8/10

Marvel’s newest big screen superhero proves that size does indeed matter when it comes to even the smallest of jobs to save the world. ‘Ant-Man’ is the story of small time crook, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd). Lang breaks into the house of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), a scientist and underground superhero in possession of the world’s greatest secret; the ant suit. Hank recruits Lang to take on the identity of the man inside of the suit and Scott pledges to be something great that his daughter can be proud of. This film was easily one of the most exciting rides of the Summer for me. I enjoyed it even more than the earlier Marvel offering this year, ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron”, and that’s due in great part to the original concepts that the film takes on. It’s not often that a superhero film ever discusses the consequences of mortality and growing old. There’s a time when every superhero must finally put away the suit, and Pym’s character is really the first on screen to take on such a regret. He’s a character torn between doing right for his daughter and co-scientist, Hope (Played by Evangeline Lilly) and the safety of the world that he helped protect for decades. It really does add a new dimension not only in this film, but with that of our other favorite caped crusaders. When will their time come? The movie is also brilliantly cast, with many of it’s actors going above and beyond a typecast character for the genre. Rudd was made to play this role. I enjoyed that we got to see him play more of the straight man with this role, and he came across very convincing as an action star despite his lack of experience for the role. Lilly is a badass character who commanded attention everytime she hits the screen. There are two big post credits scenes, one of which relating to her that i won’t spoil. However, it will be cool to see where Hope goes from here. If there was one glue that held the film together, it’s that of Michael Douglas’s work. It’s great to see such a big name actor who we have watched for decades play a role that figuritively could be compared to his long filmography of acolades. The movie has great CGI in more than one field that i will get to in a minute, but it begins with seeing a younger Douglas that is convincing for thirty years earlier. The movie really does a solid job in making us believe that we are quite literally watching Michael Douglas footage that could’ve been shot in the 80’s. While i do enjoy Corey Stoll, and i think he did the best job that he could as Yellowjacket, the film just doesn’t give him enough to do. He feels very cartoonish as a villain, and doesn’t have as relatable motivations as villains in other Marvel stables. It was probably the lone disappointment for a film as good as it was. In addition to that, the movie’s CGI backgrounds and big set pieces are so imaginative and even dreamy to see these smaller objects in such a giant stature. My favorite part of the movie involved a fight between two characters inside of a brief case. It’s a new perspective for fight scenes that are commonplace for the genre. Overall, ‘Ant-Man’ is a very easy choice for the whole family. It’s nice to see a movie that wasn’t spoiled even halfway by it’s trailer, despite opening in an era where trailers make the film completely transparent. There are a lot of nice surprises for fans of past superhero movies, and the great efforts artistically that go into crafting such a small story into such a giant scale.