Ant-Man & the Wasp is the follow up to Ant-Man and Captain America: Civil War, featuring the titular hero, Scott Lang, held under house arrest and kept from Hank Pym or Hope van Dyne. When the said father-daughter gain access to the quantum realm, it gains the attraction of a new villain called “Ghost,” who wants their tech in order to fix herself, and now Lang must redawn the guise of Ant-Man, along with Hope dawning her mother’s former mantle of The Wasp, in order to tackle this new foe.
If you're familiar with my recent rankings of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you'd know I wasn't really the biggest fan of Ant-Man. A lot of my disdain was due to Edgar Wright being kicked off the movie, despite spending a decade in development of it, and what we ended up with was a pretty mediocre film, even if it wasn't a follow up to Age of Ultron. Granted, the effects and cinematography were unique, the cast does a good job with what they have, but for a comedy that was originated from one of the best filmmakers today and it turned out like this, is just disappointing.
When it came time to do the sequel, however, my expectations were a lot different. Since Wright didn’t have any involvement, my expectations were low, and the trailers managed to get me hyped to actually see another adventure with Scott Lang in the lead. Plus, considering the events of Infinity War, this was going to be our answer as to what he’s been up to since Civil War. I’m happy to inform that this managed to meet my expectations, as was a fun time. It may not be among my personal favorites, but Ant-Man & the Wasp manages to be a solid, entertaining, funny, and sometimes intense throughout its runtime. Peyton Reed is back as director, and at times, you can tell that now that Marvel’s starting to become more flexible, he’s got a little bit more range to work with. The action scenes, in which you have both shrinking and growing almost everything around these characters, you always feel unexpected as to what’s going to make a major pop next.
A major thing I also loved is the chemistry between our titular heroes. While I may not have found the comedy that great in the first film, Paul Rudd truly stepped up his game as both star and co-writer, with jokes landing almost every scene and even some characters who DIDN’T get to shine their comedic talents, get a chance here this time. Hell, the scene in the school had me laughing my ass off, just because of how silly it was. I especially love the scenes with him and his daughter, showing them have fun while he’s under house arrest, but never lose that sense of bonding time. That’s of course, not to discredit his action scenes as well. Evangeline Lilly as the Wasp is still just as feisty as before, but once again, she’s got a lot better humor to work with; her action scenes are also twice as exciting, being a real pro with the shrinking gear. For the first actress to play a Marvel heroine in her titular movie since Elektra, Lilly claims the title of being the best automatically by comparison.
Michael Douglas reprises his role of Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man, and while he is as expositiony as before, he makes it all the more hilarious with his more vicious remarks at Scott. He also gets a moment to suit up for a mission, so that was nice to finally get a glimpse of that. Michelle Pfiefer as the original Wasp, what can I say? To see her make a return to a comic book movie since Batman Returns, it felt all too fitting to have her here; plus, with her as the first official superhero mom in the Marvel Universe, the chemistry that she has with Douglas and Lilly feels very soothing. Michael Pena also makes a return, even with a bit of a smaller role, but he still makes it worth every second; hell, compared to the first film, I actually thought he was funny this time around. Other cast members like Walton Goggins as a trade dealer, Laurence Fishburne (oh, that must hurt DC) as Hank’s former partner, Hannah John-Kamen as the Ghost was a pretty imaginative character to work with, especially in action; hell, if Peyton Reed can make a ghost fight look this good, I’ll trust him with a Danny Phantom movie if that’s possible.
The biggest downside is that the pacing hardly takes a moment to breathe, especially in the third act, when they have so much going on at once. There’s a chase through the quantum realm, a chase through the city to get one thing, another chase to go cover up something, and it just becomes exhausting all the way through. That, and with the extra dosage of comedy thrown in, it does make it hard to take seriously when it’s trying to be.
In the end, Ant-Man & the Wasp is a major step up from the previous film, and definitely does these characters better justice. Is one of the MCU’s best? No, but that wasn’t the goal; it was to make a fun heist and chase movie, and that’s what it accomplished. And do stay for the end credits, because it does tell you where Scott’s been during Infinity War.
Rating: B
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