And now we get to the first MCU movie we haven’t seen! I am, clearly, a pretty big fan of superhero movies, but… we didn’t even think about seeing this one at the cinema.

I mean. Ant. Man. Really?

Even when I saw it was Michael Douglas and Paul Rudd!

I mean. Ant-Man. Just… nah.

However! How wrong I was!

Yes, Ant-Man is indeed in some ways very silly. The name is definitely silly. But within the MCUverse, shrinking in entirely logical as a concept, and that’s something you just have to go with.

Interesting thing I was considering while watching: Tony chooses to be Iron Man; Thor is born as Thor; Steve chooses to be Captain America. Bruce, Natasha, and Scott all to some extent have their identities thrust on them – in very different ways, of course, and I’m not suggesting there’s an equality in their experiences. But it is interesting to consider how they come to their positions (which gets even more interesting when you consider Sam Wilson vs Bucky).

Anyway. Michael Douglas is wonderful as Hank. Really every minute he’s on screen is just cool. Paul Rudd is delightful as Scott Lang, and I should never have expected anything else. I knew nothing except what I gleaned from the Avengers films about Scott before this; the film made him entirely relatable and entirely appropriate to the position of Ant-Man. Evangeline Lily is great as Hope and since I didn’t even realise she was in this film, everything she did was unexpected and wonderful.

I was fascinated to see that this does slot into the larger Avengers ‘verse – and I hadn’t expected it: a newspaper about Sokovia, breaking into Avengers HQ, selling tech to Hydra… it kinda required Avengers background knowledge, which I think is interesting for a theoretically standalone movie, but I suppose there’s an expectation that no one will go see this who isn’t invested in Avengers in either film or comic incarnation.

This definitely does have its silly elements, but they’re ones I enjoyed, overall. Michael Pena is fabulous as Luis – I love him in The Martian and he’s very different here but still has that superb timing that makes all of his lines a joy to watch. The other numbskull crims are very silly but play their part. “Yellowjacket” is actually a pretty ordinary villain; the real opponent in the film is time, and Lang learning to trust himself and Hank and Hope. It’s not exactly an original narrative – not-really-a-criminal has chance to redeem himself largely for the sake of child – but it was played well enough I was happy to go along. I was very glad it didn’t dwell overlong on how Lang got to the point of burglary; nor that there was any suggestion of his getting back together with Maggie. Instead, the suggestion is Maggie and Paxton will give him room in Cassie’s life, without giving up their own space, which is entirely appropriate. Also, Hank’s reaction to Hope and Scott kissing is entirely appropriate.

This was way more enjoyable than I had expected and makes me happily anticipate Ant-Man and the Wasp. I’m still not sorry I didn’t spend the money on cinema tickets, though.