After the massive double whammy of Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, this 20th entry in the MCU proves they still have a lot to offer. I thought Ant-Man and the Wasp was faster-paced, funnier, and more entertaining than the original which was also a pleasant surprise.
Paul Rudd returns as Scott Lang a.k.a Ant-Man who teams up again with Michael Douglas’ Hank Pym and Evangeline Lilly’s Hope who now goes by the superhero name the Wasp. They work together in hopes of rescuing Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer), Hank’s wife and Hope’s mother from the endless boundaries of the Quantum Realm. They invent a device that will transport them to the Realm, but it isn’t long before some baddies get in their way. Walton Goggins from Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight costars as a scientist of sorts who wants to steal the technology and make money off of it. That’s what villains of this sort are always doing, right? I wonder what they plan to do if their plan goes through to fruition. Cure cancer? End world hunger?
Rudd, Douglas, and Lilly turn to outside help in the form of Laurence Fishburne’s Bill Foster, a friend of Douglas’ with whom he has a bit of a rivalry with. Foster already has enough problems of his own with a little girl named Ava (Hannah John-Kamen) whose exposure to some crucial elements makes her become unstable and turns her into a ghost-like figure.
The action is played on a much smaller scale that most of the other movies in the MCU, but it does find time to come up with some creative sequences including one that takes place in San Francisco with cars being shrunk and re-stabilized in an instant and another one where Ant-Man uses his enlarging powers to go looking for Goggins’ character while hiding on a boat.
Rudd is once again the anchor of this film leading this terrific cast with a sequel that is filled with rousing action scenes as well as some very funny moments that deliver in a big way. We can’t forget about Michael Pena’s hilarious work as Rudd’s ex-con turned business partner friend.
The plot is oftentimes a mumbo jumbo of scientific gobbledygook that only serves to set up the action, but it’s coherent enough to hold our interest. I wonder if some of this technology is even borderline conceivable, but then again, I probably shouldn’t be asking too many deep questions when a movie’s hero is a dude who can shrink and resize at will.
Out of the characters adapted to the big screen from Marvel, the question might be: How much potential is there for a character like Ant-Man? Well, there’s plenty here to warrant a sequel, but next time around, I want to see a villain who devises an ingenious plan to simply step on Ant-Man.
I am recommending Ant-Man and the Wasp as a funny, energetic romp that proves to be an easily enjoyable film in a mostly weak and crowded summer.
Grade: A-
(Rated PG-13 for some sci-fi action violence.)
