Ant-Man and the Wasp Review

Last month, I got the chance to attend a conference/festival in Atlanta called Terminus. Two of the guests present were visual effects producer Susan Pickett and visual effects supervisor Stephane Ceretti. Both have worked with Marvel Studios extensively, namely Guardians of the Galaxy and Doctor Strange and the newest MCU film, Ant-Man and the Wasp. During one of their panels, Stephane admitted that what makes Marvel Studios' output so strong is that their main goal is to entertain. There are no pretenses in what they do; audiences keep showing up because they are solidly entertained for 2-2.5 hours with remarkable effects, resonating stories and memorable characters.

I'm proud to say that their newest project continues this trend. It is far from the best MCU film. It's certainly not even the best MCU film to come out this year. But as a piece of pure entertainment, Ant-Man and the Wasp continues to remind us that Marvel Studios has its fingers on the audience's pulse, 20 movies in and 10 years running.

Ant-Man and the Wasp takes place two years after the events of Captain America: Civil War. Scott Lang's house arrest following his violation of the Sokovia Accords is almost up, though he's managed to hold it together thanks to regular visits from his daughter and Luis. After experiencing a mysterious vision of Janet van Dyne, the long-lost former Wasp, Scott decides to attempt to get in contact with Hank and Hope, who were forced to go on the run as a result of Scott's actions. Hank and Hope kidnap Scott to find out more about his vision and attempt to rescue Janet from the Quantum Realm; believing that she is still alive after Scott was able to escape in the previous film.

However, the trio are besieged by not only the FBI, but two other interested parties in Pym's technology. On one hand, a gang of black market weapon dealers want the Quantum Realm technology for monetary reasons. On the other is the mysterious supervillain Ghost, who possesses the ability to phase through matter and pursues the technology so that she may be freed from the pain of existing in and out of this dimension. Cornered at all sides, Scott Lang must suit up as Ant-Man once again. But this time, Hope finally shows what she's made of as she takes up the mantle of the Wasp, and the two heroes team up to rescue Janet and keep the tech from falling into the wrong hands.

As that brief synopsis indicates, a lot happens in this film. The movie is a very brisk two hour long trip, but it covers a lot of ground within that time. That synopsis doesn't even cover the subplot of Scott wanting to wrap this excursion up quickly so that he can avoid imprisonment, or Hank's demons resurfacing when he is reunited with his former assistant Ben Foster. It's a lot to digest, and the movie does occasionally struggle to juggle it all while still maintaining the goofy charm of the first film. Still, Peyton Reed manages to pull it off for the most part, now freed from the shackles of having to live up to Edgar Wright's vision. He gives the film enough breaks to give the audience the chance to catch up, like throwing in ridiculous asides during intense moments where our characters are in a bind.

Unlike Thor: Ragnarok, this never comes off as tone-deaf. The film is light-hearted in its entire run; no characters are getting brutally slaughtered and undercut with a joke. As a result, the film greatly benefits from keeping the stakes small. The world isn't on the line here; instead, we have a personal story about the importance of family and cross-generational struggles. But with size-changing superheroes.

Once again, the film's goofiness is entirely its own. This can certainly be attributed to Paul Rudd's comic timing and style (he also once again co-wrote the screenplay), but the bizarre tone these films carry can be seen in most of its cast. From Scott's ever colorful friends, who now run a struggling security company, to the tenacious FBI agent desperate to catch Scott and his cohorts in the act. No other MCU series could have Luis's insane tangents complete with exaggerated lip readings from the stars fit so well.

