Ant-Man and the Wasp: A Welcome Addition Post Infinity War

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Director:  Peyton Reed

Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lily, Michael Douglas, Hannah John-Kamen

Studio: Marvel Studios

Music: Christophe Beck

Reviewed by John Gomes

 

Ant-Man and the Wasp is a welcome addition to the MCU after the dour events of Avengers: Infinity War. Director Peyton Reed takes what worked in Ant-Man and doubles it in a fun action-packed ride, despite including some typical MCU faults.

Peyton Reed stays in the director chair for Ant-Man and the Wasp, the sequel to 2015’s Ant-Man. Like in Ant-Man, Reed brings his knack for energetic comedy that he honed in films like Yes Man and Bring It On. Paul Rudd not only stars as Scott Lang/Ant-Man in the film, but teams up with a cabal of screenwriters to pen the movie as well just as he did for Ant-Man.

Returning along with Rudd are Evangeline Lily as Hope van Dyne/ the Wasp, Michael Douglas as the original Ant-Man and scientist Hank Pym and Michael Piña as Luis. Also returning are Judy Greer as Lang’s ex-wife Maggie, Bobby Cannavale as Jim, Maggie’s husband, Abby Ryder Fortson returns as Cassie, Scott’s adorable daughter. Tip “TI” Harris and David Dastmalchian also return as Dave and Kurt-members of Scott and Luis’ ex-con crew.

New faces include Michelle Pfieffer as Janet van Dyne, the original Wasp and Pym’s wife and Hope’s mother. Hannah John-Kamen plays main villain Ava Starr/Ghost, Walter Goggins is black market dealer, Sonny Burch, Randall Park is FBI agent and Scott Lang’s parole officer Jimmy Woo. Lawrence Fishburne makes an appearance outside of DC films as Bill Foster, a former colleague of Pym’s.

Even though Ant-Man and the Wasp releases after Infinity War, the movie mostly deals with fallout from Captain America: Civil War. Scott Lang is under house arrest after his involvement helping Captain America in the airport fight in Germany.  The film focuses on the search for Janet van Dyne, who is stranded in the quantum realm, and Scott’s relationships with his daughter Cassie, Hope and Pym. Being under house arrest tests Scott’s knack for getting into trouble, but he makes up for it by trying to be a good dad to Cassie and a friend to Luis, who runs a security business with Scott and his crew.

But sooner or later trouble finds Scott in the way of the quantum realm, which Scott took a trip to in the first film. This leads to him becoming embroiled in Hope and Pym’s search for Janet. In their way is Ava Starr/Ghost, who is able to phase through matter, and needs to find Janet for her own purposes, and Sonny Burch who wants Pym’s technology for himself.

Throughout the film, Reed is able to jump from one inventive action sequence to another, utilizing both the heroes and villains’ powers to great effect. Evangeline Lily’s Wasp is often the highlight of these action packed sequences as Reed uses her powers to drive the action most often. Hope and the Wasp are deserving of having a spot in the title.

Rudd and co. keep the dialogue snappy and the jokes plentiful. The humor is welcome following Infinity War, but like most MCU films it too often undercuts what should be solely dramatic and serious moments. And when the film wants to be serious, I find myself waiting for the next joke, often ruining what should be a nice moment. The writers also seem to have trouble finding different names for things related to the quantum realm, though. Everything has “quantum” in front of it, so much so that every time a character says quantum, I groaned a little inside.

Character wise, the protagonists are all well written and performed, with Lily and Fortson stealing the show as Hope and Cassie. Michael Piña is able to turn just as good a performance as he did for Ant-Man. My only complaint would be we see less of Michelle Pfeiffer than one would hope, even though she delivers an excellent performance.

While the bad guys aren’t as terrible as Ant-Man’s villains were, John-Kamen’s Ghost is a tad under-developed, even though her powers are pretty cool and she possesses an interesting backstory. They aren’t enough to make her feel like capable threat to the heroes. Goggins’ Burch meanwhile is a mess. While Goggins brings charisma to the role, Burch seems unnecessary and unbelievable, like he is in the film solely to give the good guys something to fight. Fishburne gives a good performance, despite limited screen time, and his relationship with Ghost is new for a Marvel film.

Effects-wise, the movie is able to stay away from the bad effects that plagued Black Panther and Infinity War. The constant shrinking and growing is done well, but the kaleidoscopic quantum realm is where the film shows its effects muscle as we spend more time in there then we do in Ant-Man.

Ant-Man and the Wasp is a palate cleanser following Infinity War with its humor and awesome action providing a much needed lift to the MCU. Do stay in your seats for the credits, as unlike some MCU post-credit scenes, you probably don’t want to miss Ant-Man and the Wasp’s