I have a feeling not all superhero movies are like this. The few I’ve seen — and I’m admittedly not an expert — haven’t been as captivating or funny as “Ant-Man,” which arrived in theaters last week.But maybe that’s because “Ant-Man” isn’t really a superhero movie at all. Yes, it has the budget of a blockbuster, the glitzy special effects, the brand-name sparkle of Marvel Comics — the publisher turned Hollywood juggernaut whose movie-franchise universe is populated by characters with sculpted physiques, bright white teeth, and actual, real-deal super-powers. But “Ant-Man” is also conscious of how goofy that universe can be, and is not afraid to abandon some of the self-seriousness mythologizing associated with comic books in favor of irreverence and eccentricity.How is “Ant-Man” eccentric? Well, let’s start with the casting of Paul Rudd. Put him next to the rest of the cast of “The Avengers” and it looks like one of those high-school class photos where one kid hasn’t hit his growth spurt yet. The joke is in place before the movie even begins. But as Scott Lang, the skilled but miserable safecracker who stumbles, almost literally, into the role of superhero, Rudd excels at projecting a certain charming aloofness, and uses this to his advantage. You don’t expect him to succeed. He can barely even figure out what is going on.Then there is the ridiculousness of the premise. This is man who, when he puts on a special, skintight suit, can shrink to the size of ants. There is no flying, no super-strength, no telekinetic powers. Just a dummy who is so small you can’t see him.A little backstory: The suit was created by Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and was once used by him in secret, but after the loss of his wife in a mysterious incident he gave it up to focus on research in an attempt to bring her back to life. He has since been ousted from Pym Technologies, the company he founded, by his former mentor, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), in partnership with Hank’s daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lilly). Since his departure, the company has spent countless years attempting to figure out the shrinking technology that Hank was rumored to have created but would never divulge. When Hank discovers that Darren Cross has finally cracked the technology and is planning on selling it to foreign warlords as a weapon of mass destruction (imagine an army of people you can’t see), he rekindles his relationship with his daughter and recruits Scott to don the suit and take his place, to be the new Ant-Man.Scott basically has no prospects, so he accepts the job. Fresh out of prison, he is sleeping on the couch of his former cellmate Luis (Michael Peña) and attempting to stay in the life of his daughter, who is currently living with his ex-wife, Maggie (Judy Greer), and her new husband, Paxton (Bobby Cannavale), a police officer. Scott briefly works at Baskin-Robbins before they fire him when his criminal past is revealed, and he’s is in desperate need of a paycheck. So in lieu of returning to a life of breaking into people’s homes, he decides that this is his only option, especially when Hank promises Scott that, if he helps him, he will guarantee that he will be able to see his daughter again.The rest of “Ant-Man” plays out like a comedy with a few well-constructed action sequences. But even the best moments of those, especially the main sequence that takes up the final third of the film, are sight gags, many of which are too good to ruin. It gives the film a loopy and lopsided quality that is necessary, because treating something like “Ant-Man” with the same earnestness as other superhero movies would have resulted in laughs of the wrong kind. There is now a new template, one where six-pack abs are replaced with flab, where self-seriousness is replaced with self-awareness. We’re still laughing at what is happening; only now the film is courting it.
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