Marvel Studios
One of the biggest questions of Avengers: Infinity War was where are Ant-Man and The Wasp? After Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) joined forces with Captain America in Civil War, it seems only natural that Ant-Man join the fight against Thanos. I’m not sure that Ant-Man and The Wasp answers that question very explicitly, but the simple matter is that the sequel to Ant-Man actually takes place before the events of Infinity War, basically so they didn’t have to address the dramatic events of that film in what is a more light-hearted series. (Minor Spoiler: And the absence may be explained a bit more by the film’s two post-credit scenes.)
So, put Avengers: Infinity War out of your mind when watching Ant-Man and The Wasp. This story picks up two years after the events of Civil War, where Scott broke the law by joining forces with his buddy Cap in Germany, which also exposed the technology that Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) had been developing, forcing them to go underground while Scott ended up under house arrest. It’s his last week of confinement, he’s got a new security business about to launch with his pals Luis (Michael Peña), Kurt (David Dastmalchian) and Dave (Tip ‘T.I.’ Harris), and he’s not had any contact with Hank or Hope since he’s responsible for their fugitive status.
But Scott has a vivid dream about Hope’s mother Janet (Michelle Pfieffer) and uses a burner phone to call Hank to tell him all about it … which then sounds ridiculous when he says it out loud, but it’s enough to intrigue Hope to abduct Scott (leaving his ankle bracelet attached to one of Hank’s giant worker ants), bring him to Hank and embark on a plan to go back into the quantum universe to bring Janet home. Hank and Hope have been working on a way to do that but they need one more part to get their quantum tunnel working. But when you’re dealing in the black market, you have to work with some less than honorable characters, and Hope comes across one in the form of Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins) — who has a history with Iron Man in the Marvel Comics universe — who has a buyer on the hook willing to pay $1 billion for Pym’s technology. As a fight breaks out, which forces Scott to don a new Ant-Man prototype suit (since he may have destroyed the first one), another presence joins the fight, someone who has the ability to phase — Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) — who is working with Dr. Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburn) to cure her condition before she phases completely out of existence.
There is a lot going on in Ant-Man and The Wasp but it never feels over-burdened. The main focus is trying to bring Janet back — because Hank and Hope are convinced that Scott didn’t just see her, but was implanted with a message on how to find her — while Ghost and Burch are working separately to steal the technology for themselves. And while all this is happening, Scott has to always be mindful of the fact that his parole officer Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) could show up at his house at any minute, especially when some of the chases through San Francisco garner media attention. There are a lot of spinning plates here but director Peyton Reed never lets one of them drop. It’s all a ton a fun.
Marvel Studios
Besides a terrific script, great direction, and flawless special effects (that are quite often used for laughs), the film really rests on the charisma of Paul Rudd. Eternally youthful, always genial, the guy you want as your best friend, you can’t help but be charmed by this guy. Lang never wanted to be a superhero, and he has no real powers unless he’s in the suit, so he’s quite aware of his shortcomings as an average guy, but puts all of his heart into making things right when he screws up and takes his hero role seriously once he suits up. You really can’t hate the guy, even if he is responsible for the Feds hunting you down.
Rudd also has great chemistry with Lilly and Douglas, and it’s great to see another strong female hero from Marvel. Lilly can kick ass with the best of them, and Douglas has some terrific comic timing. These three are the core of the film, and they are perfection. Peña, Dastmalchian and Harris also bring some broad comedy to the film, but it never feels out of place. Peña gets a great moment as well when faced by Burch and his men that is probably the funniest moment in the movie. Burch may be the weakest character of the bunch, though, more a mustache-twirling villain than a formidable foe but Goggins makes the best of it. I liked the Ghost/Ava character and her backstory (which featured a cameo by Michael Cerveris as her father Elihas Starr, aka ‘Egghead’ and an established Ant-Man villain), and Dr. Foster. It will be interesting to see if these two pop up again. Judy Greer, Bobby Cannavale and Abby Ryder Fortson also return as Scott’s ex-wife, her husband and daughter Cassie. And let’s hope Michelle Pfieffer gets to be a permanent fixture in the MCU. She doesn’t have a lot to do here, but her presence is always welcome.
Ant-Man and The Wasp is loads of fun, full of great action, dialog and performances, and it will be interesting to see how — or if — Ant-Man, The Wasp(s) and Hank Pym figure into the next Avengers movie. Whatever happens, Marvel has another hit on their hands.
Ant-Man and The Wasp has a run time of 1 hour 58 minutes and is rated PG-13 for some sci-fi action violence.
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