Ant-Man

Director: Peyton Reed
Year Released: 2015
Rating: 2.0

Cat burglar Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), fresh out of prison, is convinced to break into a stranger's house and rob a safe in the basement ... except the whole thing is a set-up and the safe belongs to mastermind scientist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) who needs Lang to wear a special suit he designed (which makes its wearer shrink to the size of an ant) in order to infiltrate Pym's former company, now run by rogue Darren Cross (Corey Stoll). There are some cute details, like the off-beat casting of Rudd as a super-hero and the final battle between Rudd and Stoll in a Rudd's daughter's bedroom (look out, here comes Thomas the Tank Engine!), but it's still formulaic - following the Comic Book Plotline to a fault - and unsurprising, with a rather generic bad guy figure (and I say that with all due respect to Stoll, who is a superb actor). Kudos to the special effects people for making Douglas look like he's ready to film Basic Instinct; no such effects were required for the gorgeous (and future Wasp) Evangeline Lilly.