creative action sequences. So I definitely had a lot of fun with it. Shrink yourself down and experience it for yourself.
(A scene showing Ant-Man shrinking down, much to the shock of his friend Luis, is shown)