Is the Ant Man Movie Appropriate for Kids

When I first heard that Ant Man was going to be made into a feature film, I was immediately worried. You see, I wear my comic nerd status proudly and I have spawned more comic book nerds in my home. There was a side of me that worried that Ant Man would cause the downslide of the superhero genre. Yet, there was another side, the comic book nerd side, that really wanted this movie to be made. Once filming started, I began to dream of the visual possibilities that the movie could provide.

After seeing Ant Man, the comic book nerd side of me is happy.

Most fans of Ant Man are familiar with Hank Pym, who is a main character in the Avengers comic books. He was actually the one who created Ultron, for those of you keeping score. (What you are scoring, I do not know.) But anyway… In this version of Ant Man, Hank Pym (played by Michael Douglas), is looking for his replacement and finds Scott Lang, played perfectly by Paul Rudd. Lang is a convict with a heart of gold, who has fallen on tough times because of some bad decisions. He is seeking redemption when his path crosses with Pym. All kinds of fun and dangerous shenanigans result.

As with Rudd’s other films, his fantastic comedic timing is on full display, along with a new physique and action talent. The action is a little slow at the beginning of the film and the movie relies on Rudd’s wit, Douglas’s superb acting, and a very funny Michael Pena. Pena stole every scene that he was in.

Fans of the other Marvel films will enjoy this movie. If I were comparing it to other Marvel movies, I would say that the story is close to the way the first Iron Man movie played out, but the dialogue and humor more closely tracks Guardians of the Galaxy. But you don’t really want my opinion on how much I liked Ant Man, you read my reviews to find out if it is okay for kids and how much swearing is in Ant Man and how bad the violence is. So here we go.

There was one word in particular that ticked me off a little. The ill-placed word is a reference to the female genitalia (and also refers to felines) and is usually said to men that act scared. Not only do I hate that word generally, but the scene did nothing for the movie and shouldn’t have been there at all. The writers tried too hard to be funny with a joke as the characters were talking about cats. There were several other curse words in the movie, but they didn’t dominate the movie. The other words were sh*t, a$$, and da!n. As for the violence, yes, there is quite a bit in the typical Marvel fashion, but it wasn’t overwhelming or gory. Actually, the fight scenes were fantastic and very stylish and visually fun to watch.

My son is about to turn 11 and he loved the movie. My daughter just turned 9 and I am going to take her to see it as well. I’m sure she is going to love it, and in my opinion, I think the movie is fine for kids 9 and up — assuming that the kids are of the superhero, action loving variety. We’ll leave the youngest at home though.

Also, stick around for the mid credits and the post credits. They set the stage for Captain America: Civil War.

And one more thing:

Paul Rudd introduced the movie to the audience. As he was talking, I became jealous and thrilled for my son. Can you imagine being an 11 year old boy about to watch a superhero movie, and the actor who plays the hero walks out to introduce the movie? It was a fun moment to experience with my son.

Disclaimer: I was given 2 tickets to see Ant Man. The words in this review are my own.