[Blu-Ray Review] ‘Ant-Man 3D’: Arrives On Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray & DVD December 8, 2015 From Marvel

Ant-Man (3D) [Blu-Ray]

Director: Peyton Reed

Cast: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Corey Stoll

Release Date: Available on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray & DVD December 8, 2015

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 8.5/10

Synopsis:

The next evolution of the Marvel Cinematic Universe introduces the newest member of the Avengers: Marvel’s Ant-Man. Armed with the amazing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, master thief Scott Lang joins forces with his new mentor Dr. Hank Pym to protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from ruthless villains! With humanity’s fate in the balance, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a daring heist against insurmountable odds. Filled with humor, awesome special effects and exclusive bonus features, this action-packed adventure takes you to new levels of pulse-pounding excitement!

At last introducing a crucial member of the Avengers into the Marvel film universe, ‘Ant-Man’ introduces smalltime criminal Scott Lang (Rudd) who freshly released from prison is fully determined to start his life anew and put his old ways behind him for the sake of his child. Nonetheless, desperate and pestered by his friends to pull off a lucrative heist, he relents and ends up discovering a strange suit which kicks off a chain of events that will change his life forever. Now Scott finds himself being propositioned by a brilliant scientist named Hank Pym (Douglas) who is determined for Scott to take his place as the shrinkable hero Ant-Man in order to take down his company before his life’s work can be used for evil means.

After a number of well known problems and conflictions during production, the film finally ended up in the capable hands of Peyton Reed (The Break-Up, Yes Man) who does a fantastic job at the helm of ‘Ant-Man’ bringing a notably different, hilarious yet no less thrilling kind of superhero into the wildly popular Marvel film Universe. This incredibly fun film also owes a great deal to the numerous talented individuals who comprise the cast including Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Corey Stoll, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña, Bobby Cannavale and a number more, all of whom deliver solid and perfectly fitting performances in each of their respective roles, although Michael Peña is definitely the real surprise treat of the movie.

‘Ant-Man’ is a refreshingly unique entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, bringing all of the gadgets, action packed excitement and heroes the fans crave, while combining plenty of goofy and hilarious moments that fit brilliantly into the mix. It’s hard to imagine the numerous problems which apparently occurred during production resulting in Edgar Wright’s departure from the director’s chair considering what a solid and wonderful film ‘Ant-Man’ is. It’s great to finally see one of the key members of the Avengers finally brought into the fold, even if it may be Scott Lang as opposed to Hank Pym in the suit, a creative choice which surprisingly only benefits the film.

Overall, any fan of the Marvel films and even some who aren’t wild about them will definitely want to check out ‘Ant-Man’ or simply pick up a copy of the Blu-ray release to add to their collection, it’s an incredibly fun ride, right up there with some of the best entries in the universe. The Blu-ray 3D release contributes even more fun to the overall viewing experience and truly immerses you into Ant-Man’s breathtaking world.

VIDEO:

The 3D Blu-ray release of ‘Ant-Man’ features a full 1080p High Definition MVC encoded 3D presentation utilizing the film’s original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio. This 3D presentation looks outstanding, providing a thoroughly immersive and incredibly fun 3D experience, contributing notable depth, some fun pop out effects and with no issues such as crosstalk notably present at any point, holding up impressively even during the fast moving and darkly lit sequences, never causing anything occurring on screen to become negatively affected or rendered indiscernible.

The 2D Blu-ray release which is also included with the 3D Blu-ray combo pack features an AVC encoded full high definition video presentation also utilizing the film’s original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio. The 2D presentation looks just as fantastic as its 3D counterpart and delivers a consistently exceptional high definition presentation with no faults of any kind to be found within.

Overall, while both the 3D and 2D Blu-ray presentations look equally impressive, the added immersion and enjoyment factor the 3D version provides easily makes it the superior way to experience the film and is without question my preferred version; surely the format I will select for all future viewings.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release (Both the 3D & 2D disc) features a lossless 7.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This lossless multichannel soundtrack sounds fantastic, providing a clean, sharp and consistently aggressive audio presentation, frequently utilizing all seven available channels in order to immerse the viewer into the hero’s world, sending plenty of seemingly giant size objects and action related auditory elements, plus more zooming past, while never resulting in any dialogue which may be occurring simultaneously to become distorted or rendered inaudible. Overall, this is an impressive and hard-hitting 7.1 channel DTS-HD MA soundtrack that shouldn’t disappoint in the slightest.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Ant-Man’ includes a number of solid extras, all of which can be found on the 2D disc. Included on the release is an ‘Audio Commentary with Director Peyton Reed and Actor/Co-writer Paul Rudd’. Also included are a number of ‘Deleted and Extended Scenes’ with optional Commentary by Peyton Reed (running approximately 9 minutes altogether), along with a ‘Gag Reel’ (approximately 3 minutes) and a few Featurettes which take a more in depth look at the making of the film. The included Featurettes are: ‘Making of an Ant-Sized Heist: A How-To Guide’ (running approximately 15 minutes), ‘Let’s Go to the Macroverse’ (approximately 8 minutes) and some faux news from within the Marvel Universe in ‘WHIH News Front’ (9 minutes).