I went to the movies to see this, fully expecting Marvel to continue their rather disturbing trend towards silliness. I was very pleasantly surprised, as they changed things up a bit, moving their percentages back towards what made their early movies so good.
Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of silly moments in this movie, but they don't overwhelm, or even intrude on the main plot at all, unlike Ragnarok, Deadpool II, or Infinity War.
Once again, truly remarkable special effects were added, but only to support the story and bring the comic page into live-action. The switched camera to show tiny vehicles, or buildings, plus the superimposed large size Ant-Man, as above, were rendered and placed in the movie to push the story forward. This is something Marvel has always been outstanding at.
Paul Rudd's part was a bit of a disappointment, only in the really tired story of being under house arrest and having to get out to be the hero. Marvel moved towards stereotyped sequences here, but it was only a minor annoyance at worst.
Evangeline Lilly was spectacular as The Wasp. She was driven, creative, heroic, and deferential towards Ant-Man, until she had to save him. The emotions were perfectly played and the process was not, in any way, a stretch. Again, it may have been a bit stereotyped of a emotion changing process, but it worked.
This was a great one-off movie to pick people up after the ending of Infinity War. With the big baddie in Infinity War destroying half of the universe's inhabitants, the fans needed a more light-hearted movie to pick them up again. Marvel delivered.
Then Marvel stabbed us in the heart, with their credits scene. Ant-Man is in the Quantum Zone and his communications with the outside world are cut off, as Hank Pym and The Wasp, along with Janet Van Dyne were turned to ash because of the events in Infinity War. Scott Lang, Ant-Man is stranded in the Quantum Zone, with no guidance back.
I'm eagerly awaiting the next Marvel movie, just wondering how they will stitch everything together with the Infinity War effects unresolved.