Ant-Man…Need I Say More?

Have you seen the new superhero Ant-Man movie yet?

(As opposed to the old Ant-Man movie…which, yeah, there wasn’t one.)

If haven’t seen the film yet, you should. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Ant-Man was the perfect example of Marvel at its best.

I was never an avid follower of Ant-Man during my comic book phase as a kid, but I had heard of him. Let’s be honest, though cute-sounding, his name doesn’t inspire visions of daring heroic feats. Rather, you think of a small guy running around, which frankly “ant” the sort of thing that ranks up there with the powers of the other Avengers. So, imagine my complete and utter surprise when I found that this film was among one of the best, most enjoyable, superhero films that I have seen in many years. I became an immediate Ant-Man fan! (By the way, I get tickled over how that sounds when you say it over and over again: Ant-Man fan, Ant-Man fan, Ant-Man fan!)

To avoid spoilers for those of you who haven’t seen the movie yet, I’ll keep my comments and observations very general in nature. Maybe I’ll add a spoiler-inclusive video in my YouTube channel sometime soon for my other opinions and insights. Moving on…

Paul Rudd portrays Ant-Man.

Part of the enjoyment of the film is the impeccable casting of the main characters. Paul Rudd is, by far, the most wonderful selection to represent Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man. (Granted, Rudd is technically portraying the second incarnation of Ant-Man, following the original by Hank Pym, but let’s not split hairs here.) Nevertheless, I’ve been an ardent fan of Paul Rudd and his work for many, many years. He’s like the perfect “everyman” which many of you know is the type of hero reflected with Caleb, the human protagonist from my Sunset Vampire series.

Hell, I’m an everyman sort of person in real life, so what’s not to love about Paul Rudd as Ant-Man? Rudd embodies the intelligent sort of nice guy who’s trying to turn his life around and take an active role in his young daughter’s life. Oh, and the little girl who portrays his daughter Cassie in the movie, young actress Abby Ryder Fortson, is SO CUTE and adorable!

Michael Pena portrays a humorous character named Luis in the Ant-Man film.

The added humor interjected by supporting actor, Michael Pena, adds laughs to numerous moments in the movie and providing a nice foil to Paul Rudd’s more subtle, tongue-in-cheek situational humor and dialogue.

 The movie Ant-Man explores father-daughter relationships.

The film does a good job of presenting the primary characters and their backstories to viewers who have no knowledge of Ant-Man or his lore in comic history. To its credit, the central story doesn’t rely heavily on science fiction themes and superheroes/villains, but rather emphasizes the personal challenges and very human-relatable relationship struggles between the central characters. The movie has a great underlying theme about father-daughter relationships that plays well among multiple characters and helps the audience to empathize with them. Honestly, that sort of blew me away because I wasn’t expecting the movie to resonate with me at such an emotional level. This sort of approach gives me hope that Hollywood is FINALLY starting to present basic human interest subplots and themes in ways that mass audiences can appreciate and easily digest, while also generously heaping on the superhero/villain conflicts that traditional comic fanboys and fangirls are expecting. Now I’m looking to DC Comics and wondering if they can credibly approach what Marvel Studios is already perfecting. While we may see something hopeful next year with Batman v Superman, I don’t expect much in the human relations category from the Suicide Squad film that follows. We’ll see.

Who is Ant-Man?

So, back to the Ant-Man movie. Who is Ant-Man? Well, in briefest form, Ant-Man is a human wearing a special suit that uses a secret chemical formula to shrink him down to much smaller form (essentially, insect sized), yet imbuing him with 20 times (or more) his normal strength, as its all compacted into a smaller area. There’s also technology in the helmet that permits him to interact with ants (of all subspecies and varieties) to assist him with his missions. I know that doesn’t sound impressive, but believe me, it’s quite formidable when you see how it’s married together on the big screen. I’m very impressed, and it makes logical sense…from a purely fantastical, science-fictiony perspective.

Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas in the Ant-Man film.

One of the things I particularly enjoyed about the film was that it posed the question, “Do you think that everyone deserves a second chance?” The film explored the idea of redemption, which I found as a refreshing undercurrent that guided the central characters. It’s a topic that doesn’t regularly get explored in superhero films in a manner that the average person can relate to. There’s a sincere quality to the way it’s handled in Ant-Man that’s both reassuring and realistic.

Overall, I give the film my whole-hearted endorsement. It’s a 10 out of 10, and also a film that I eagerly intend to add to my home movie collection. Moreover, stay until the FINAL credits finish rolling to not only gain insight into where the Ant-Man storyline is continuing, but also get a brief sneak-peek into next year’s Captain America: Civil War movie.

That’s all for now, but leave me a comment telling me if you’re already an Ant-Man fan, and/or what you thought of the movie. Until next time, enjoy life; be kind to those around you, and Happy Reading! Peace.

Home Is Where the Demolition Is…

Winter is a cherished season for me; though I appreciate that many people don’t like the cold weather. As I have a warm place to hold up, I don’t mind the cold. It gives me yet another good reason to stay home and huddle up with my hobbies, interests, and distractions…including my cat, Tabby. She appreciates me being home to spend time with her, of course. During the past seven years, my home has been the creative nexus for my novel writing; a place where my ideas have taken root and come to fruition. Add one more reason why my home is truly my castle…my fortress of solitude…the place where stay-cation dreams are realized.

It’s because I value my home so much – and the wonderful memories within – that I was given pause upon reading that famed science fiction author Ray Bradbury’s house is being demolished. You can read the complete article HERE. Granted, the historic 1937-era Cheviot Hills house, located in Los Angeles, California, had a much more dated sort of layout and design than contemporary home buyers prefer to live in. Yet, it was the nostalgic location where “dreams were made” and creative visions were brought to life for generations of readers and fans. The home was interspersed with bookshelves, particularly the den where the room was lined with a Hodge-podge of rickety shelving that held the multitudes of books that Mr. Bradbury collected. If you click on the link that I provided above, at the lower portion of the article, there’s a nice 12-shot slideshow of photos taken from the interior of the house that illustrate what I’m referring to. There’s also a six-image slideshow at the top of the article displaying the external demolition.

Suffice to say, the demolition of the historic house made me feel momentarily glum.

Then I considered a number of things surrounding the event. For one, when the house was sold following Mr. Bradbury’s in 2012, the personal belongings and all of his memorabilia contained therein was removed by the family, leaving only the shell of where a famous author once called home. Essentially, it was the skeletal remains of a former complete entity. Second, there’s no magical creative dust that remains in Mr. Bradbury’s former study that future tenants could absorb to become great writers themselves. It was Ray himself that brought the magic to the room and into reality; the room was merely the setting for magic to occur. In that sense, and with consumerism being what it is, there’s little reason why a dated-looking home would harbor much intrigue for the average home buyer today. Instead, the now-demolished site will serve as the birthplace for a modern, more energy-efficient dwelling with mass curb appeal.

However, Americans have a long-standing tradition of attempting to preserve locations where famous people either grew up or resided in for much of their lives. It made me wonder: why didn’t Mr. Bradbury’s home make the grade for historic significance? He lived in that home for more than 50 years leading up to his death. I don’t believe that George Washington lived in Mount Vernon for more than 50 years before he died. Okay, that’s quite a stretch to compare Ray Bradbury to George Washington, but do you see where my train of thought is headed? Anyway, perhaps people are merely too sensitive about such topics.

Fortunately, for those who value nostalgia and preservation of great settings, materials and artifacts from Mr. Bradbury’s home office have been donated to The Center for Ray Bradbury Studies in Indiana, and there’s an initiative in play to re-create the author’s den as it appeared in the mid-1960s. That’s something that I might have to make a trip to Indiana for in the future.