Film 172 of 2024:

MCU (Film) Ranking (incl. Special Presentations): 28 of 35

It's crazy to see how much my rating has gradually dropped from a 4 star film upon initial viewing to eventually land as of today, on 3 stars. Granted, I think as I do this MCU rewatch on the way to Secret Wars - many of the films I once had a 3.5 stars will find their rating dropping. This doesn't bode well for the Phase 4 films.

It's not that Ant-Man is overly bad, especially in comparison to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. It just feels standard. The strength of the Ant-Man film really is in it's lead 3 actors. Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lilly have great chemistry; it's thanks to them that the film is enjoyable. They're surrounded by a strong cast.

Ultimately Ant-Man falls due to it's inability to add any real stakes. Corey Stoll is an okay villain but even when he's aware of what's going on, there's never any real threat behind his actions. In Yellowjacket, we see another villain that is a mirror image of the hero - a trait that would become more frequent in the MCU.

Ultimately while Ant-Man is a decent film, within the larger Marvel Universe it's the first film in what would become the most forgettable trilogy.