Ant-Man: The Best Single Action Hero Film?

I went to see Ant-Man with my wife and son at the local theaters.  It was far more than I had anticipated.  Far more.  Movie goers agree; as of this writing Ant-Man was #1 for two weeks in a row at the box office.

I have to admit that I was quite surprised with the line for the movie...there was none.

No line for the snack stand, no line for tickets, no crowd in the lobby....nothing.

How could this be?  You couldn't view a web page or drive down the highway without seeing ads for this movie.

Then we went in the theater and it was PACKED!  We were lucky to find 3 seats together.

As a person who has been reading comic books for over 40 years I was only seeing the movie because of the hype.  In the comics Ant-Man was never much of a hero in my book.  A guy who could shrink and grow bigger.  So what.  Hank Pym and his wife Janet had that market cornered and in the newest run of Ant-Man comics he got his head handed to him by Taskmaster in the first few editions.

After leaving the theater, however, I have a completely different impression of him.

The computer generated graphics were one of a kind.  At no point did one look and say, "This isn't real".  It was real.  It was flawless.

The casting?  Perfect!  Every single character was cast perfectly! (unlike some of the other movies where some actors had no business being there.)

The writing?  Perfect!  A serious film laced with comedy at the right moments.  Not kitschy comedy or slapstick, stupid stuff.  Comedy that related to the topic and got a laugh...all perfectly timed.  (I was afraid that this was going to have the typical gratuitous humor filled with puns and wordplay.)

The computer generated imagery?  Stunning.  Ants came to life.  People grew and shrunk.  Thomas the Tank Engine toys broke through walls.  All of it done without any blurring or choppiness or camera cuts that you couldn't follow. (I'm referring to the Age of Ultron movie where the camera cuts were so fast and often that you couldn't keep up with what was going on.)

This movie rivaled Guardians of the Galaxy in it's casting, content and computer generated imagery.  It may have even surpassed it.

Whether you are a super hero fan, a comic book fan, or a fan of movies that just take you away for 2 hours go see this movie.  Heck, even if you're NOT a fan of comics and superheroes you will appreciate this film.

My hat is off to Marvel, Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll and all the others that made this movie just flat out awesome.  In my opinion, this is the best single action hero movie put out by Marvel.  I liked Captain America, but this was a step above.

As a hint to those who are going to see it, stay to the very end.  I mean the very end, like when the credits are done rolling.  The scenes that follow are critical to upcoming releases.

Will there be an Ant-Man II?  You bet there will and I'll be there.

P.S.  If you are so inclined, there is a club you can belong to that will send you custom Ant-Man stuff that you can't get anywhere else.  It's called the Marvel Collector Corps.  I'm not paid to advertise it, I'm just a member who is thrilled with the contents of the boxes I get.  Here are some of the pics from this month's box.  It's an Ant-Man T-shirt, a collector's edition Ant-Man comic and some bobbleheads.