Ant-Man: A Family Movie

Rating: 5/10 (29 August 2015)

Ant-Man is a good family movie but not a must see for hard core comic book fans. I'm a movie fan and a long time comic book collector. When I went to the theater to see Paul Rudd in Ant-Man, I wasn't expecting a masterpiece, in fact, I wasn't expecting a good superhero movie. My expectations were met.
I collect silver age comics including Tales to Astonish 1 through 101. Henry Pym's first appearance was in Marvel comics' Tales to Astonish #27 in a story entitled "The Man in the Ant Hill." I'm very familiar with the original Ant-Man, Henry Pym (played by Michael Douglas) in the film, but I'm unfamiliar with the modernized Ant-Man played by Paul Rudd. This is not a movie for silver age comic book collectors, but it's a good movie for families with young kids.
The movie has a good amount of comic relief. Even the Avengers movies include comedic moments, but Ant-Man has a continuous comedic undertone. That said, there are no hilarious scenes in the movie. As for the action, my wife, who religiously watches superhero movies with me and who loves the Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man and Thor, slept through half of Ant-Man.
This movie rates well below Captain America, Iron Man and Thor, but is above Ang Lee's Hulk and both Fantastic Four movies. I consider it on par with Daredevil.
The integration of the original Ant-Man storyline with the modern Ant-Man is good. The special effects were OK. Kids will like it, non-comic book readers may enjoy it, hard core comic book fans won't love it. On a positive note, there were a few Easter eggs included for comic book fans, including a reference to Tales to Astonish.