Smaller scale but heroes.. and films, don't get any bigger!

Rating: 10/10 (17 July 2015)

I have been following Ant Man since Edgar Wright was set to direct as i am a massive fan of his work. Then he left the project. I was worried Ant Man would just get lost in two different screenplays as i heard Wright's work was still being incorporated in, plus not knowing enough about the character from the comics.. But there really was no need to worry. The film turned out better than i could have hoped and even trumped my expectations.
Paul Rudd does a great job and brings his all to the role of Scott Lang, a thief who has just come out of jail after three years. Over at Pym Tech Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) is developing a formula to mirror Hank Pym's (the original Ant Man) and to create a new breed of soldiers called the 'Yellowjacket'. Pym recruits Scott Lang as the new Ant Man to pull off a heist which will save the lives of millions.. and that is pretty much our movie. Michael Douglas plays Pym in this film and he really does it so well. Every time he was on screen he was a blast to watch and listen to and the father/daughter dynamic and storyline between him and Hope (Evangeline Lilly) without giving spoilers, was great to see. When Pym is training Scott to become the new Ant Man, that was so fun to watch and you can tell Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas had a great time working with each other. I was sort of worried at first that the shrinking and growing repeatedly during fight scenes would get on my nerves as at first it takes a while to adjust to (especially in 3d), but i actually liked that a lot and loved seeing the scenes where Scott was training with the ants when he is small.
Speaking of the ants, they were brilliant. The way they are introduced by Pym seemed ridiculous to me at first but i loved watching them. Seeing Scott interact with them and fly around on them, it was so cool and something we haven't previously seen in any film. Marvel aren't very strong on villains and we have known this as it has been shown countless times. Villains like Abomination, Whiplash and Ronan have always felt weak and just as if they were made to serve as a plot device. I loved Corey Stoll as Darren Cross/Yellowjacket though. I mean, he is sort of introduced as a villain to start with for not much of a reason but unlike most MCU villains he was expanded upon. When he actually put on the Yellowjacket suit, that was great and something that felt fresh, to see him as well as Ant Man duking it out whilst growing and shrinking and throwing objects that are three times their size. The climax featuring none other than Thomas the Tank Engine was one of my favourite fight scenes in the entire Marvel series. In fact, there is another fight featuring a well known Avenger that you probably know of, but just in case you don't i wont reveal what it is, but i loved that one as well.
Michael Pena also gives a standout performance. These films feature a comic relief character a lot of the time, but if it works then don't fix it. Every time he was on screen i was laughing and i thought he did a very good job. Anyway,to wrap it up, i enjoyed Ant Man so much. I loved the scenes with Scott kicking a$$ as Ant Man, i loved Michael Douglas, Yellowjacket was awesome.. i don't really think i saw any flaws with this one. If Marvel continue to give their lesser known characters such good films then i am definitely on board the same way i was with Guardians of the Galaxy. Plus their are two post credits scenes which i loved. Really gets me excited to see not only Ant Man's future, but the future of the whole MCU. Another great film and i haven't given this rating since Age of Ultron, not because i'm a fanboy.... but because i know good entertainment and if a film entertains me as much as Ant Man does, it deserves this high of a rating.🐜