Ant-Man and The Wasp Poster
Ant-Man and the Wasp In Theatres July 6th, 2018 | © 2018 Marvel Studios
Details In the aftermath of "Captain America: Civil War", Scott Lang grapples with the consequences of his choices as both a Super Hero and a father. As he struggles to rebalance his home life with his responsibilities as Ant-Man, he's confronted by Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym with an urgent new mission. Scott must once again put on the suit and learn to fight alongside the Wasp as the team works together to uncover secrets from the past. Director: Peyton Reed Actors: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Pena, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Tip "T.I." Harris, David Dastmalchian, Hannah John Kamen, Abby Ryder-Fortson, Randall Park, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Douglas Run Time: 1 hour 58 minutes Read More
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Ant-size action heroes provide Giant-Man sized summer entertainment-
Ant-Man and the Wasp is the latest entry from Marvel Studios, a sequel to 2015’s Ant-Man, which proved to be a bigger box office hit, than initially expected.
After the studio-level chaos behind the scenes of the first film (writer-director Edgar [Scott Pilgrim, Baby Driver] Wright being replaced by Peyton Reed), there seems to be a collective sigh of relief with the sequel, that turns out to be among other things, Marvel’s funniest film to date.
The original cast all returns with Paul Rudd as ex-con Scott Lang and Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne, alongside Michael Peña, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Tip "T.I." Harris, David Dastmalchian, Hannah John-Kamen, Abby Ryder Fortson, Randall Park, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, and Michael Douglas.
Following the events of the original movie, Lang and Van Dyne again work with her dad, Hank Pym (Douglas) to now try to retrieve a lost-in-the-microverse Janet van Dyne (Pfeiffer) from the quantum realm.
As a penalty for helping Captain America in violation of the Sokovia Accords in Captain America: Civil War, Lang is placed under extended house arrest (to help explain his absence from Avengers: Infinity War) while Pym and Van Dyne have gone on the run.
Believing Pym’s wife (and Hope’s mother) may still be alive, they begin the process to help locate her, acquiring Lang’s help and along the way, running into black market arms dealer Sonny Burch (Goggins) and a phasing white costumed nemesis, Ghost (John-Kamen).
Although the overall plot is a little thin and the movie’s villains are all weakly characterized and forgettable (the script took five writers though), the light tone of the well-paced film and handful of laugh-out-loud quips, make it an ideal antidote after the somber and heavy ending of Avengers: Infinity War.
Fishburne plays Pym’s colleague and rival Bill Foster, which as fans of the comics know, became Black Goliath in the ‘70’s, though Fishburne (thankfully!) does not don the high-collared, chest-baring costume of the comics and just vocally confronts Pym on some of his morally questionable decisions.
Peña as a fellow ex-con and member of Lang’s security business, again provides much of the comic relief and Douglas still does a solid job of portraying the complex persona of Pym, without overdoing things. Rudd is always enjoyable as the reluctant hero and Lilly comes into her own with this film, though the pair doesn't exactly have sizzling chemistry together.
One funny backstory in the film particularly enjoyed by this site, involves a cell phone with Morrissey’s ‘Everyday is Like Sunday’ as its ringtone, and a Moz-only jukebox.
This is the rare blockbuster that is overall better than its original, and with its opening just after July 4th, is the summer’s most refreshing live-action, crowd-pleasing popcorn movie experience (Incredibles 2 being the ideal animated one).
Marvel’s Chairman Emeritus Stan Lee has his usual blink-and-you’ll-miss- it cameo and there are two post-credit scenes – the first being mid-credits that is truly shocking and ties this movie in with current Marvel continuity, and a second, at the very end, which is brief and just goes for a quick laugh.
We saw the film in 3D and in (fake AMC) IMAX format, which added to the overall experience, though isn’t completely necessary. The 3D though, is particularly effective in scenes when the micro-heroes battle real-sized knives, cars, and when traveling through the effects-laden microverse.
Ant-Man and the Wasp just opened in theatres everywhere.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (WHM rating – 8 out of 10 hearts)
