Watching Ant-man was fun, but it would probably have been more fun in a theater where there would have been lots of people there to laugh at the absurdities scattered throughout.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/ant-man/id1012788984
See below for a plot summary with SPOILERS in the form of a beat sheet in the style described in Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat.
My beat sheet for Ant-man
Set-up
Scott, just released from prison, tries to avoid getting caught up in any more theft.
Catalyst
However, he needs money to pay child support, or his ex-wife won’t let him see their daughter. Scott’s friend Luis has a prospective target. (It’s great fun watching him relate how he heard about the target.)
Debate
Scott steals what he thinks is a motorcycle suit, tries it on, and accidentally shrinks himself. Terrified, he tries to return it.
Break into Two
Hank, the suit’s inventor, visits Scott in jail and offers him the chance to escape using the suit. Scott takes it.
Fun and Games
Hank needs Scott to steal a weaponized but faulty version of his shrinking suit from the vault inside a company Hank’s former partner now controls. Scott has been specifically recruited by means of Luis. First he learns how to use shrinking- and insect-related superpowers. (I was reminded a little of Honey I Shrunk the Kids, but these ants are friends.) Then Scott is sent to steal a gizmo from the Avengers that will help him get in the company vault.
B Story
We learn that, contrary to what Hank has told his daughter Hope, Hank’s wife did not die. She disappeared into the quantum realm while disabling a missile. Hope agrees to help Hank stop his partner from selling his technology.
Midpoint
After many rounds of tests and improvements, the weaponized suit is no longer faulty. It’s ready to be sold to the evil organization HYDRA.
Bad Guys Close In
Scott, Hank, and Hope conduct a mission-impossible raid on the building with help from Luis and his criminal friends.
All Is Lost
Instead of finding the suit, Scott, Hank, and Hope find themselves captured.
Dark Night of the Soul
They have handed the Ant-man suit to Hank’s enemy.
Break into Three
Scott breaks free. Hank, and Hope escape in a tank upsized from a keychain Hank was carrying. The building explodes.
Finale
Hank’s enemy, who has escaped in a helicopter, uses the weaponized suit and attacks Scott. After being momentarily defeated, the villain goes to Scott’s house, continues the fight on a miniature train set, and takes Scott’s daughter hostage. Scott uses the Ant-man suit to enter and return from the quantum realm, sabotaging the weaponized suit from inside it and thus saving his daughter.
