Ant Man No-Spoilers

[Darkniciad]

First things first, It's somewhere in the middle.  Not Winter Soldier/GotG level, by any means.  I'd put it somewhere in the Dark World range.  Well worth the watch, and in my opinion, worth spending the money to go watch it in the theater.

 

The story is focused, but there are more than enough ties to the larger MCU to make it feel like part of it.  I would actually say that this movie feels more connected to the larger MCU than Thor: Dark World.

 

Falcon was already shown in the trailer, and he gets at least as much action in this as he did in Age of Ultron.  I would say more.

 

The mid-credit and end-credit scenes are both well worth the wait.  Hang out, by all means.

 

As has been mentioned before, we get some glimpses into the MCU between Captain America: First Avenger and the original Iron Man -- circa the 1980s.  Two important MCU characters ( and actors ) show up in these scenes.  So, that's three with the Falcon.

 

Other scenes bring that number up to five.

 

We also see some historical milestones in these scenes linked to other movies, such as Winter Soldier.

 

There are connections to the ABC television shows as well, but they're also connections to the MCU.  No Coulson, modern SHIELD, Secret Warriors, Inhumans, etc.  No ties to the Netflix segment of the series side either.

 

Regardless of all of this linking, it does not feel like it's setting up other movies the way Iron Man II did.  It is an Ant Man movie throughout.

 

There are some good laughs beyond those already shown in the trailers, and even some where the punchlines in the trailers get a second punchline that's just as funny.  The trailers also have alternate lines that aren't as sanitized in the theatrical version.

 

The core cast is all solid, and give great performances.  There's one bit near the end that feels rushed, but they also play it for some good laughs, which makes that forgivable.  It's not all laughs, though.  There's solid drama in there as well.

 

It's another fine addition to the golden age of Marvel live action.

[Darkniciad]

Here we go

 

It doesn't exactly nail my feelings, but demonstrates where I would place Ant-Man well.  It's firmly in the middle of the pack, and proves beyond any doubt that Marvel can take the least of their characters and translate them into enjoyable cinema experiences.

 

If it were me, I'd have reversed Iron Man 2 & 3.  Winter Soldier would be #1, with Guardians and Avengers tied for #2.