Texan Mosaic

by: CHESANIE BRANTLEY/Editor-in-Chief

“Ant-Man,” the miniature superhero only comic enthusiasts have ever heard of before, now has hit the big screen in a big way.

When I first walked into the theater to see “Ant-Man,” I had my fair share of doubts. But I was soon proven wrong.

The film begins as Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) bursts angrily through doors to confront his colleagues. They were trying to replicate his serum, called the Pym Particle, and Pym was trying to convince them it was too dangerous. One of his colleagues, Mitchell Carson (Martin Donovan) makes a comment about Pym not protecting his wife in this way. Pym responds by slamming Carson’s head into the table and resigning on the spot.

The next scene switches to the present with Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) fighting in prison. After the fight, the audience learns that the fight was a part of a ritual among the prisoners when one is leaving. Lang had served his time and was being released. His friend, Luis (Michael Pena), came to pick him up and let Lang stay with him.

Lang gets a job at the local Baskin Robbins. His boss finds out about his criminal history, and despite the fact he thought the robberies were cool, he fired Lang.

Then the movie shifts to Pym arriving at Pym Technologies after many years. He surprises everyone there, including his daughter, Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), and his apprentice, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), who is now running the company.

Cross takes Pym and a group of other businessmen to a presentation of a suit he modeled after Pym’s Ant-Man suit, which at the time, was considered a legend. But Cross had become obsessed with creating a new one, believing it was real. Cross had created a new suit called the “Yellowjacket,” but the serum did not work on live subjects. One of the businessmen voiced his opinion to Cross about how dangerous this invention could be in the wrong hands. Cross later found him in the bathroom and zapped him into a tiny puddle of pink sludge that he wiped up easily and flushed down the toilet.

When Lang returns home in the next scene, Luis and his roommates, Dave (T.I.) and Kurt (David Dastmalchian), have a job that they would like Lang’s help with. Lang was a very talented thief, and they had inside information on a big-paying job. But Lang declined as a part of trying to better himself to see his daughter.

Lang shows up at the birthday party for his daughter, Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson). Cassie is thrilled to see her dad, and even more thrilled by the ugly doll he gives her.

His ex-wife,Maggie (Judy Greer), along with her fiance ,Paxton (Bobby Cannavale), who is a police officer, who kick him out as quickly as possible. Lang has not been able to see his daughter since he went to prison.

After this altercation, Lang decides he wants to hear more about the job Luis has for him. After a long story passed through many sources, Lang agrees to do it. The guys all drive to the house of an elderly man who is away on vacation, and they let Lang out to do what he does best. He gets through a hardcore security system and finds a suit in a huge vault with a few vials. He takes the suit and gets out as soon as possible.

Lang later decides to try on the suit and steps into his bathtub to get a better look. At this time, Pym begins to talk to him in his ear and shrinks him while he is in the tub. Luis comes in and turns on the water. Lang escapes the water and other obstacles. He returns to his normal size after setting off a mousetrap and lands on a cab. He tries to return the suit that night, but gets arrested for robbery again. Pym comes in as his lawyer and helps him escape.

Lang wakes up in a bed in the house he had just robbed. Hope is standing at the foot of the bed watching him with a sour look on her face. Lang gets up and finds Pym in the dining room. This is where Pym explains to Lang what Cross is doing and how dangerous it will be when Cross completes the serum. He wants Lang to break into Pym Technologies and steal the Yellowjacket.

While this is going on, Cross is in a lab testing his serums until he finally gets it right. He completes the serum.

Pym and Hope train Lang in the suit. He also is trained to control the ants by using an earpiece. After a while, Lang becomes friends with the ants and names the main one he rides Antony.

Pym sends Lang on his first mission to an abandoned base to retrieve an unnamed item.

Once Lang gets there, they find out it is an Avengers base and highly protected. Lang fights the Falcon, retrieves the item, and passes his first mission with flying colors. Pym decides he is ready to take the Yellowjacket.

There is a charity event held at Pym Technologies the night the group plans to steal the Yellowjacket.

Cross has plans to sell the suit to HYDRA, while keeping the serum for them to keep coming back and buying as they run out. He is showcasing the Yellowjacket suit when they find Lang trying to steal it.

Obviously, that did not happen.

A huge fight between HYDRA, Cross, and Pym breaks out because of the Yellowjacket. Pym gets shot, and Lang escapes in time to help take out the HYDRA goons. Cross manages to get to a helicopter, where Lang finds him already wearing the Yellowjacket suit. A miniature epic fight breaks out between hero and villain.

The fight takes them to the home of Lang’s ex-wife and Cassie. The Yellowjacket takes Cassie as a hostage. Lang, infuriated by this, swoops in to save his daughter.

While Cassie is in the arms of Paxton, the Yellowjacket is full-sized and tries to keep them from leaving. Lang sees an opportunity to defeat him, but he has to go subatomic, which was how Pym’s wife was killed. He squeezes between the nuts and bolts, destroying the Yellowjacket from the inside, but at a huge cost.

Lang enters a realm where time, space, and everything in this world are irrelevant.

Supposedly, he can never leave. But he hears the voice of his daughter and decides to give it a try. He has a ring that will make him full-sized again, and he uses it.

Lang comes back from the realm and becomes the dad he always wanted to be, and also has the side job of saving the world.

“Ant-Man” ends with Pym and Hope talking about continuing the work of her mother and creating a Wasp suit, leaving the audience with hopes for a sequel.

The casting choice and directing of this movie was unique for a superhero movie. It focuses more on the real life of Scott Lang and how he became Ant-Man. He was a man who became a hero for his daughter.

I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.