<Review by: Daylynn DeSouza>

Directed by Peyton Reed. Starring Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Corey Stoll, Evangeline Lilly

A lot of people have no idea who Ant-Man is and that might put them off watching this movie, but what I’d say to those people is, 3 years ago, a lot of us had no idea who The Guardians of the Galaxy were.

While with most Marvel movies you get the sense that you need to have seen the previous set of movies, that’s not the case for this one. Which I quite enjoy. Not to say that Ant-Man is disjointed from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, because there are a few references to events in other movies and even an Avenger or two, but it’s not as though not understanding them ruins the movie for you. I’d like to note however that as we see more and more Comic Book Superhero movies we will be less impressed by each movie that comes out. Just like how hearing your child’s first words or sentences are amazing but pretty soon it’s no big deal.

At the core of it, Ant-Man is a heist movie, but with bigger consequences than most. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) was the inventor of the Pym Particle, something that can be used to reduce the distance between atoms (shrinking technology.) And he used that to shrink himself down to the size of an ant, while retaining his density thus giving a normal punch the impact of a bullet. But, as usual, corrupt people wan’t to sell his serum and turn a profit from it, so he walks away from them and retires in 1989. Flash forward and we’re then introduced to Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) a thief with a heart of gold who just wants to be a good dad to his little girl, but is having a rough time. To cut a long story short Hank, his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) and Scott team up to safeguard the Ant-Man technology and plot a heist to safeguard the Earth from Pym’s ex-protégé Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) who’s intent on turning it into a weapon for War and Espionage with his Yellow Jacket suit.

Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas portray Hank Pym and Scott Lang perfectly in my opinion and Corey Stoll is amazing as the antagonist as he manages to be demented and sympathetic at the same time. Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne was a great choice and I can’t wait to see more of her in future movies. But the real comedic relief in this movie comes from Michael Peña in his role as Luis, Scott Lang’s former cellmate and a member of his crew.

With all that being said, Ant-Man is also more of a comedy than previous Marvel films – with Paul Rudd displaying his usual with and charm – and is a very refreshing step to take from the usual doom, gloom and grit that most movies seem to going for these days. And, you never forget that’s it’s all bout a dad trying to be the guy his daughter already thinks he is. The visuals in this movie are stunning especially the shrinking and growing, which mimics the visual style of the effect drawn in the comics but once again, the 3D was a bit wasted. Studios tried 3D in the 50s & the 80s but it’s still as pointless as ever. If you still insist on watching a movie in 3D then watch it at IMAX or don’t bother and just watch it in 2D which would be my reccomendation anyway. But, to truly enjoy this movie watch it on DVD or Blu-Ray because the Indian censor board has had its pointless and inane crack at censoring words like ‘ass’, ‘pussy’ and ‘shit’.