Ant-Man (Reed) 2015

It's time for a little palette cleanser after the intensity of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Bring in the first Ant-Man film to hit the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

In the time following the Battle of Sokovia in Avengers: Age of Ultron, we pick up the story of Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), a felon who has just been released from prison and attempts to stay on the straight and narrow in order to rejoin his family, especially his young daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson). When his friend Luis (Michael Peña) brings him into a heist at the mansion of technologist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), Lang is thrust into a world of intrigue, assisting Pym with breaking into his own company and foiling the plans of his former student, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) who is trying to use Pym's technology to bring military might to the world.

Lang is supported by Pym and his daughter Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) as he learns how to use the Ant-Man suit and harnesses the power of his mind to lead Pym's army of ants against Cross and his high-tech Yellowjacket suit.

I love that this is a heist film disguised as a superhero film. There are multiple levels of heist in this film and it brings in the standard montage scenes of the heroes getting ready for their mission. There are plenty of tangential references to the other MCU films that came before, including a nice connection to Ultron in the fight scene Lang has with Falcon on the grounds of the new Avengers base we saw at the end of that film. It's just enough to make it truly feel like part of the bigger universe, but not so much that it hits you over the head.

Ant-Man rounded out the two MCU films released in 2015 (with Ultron) and did not receive any Oscar nominations.

While Ant-Man is not 100% critical to understanding the rest of the MCU films that follow, it does help provide some background on the character and set up some of the action for Captain America: Civil War.

​​7 out of 10

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