PAUL RUDD & MICHAEL DOUGLAS IN ANT-MAN

year: 2015 rating: ***1/2

Michael Douglas is one of those great good actors, and he not only steals ANT-MAN, but his exposition-wielding Dr. Hank Pym is pretty much everything here. In fact, before working class hero thief Scott Lang, played by Paul Rudd, conveniently discovers the suit that can shrink him to the size of... you know... there was a whole history between Hank and his wife that could have been its very own movie, shown in flashbacks during the plan and execution of a big caper against Pym Industries, now run by a nefarious short-cutter who wants... like your usual comic book heavy... to rule everything his way.

The Heist sub-genre is taken to the hilt, including funky instrumental music lifted straight from Quentin Tarantino's JACKIE BROWN (the script's written by Tarantino-clone Edgar Wright); and he's aided by a band of ragtag underdog thieves including comic relief Michael Pena, a funny enough guy who often tries too hard.

Beneath the engaging caper, a busy hybrid of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE and SPIDER-MAN yet with the origin story built straight into the central plot-line, much of the film feels like a hard sell to make this unlikely hero fit within the "serious" Marvel mainline, including one battle against the least important Avenger. In that, Lang, with a neat way of getting in and out of danger, is worthy of the canon: Unfortunately there are too many real (overly CGI) ants on board, making him more passenger than driver while turning an otherwise legitimate adventure into HONEY I SHRUNK THE SUPERHERO. Thankfully, Paul Rudd is likable enough despite attempting to be Tony Stark Light (while Michael Pena spouts way too many one-liners), and Michael Douglas really keeps things in check: helping his creation rise above expectations for both the characters and the audience.