"I think our first move should be calling the Avengers."

Rating: 9/10 (25 January 2016)

For a second, maybe even a third tier Marvel Comic character, "Ant-Man" turned out to be a fun movie with a nice blend of action, suspense and humor. I got a kick out of the scientific jargon Dr. Henry Pym (Michael Douglas) used to describe his shrinking technology, a particle that could change the distance between atoms while increasing density and strength. In a tribute to the comic book origin of Ant-Man, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) describes the shrinking process as a 'tale to astonish', a reference to 'Tales to Astonish #27' from January, 1962 in which the character made his first appearance. And as usual, Marvel writer, creator and editor Stan Lee cameos near the very end of the movie as a bartender, describing what might have been one's reaction to the picture - "Yeah, crazy-stupid fine"! is the way he states it. I can go with that.
There's also the cool way the writers tied in the rest of the Marvel universe by referencing The Avengers (see my summary quote), and that scene with Ant-Man battling the Falcon (Anthony Mackie) on top of Avengers headquarters. All of this is played with just the right sort of tongue in cheek humor while miniaturizing Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) in the Ant-Man suit and having him sabotage Cross's plan to sell his updated technology to the goons from Hydra. The only time I thought the film makers took it too far was having Ant-Man go sub-atomic and make it back again after Hank Pym's dire warning. That concept probably could have been saved for a sequel, although that idea was telegraphed pretty well.
Quite coincidentally as I watched this movie for the second time, I happened to be reading a novel by Michael Crichton entitled 'Micro' which borrows liberally from the Ant-Man concept. It tells the story of an evil scientific genius who shrinks some prospective new employees after they learn he might have had one of his vice presidents killed, brother to one of the students. The story deals with half inch humans in a novel way, placing their adventure in Hawaii and examining how they deal with threats from nature at ground level. It's a quick read and makes you think about life from a different perspective.
Anyway, like a lot of viewers, I think my surprise at how good this film turned out to be makes me look forward to what comes next. A couple of after film scenes hinted at not one, but two potential sequels. When Dr. Pym shows his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) the prototype suit he was working on with his deceased wife, it's suggested that the follow up movie further explores the sub-atomic world with an Ant-Woman. Then, an eventual Ant-Man team-up with the Avengers is suggested by the Falcon's cryptic words to Cap when he says "I know a guy".