If Ant-Man was a heist comedy, then Ant-Man and the Wasp is a chase comedy. Our heroes are chasing someone or being chased for its entire runtime, and it can get exhausting. The final action sequence has got to be close to half an hour, but it constantly keeps things fresh by changing locales and shifting focus to one character or the other. With so many pieces in play, it's easy to think this film might be too busy, and it does struggle to give some characters a fair shake (Walton Goggins is mostly wasted here, as he exists just to be an inconvenience). However, it all comes together because it keeps its heart in the right place: like Guardians of the Galaxy, this is an MCU movie about family. That point cannot be overstated. From Hank becoming more optimistic after realizing Janet might be alive, to Scott doing his best to stay out of trouble for his daughter's sake; this is a film where our characters are driven by familial love. Even Eva/Ghost is driven by this, though only because the same accident that gave her her powers took away everyone she loved.

Speaking of Ghost, she's a surprisingly interesting villain. She's nowhere near on the same scale as Killmonger or Thanos in terms of screen presence or intimidation factor, but she's still a unique presence in the MCU. Every time the movie teases a cheap way into her becoming your standard baddie, it chooses not to go that route. This makes her entire character a refreshing change of pace from your typical mustache-twirling MCU villain, and not just in terms of visual interest (by the way, the visual effects team absolutely kills it here. I'm thinking this could get a VFX nod at the Oscars alongside Infinity War). Hannah John-Kamen really gets into it here, giving the role the necessary expressions of turmoil and pain needed to make her more sympathetic than your average villain.

"Hey, Evangeline. For this shot, could you give Paul the same look you gave Peter Jackson when he told you they were adding a love triangle in The Hobbit trilogy? That's it. Perfect."

Ghost, of course, is not the only woman that shines here. Evangeline Lilly finally gets to prove how much of a badass she is as she finally suits up as the Wasp, and proves herself to be just as qualified, if not more so, than Ant-Man. The fight choreography here is several steps up from what the first film delivers, and a big part of that is how well Wasp incorporates her abilities into her combat style. The fights are energetic, layered, and visually exciting. Hope displays her understanding of the abilities in a much deeper way than Scott ever does, as he mostly discovers what he can do by accident. Still, she shows a softer side as well, as the relationship between her and Scott grows hot and cold during the runtime. Her bond with both parents also shows signs of growth. Gone is her grudge against her father, now she works day in and day out alongside him to rescue her mother.

There's a lot more I'd like to talk about here, like Michelle Pfeiffer's performance and specific gags, but I want to avoid as many spoilers as possible. All you need to know is that Pfeiffer is naturally amazing in her limited screentime, adding to the theme of legacy I've been mentioning here (after all, Michelle Pfeiffer delivered one of the most iconic comic book movie performances as Catwoman in Batman Returns). And of course the film is funny, but spelling out whole gags for you is no fun at all.

I can't accurately say which Ant-Man film is stronger. Ant-Man and the Wasp might take the lead because it feels like a more complete film, one that doesn't feel as beholden to tie itself within the MCU (though this film certainly reminds us of the rest of the universe while laying out the groundwork for more potential stories to come). But this film's biggest weakness is the sheer amount of stuff going on, something the first film managed to keep in check by maintaining a simple, clean-cut story. Ant-Man and the Wasp could have used a few more minutes of time to let itself breathe some more.

However, unlike most bloated superhero sequels, Ant-Man and the Wasp doesn't really have one weak subplot. Each adds more entertainment value to the movie, all culminating with a big chase sequence with four parties all pursuing Pym's world-changing technology, but not to destroy the world. This lower-stakes adventure is a great breath of fresh air after so many consecutive stories involving potentially world-ending scenarios (the last MCU film where the world wasn't on the line was Spider-Man: Homecoming, coincidentally featuring another Tim Burton Batman alum). Therefore, if you feel like superhero films are getting too big for their britches, it might not be a bad time to check this film out. It could be passed off as filler in the larger scheme of the MCU, but it advances our heroes of this franchise in some cool ways.

I wager we'll get an Ant-Man 3 at some point (or would they call it Ant-Man and the Wasp 2?), and hopefully Marvel Studios will remember that the smaller scale of these stories fit Ant-Man surprisingly well.

We just have some...other business that needs to be cleaned up in the MCU first.