"Mission: Impossible" + "Ocean's Eleven" + the MCU = "Ant-Man" (2015)

Rating: 8/10 (17 June 2016)

2015's "Ant-Man" is a superhero movie with a complicated production history that also manages to be an odd mix of superhero action, heist movies, and high-tech spy-thrillers.
Edgar "Shaun of the Dead" Wright and Joe "Attack the Block" Cornish had labored for several years on trying to bring Marvel Comics' size-changing superhero/genius scientist Ant-Man (co-created by Stan Lee, his younger brother Larry Lieber, and the legendary Jack Kirby) to the big screen. They eventually parted ways with Marvel, and Peyton Reed ended directing the final version of the film, with Adam McKay writing the screenplay (that was taken over from Wright and Cornish) that was released theatrically in 2015.
"Ant-Man" is the 12th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and while it's connected to the MCU, it still feels separated from it in some way (sort of like how 2016's "Deadpool" is). And even if "Ant-Man" still feels like an MCU superhero movie, it doesn't exactly follow the typical superhero movie formula that's become so familiar over the years.
Perhaps the biggest change from type is the fact that this movie has a much heavier emphasis on the use of humor (though the film itself is not necessarily parody - but it certainly doesn't take itself very seriously), and the fact that its hero, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd, who also worked on McKay's script), is a criminal who's desperately trying to go straight after doing three years in San Quentin for burglary.
Yes, in the original comics, Lang (who was created by David Michelinie, who wrote my favorite Iron Man story "Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle," and John Byrne), who became the second Ant-Man, was a burglar who pulled off a heist to save his sick daughter and in the process crossed paths with Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym, the first Ant-Man - who then passed off the mantle to Lang.
In the big-budget film adaptation, the aging Dr. Pym (Michael Douglas) has already had his time in the spotlight as the first Ant-Man, who possessed technology that allowed him to change his size and communicate with insects (i.e., ants), and passes the mantle onto Scott Lang after Lang is released from prison. Pym, along with his daughter Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), need Lang's help to pull off yet another daring heist. But this heist is not some simple criminal scheme to get rich off of stolen goods, but is to save the world. (And there is even an appearance from MCU regular Sam Wilson/The Falcon - played by Anthony Mackie - in the middle of the film.)
It turns out that Pym's former protégé Darren Scott (Corey Stoll) is close to replicating Pym's technology, but has militarized it and plans to sell it on the black market in the hopes of making billions off of it. So Lang becomes the second Ant-Man in order to stop Scott, who eventually becomes the super-villain Yellowjacket and who possesses many of the same powers that Lang does.
"Ant-Man" is a movie that I was initially very wary of seeing, based largely on what I was reading in the news about its production history (usually not a good sign, especially when you consider the fact that Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish were once involved), and the fact that it wasn't really focusing on the original Ant-Man. To their credit, Paul Rudd was a suitable lead as Scott Lang. I liked how they portrayed Lang as a criminal trying to go straight, but keeps getting lured back into old habits. I also just liked how the naturally comedic Rudd doesn't take the role all that seriously, which makes him stand out from other notable superhero characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; just watch him in this year's "Captain America: Civil War" (2016) for details.
To my surprise, "Ant-Man" is a surprisingly entertaining superhero entry into the MCU about a zero who becomes an unlikely hero, saves the world, and manages to get the girl in the end.
8/10