Scott Lang talks to one of the ants. Ant-Man.

Ant-Man – When he is released from prison, cat burglar, Scott Lang, struggles to turn his life around. He is persuaded to take part in another robbery and finds an interesting suit which, when activated, shrinks him to the size of an ant. Having set the robbery up, the suit’s creator, Hank Pym, enlists Scott in his mission to prevent his untrustworthy former protégé from developing the technology further which would be incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands. However, only having a few days to train him fully has its own issues, and despite his willingness to do whatever it takes, Scott may not be ready to win the fight.   

Ant-Man (2015) – Director: Peyton Reed

 

Is Ant-Man appropriate for kids?

“Ant-Man poster” by Source. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ant-Man_poster.jpg#/media/File:Ant-Man_poster.jpg

Rating: 12A

Running Length: 117 mins

Starring: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Corey Stoll

Genre: Action, Comic Book

REVIEW: ‘ANT-MAN’

Serving as the twelfth movie in the Marvel cinematic universe, ‘Ant-Man’ introduces the brand new character of Scott Lang (played by Paul Rudd) who becomes the eponymous hero. Having a very ordinary man playing the superhero makes a change from what audiences are used to and, with the introduction of the similar character of Daredevil (seen on the Netflix original series of the same name), an extra level of believability is brought into the ever-expanding world of Marvel superhumans.

Paul Rudd is very likeable as the petty criminal wanting to go straight, and struggling to be a good father to his young daughter. It’s has become increasingly common, particularly in Marvel movies, to show the importance of (especially innocent) human life; commendably so. Such attitude means that the decisions made by the characters hold weight, which fits well into the a lower key and more relatable human story that ‘Ant-Man’ pins it’s otherwise potentially silly concept on!.

A mixture of action and plenty of good-natured humour makes this movie a great watch. While the danger is confined to something generally smaller than what audiences may be used to, ‘Ant-Man;’ has a good plot, well-rounded characters, and a lot of laughs to ensure it has an equal status with the other movies in the franchise and it will be interesting to see how this plot will tie in with the future more large-scale movies.

CONTENT: IS ‘ANT-MAN’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

During an animated video, a man is seen in silhouette. He opens a laptop and is immediately killed when a laser beam cuts through his head, the camera spins round as another shoots out at his chest and a hole is seen in the back of the chair.

An incidental character is shot with a gun that instantly vaporises him, leaving nothing but a small, gelatinous blob on the floor. His killer wipes this up with a tissue and flushes it down the toilet. This weapon is used with the same effect once more on an animal, a person watching is horrified and the man responsible is very callous about killing an animal for an experiment.

Before he becomes Ant-Man, Scott Lang is imprisoned for a crime which becomes very famous. Because of this, a friend talks to others about it with a lot of pride and even though Scott tried to downplay what happened and isn’t proud of what he did, parents may not be happy with crime being glorified in this way.

A character speaks of a woman he knows saying that little did he know that hers would be ‘the first pair of boobs I’d ever touch’. After getting injured, a man takes his shirt off and tends to his wounds and a woman briefly looks him up and down.

A character tells of someone who died by going ‘subatomic’, which is where a person’s size continues to infinitely get smaller so that time and space become irrelevant. On hearing this, another character becomes distressed.

There are a lot of close-ups of different types of ants; they sometimes swarm and cover Scott completely when his suit has made him small, he often panics about this but soon becomes used to them as allies. There are some flying ants, one of which Scott regularly rides.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?
VERDICT: IS ‘ANT-MAN’ FOR KIDS?

‘Ant-Man’ came along hot on the heels of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’; both Marvel films were clearly designed for a younger audience with more comedy than usual and the ‘comic book’ style of violence being a lot more tame. While there are a few scenes that may be of concern for parents, we feel this movie should be suitable for kids aged 7 and over.

  • Violence: 3/5 (a man is punched in the face and blood is seen coming from his nostrils. During a short fight in a prison two men punch each other in the face)
  • Emotional Distress: 2/5
  • Fear Factor: 2/5 (The character of ‘Yellow Jacket’, Ant-Man’s nemesis, could be quite scary for children. He wears a helmet which makes him look very angry and laser beams are shot from two sharp-looking protrusions coming out from his shoulders. He threatens a little girl and has no issue with killing people who get in his way)
  • Sexual Content: 1/5
  • Bad Language: 3/5 (some mild to moderate curse words. Infrequent blasphemy which is usually mild)
  • Dialogue: 2/5
  • Other notes: Deals with themes of heroism, protecting the people you care about, being responsible for a dangerous weapon, putting your past behind you and becoming a better person.
  • There are two extra scenes after the movie has finished – one part way through the credits and another at the end. Each one includes suggestions of plot for future Marvel movies.

Words by Laura Record

2 replies
  1. Gem
    Gem says:

    NO child under age 13 should see Antman. As an adult even I had never seen the lamb mutilation scene & I know it’s only CGI (no wonder Americans are losing their empathy for others).

    Reply
  2. Angelina
    Angelina says:

    I agree. This film is not suitable for children under 13 due to amount of bad language spoken by the actors in the film, some related to sexual themes unsuitable to explain to such young ages. It’s setting the wrong example and a real shame they have allowed language like that; in what could have been great viewing for ages 7 onwards …if it wasn’t for the bad language ! Disappointing that people feel it’s OK for children to swear, curse and say things like “You’re full of shit!”

    Reply

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