Ant-Man

Proving that great MARVEL heroes can come in very small packages, ANT-MAN is everything that this summer's mega-bomb "Fantastic Four" wasn't: FUN, exciting, suspenseful and ENJOYABLE!

Paul Rudd brings his usual charm and a lot more muscles to his role as newly released ex-con Scott Lang. Scott is determined to stay crime-free, but he is constantly offered "jobs" by his roommates, including Luis, hilariously played by Michael Pena (World Trade Center, American Hustle).

The film opens with a sequence from 1987 that introduces us to brilliant scientist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) who has nearly perfected the science of shrinking inanimate objects and humans to the size of our title insect. CGI has now reached the amazing point where it appears that Douglas filmed these scenes at the same time he did "Romancing the Stone". The digital technology to recreate him in his youth is startling and far superior to the "plastic" looking younger Jeff Bridges just a few years ago in "Tron Legacy".

In this early sequence, Pym realizes that his secrets are being immediately applied to military use and he walks away with the project.

Flash forward to now, when Pym's protege Darren Cross has developed the shrinking technology to work on everything but humans. Cross wants Pym's original shrinking suit for the last piece of the puzzle and Pym wants Cross's new suit to keep it from becoming an advanced weapon.

Pym hires Scott to steal Cross's new suit in a highly secure facility and the fun is off an running.

Corey Stoll (The Strain) is excellent as Cross, especially when he dons the new suit and becomes the lethal Yellowjacket to Scott's Ant-Man.

Evangeline Lilly is excellent as Pym's daughter Hope, who trains Scott in more than a few skills and provides plenty of family drama that's surprisingly powerful.

Throw in Judy Greer as Scott's ex-wife, Bobby Cannavale as her new fiance who happens to be a police detective and you've got a cast that's just as comfortable with action & drama as they are with humor. And this is a laugh-FILLED movie.

The visual effects are terrific without being tiresome and the climactic fight aboard a Thomas the Train village is as exciting as it is hilarious.

Avengers fans will enjoy a long sequence with Ant-man up against The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) at the new Avengers training facility glimpsed at the end of "Age of Ultron".

Also look for Agent Carter and Howard Stark in the 1987 flashback.

I wasn't that excited about seeing Ant-man but I enjoyed every minute of it. After the dreary drivel that was "Fantastic Four", this was a terrific Marvel palette cleanser. Our tiny hero gets a B+.