Solidly fun even if it doesn't consistently deliver

Rating: Null/10 (26 December 2015)

In many ways this is an odd addition to the Marvel universe. As the films seem to get bigger and bigger with each one, Ant-Man is surprisingly small (as the title suggests). It is not just the character, but also the plotting – it is not really a world-beating foe here, but just a simple robbery (albeit for an unique item). In doing so, the film gets to do what so many of the other films do (have fun at its own silliness), but it benefits by not having to deliver a massive universal conclusion too.
In some ways the film plays to this well, and it has some very funny moments along with a general sense of fun; however at the same time it always feels like it is not quite firing on all cylinders either. Of course Edgar Wright famously left the film in the middle, and one does have to wonder how much more spark he would have brought to the final film if he had been allowed to. There is still a lot to enjoy about its silliness (the final fight on the train, and Thomas the Tank Engine himself being a great example), but too much of it seems ordinary, albeit with the extraordinary narrative device. It is expensively produced, and has some clever sequences, but the most fun moments do tend to highlight that not enough of the film is up there.
The cast work hard and mostly do well. Rudd is fun, although when in shrunken action mode, his key appeal is less evident as he is an effect not a character. Peña is not the second name on the cast list by a mile, however he is one of the best bits of casting, and his comedic delivery produces some of the most fun moments (the story- telling montages). Douglas, Lilly, Stoll, Cannavale, Harris, Donovan, and others are all solid, but nobody really goes out of their way to make it their best work or even close. In the end Ant- Man is a fun blockbuster, even if it is not as consistent, nor as fun, as it should have been.