ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (2018)

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (2018)

Tagline:  Real heroes. Not actual size.

(Action, Adventure, Comedy) [PG-13]

Last night we powered up the tunnel for the first time. It overloaded, and it shut down. But for a split second, the doorway to the Quantum Realm was opened..

In this one, Scott Lang is basically on house arrest for getting involved with Captain America on the “laws” version of the wrong side in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR. He starts getting kind of periodically possessed by Janet Van Dyne’s voice or memory or whatever. Not long after he is recruited by Hope Van Dyne and Hank Pym who need help with a mission that actually ends up having to do with Janet. Can she be found in the quantum realm? We find out Hope is “The Wasp” and her ANT-MAN and Hank are back together only to be challenged by a mysterious character named Ghost, who needs the same thing they do. 

There is a TON to love about this movie. The first thing is that’s its scale isn’t as over the top as its cinematic predecessor AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR. That means the timing was basically perfect and it delivered some much-needed humor at the right time to the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). 

Another thing is that they brought back the cast from the incredibly fun and impressive first installment ANT-MAN. We also get some added characters with clout including Janet Van Dyne (played by Michelle Pfeiffer probably best known from the incredibly epic GREASE 2 (sarcasm)). She joined the cast because she liked the first film. We also get Laurence Fishburne as Dr. Bill Foster. When you have a chance to get Laurence Fishburne for your movie, you get him and it automatically makes it better. Paul Rudd is just as great as ANT-MAN as he was the first time and getting more scenes with him and his daughter (played by Abby Ryder Fortson) together adds to the heart of this thing. These little touches as well as Michael Peña comedic timing and fantastic storytelling segments as Luis really bring forth the elements for success.

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP is not without its cool effects, we do get to see ANT-MAN as giant ANT-MAN and Evangeline Lilly is perfect as the “Wasp”. I do wish design-wise that they had gone with a full yellow in the suit like in the comics and TV show, but whatever. It all still looked fantastic. The chase scenes are incredible and the size-changing sequences are awesome. 

If I had one critique about this movie it would be the casting of “Ghost”. Hannah John-Kamen is a good actress, but I just didn’t think she was the best for this role. I also would have preferred that the storyline for Ghost had revolved around her suit having the power rather than her having been in an accident, but we got what we got. For the record, in the comics Ghost is a male and never runs into ANT-MAN at all. None of this is a deal-breaker for me, this thing is still extremely solid and really fun. In my opinion, the two ANT-MAN movies thus far are one of the unsung highlights of the entire MCU. I also liked the use of water bears in some of the effects in the quantum realm. 

For me, ANT-MAN AND THE WASP is a solid 6 out of 7. It is not the perfection of the first film, but it’s a fantastic second entry and adds to the MCU as a whole in much the same way both GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY movies did. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF MARVEL STUDIOS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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