Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
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Ant-Man and the Wasp Movie Review
Ant-Man and the Wasp is a 2018 superhero film directed by Peyton Reed and starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lily and Michael Douglas. It’s a pretty solid, mostly satisfactory sequel.
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“You can do it. You can do anything.
You’re the world’s greatest grandma“
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The plot itself is highly predictable and the film has no surprises whatsoever. It also has very low stakes, but I liked that as it’s a departure from Marvel’s previous films such as ‘Infinity War’. That didn’t bother me, but the lack of genuine twists and unexpected plot developments certainly did bother me. However, the film still has a very charming, very well told story so I didn’t mind it too much.
The quantum realm scenes again steal the show as they did before. They are gorgeously visualized and imagined. I wish that we had more time in that world. I also really liked the emphasis on family once again as the relationship between Scott and his daughter is so sweet and the two are adorable together. And of course the post-credits sequence connected the film so well with ‘Infinity War’.
Scott Lang is excellent once again and reliably charming and funny at the same time. However, a big problem, an expected one, arose in this second film and that is his incompetence. Now that we got the Wasp who is both strong and smart, Ant-Man himself feels disposable and the film never really managed to move behind that feeling.
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The relationship between the two is still very strong, but not as playful and as fun as I hoped. They needed much more screen time. But Hope is great again and quite badass. Seeing her in action finally was very rewarding and she got some of the best action sequences in the entire film. Hank Pym is terrific too. He continues to be a rather complex individual and I just love how he is never too good as he hurt some people in the past. Laurence Fishburn’s character is a good example and I definitely really liked his interesting addition to this film.
Luis and the gang are definitely quite funny, but unfortunately this time around they aren’t essential to the plot and their scenes felt like detours. Randall Park’s character is much more important to the story and also funnier here which I did not expect. Michelle Pfeiffer is excellent as Janet van Dyne, though a bit underutilized.
Walton Goggins is infamous for being a terrible villain here and I entirely agree with that sentiment shared by many. He’s just disposable, goofy and overly silly without ever posing any serious threat or being clear in his motifs. As for Ghost, she is infinitely better. Even though she was ultimately too humanized and not a proper villain when you think about it, she was amazing in the first half of the film and very cool and badass, even creepy in a way. Her backstory is great as is her look and just conceptually and in action she’s fantastic.
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Ant-Man and the Wasp sorely needs a new director as Peyton Reed’s directing is pedestrian here. The pacing is actually excellent as it is briskly paced while also having its slower, more emotional moments. The same goes for the special effects which are so good, especially in Ghost’s phasing out. So well done. The acting is terrific across the board with the highlight being Paul Rudd. The action is so well executed and frequently even exhilarating as some fights are phenomenal. So overall, it is inferior to the original film, but it’s overall better than expected and one of Marvel’s more underappreciated, solid standalone efforts.
Ant-Man and the Wasp is inferior to its predecessor as some characters, especially Walter Goggins’ one, are disposable plus the movie felt predictable in its story as it thoroughly lacks surprises. However, it’s still an unexpectedly strong sequel with good acting performances, excellent characterization, a conceptually intriguing addition of Ghost and particularly well executed action sequences. The humor is also very good and the film is simply a lot of low stakes, charming fun.
