Ant-Man

RATING: B

Let's be honest. Ant-Man is one of the dumbest superheroes ever, at least in concept, ever to get a movie. 

I mean, let's take a look at the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) series. We've got a billionaire in an iron suit, the god of thunder himself with a hammer, a couple of ninjas, a super-soldier, a nearly unbeatable green giant, and... the Guardians of the Galaxy. (Still not sure what else to call those awesome guys.) All these guys, and now we've got... a guy who can put on a suit that can shrink him to the size of an ant, and transform him into a cross between Iron Man and a slower The Flash... if they were both tiny. 

Yup, that sounds stupid. 

So, the guy behind the mask is... actually two people. First, the billionaire who originally created the technology, Hank Pym, who chose to keep it hidden away for nearly thirty years... until his former apprentice goes insane with power and recreates the technology in a more aggressive form. (Simply, the "Yellowjacket.") This causes Pym to give the suit to an ex-thief named Scott Lang, so he can break into his former apprentice's lab and stop him from unleashing chaos. 

Ant-Man is certainly an interesting enigma of a superhero movie. It seems to know that its own idea sucks ("Is it too late to change the name?"), throwing whatever crap they can at us to keep us watching (heck, part of the final showdown takes place around a freaking Thomas the Tank Engine set). And yet, Marvel Studios knows they still have us wrapped in the palm of their hand, because they can still make sufficiently decent movies out of the dumbest superheroes. 

Yes, Marvel Studios somehow manages to pull this one off, mostly. It moves pretty slowly during the first half, as we sit through Scott's pretty-much-boring life as an ex-thief before he becomes Ant-Man and then his training to become the Ant-Man is mostly uninteresting as well. It's when we get to the actual mission and the showdown/climax that follows that things actually get exciting and fun. The humor itself ranges from hilarious to just straight up dumb (we could've done without Scott's human sidekicks and their humor), but it mostly helps to keep the film on its feet. 

Ant-Man is certainly on the lower tier of the MCU films, but it's still a mostly fun/charming superhero film that is sure to entertain to one degree or another. It's certainly not a classic and you'll probably still finish the movie thinking, "Meh, I still like Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Guardians, and pretty much everyone else better." That said, it's hard to come out straight up disliking it. Ant-Man is somehow yet another (mostly) successful venture from Marvel Studios, and now they're actually making me believe they'll be able to pull off guys like Doctor Strange and Black Panther. Time will tell, I guess.