ANT-MAN

Director: Peyton Reed
Writers: Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, Adam McKay, Paul Rudd.
Stars:  Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll
Runtime: 117 minutes
Strength: Story. Comedy.
Weakness: Short back-story.
Rating: 4/5

Plot: Armed with a super-suit with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, cat burglar Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

Review: Marvel makes an epic return with yet another movie adaptation of the classic Stan Lee character, Ant-Man. Desperate to redeem himself and get back the right to visit his daughter, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is an electrical engineer who gets released from prison and is in the struggle of finding a consistent job. Leading to his failure in establishing visitation rights with his daughter, he gets tipped by his buddy Luis (Michael Peña) about a "job" at an empty millionaire's house and desperation leads him to consider it, only to find out there is no cash or jewels in the house's vault, but the gateway to his destiny.

The movie has it all, comedy, drama, awesome action, fluid direction and brilliant CGI. The conversations between Scott and his crew, especially the dialogues by Luis will have one laughing off their seats while the relationship strains between father-daughter duo Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) enriches the storyline in terms of drama. The action sequences are brilliantly choreographed, especially in the concluding fight scene between Ant-Man and Yellowjacket (Corey Stoll). Avenger member Sam Wilson aka Falcon (Anthony Mackie) makes an appearance as well and hilarity ensues in his encounter with Scott Lang along with outstanding CGI for the ants, electrical circuitry and beyond. The chemistry between Scott and Hope was palpable throughout the film and they only choose to act on it towards the end which was well appreciated as it didn't hamper the storyline. All the actors provided brilliant performances and if one absolutely had to knit pick, a bit more time could have been spent in developing the back-story of the elements. Overall it is another terrific addition to the Marvel cinematic universe and a must watch for all movie-goers, and a word of advice, stay till the very end for the post-credits scene as it is one not to be missed.

Reviewed by Mohaiminul Islam