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Ant-Man 6-Minute IMAX 3D Preview – Not Small On The Heart And Action

By Steve Lam

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Tonight, I was able to attend the IMAX 3D premiere screening of Jurassic World.  What could be better than gargantuan man-eating dinosaurs?  Well, if you can’t top that, you go the opposite way — you aim for the small.  And that’s exactly what Marvel Studios did.  For each IMAX 3D showing of Jurassic World, Marvel has attached an exclusive 6-minute preview of its upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster — Ant-Man.  Though the clip was short, it was filled with warmth, humor, larger than life characters, great action, and peril — all hallmarks of Marvel’s brand of storytelling on the silver screen.

WARNING: Semi-spoilers ahead

Consistent with Marvel’s love of starting off their previews with a prison scene (see the review for the Guardians of the Galaxy 17-minute preview), the clip starts off with Scott Lang, played by everyman Paul Rudd, facing off with a large inmate.  The inmate takes the first swing and nearly knocks out Scott.  Quickly recovering, Scott distracts the inmate and lands his own best-try punch.  The audience thinks this will lead to Scott ending up on a gurney, but the narrative pulls a fast one on us.  Scott and the large inmate are actually good friends and this is their way of celebrating Scott’s day of freedom.  You know … tradition.

Leaving the prison gates, Scott is greeted by his good friend Luis, played by the humorous Michael Peña.  On a drive along the coast, Luis tells Scott about a new “job.”  However, Scott has confidence that he can find his own line of work — because we learn that he actually has a master’s degree in electrical engineering.  The scene quickly cuts to Scott working at the local Baskin Robbins.  I guess that plan didn’t work out so well.  After a humorous start, we got an extended trailer with some new scenes that are sure to make it into upcoming TV spots.

Marvel Studios has kept up with its brand of creating compelling underdog heroes.  Even Scott Lang’s friends are a band of lovable losers.  The clip was a perfect blend of whetting the audiences appetite and bringing enough to satisfy people who are not familiar with the future Avenger.

Because the premiere was in IMAX 3D, the audience also got a good sense of what to expect, visual effects-wise, in the film.  The experience is nothing short of amazing.  And the details pay an homage to its comic source.  As Ant-Man shrinks, you can see the trademark sillouhette-ghosting of our hero’s previous size.  Camera angles for fight scenes were dynamic and crisp.  It looked like a well-drawn comic book going from panel-to-panel.

This 6-minute clip has me convinced that this year’s hottest Halloween costume could be Ant-Man.  Rudd’s charm and humor are reminiscent of Robert Downey, Jr.’s Tony Stark, but in a much more self-deprecating fashion.  The combination of both Rudd and Michael Douglas, as the original Ant-Man, Hank Pym, will cap off Marvel’s summer domination perfectly.

Set to release in the United States on July 17, 2015, Ant-Man will close out Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The film is being directed by Peyton Reed, written by Gabriel Ferrari, Andrew Barrer, and Adam McKay, and starring Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man, Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne, Corey Stoll as Darren Cross / Yellowjacket, Bobby Cannavale as Paxton, Michael Peña as Luis, Judy Greer as Maggie, Tip “T.I.” Harris as Dave, David Dastmalchian as Kurt, Wood Harris as Gale, Jordi Mollà as Castillo, and Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym / Ant-Man.

Next: Ant-Man tone became more serious after director change

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