Ant-Man And The Wasp

 

This is one of the movies I was most looking forward to seeing this summer. The first Ant-Man movie was interesting and funny and totally captured the FUN that should be at the heart of all Marvel movies. A sequel was therefor a no brainer and this one is a fun superhero adventure without all the heaviness or crowded nature of Infinity War or even Black Panther. In fact it's such a shift from Thanos and his ennui that I thought my head was going to snap off it's pins. Of course that means it's just the perfect superhero movie for the world right now.

 

Ant-Man and The Wasp is a master class in casting. Everyone is perfect in their roles with Evangeline Lilly being more than magnificent. The magic she showed on LOST was not a fluke. I am glad she has been waiting around for years for just the right role and in the Wasp she has found it. I hope she is the center of a whole female superhero renaissance. Her and Rudd have real chemistry as well.

 

I keep forgetting how much I like Michael Douglas in anything too. He is gruff and snarky but also a really cool Dad and a hero in his own right. I wish they would have worked harder on his relationship with Bill Foster (Lawrence Fishburn).

Paul Rudd can be a little bit goofy and everyone talks way too fast but I can deal with that. All that yapping fills in many a plot hole. There are however many lines that are just thrown in there to fill any silence and it can get annoying pretty fast. Cut out about half of Paul Rudd's lines and you have improved the script by 50%. I understand he had a hand in 'punching' up the script. I am sure all the silly conversations were his contribution.

 

Of course Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is not allowed to be a superhero anymore after associating himself with Captain American during Civil War. He is under house arrest but of course that will not be enough to keep him from returning to the superheroics when called upon to do so. Everything is personal and more intimate and equal time is spent with Ant Man Superhero and Scott Lang Dad.

 

Both Hank Pim and his daughter believe that they can bring back his long lost wife played by the luminous Michelle Pheiffer and that brings the good guys into conflict with a new character called The Ghost who has her own plans for the Quantum energy that seems to power all of Hank Pym's shrinking and growing science. The special effects are even more inventive than the first time around with the car chase through the streets of San Francisco being a highlight. The filmmakers totally understand how best to display the shrinking and growing powers of their heroes to stunning effect.

 

I really enjoyed the first film and this one is more of the same and then some. The stakes feel a little bit higher for characters we care about and that give the story it's emotional punch. And for those of you who wondered where Ant-Man and the Wasp were during Infinity War - that issue is elegantly dealt with. I look forward to many more movies with these characters. Where is my cartoon on TV as well? I was left wanting more and isn't that really all you want from a sequel?