Super hero movies typically aren’t my thing. While they offer moderate amounts of entertainment and thrills, I find them to be overly predictable. As for the comics these films are usually based on, those aren’t really my thing either. While there are plenty of great comics out there with original ideas and plot lines, it seems like the only ones people are interested in turning into movies are the ones with themes that have been done to death. Spiderman, Superman, Iron Man, The Avengers and the like have been remade, rehashed and reimagined so many times, at this point that I find it odd there’s anyone who still wants to pay to see or read them!
 
        In August of 2014 my perception of super hero films was shaken with the release of The Guardians of the Galaxy. The film was so well done and so well thought out that it instantly became one of my all-time favorites. I still have no desire to read the comic book it’s based on, but since the first time I saw it, the film is one that I’ve watched again and again. I can’t put my finger on exactly what’s so different about Guadians, but whatever it is I like it and I want more of it (when it comes to super hero films anyways).
 
        That’s why, when I saw that Marvel was planning to release Ant Man, with Paul Rudd as the star, I had such high hopes.  When Disney purchased the Marvel franchise in August of 2009, they promised to dig deep into the archives and find titles that would be a touch more obscure and more broadly appealing to people. At first they seemed to deliver on that promise, with the releases of Iron Man and Guardians. Then they backtracked to focus on The Avengers franchise and subsequent spin offs. Then they tried to keep the promise once again, with the announcement and release of Ant Man.
 
        For those who don’t know, Ant Man is the story of burglar Scott Lang and his long-time mentor Dr. Hank Pym. Dr. Pym has created a suit that has the ability to shrink it’s wearer in size, but increase his or her strength. The evil Darren Cross has recreated the suit in hopes of using it as a super weapon against the country’s enemies. Can Dr. Pym and Scott Lang, as Ant Man, get this amazing technology out of Cross’s hands before it’s too late?
 
        Paul Rudd has long been one of my favorite actors, and in my view, he’s saved many a film from disaster. Clueless, Anchorman and Anchorman 2, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Role Models, I Love You , Man, Prince Avalanche and many other films may not have been actual disasters without him, but they’re certainly far better with him. The softer tone of his voice just seems to make it all the more acceptable when he’s being “in your face” and raunchy.
 
        It’s this subtle, yet obvious humor, and Rudd’s ability to adapt it both to adult and children’s tastes, that I think Disney was going for when casting him as the lead in Ant Man. It was also Disney’s hope that the co-writers of Hot Fuzz, Joe Cornish and Edgar Wright, could translate their R rated successes into a sensible PG-13 super hero flick.

       Unfortunately, their efforts fell flat. Ant Man was never a film that I felt really “in to”, and I found myself either checking Twitter, or getting up from the couch to do other things while it was on. I found the plotline to be effortlessly foreseeable and barely entertaining.  Sadly, not even Paul Rudd could save this film from failure. Regrettably, Disney didn’t see it this way, and has re-hired Rudd for Ant Man and The Wasp, due out in 2018. I wish Rudd better luck next time!
       
        Ant Man is out now on Blu Ray, DVD and Digital Download.