Journey to the Microwersum – DVD “Ant-Man” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp”

Action cinema for the whole family

In the movie Ant-Man Peyton Reed reveals to us how the next Marvel superhero was made. Later, in the final battle with Thanos, he will join the Avengers. We are talking about Scott Langu, who uses a special suit, which, thanks to the substance it contains, called the Pyma molecule, allows the wearer to dynamically change the size of the body – from microscopic like an ant to a giant over twenty meters tall. Scott, initially known as the King of Thieves, aroused the interest of scientist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), who once worked for SHIELD, with his skills. He plotted an elaborate plot to make Lang break into his house and steal a mysterious suit. All this so that later as Ant-Man he would help him thwart the ranks of his co-worker – Darren Cross, who wanted to pass the technology he developed to Hydra.

The protagonist’s further adventures, shown in Ant-Man and the Wasp , take place after the events of Captain America: Civil War  and partly during the events of Avengers: Infinity War . In this part, Scott joins forces with Hank’s daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lilly), who receives a similar costume with additional improvements, including blasters and wings.

Both films are full of action, and at the same time quite light and pleasant to watch. From all the dangerous missions, fights and shootings, the main characters always come out unscathed. The growing tension is often relaxed by funny gags. It is a family cinema, full of family warmth. The relationship between Scott (Paul Rudd) and his daughter Cassie was perfectly shown. In addition, the film has a lot of colorful scenes, humor and emotions. Particularly touching is the second part, in which Dr. Hank tries to find his wife Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), imprisoned years ago in the quantum dimension.

In the world of colorful toys

Shrinking the figure and the world from the dwarf’s perspective are associated with such fairy tales as Alice in Wonderland  or Thumbelina . The wasp looks like a little fairy with its delicate pearly wings splitting the light in the colors of the rainbow. In addition, in the film we have, for example, fight scenes of reduced heroes in a children’s room, and among colorful toys there is a chase on a train known from the animated series Tomek and Friends . I must admit that all these scenes are very pleasing to the eye. In addition, you can dream hard about how it would be like to shrink yourself.

Also common objects, when miniaturized, resemble toys. In Ant-Man and the Wasp,  Dr. Hank Pym has a suitcase full of various springs, which when enlarged to normal size, turn out to be real cars – a dream come true for both small and large boys. And speaking of big boys, Ant-Man, being the size of a colossus, also uses an ordinary car as a toy scooter.

After the events of Captain America: Civil War , Scott Lang is sentenced to house arrest,  during this time he invents various games for his daughter. He makes her time more enjoyable with magic tricks, builds a huge labyrinth of cardboard boxes and a slide on stairs that you can only fantasize about in the real world.

Even the criminals, whom the main character joined in the first part, are funny and friendly – a group of uncles whom Cassie can confidently introduce (especially the talkative Luis, played by Michael Peña).

In Ant-Man and the Wasp  , the mysterious antagonist Ava appears, able to dematerialize, thanks to which she is called the Ghost. One of Scott’s gang mates Kurt (David Dastmalchian) calls her Baba Yaga, which can make the youngest audience laugh.

Leaving aside short scenes of scientific explanations about quantum physics, the film is clearly aimed at a younger age group. What’s more, the quantum dimension is also pictured very colorfully, as if taken out of a cartoon. Ant-man is  great for kids, just like the animation about the Incredibles superhero family . It is a bit different from other MCU movies, but also has a Hollywood momentum.

Shootings, fights, chases

In addition to family scenes, there is also a lot of action and tension, characteristic of sensational films. There were car chases, fights, shootings and saving the main characters from oppression at the last minute. The Mayhem is diversified by the constant change in the size of Ant-Man and the Wasp, as well as the objects located in their vicinity, which allows you to perform sophisticated dodges and surprising blows or block opponents, e.g. by throwing a giant salt shaker at them or derailing the motorcycles that chase them, thanks to tossed in a big pink candy wrapper with Hello Kitty’s head.

Some scenes are presented very effectively in enlargement and slow motion. In one of the shooting scenes in the first film, shown in slow motion , we can observe the exact flight of missiles and the damage they cause on the model, after which the tiny Ant-Man runs away.

Vigorous chases in the microworld are also shown, during which Scott, commanding an army of ants, often rides one of the flying representatives.

Simple style

The edition looks very tasteful, cardboard overlays on the boxes give it a chic look. In the middle we find plates with a simple, yet elegant white print on the entire surface, in which the inscriptions are cut. Both look very consistent in terms of composition. I am only a bit surprised that they are available in other language versions. The most important, i.e. Polish and English, can be found on both, but the rest, both dubbing and subtitles, are completely different. The image format also differs, although while watching both movies in a row on the same screen, I did not notice a significant difference. Interestingly, information about the actors was added to the packaging, which would be an additional advantage, if it could only be read without the use of a magnifying glass. Unfortunately, they were written in such a compact font that they are almost unreadable, especially on the first disc,

Unfortunately, there are no bonus scenes on the albums. The only thing we get additionally is the trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron , which plays in front of Ant-man  and cannot be rewound, which makes it look like a regular commercial. The menu looks not too bad, it is presented in a hexagonal pattern resembling honeycombs, and looped scenes from the movie play in the background.