Ant-Man - Movie Review

Ant Man continues the Marvel Cinematic universe, set after the events of The Age of Ultron. It even ties back somewhat to Agent Carter Hailey Atwell and John Slattery appear as aged versions of Agent Carter and Howard Stark at the beginning of the movie as a set up to the rest of the plot. There are even tie ins to the next Captain America movie (with a post credits scene) and ultimately to the Avengers Infinity wars movies (which will include Ant Man).

Without giving too much away, Michael Douglas's character Hank Prym one of the original S.H.E. I. L.D. agents, and inventor of the ant man suit, a technology that allows humans to shrink to the size of an ant, and gain the equivalent of an ant's strength to its size hires burglar Scott Lang, played by Paul Rudd to break into his former company and steal a second suit being developed by Prym's one time protege now rival Darren Cross (played by House of Cards' Cory Stoll). Evangeline Lilly plays Hope van Dyne, Prym's daughter who reluctantly helps Lang train to become ant man.

At its core the film is a heist movie wrapped up in a superhero movie. It is like Oceans 11 meets The Avengers. It does very well as the origin story for the various stand alone characters, yet blends into the existing Marvel Universe, with the biggest cross-over being the meeting between Ant Man and Falcon about halfway into the movie. Paul Rudd does a great job with being a hero that is on the fringe of being a true good guy, who is willing to break the rules or the law to do the right thing. He also brings an air of every man with a smart ass quality that he is know for from his other work. It has a lot of the humor that many of Marvel Films have had in doses.

For those who get the actual disc, the movie looks and sounds great on blu ray. I have the one disc version, which for extras has a few short behind the scenes and making of features, about 10 min worth of "news" footage that help flesh out some of the character's backgrounds, some deleted scenes and a gag reel. Good for what is there. I think those who are fans of the Marvel Universe movies and TV shows will enjoy this. It is also different enough that if you are having super hero movie fatigue, you can find it enjoyable because it is definitely not like any of the ones that have come before it. While some of it is a bit silly to be sure (but really all the superhero movies are to some extent) this movie plays on that a bit and almost does it tongue in cheek. The acting is very good, it it does well staying on the fringes of the larger story, while telling its own.