Think Big; Getting' Small with a game Rudd in a mix of fun and wow visuals that are simply "Marvel" ous!

Rating: 9/10 (25 July 2015)

ANT-MAN (2015) ***1/2 Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Abby Ryder Fortson, Michael Pena, David Dastmalchian, T.I., Anthony Mackie, Wood Harris, John Slattery, Martin Donovan, Hayley Atwell, Lyndsi La Rose, Carol Anne Watts, Diana Chiritescu, Garrett Morris. Fun and marvelous big-screen adaptation of one of the 'lesser' known heroes in the great canon of Marvel Comics with a game Rudd as Scott Lang, a recently released con whose thieving ways catches the eye of scientist Dr. Hank Pym (wily Douglas) into becoming his heir apparent and partner as the titular superhero who can shrink (and grow) at will thanks to an ultra secret suit and sci-fi supremacy in which Pym's pupil Darren Cross (thuggish Stoll) wanting it instead for his own nefarious ways, at any cost. The usual mix of fine action, eye-popping visuals and set pieces (my fave is Lang's intro to the suit's powers winding up on the dance floor of a rave with gigantic honies stomping along none-the-wiser to their tiny counterpart far, far below their titanic toes!) with humor, panache and a decent origin story that manages to incorporate The Avengers, good ol' Stan Lee cameo and the luscious Lilly as Pym's combatively willing daughter Hope (spoiler alert - sadly no um, interplay with Rudd ala Brobdignagian bedroom scenes ; so see her in IMAX to get the giantess effect instead!) Wonder what filmmaker Edgar Wright (who gets a screenplay nod with Joe Cornish, Adam McKay and Rudd himself) would've brought to the mix (he left after creative differences), however director Peyton Reed (must admit an odd choice) delivers the mega/micro goods! Think Big!