Let's face it: the first trailer for Marvel Studios'Ant-Man just isn't very good.
Despite Paul Rudd's washboard abs, the first superhero star turn by Michael Douglas, a fantastic costume design for the title character, and the promise of size-changing (a superpower never really depicted onscreen before with a decent budget behind it) fully realized onscreen, the trailer underwhelms. With its swelling orchestral score, a solemn voiceover from Douglas imploring Rudd to accept his superheroic destiny, and two wholly unearned comedy beats that fall flat, the overall impression created is not "thrilling superhero action-comedy that used to have Edgar Wright attached," but rather, "let's make the most generic post-Nolan superhero origin film possible." And many ofthe critics agree.
Sadly, even this shot can't justify the rest of the trailer
Of course, it would be overreacting to write the film off based on a single trailer. Few of the crucial size-shifting effects shots are likely ready to show, and it's hardly unheard of for a trailer to be much more serious than the actual film - see Marvel's own Iron Man 3 for a particularly stark (pun partially intended) example.
But nonetheless, the trailer is all we have for now, and it's a definite disappointment, particularly given Marvel's own recent success with launching new properties based on lesser-known characters; look to last year's Guardians of the Galaxy, or Marvel Television's Agent Carter (which had its debut Tuesday night as well).
Fortunately, some enterprising fans have realized that the trailer could use some improvement. Patrick Willems' subtle edit keeps most of the same footage, but lightens up the tone with a peppier choice of music for the latter portion, making the aforementioned comedy beats from Rudd play much better:
And for a queer twist, this one cleverly incorporates footage from Behind the Candelabra - because let's face it, wouldn't Ant-Man be more interesting if Douglas were playing Liberace instead of Hank Pym? (It certainly helps that both Rudd's Ant-Man character and Matt Damon's character from the earlier film share the same first name, Scott.)
Agree? Disagree? Just want to see Paul Rudd's abs again? Share your thoughts.
