The cutest Marvel movie. Very low-stakes. What I liked about the first Ant-Man is that it wasn't so much a superhero flick as it was a heist film with superpowers. Once again, Lang and crew aren't out to save the world or stop a supervillain. They're just trying to do some science stuff and people keep getting in their way. This more self-centered approach taken by the protagonists allows them to stand out a bit from their numerous costumed peers. They never stray too far from the established MCU formula though. The action makes great use of the characters' ability to manipulate size. Although outside of a few exceptions most of the best set-pieces were spoiled in the trailer. That car chase is actually the biggest sequence in the movie. The humor is very safe and like much of the MCU's third phase it's one of the defining factors of the experience. I laughed a lot, but most of the early material falls flat because Rudd seems to be phoning it in. Something he does on and off. Michael Douglas is also guilty of this. The plot deals a lot with the fallout of Civil War. The characters were really affected by Scott's involvement which serves as a driving factor for him to fix everything. The constant references to that earlier film makes sense given where this sequel falls in the MCU's overall timeline, but it's also kind of detrimental as it makes the movie feel more dated than it actually is. Infinity War just happened and everyone is still caught up in that. We've moved on from The Avengers one-time squabble amongst themselves. At the same time I kind of like this smaller-scaled approach that feels more detached from the rest of the heroes. It allows us to have sweet moments of father-daughter bonding between Lang and his little girl while he struggles with his non-heroic pals at keeping a business going. Some down-to-earth, real life stuff that distinguishes Ant-Man as more of your average guy. His fellow ex-cons might not actually contribute anything to the plot, but it's nice to see to some regular dudes amongst all of the extraordinary happenings. Especially when they're so darn funny. Randall Park is a gift in this. One thing Marvel has really been listening to and trying to work on are the villains. There's still a ways yet to go, but things have been on the rise in this department ever since Peter Parker got his long-awaited MCU standalone. "Ghost" is another example of this steady improvement. Mostly because she's not actually a bad person. Her motives are understandable and even sympathetic. They just so happen to put her at odds with our heroes. I would have loved to have learned more about her background in S.H.I.E.L.D. and want to see her character come back as an ally to further enrich the cast. Same for Fishburne. Definitely one of the safer Marvel movies, but after Infinity War it's nice to see something solely concerned with doing it's own thing. This is actually one of the more eccentric sides of the MCU. Giant ants run around and people explore another dimension they call the "Quantam Realm." A place I really want them to reveal more information about as it's even more interesting than the depths of space we've seen a bunch of by now alongside the Guardians and Thor. It's almost pure silliness across the board and that's fun, but sometimes it can be a little too goofy for it's own good. The inconsequential nature of the movie is actually a positive factor that increased my overall enjoyment.