'Ant-Man and the Wasp Review' (2018)
A Much Smaller, But Still Enjoyable Entry in the MCU
The Marvel community has been left in a state of shock and despair after the results of Infinity War. It was an epic film that delivered on an emotional scale and surprised fans on how dark Marvel actually went with it. Ant-Man and the Wasp is a nice palate cleanser that will hopefully lessen the blow delivered by Infinity War.
Plot
After the results of Civil War, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) attempts to lay low from superhero work and focus on being a good father. However, after Hank (Michael Douglas) and Hope Pym (Evangeline Lily) recruit him for another mission, Lang must suit up as Ant-Man once again and team up with the Wasp in order to complete the mission. The mission is not so easy, however, as a new enemy emerges who proves to be a real threat for the team.
Characters
Rudd is once again fantastic as Lang. He has great comedic timing and has a lot of charm. The relationship he has with his daughter is definitely a highlight of this film. He has a lot more jokes that go along with his suit in this film and all of them really work.
Lily honestly steals the show as Wasp. She has a lot more fighting experience than Ant-Man so she has a lot of great fighting sequences throughout the film. The dynamic between Ant-Man and the Wasp is great because they have awesome chemistry with one another.
Douglas is great once again as Pym. He is given a lot more to do in this film instead of just give exposition to Rudd. He also has a lot of humor that works throughout the film. Michael Pena stole all of his scenes in the first film and he once again does it in this one. He is a bit of a bumbling idiot, but that just adds to his charm. He is definitely one of the funniest Marvel characters. Michelle Pfeiffer does pop up in this movie but she doesn't have a huge role. There is something interesting that happens with her character, but I don't want to spoil it.
The villains in this movie are a bit of a disappointment. Hannah John-Kamen plays Ghost who has pretty cool powers but is a relatively weak villain. She isn't very menacing and the film tries to make her more sympathetic, but it falls flat a bit. Walton Goggins plays another villain, and even though Goggins is great, his character is basically useless. He feels more like a small annoyance than an actual villain.
Direction
Peyton Reed is back to direct this sequel and he does a really great job with it. The action sequences in this one have been stepped up in terms of fight choreography and just overall scope. They are very creative in terms of how they play on the heroes shrinking and growing powers. There is a fight scene in a kitchen that uses everything it possibly can to create a cool fight scene.
Reed also does an excellent job at directing comedy. This is one of the funniest Marvel movies and that's because it is handled really well. There are very few jokes that didn't work and there were a couple that really made me laugh hard.
The effects in this movie are also great. There is a good amount of CGI but it's not really noticeable. A lot of this movie takes place in the quantum realm and it looks awesome. They really did a great job at designing this place.
The only issue in his direction is that this film feels very scattered. There are a bunch of different plot lines happening at once and sometimes the story doesn't feel as continuous as it should. There isn't that much of a direct narrative and there are a lot of narratives that intersect. It took me out of the movie sometimes when it cut around to all of them. This movie definitely feels like a filler episode within the MCU. It doesn't affect the MCU as a whole, but really only the characters who are in this film.
There are also certain plot points that are not explained. For example, there is a certain thing that happens with Pfeiffer's character that sort of comes out of nowhere and is never explained. Maybe they'll touch on it in another movie.
Final Thoughts
Ant-Man and the Wasp is a very entertaining movie. It has a lot of heart, a lot of cool action, and a lot of humor. The villain could have been a lot stronger and it really doesn't feel like much happened during this movie. Sometimes the plots feel scattered all over and ruined the flow of the film. However, the chemistry between all the characters and the humor that they bring to their performances really help make this movie a fun ride. Remember to stay for the post credit scene because it is pretty awesome.
Rating: 7.5/10
