‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ Review

Untitled 2Ant-Man and the Wasp is a superhero film based on the Marvel Comics characters of the same name. It serves as the sequel to Ant-Man and is the twentieth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is directed by Peyton Reed from a script written by Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Paul Rudd, Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari. Returning stars include Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michael Peña, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Tip “T.I.” Harris, David Dastmalchian, Abby Ryder Fortson, with newcomers Randall Park, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, Hannah John-Kamen and Walton Goggins. The story is set in between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War and follows Ant-Man and the Wasp as the pair embark on a new mission to save Hope’s mother, Janet, from the Quantum Realm, all while dealing with an elusive enemy named Ghost who has ties to Hank Pym’s past. Once again, Peyton Reed does a great job as director. He blends the comedy and action fluidly and gives every actor a good amount of time to serve their purpose in the story. Speaking of the action, it’s a lot better this time around and more prominent, with the fight choreography making good use of the shrinking/growing mechanics. The digital effects are also great, especially during the scenes within the Quantum Realm. Dante Spinotti makes good use of bright colors and psychedelic visuals that make the world creepy and beautiful at the same time. The design is on par with the imagery seen in Doctor Strange and also adds to the Quantum Realm being a dimension where space and time are believed to be irrelevant. Paul Rudd is fantastic as Scott Lang/Ant-Man. Rudd portrays Lang as very down to earth, even after going through events of Captain America: Civil War. The scenes between Scott and his daughter, Cassie, are pure magic. The chemistry between Rudd and Abby Ryder Fortson is as close to a real father and daughter as you can get since you can tell how much fun they are having. Evangeline Lilly is awesome as Hope van Dyne/Wasp. Her character is given a lot more to do this time around and makes the movie feel as if it should have been titled The Wasp and Ant-Man. Lilly still has good chemistry with Rudd as there is evident friction between them due to the complications his actions in Germany created for her and her dad. Michael Peña once again steals the show as Luis. He makes you laugh every moment he’s on screen and has an even better flashback story scene this time around. Randall Park is very comedic as Jimmy Woo and Walton Goggins is terrific as Sonny Burch! While their roles are not prominent, both have hilarious interactions with Scott and Hope, respectively. Hannah John-Kamen is good as the main antagonist, Ava Starr/Ghost. I say antagonist because she is not truly a villain and has a goal that clashes with our heroes’ goals. She has a tragic backstory that could actually make for a good film in itself. The only negatives about the film are that they could have delved a little more into Ghost’s interesting past and Hank Pym’s relationships with Bill Foster and Elihas Starr. This would have brought a little more weight to the overall narrative and added more depth to some of the background characters. Also, there could have been more information about the Quantum Realm. I give Ant-Man and the Wasp a Decent 8.4/10. It’s a fun hilarious small-scale adventure in the MCU with large revelations that add even more depth to this film series.

One comment

Leave a Reply