A surprising and entertaining entry in the Marvel franchise

Rating: 8/10 (8 August 2015)

Ant-Man felt like something of a gamble when I went into the theater because I worried that a superhero with nothing but the powers of shrinking and controlling ants wouldn't be able to carry a whole movie. It didn't take long for it to convince me otherwise.
Paul Rudd stars as Scott Lang, a convicted thief fresh out of prison and struggling to make an honest living and get visitation rights to be with his daughter. He is recruited by scientist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), the inventor of the original Ant-Man technology, to break into his old tech company and prevent its new CEO, Pym's former protégé Darren Cross (Cory Stoll) from turning the technology into a weaponized suit called "the Yellowjacket". They are aided by Pym's estranged daughter, Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lily), Scott's former cell mate Luis (Michael Peña) and two small time crook friends.
Scott's comparatively normal background and sympathetic personality makes him a more relatable and refreshingly down-to-earth character than most other Marvel heroes. He isn't a millionaire, a demi-god or has any superpowers, he is just a normal guy with an empowered suit. And while the name "Yellowjacket" may sound a bit silly, Stoll's performance, which sometimes dips into over-the-top territory, and the menacing design of the suit make Darren Cross a surprisingly intimidating villain worthy of the Marvel franchise. However, the hero-villain relationship between him and Scott lacks some punch since Cross' hatred is more directed at Pym than him, making his animosity towards Scott more by proxy.
While Edgar Wright isn't directing Ant-Man, the script, which he co-wrote, has his fingerprints all over it. The story begins fairly mundanely, but gradually escalates further and further before exploding in a colorful and more than satisfying finale. Because Ant-Man introduces an almost whole new set of characters to the Marvel movies, the first part of the film contains a lot of backstory. While this bogs down the plot somewhat, the story keeps a consistent pace with regular doses of action that keeps the more explosive, special effect-filled second half from coming completely out of the blue.
With Ant-Man, Marvel has not only introduced an exciting, if smaller than usual, new angle to its cinematic universe. They have taken a character nobody thought could be cool and made a hugely entertaining movie about him and I look forward to seeing Ant-Man's role in the upcoming third phase of the Marvel saga.