Viewed – 16 January 2016  online rental

Yes it’s taken me a while to get around to this one and perhaps my slight fatigue with the amount of comic book movies being churned out was a factor, but I can’t argue with the quality of the output and this latest is no exception.  Paul Rudd plays a down on his luck former cat burglar newly released from prison and trying to rebuild his relationship with his young daughter and ex-wife.  However the lure of the criminal world is always in the background thanks to a trio of never-do-well friends he’s forced to shack up with.  At the same time a high-tech company is on the verge of a breakthrough to create a suit that can shrink a man down to the size of an insect, but are missing that key formula that only former company boss Michael Douglas knows.

This was a fun movie, with Paul Rudd mostly known for comedies on fine form with a few good one liners and suits the character well.  An ageing Douglas also adds some acting weight to proceedings and we also get Lost’s Evangeline Lilly looking hot in a black haired bob as Douglas’ daughter.  With thoughts back to Honey I Shrunk The Kids I got a buzz out of the shrunken perspective, to the point I wish the movie had stayed in that mode for the majority of the run time.  However that would not make for much variety and so we get an army of ants at Ant Man’s command and a villain out to create his own suit.  Casting of the main bad guy could have been better (what is he out of again?) and the three friends are little more than annoyances rather than being particularly likeable.  Ant-Man’s circumstances leading up to becoming a hero, are also pretty contrived, which ultimately stops this becoming a classic.

But the action is very well done, the jumps from a shrunken Ant Man to full size and different plays with that are very well realised and the effects were state-of-the-art.  Above all I still had a good time with this.  One of Marvel’s more obscure creations, granted – but I was left thirsty for more.

Verdict:  3.5 /5