Ant-Man: Heroes Don't Get Any Bigger

Rating: 6/10 (23 July 2015)

Ant-Man is a ton of fun as a movie. It offers up some of the biggest laughs of the summer, and it shows that Marvel can pull back from their iconic huge action spectacles, and tell a smaller story with just as much success as their other films.
The cast in this movie is literally perfect. Paul Rudd nails it as Scott Lang/Ant-Man. His performance in this movie is so charming, that you just can't help but like this newest addition to the MCU. But Michael Douglas Oh my gosh. Michael Douglas as Hank Pym is absolutely perfect. However, this isn't just because Douglas gives a fantastic performance. It's because the writers gave Hank Pym such a cool and interesting back story that really gets the viewer invested in his character. Evangeline Lilly does a great job portraying Hank's daughter Hope in this film, and I love the how their relationship develops throughout the film. And Michael Pena, who plays Scott's friend Luis, brings exactly the right amount of comedy to the film whenever its needed. Every line out of his mouth is absolute comedy gold, and he was just rocking it in this movie from start to finish.
It should go without saying, since this IS a Marvel movie, that the visual effects are out of this world. The attention to detail with the CGI whenever Ant-Man shrinks is truly astounding, and I love how they blurred out everything else around him when he's small. This allowed me to focus on how this really small man is actually running through a bath tub, or underground, or in an air vent, and that just pushed the action scenes to be even more incredible than they could've been otherwise.
I also love how this movie ties in with other Marvel films. There's actually an explanation for why the Avengers can't come remedy every situation, and it makes perfect sense within the circumstances of the MCU. Also, I appreciate how this film is on a smaller scale compared to the Avengers, as its hero is also very small. This film understands exactly what it is, and Marvel just roles with it, and I love that.
I will say, the first twenty minutes of this film have a couple of conflicting tones; one is funny, and one is serious, and they don't exactly mesh. Also, while I really enjoyed Corey Stoll as Darren Cross/Yellowjacket in this film, and I loved all of his action scenes, I thought that he paled in comparison to other villains in the MCU when compared to Loki, Ultron, the Winter Soldier, and Thanos. However, none of this detracts from my immense enjoyment of this film.
Despite the smaller-scale compared to Marvel's other films, Ant-Man is an absolute blast of a movie, and this film definitely solidifies its legacy among the rest Marvel's collection of heroes. It's a fantastic way to close out Phase 2 of the MCU, and I can't wait till next summer for Captain America: Civil War.
Also, there's two very awesome end-credit scenes at the end of the film, so don't forget to watch those.