Fun movie!

As a comic book fan (and long-time reader/collector), I appreciated the nods to the comic version of the character, but like they did with all the other Marvel Cinematic Universe characters who've appeared on screen so far, the story is original and I think it can be followed and enjoyed by those who know nothing about Ant-Man before the movie starts.

I won't post any spoilers, but I will say I was satisfied how this character fits into the rest of the MCU and really enjoyed the special effects. The filmmakers did a good job of poking fun at some of the ridiculousness of tiny people fighting each other without it actually detracting from the story. The movie keeps a real sense of humor, which is one of the things I enjoy most about the Marvel movies. I'm interested to see how and what role Ant-Man will play in "Captain America: Civil War" next year.

Paul Rudd does a great job and is actually believable as a title character in an action film, (he's really come a long way from Clueless, huh?) and I love that bigger-name actors like Michael Douglas are all getting on board with these superhero movies. Evangeline Lilly, who already proved she can do action with the "Hobbit" movies, gets to kick some butt in this movie as well. I don't know anything about Corey Stoll, but he makes a pretty good bad guy.

Marvel seems to have figured out how to handle movies like this (ones where most of the mainstream audience knows little-to-nothing about the character.) Put them after most, if not all, the HUGE blockbuster movies of summer, but make them so fun that word-of-mouth will get people to come out. It worked with Guardians of the Galaxy last year, and I think it'll work with Ant-Man this year. For what it's worth, I liked Ant-Man better. I'd give this movie 3 out of 4 stars.

I'm clearly in the minority. It's really not the great shakes people are making it out to be. Not a patch on Guardians of the Galaxy (which it was compared to here in comments), not even close, at all. In fact its barely comparable to most of the Marvel films. It feels small in scope (absolutely no pun intended, not worth the effort) and more like an addendum to the MCU if anything. The off hand mention of the Avengers and the shoe horning of Falcon in a few scenes are the only real thing that made it part of the MCU. It could have stood completely alone with practically no effort and still been an ok film. Which is exactly how it started out so many years ago. That doesn't come from a longing of what could have been of Edgar Wrights film, I had no real interest in that either. If it wasn't for the post credits scene I'd have completely forgotten it was going to be furthered in the MCU and without the forced line (probably an additional shoot) "I know a guy" there was no reason for it to be the thing to promoted Captain America Civil War. It just followed suit of what had come before it.

It has some chuckles but certainly not "sore from laughing" nor full of "Non-stop wit"

I'm not sure what has made it "Marvel's most clever and ambitiously successful film". It was a very thin heist film with a simple hook.

The cast are serviceable yet could almost entirely be recast. Michael Pena hits the mark just by doing his thing which is almost just a young Luis Guzman.

It was fun, but nothing I'm clambering to see again.

Anything that reminds me of Richard Matheson's "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and stars Evangeline Lilly is pretty much gonna be a winner with me.

"Ant-Man" was a funny movie. I laughed plenty and often. Many cast members got into the comedy act. It wasn't just Paul Rudd or Michael Pena. Michael Douglas was a great Hank Pym, a complex character with skeletons in his closet and some well hidden emotional scars. But, like every other character, he was a source of many laughs.

There were also plenty of thrills and some great uses of 3D. More than any other recent 3D release than I can remember. When Ant-Man was ant-sized, the 3D really popped. I think it was because things in the background were over sized and slightly blurred. I also need to call out how much I liked the different types of ants and how cool they were used in the movie. The scene with Ant-Man fighting Yellowjacket on the train set was a highlight, too.

Even though this was a blast overall, "Ant-Man" featured a weak, uninteresting villain and had some story beats, like Scott Lang's daughter, that seemed forced and overly sentimental.

I'm hearing "Ant-Man" being compared to "Guardians of the Galaxy" and that's fair to a point. Both movies feature quirky, wise-cracking characters. It's not quite as un-"Marvel" as GotG was, but it's still not as cookie-cutter as the other Marvel Universe flicks.

**THE CAWPINE OF 'ANT-MAN'**

WRITING: 6
ATMOSPHERE: 6
CHARACTERS: 6
PRODUCTION: 9
INTRIGUE: 5
NOVELTY: 5
ENJOYMENT: 6

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**The Good:**

Ant-Man begins like any other romantic comedy infused with a typical superhero film. It takes a while for the film to show its potential, but once it does, it turns pretty inventive and cool.

What makes Scott Lang such a likeable character is his grounded personality, similar to Tom Holland's Peter Parker. Lang is just a normal father and husband who's made the wrong choices in his life and needs a reboot. That's easy to connect with.

Paul Rudd is simultaneously an odd and brilliant choice to play a superhero. Considering the comical side of the film, he is the perfect fit to play an underdog character, but he also delves into his superhero persona convincingly.

Say what you will, but the visual effects used here are breathtaking. By combining practical effects and CGI, director Peyton Reed creates some of the most exciting action sequences within the MCU. By making Scott Lang small as an ant, everyday objects suddenly turn dangerous. The action sequences are all inventive thanks to the possibilities coming with the character.

The Quantum realm is the most beautiful thing ever.

The funniest and most memorable sequence is the one worth Scott breaking into the Avengers building. It features the Falcon in a cameo role and is one of the best sequences in any MCU film so far. It's a completely unnecessary sequence, but fun nonetheless.

Kirk Douglas is never bad and he is the single best actor in this film as well.

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**The Bad:**

Derren Cross is a mediocre villain with boring motive, even though Yellowjacket as a character is fairly cool. It doesn't help that he just kind of hangs around in the background before stepping into the spotlight in the finale.

In terms of its script and characters, Ant-Man almost feels like an early MCU film or even a Marvel legacy film. It’s not big and booming and doesn't try to reinvent the genre like so many other films within the franchise. It's almost boringly safe and predictable. As a comedy, it's not very funny, and as a superhero flick, it's disappointingly unoriginal.

As MCU's first heist movie, Ant-Mans has fairly little to offer that has not been done better by earlier heist movies.

Scott's sidekicks are annoying and don’t bring anything to the plot.

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**The Ugly:**

Gooified people look like strawberry jam.

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**CAWPINE RATING: 6.14 / 10 = 3 stars**

Ant-Man is a much needed breath of fresh air from all the city-breaking, galaxy saving epicness of the past five Marvel movies. It's a nice, light, fun heist movie with some pretty cool effects and a great cast of characters.

Michael Pena, T.I. and David Dastmalchian make this movie so much more enjoyable. Not that Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, and Corey Still aren't great, but those three as a sidekick trio crack me up.

Edgar Wright's stamp is all over this movie and it's a shame his directorial touch is missing, because he would have known what to remove to make it even better.

But all in all, Ant-Man is great entertainment with a feel good story about a man trying to be the hero his kid thinks he is.