Directed by Peyton Reed
Starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Pena, Walton Goggins, Hannah John-Kamen, Randall Park, Laurence Fishburne, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Michael Douglas.
Backstory
Despite a very troubled production, the first Ant-Man turned out to be a bit of a sleeper hit for Marvel, so much though that a sequel was quickly added to Marvel’s Phase III. When the title was revealed to be Ant-Man and the Wasp, people agreed with Hope van Dyne in Ant-Man‘s post-credits stinger: “About damn time.” But, would the sequel be as fun as the first film?
Plot
Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man, is under house arrest, as part of a plea bargain for being on Team Cap in Captain America: Civil War. He’s no longer on speaking terms with Hank Pym and his daughter Hope for swiping their tech and going off to fight alongside Captain America. But then, one night, he has a vision of Hank’s wife Janet trapped in that subatomic world known as the Quantum Realm. This brings him back together with Hank and Hope, who’ve been trying to get to the Quantum Realm to find Janet. But it turns out their are lots of people after Hank’s tech, including corrupt FBI agents, crime lords, and a new villain known as the Ghost, who can phase through solid objects. It’s now up to Ant-Man and the Wasp to fight off these villains while Hank frantically works to rescue Janet. Will they be able to pull it off?
What I Liked
They get very creative this time out with the shrinking and growing effects and how it can be used for combat…especially when you start applying it to car chases. The actors all seem to be having fun, and Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly are a delightful duo as Ant-Man and the Wasp. And it’s nice to see a villain that doesn’t have the same powers as the heroes, which is a trap a lot of Marvel Studios films fall into.
What I Didn’t Like
Can’t say there was much I didn’t like. Maybe there were one too many villains, and they could have cut out a few characters and sub-plots.
Final Verdict
It’s nice to get superhero films that are fun and breezy, instead of always being about the end of the world.