This new film may not quite match the intensity or excitement of Tom Cruise’s newest Mission Impossible edition, but it’s nevertheless a worthwhile endeavor, with director Guy Ritchie toning down the spastic shooting style that all but destroyed his Sherlock Holmes films with Robert Downey Jr.

Are these the heroes America deserves, as punishment for our slavish devotion to all films Marvel? It may be true that this Fantastic Four is an improvement over the 2005 version (and perhaps its 2007 sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer), that’s really not saying a damn thing.

What allows Ant-Man to flourish is that it largely turns its back on the solemnity and self-importance that occasionally hamper Marvel features and instead traffics in the same sort of freewheeling frivolity seen in last summer’s smash, Guardians of the Galaxy.

It’s sexy, it’s stylish, it’s well-paced (and the dance routines exceptionally well-choreographed), and it’s unexpectedly pro-women.

The charm of Ted is that it never took itself too seriously; the problem with Ted 2 is that it does.

These excursions, which easily top those taken through Tomorrowland and Jurassic World, result in some of the most potent set-pieces in the Pixar canon, with select bits even invoking the spirit of the gems Hayao Miyazaki made for Studio Ghibli.