Ant-Man

Ant-Man Review: The movie follows Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), a master thief and his mentor Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), a master scientist. In Pym's younger days he wore the Ant-Man suit, which allowed him to shrink to microscopic size but retain all his strength. This ability is thanks to "The Pym Particle" that allowed him to shrink distance between molecules. Pym, who used his particle for good was frightened that his invention would fall into the wrong hands even to the point that his board voted him out of his own company that invented the technology in the first place. Enter Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) the new CEO of Pym Technologies that is on the verge of unlocking The Pym Particle and use the technology to create an army of micro soldiers. In order to stop Cross Pym enlists Lang, who is fresh out of jail to don the Ant-Man suit and defeat Cross from the inside. Pym's estranged daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly), who has gained the trust of Cross and is his adviser is displeased that her father has picked Lang for the operation feeling it's her duty to ultimately defeat her employer.

What works: It's refreshing to see Marvel return to their roots with a story that focuses on a single character. The Age of Ultron released earlier this summer was masterful at planting the seeds for future installments in the ever growing "Marvel Cinematic Universe" but fell short to develop the characters themselves or give good reason why so many characters needed to be involved in the story. The movie is a homage to 60's and 70's heist films and Lang's fellow parolees (played by Michael Pena, David Dastmalchian and rapper T.I.) add a lot of fun humor as they help their friend "be a hero" while becoming heroes themselves.

What doesn't: If you're looking for something new, you won't find it. Marvel Studios has a firm formula in place to draw audiences to the theater and they succeed masterfully. One of the broken parts of their formula is the ability to create compelling villains. Ant-Man partially succeeds with Darren Cross compared to their many past efforts but I still felt he was there to be a disposable villain to prime Ant-Man for his eventually membership into the Avengers.

Final: Highly recommended. Very refreshing to see a superhero movie that's focused on the viewer having fun. Reminded me very much of Robert Downey Jr.'s first Ironman movie.