Small Heroes Deliver Big

Rating: 8/10 (19 July 2015)

Ant-Man was soooo good! I liked it a lot more than Avengers : Age Of Ultron, and I also liked it more than The Kingsman (I know that isn't MCU, but it does fall under "graphic novel" movie). So yeah, we'll have to wait and see how well Fantastic Four does, but so far I think this easily could be the best comic book/superhero movie this year. I had already expected that Paul Rudd was going to be funny in this, and some of the reviews I read confirmed that. And after seeing the movie myself, I agree. But how come there was no talk of Michael Pena? He was so hilarious! He stole every scene he was in. Probably one of the best "sidekicks" in a movie.
One of the other things that I liked is that Ant-Man actually got his man and saved the day rather quickly. Unlike the other MCU movies where they seem to destroy entire cities or it takes weeks to get the bad guy, Ant-Man pretty much took down yellowjacket within the same night of coming face to face with him. Like, impressive. And yes, there was damage done, but nowhere near the carnage in other films. It was really refreshing.
As for the villain, I'd have to put him somewhere in the middle. Like, certainly more memorable than Malekith (then again, I think everyone is more memorable than him) and also Ronan, but like just doesn't have that screen presence that Loki or even Thanos has. I'd maybe put him in the same place as Ultron, even though they were both different. Cause I liked Corey Stoll and the fact that his villain (Yellowjacket) was a bit more serious than Ultron was, but at the same time I think Ultron stood out more to me. There was plenty of funny moments in the movie. The train scene in particular (which got a lot of laughs in my theater) was great. But it did also have some touching moments.
But it doesn't mean I didn't see some fault in the story. Like, in one scene where Hope and Scott are training she tells her dad Hank "I don't know why you insisting on lying on what really happened to mom". And then practically in the next scene, Hanks decides to tell the truth about how Janet died. Like, I know the writers wanted some way to let the audience about how going "sub-atomic" was bad (because its kind of important for a later scene). But it just seemed, I don't know, a little contrived. Like, why would he suddenly tell her the truth now? And also, I think Hank's plan relied a little too much on Scott taking the suit and then later on deciding to try it on. What if when Scott entered the vault and saw there was no cash, just simply left and didn't take the suit? Or what if he did, but never tried it on? Just sold it or something to make some quick cash or something? Did Hank think of that? I just think it was rather lucky of Hank that it played out the way it did. And the other thing that kind of bugged me (although it's a small gripe) is at the end where we find out the daughter has kept the giant ant as a pet. A bit eye-roll inducing.
But overall, it was a really fun movie. It definitely is more a heist film than a traditional superhero action flick, which is neat too.