After the events of Captain America: Civil War, Scott Lang must grapple with the consequences of his choices as a superhero and a father by submitting himself to house arrest for two years as punishment for not abiding by the Sokivia Accords. When approached by Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym towards the end of his sentence, Lang must once again don the Ant-Man suit and fight alongside the Wasp as the dynamic duo journeys to bring back Janet van Dyne from the Quantum Realm. However, the urgent mission soon leads to startling revelations from the past as the duo find themselves backed up against a corner amidst facing a powerful new adversary with dangerous technology.
Ant-Man and the Wasp rounds out Marvel's ten year journey as the twentieth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and their third release of the year. Considering that information, you'd probably expect the superhero sequel to be bearing the weight of immense pressure. That's not exactly the case though, as Ant-Man and the Wasp feels light and breezy when compared to the recent dramatic additions in Marvel's filmography. As a smaller self-contained story, it's a refreshing palette cleanser following the severity and weight of Avengers: Infinity War's heavy cliff-hanger. I'm sure many Marvel fans are expecting some semblance of a crossover there, or at least a tease towards the still untitled Avengers 4, and to that I'll simply say you won't be disappointed. An expected Stan Lee cameo is included as well as two post-credits scenes, but you know the drill by now so just be sure and stick around when the credits start rolling. Otherwise, you're just going to look like a chump in the glaring, judgmental eyes of Marvel fanboys all around you.
To get back on track, Peyton Reed flies back in to direct the size-changing duo in their first outing together while the screenplay is credited to star Paul Rudd along with the quartet of Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Andrew Barrer, and Gabriel Ferrari. Last time around, Reed didn't have full control of Ant-Man... There was the unfortunate matter and circumstance of creative differences between the studio and Edgar Wright that lead to Reed getting the gig just before filming. However, this time around, you can tell Marvel gave Reed full creative control to do as he pleased. While I wouldn't go as far to saying Ant-Man and the Wasp is an exceptionally well-directed blockbuster, his stamp of a approval on it is clear because the zany wackiness audiences gravitated towards in the first film has now been dialed to an eleven. Whether that will be controversial or not remains to be seen, but I've already seen a substantial split of people's opinion on my Twitter feed. Whatever the case, I'm expecting the audience response to be something akin to the reception towards Iron Man 3 rather than the full-fledged fanboy rage towards Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Anyways, I apologize for getting caught up in all that chatter, but I felt it was worth mentioning at the very least. As is often the case for sequels, Ant-Man and the Wasp had its eyes set on being another small-scaled, self-contained story with bigger action, heart, and humor. At the end of the day, I'd say it met its goal because it's about on par with the original in my book. While the first film is more focused and grounded in reality, I can't help but slightly prefer the hilarious hijinks present in Ant-Man and the Wasp. I'd actually liken it to Saturday morning cartoon (I say this in a positive light). There's little thematic importance to the journey beyond demonstrating the importance of family and teamwork as we've seen a million times before, but it's still a fun, briskly paced adventure the whole family can enjoy.
As you'd expect, Reed and crew have found new creative ways to inventively exploit the size-changing gimmick, and it totally works in the film's favor. Now that Giant-Man's on the table thanks to the airport battle in Civil War (which comes up quite often here), there are new toys at Reed's disposal and he can quite literally think bigger in regards to planning out the film's beats of action and humor. On that note, the action sequences are a noticeable improvement over the original and I also found the film to be also much funnier than the first. A win-win for a sequel to an action-comedy.
I'd also say the sequel's visual effects are among the best I've seen all year. While I wouldn't go as far to saying they beat out Infinity War's grandiose graphics overall, the cinematic de-aging technique that Marvel often exploits is at its very best here and there were no sketchy instances of uncanny video game-esque renderings or poor green screen work which can sometimes be a bane to Marvel (ie. Black Panther and Thor: Ragnarok). The production design inside Pym's new lab is also visually appealing so it definitely deserves a mention as well.
Like the first, Ant-Man and the Wasp succeeds first and foremost on the merits of its cast. There are quite a few exciting new additions to the ensemble as well as plenty of familiar faces returning from the first film, but Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lily are front and center as the first to co-lead a Marvel feature. Up to this point, everything's been team-based or driven by a solo character with supporting cast, which makes it all the more refreshing to see Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne share title billing. A significant story element from the original was the implication that Hope might be more qualified to wear the Ant-Man suit than Scott, and the sequel certainly pushes that notion even further...
The three year wait to see Lily step up to lead status was well worth it because Wasp is a badass. It was nice to see her steal the show without coming across as an in-your-face feminist. My only insignificant issue with her being such an awesome component of the film is that it often comes at the expense of Scott Lang looking like a total doofus. Granted, I guess that's kind of why Paul Rudd was cast to begin with, but still... I also appreciated that they didn't spin it as if she necessarily needed Lang's help to get things done. Instead, they went for the age-old message that teamwork makes the dream work. She's adept, skillful, and a cunning combatant, but even she can't do it all alone.
On the flipside, Paul Rudd's winsome charm shines through once again as he provided some of the biggest laughs once more. His chemistry with Lily is even better this time around as the nature of their relationship has significantly evolved, and it continues to change over the course of the film. Through it all, Cassie remains a sweet centerpiece to the whole shebang. Her dynamic with her dad is absolutely adorable and I totally bought into it on the basis of Rudd and Abby Ryder Forston's performances. In terms of supporting characters, she totally stole every scene she was in.
Filling out the supporting ensemble, Michael Peña, T.I., David Dastmalchian, Bobby Cannavale, and Judy Greer all do great work with what's provided to them. The trio of Peña, T.I., and Dastmalchian were particularly hilarious in notable sequences. You can tell that Reed and crew took note of people gravitating to Luis in the original though because Peña is in the sequel significantly more than he was last time around. It's not a bad thing because his eccentric character is such a delight, but simply an observation I made about how Reed likely reacted to the response towards the first film.
Meanwhile, Ant-Man and the Wasp has a very interesting villain situation... There are multiple ANT-agonistic forces, but not really one specific, clear-cut villain so to speak. First up, Ghost turns out to be a compelling character with a sympathetic cause, but is more ANT-agonist than villain. Thanks to Hannah John-Kamen, Ghost has a powerful screen presence and her action scenes are pretty cool, but I ultimately wished she had factored more into the plot. Another character in the stable of ANT-agonists would be Sonny Burch played by Walton Goggins, and I was woefully disappointed by the disposable role he wound up in. Goggins is an immensely talented actor, but his character was honestly wasted here. The other ANT-agonistic force which isn't quite villainous would be the FBI. The head agent checking in on Lang is Jimmy Woo, portrayed by Randall Park, and he was a hilarious addition whenever onscreen.
With a stronger emotional core and bigger action, the tiny dynamic duo's first team-up takes off as a slightly superior sequel, but is unable to fully spread its wings on the basis of being light-hearted popcorn fluff. Marvel fans will surely find it worthwhile for the extra ANT-icipation it brings to Avengers 4, but the adventure may also prove too cartoonish to some. However, I thought it lived up to the buzz and I c-AN'T wait to be stung again.
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