Paul Rudd makes a big impact as teeny-tiny Ant-Man: review

Ant-Man

Starring Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll and Michael Pena. Directed by Peyton Reed. 117 minutes. Opens Friday at major theatres. PG

Size matters in Ant-Man, as Paul Rudd makes a playful addition to the Marvel universe as a teeny-tiny, low-key superhero.

Ant-Man? The name sounds ridiculous and hardly heroic, as glib Scott Lang/Ant-Man, well handled by every-dude Paul Rudd of This Is 40, I Love You, Man, is the first to admit.

Rudd is ideal for Ant-Man’s aw-shucks, I’m not into this hero business playfulness. He gleefully riffs on it. But from his first shrinking in a treacherous (and filthy) filling bathtub where a drop of water could be lethal and a steady stream looks like an approaching tsunami, there’s big entertainment in this micro-world view.

Scott is a Robin Hood-inspired burglar who joins the superhero brigade under the tutelage of Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), the scientist who created super-shrinking Pym particles before he walked out of Pym Industries after his work was earmarked for nasty business.

Pym still has the top-secret suit that squeezes Scott down to insect size and back to human proportions at the push of a button.

Soon Scott learns to telepathically communicate with armies of ants. Able to get the biggest jobs done thanks to his mini size, Ant-Man’s world may not have the obvious appeal of Iron Man’s or Thor’s environs, but there’s charm and a sense of ant farm-scale fun.

Director Peyton Reed plays with things getting supersize as well as small as this founding member of the Avengers gets his backstory flick.

Filled with Marvel head-scratching science that sounds like it could just make sense, the villain is the ambitious new boss of Pym Industries, Darren Cross (House of Cards’ Corey Stoll), who has nefarious plans for Hank’s super-shrinking invention.

As Pym’s daughter Hope, Canadian Evangeline Lilly steps nimbly into the role of the brainiac scientist whose ninja skills mean she’s tasked with trying to teach Scott how to defend himself in or out of the Ant-Man suit.

The script, written by Edgar Wright and Attack the Block’s Joe Cornish, gets additional material from Rudd and frequent Will Ferrell collaborator Adam McKay.

As a result, it feels a bit like two main plots are stitched together and in some ways Scott’s elaborate B&E scenes are the best part of Ant-Man.

As for Scott, he’s all about trying to salvage his relationship with his young daughter, Cassie, despite pushback from his ex (Judy Greer) and her cop boyfriend (Bobby Cannavale).

With Ant-Man, Marvel fans get a fun ride, and a wee hero with a big heart in Rudd, a small but welcome addition to the comic-book firm.

Paul Rudd makes a big impact as teeny-tiny Ant-Man: review