Review: Ant-Man and the Wasp
In the grand scheme of the Marvel Universe, the character of Ant-Man has always served as a diversion, comic relief in the company of his comparatively more sobersided brethren and their battles to save the world or the galaxy. Ant-Man and the Wasp, the sequel to 2015's Ant-Man, is certainly a palate cleanser after the jaw-dropping wipeout of Avengers: Infinity War, serving a great deal of rollicking, fast-paced fun and remarkable now-you-see-it, now-you-don't special effects.
Taking place after the events of Captain America: Civil War, the film finds Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) biding his time until the end of the two-year house arrest sentence he received for violating the superhero regulations established by the government. Not that his time has been particularly boring, given the regular visits from his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Forsten) and the company of his former cellmate and friend Luis (Michael Peña). With three days to go until the ankle monitor comes off, he just needs a bit more patience so he can get back to normal.
Scott is under strict orders not to make any contact with the original Ant-Man, Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) or his daughter Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) aka the Wasp; doing so would result in 20 years in prison. Yet Hank and Hope are eager to make contact with Scott, especially after he leaves a voicemail on Hank's phone to tell him of a dream he had in which he saw Hank's wife, Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer, luminous but largely wasted), the original Wasp. With Scott having gone to and come back from the quantum realm in the original film, Hank now believes that his wife Janet, who had been trapped in the quantum realm three decades ago, might still be alive and trying to communicate via Scott. All he and Hope need to retrieve her is one more component to finish the tunnel they have been building to connect to the quantum realm.
Unfortunately, Hank's top-secret lab headquarters, which can be shrunk to the size of a rolling carry-on case, keeps getting stolen, first by black market dealer Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins) and then by a mysterious masked woman named Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), who has the unwanted ability to phase through objects. Whilst the former wants the lab for profit, Ghost has more personal reasons - she believes it holds the cure to stop every cell in her body from being torn apart and stitched together over and over every single day. Neither of these designated villains are particularly compelling, though one supposes the quintet of screenwriters, Rudd amongst them, felt the need to throw additional wrenches in Hank and Hope's quest and Scott's determination to make it back home before the FBI discovers he's escaped house arrest. (Hank and Hope have placed Scott's ankle monitor on a robot ant, who perhaps takes too much relish in his duty of replicating Scott's everyday routine.)
Nevertheless, the villains and, to a certain extent, the heroes themselves aren't the point of Ant-Man and the Wasp. As in the original, the dynamic and ingenious set pieces are the main attraction, especially since they involve the title characters shrinking and magnifying themselves at will. Well...not quite at will for Scott, whose work-in-progress suit keeps malfunctioning to hilarious effect. One sequence has the suit reducing him to the size of a child as he and Hope are in an elementary school ("Do you want a juice box and some string cheese?" Hank cracks as Scott clambers up into the van), whilst another has him transmogrifying to such a degree that he can use a semi truck as a skateboard during a chase scene that is one of the absolute highlights of the film.
Rudd once again inhabits Scott with a goofball sweetness, but stealing the show once again is Peña, whose rapid-fire ramblings replete with dialogue being mimed by the characters makes one wish that they would create a film in which he recounts the entire goings-on of the MCU.
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Directed by: Peyton Reed
Written by: Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Paul Rudd, Andrew Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Peña, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Tip "T.I." Harris, Hannah John-Kamen, David Dastmalchian, Abby Ryder, Randall Park
