We’ve finally arrived at the 20th MCU movie.
After the incredible high of Black Panther this past February, and then the
overwhelming events of Infinity War this past May, we come to the perfect next
step – Ant Man and the Wasp.
Paul Rudd as Scott Lang had his debut in AntMan in 2015, and
then was big part of Captain America Civil War in 2016 (see what I did there?). Scott was a reformed thief who got sucked
into the power struggle of Hank Pym versus his younger and insane protégé,
Darren Cross. Scott became the AntMan to
fight Cross’s Yellowjacket, using Pym Particles to shrink to the size of an
ant, while also being able to communicate with various ants. This was much to the chagrin of Hope, Hank’s
daughter, who wanted to wear the suit and had been training to do so.
This sequel picks up with Scott on house arrest after the
events of Civil War, trying to rebuild his relationship with his family.
Meanwhile, Hank and Hope are on the run, evading the authorities who want to
lock them up for being ‘associates’ of Scott. They have become convinced that
they can rescue Hank’s wife Janet, who was the original Wasp, and went super
teeny tiny sub-atomic to stop a soviet missile attack in 1987. She has been trapped in the ‘quantum realm’,
but since Scott stopped by the quantum realm in his first movie, Hank and Hope are
thinking they have a chance to save her.
Meanwhile, a new foe named Ghost (for her ability to phase
through things), is also on the hunt for Hank and Hope, planning to steal their
tech to prevent her body from being constantly ripped apart.
Also Meanwhile, Sonny Burch, a black market tech dealer who
Hope has been using to get items, has recently discovered her identity and is
now obsessed with getting all of Hank’s tech to sell on the black market.
Also, also meanwhile, Scott’s friends Luis, Dave, and Kurt
have started their own security company, and are struggling to stay afloat
while Scott is on lockdown – but, on the good news side, Scott has made great
strides in rebuilding his relationship with his daughter, Cassie, and her
mother and step-father.
Director Peyton Reed once again is able to provide a comedy
with incredible action sequences in which the stakes are high, but not as
life-or-death as they have been in some other movies this year. This story has a tight, personal arc that
really humanizes the characters. Seeing the Wasp on screen is absolutely
fantastic, and really, the hand to hand combat scenes in which the Wasp and
AntMan go back and forth between regular sized and small are perfected
here. I also really appreciated the
effects on the Ghost as she seemed to leave ‘echoes’ of herself when she moved.
It was impressive. But, as with the
first movie, the true gem of this movie is the cast.
- Paul Rudd continues to be a national treasure as Scott Lang, the AntMan. He makes Scott incredibly likeable and fun as he is working on finishing out his two hear house-arrest by not getting into any trouble. He’s working on making sure his daughter Cassie is happy, and that the business he and Luis are building will be successful.
- Evangeline Lilly plays Hope Van Dyne and she steals the movie for me. It was incredible to finally see one of the founding members of the Avengers on screen, and she did a phenomenal job. Hope is no-nonsense, and combat ready. I particularly liked how hurt she was that Scott had run off to help Captain America without telling her, not because he didn’t tell her, but because she knew how prepared she was for that type of combat, and how much she could have helped.
- Michael Douglas gets a little more to do in this one as Hank Pym, again, he gets another digitally de-aged sequence, and really has some fantastic scenes with Pfeiffer.
- Michael Pena again steals all of his scenes as Luis. He does get one incredible story sequence, in which he recaps what happened in the first movie and between that movie and this one. He just wants to help their business be successful.
- T.I. returns as Dave, who, partnered with David Dastmalchian’s Kurt, are the perfect sidekicks for Luis. They have a fantastic moment near the end of the movie where they help stop Burch’s crew, resulting in increasing business for their security company.
- Judy Greer returns as Maggie, Scott’s ex and Cassie’s mother. Along with Bobby Cannavale as Paxton, her new husband, she’s happy to have Scott around more. They both got to add more fun this time around.
- Randall Park plays FBI Agent Jimmy Woo – a character that was original created in the fifties in the comics where he was a straight-laced S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Here, he’s a competent FBI agent, who knows Scott is up to no good, but is unable to prove it. He was hilarious, and the perfect pairing for Rudd.
- Walton Goggins joins the movie as Sonny Burch – he’s a arms dealer with no secret agenda. He just wants to steal Hank’s tech so that he can sell it to the highest bidder, and that was a bit refreshing. He’s not there to take over the world, or get revenge, just money. I also enjoyed his crew, particularly Divian Ladwa who created what may or may not be a truth serum for them to use in interrogations.
- Hannah John-Kamen joins the story as Ava or Ghost. She was really impressive, and I enjoyed that her motivation again was personal, not world-dominating or evil, she just wanted to stop her own pain and imminent death. The fight scenes with her were fantastic, and (spoiler alert), I love that she was not killed, so that the possibility of her returning in future movies is very much a possibility.
- Laurence Fishburne plays Dr. Bill Foster, a character who in the comics was occasionally known as Black Goliath. Here, he’s a former scientist partner of Hank’s who worked with him at S.H.I.E.L.D. Now, he’s trying to help Ava pull herself back together, and end her constant pain, and doesn’t mind if that involves going up against Hank – with whom he’s holding an old grudge.
- Michelle Pfeiffer joins the cast as Janet Van Dyne, the original Wasp. She gets to have a digitally de-aged scene where she and Hank are going off on a mission in 1987, and then she does (spoiler alert) get rescued from the quantum realm. She’s wonderful, even in these very small doses.
Overall, the movie is just fantastic – it’s so much fun, and
just a perfect summer flick. It felt so
comforting and familiar to see the Wasp kicking ass on screen. I’ve seen it in
animated shows for so long. I also
really loved that none of the villains ended up getting ‘eliminated’. With a cinematic universe this large, it’s
nice to have some villains that can come back.
I really loved the tight little story, and the character building. It’s the perfect follow-up for Infinity
War. That movie’s end was so overwhelming
and focused just on the heroes, it’s nice to have this movie humanize what
happened there a little bit. Yes, it ties in, and yes, you should stay until
the very end of the credits.
10 out of 10 – I started with a 9 out of 10, but then couldn’t
figure out what I didn’t like about it. I loved it – so much fun, so entertaining, and
really, some of the best fight sequences.
Cast fun:
Great review! I thought the same as you - I very rarely give a movie top scores but when you can't think of a fault then what else can you do!
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