After Avengers: Age of Ultron I had some reservations going into Ant-Man. AOU was good, but not as great as the first. My fear was that Marvel was starting to shake under its success, so when it was time to sit down to a characters film that was long over due my fears were running wild. Luckily, the film could not have been in better hands as Paul Rudd and Peyton Reed pulled off the best solo Avenger film to date, second only to The Winter Soldier.
The Ant-Man cast is one every comic book movie should aspire to achieve, it's called perfection. Paul Rudd carries the movie as Scott Lang, but not without the help of some heavy hitters. Michael Douglas brings an older version of Hank Pym to life as only a seasoned actor of his caliber can. Douglas embodies Pym in every fiber of his being and brings the character full force to the mainstream. Corey Stoll as the villain, Darren Cross/Yellow Jacket, is what you wanted in Iron Man 3 but didn't get. A bad guy who is smart, evil, cunning, and yet likeable. When Stoll dons the Yellow Jacket suit you know instantly you're in for a hell of a battle. Evangeline Lilly brings a great balance to the film as the female lead. She is the right mix of badass and caring to counteract Pym's straight forward demeanor. She is more than worthy to carry the mantle of Wasp in all future Marvel films and I would put my money on her if she were to fight Black Widow. Last but not least is Michael Pena, who delivers the funniest material throughout the movie. Pena is a hell of an actor and makes every scene he is in count. He is the right mix of funny and badass that you hope he is around for every future installment that involves Ant-Man.
I give huge kudos to Director Peyton Reed and regret ever having doubts about his ability to do a action/comic book movie. Reed paired with DP Russell Carpenter painted a masterpiece here and hopefully Marvel takes note and keeps both of them on for future projects.
The story and plot are so well written that would assume it came from the pages of a pre-existing book, but it didn't. This is an original story tailored to the MCU and it puts Ant-Man on even footing with all the other Avengers.
Bottom line is this, Ant-Man is the best Marvel movie of the year and, in my opinion, the second best in the whole MCU. If you are a comic book fan you owe it to yourself to see this movie, if you're a movie fan you need to see this movie. Any way you cut it there is no excuse to not see this movie. Hands down the most fun I have had at the theater this year.
Rating 9/10 Stars
P.S. Make sure you stay till all the credits have ended, you will not regret it!
Rich Stile @TheDevilsEyes1