Ant-Man and the Wasp | Film Review

There are two universal truths in a comic-book obsessed Hollywood. One being that every Marvel character will eventually have their own film, with the potential for innumerous sequels and vastly interconnected roles. The second being that Paul Rudd is a vampire, living life eternal with nary an ounce of aging visible to the naked eye. With Ant-Man and the Wasp, Count Rudd returns as Scott Lang, finishing off his house arrest sentencing after the events of Captain America: Civil War, and ready for his own proper sequel. But this time, Lang has a date.

In 2015’s Ant-Man, Marvel veered away from their typical “Heroes Save the Universe” infrastructure to tackle what proved to be essentially a heist comedy. While I wasn’t enamored with that endeavor (the film truly didn’t begin to click until the second half), this go-round we’re hitting the ground running.

Three days away from being released and banned from any contact with Hope van Dyne or Hank Pym, Scott Lang is again trying to settle into a life of normalcy. His daughter Cassie – the ever-adorable Abby Ryder Fortson – has been acclimated into his life, his relationship with his ex and her husband is warm and cozy, and his new security business with the enigmatic Luis is days away from closing that first huge client (side note: just give Michael Peña his own damn movie already).

Unfortunately for Lang, Hank and Hope need his help. Decades earlier, Hank lost his wife and Hope’s mom, Janet, to the mysterious Quantum Realm while on a mission (get used to the word “quantum”, in this flick it’s the new “fetch”). After Scott was able to return from the Quantum Realm in the first film, Hank and Hope now believe they can locate and retrieve their beloved Janet. Before they can do so, they must contend with black market dealer Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins, owning every scene per usual), who wants the Pym tech for financial gain, and Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), a mysterious foe with an unstable molecular structure who desperately needs Pym’s science for her own stability and livelihood.

If it sounds as if there is a lot going on plot wise, it’s solely because the word “quantum” makes everything sound more complicated. Ant-Man and the Wasp is actually a heavy relief from recent Marvel films, as the zip of its wit and bubbly creativity of its set-pieces converge to offer a respite from all of those dire, end-of-the-world comic book opuses we’ve endured the last few years. This one is less plot driven, and more “let’s just Bugs Bunny the hell outta this”, as we follow our characters from one location to the next, forever wondering how them Pym boys (and girls) are gonna get out of this one.

While this fast-and-loose narrative could veer off a cliff for many films, what keeps this train on the tracks is the effortless charm of Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly’s emergence as Hope’s alter-ego, the Wasp. Paul Rudd is one of those actors who plays essentially the same role in every movie, and you absolutely love him for it. Not much here alters that, with the lone exception of a clever bit where Rudd imitates Michelle Pfeiffer’s Janet in hilarious fashion. Overall, it’s your typical Rudd-of-the-mill.

Lilly, on the other hand, is typically saddled with weightier genre fare. As Wasp, Lilly delivers not only a partner for Ant-Man, but eclipses Rudd’s Lang at every turn. Tougher, sleeker, smarter, and never overly sexualized – by the end of the movie, you’ll wonder why Hank ever needed Scott to begin with (protecting his daughter aside). Their coupled dynamic – from their “will they/won’t they” romanticism, to their emerging complementing of skillsets – elevates the film from the playful averageness of the first movie to the upper tier of the MCU.

The rest of the cast deliver as expected. Michael Peña returns as the comic relief in a movie that was already funny enough (though he nearly ditches his accent from the previous film entirely). Michael Douglas proves a worthy opponent for Clint Eastwood as the crotchetiest elder in filmdom, albeit less skilled with a quip. And Walton Goggins could entertain just reading aloud from a quantum theory book. Which I’m pretty sure will happen in the third film. Laurence Fishburne even shows up as a glitch in Hank’s matrix, a disdainful colleague that might hold the key for Janet’s return. And while Michelle Pfeiffer has only a handful of lines, she delivers enough of an impression to garner excitement for her next turn as Janet van Dyne.

Less successful is Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost. While no fault of the actress, Ghost – aka Ava – has a fairly mundane backstory that, while tragic, does little to invigorate our interest in her plight. In terms of Marvel villains, she’s one of those “I could have been a good guy, if I would just stop raging long enough to hear one of these excessive exposition scenes which clearly illustrates the hero could help me a whole bunch”.

Director Peyton Reed returns – working off a script with numerous credited writers, including Rudd – and amplifies the creativity and panache with which the film flows. Crammed with seemingly every conceivable option for shrinking, growing, mutating, quantuming, and kitchen sinking ever thought possible, Ant-Man and the Wasp is an absolute kaleidoscope of imagination that demands to be witnessed on the big screen. Is that ironic?

After the first Ant-Man, I didn’t need a sequel. There was so much “meh” in my step, I just decided it wasn’t needed and found Ant-Man perfectly suited as a secondary character in the MCU. After Ant-Man and the Wasp, with the wondrous pairing of Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly as heroes that both emotionally resonate and complement one another in battle, Marvel has left me frothing at the mouth for another run. Colors pop, you can see ideas literally bouncing off the pavement, and there are no sermons about the end of civilization as we know it to be had. Quite simply, this is what summer movies are all about.

It could be the quantum talking, but I’m pretty sure I’ve been stung.