One of the biggest questions that came out of Marvel’s late spring movie, Avengers: Infinity War, was “Where was Ant-Man?” With the arrival of Ant-Man and the Wasp, that question is answered. That is hardly the only selling point to head to the theater and witness the follow-up to 2015’s smash hit.
Paul Rudd returns to the role he originated and has played twice now (Ant-Man and Captain America: Civil War). We even learn what life has been like for the former con man since that fateful battle in Germany between those two disparate Avengers groups.
Turns out, it has not been too fun. Rudd’s Scott Lang is stuck under house arrest, but there is good news—that ankle bracelet can be removed within a couple of days! All he must do is stay out of trouble and not leave the house. “Easy, peasy,” he says. Not. So. Much.
Seems that the Quantum Realm, the sub-atomic dimension where Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) was forced to leave his wife Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) decades prior on a mission. It also is a place that Rudd’s Ant-Man has gone to and returned from—something that has never happened in the history of Dr. Pym’s scientific work.
Right about the time that Pym and his daughter, Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) open the Quantum Realm in an experiment, Lang has a dream that features Janet front and center. This is no ordinary dream. It possesses details about things she did with Hope that only mother and daughter would know about. Turns out, it was a message and we are going to head into the Quantum Realm and find her and rescue her.
The thing is, there is another who managed to head into the Realm and return and that is Ava, aka The Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen). Decades prior to the landscape of Ant-Man and the Wasp, a disgraced former colleague of Dr. Pym was attempting his own experiments with the Realm. The casualty of this experiment gone wrong was the scientist’s daughter, Ava. She’s having issues with being “anchored” between two dimensions and has had just about enough. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our antagonist.
Rudd (recently seen in The Catcher was a Spy) is fantastic again in the role that he was born to play. It’s wild. If you had asked me whether the former Friends supporting actor would wind up with his own Marvel superhero franchise, I would have said you were crazy. In this prolific world of Marvel (and DC too for that matter), there is a comic book character—it seems—for almost any character actor out there willing to take a chance. Did anyone really think that the guy who played Andy on Parks and Rec would lead the Guardians of the Galaxy? My response would have mirrored the inquiry about Rudd!
As Lang and his Ant-Man alter ego, Rudd brings to the table a character whose heart is in the right place, but due to circumstances he finds himself in, Lang often winds up on the wrong side of the law. The actor manages to make his Ant-Man and everyman and that is a stunningly approachable trait in a movie genre that rarely requires that of its heroes.
Rudd also has stellar chemistry with Lilly and that is priceless given the direction that Marvel is taking this particular series. The Wasp and Ant-Man are a true pair in every sense of the word. They are connected simultaneously by their ability to become as micro small as their insect world counterparts and also embody that required romantic spark. Lilly and Rudd rivet on all levels.
Lang’s gang is back, but in somewhat diminished capacity. Along with Lang, Michael Pena’s Luis, T.I.’s Dave and David Dastmalchian’s Kurt are in business together. Nothing like hiring ex-cons to perform security work. I mean, they would know all the tricks, no?! They don’t seem to have as much of a rich role to play in the inner workings of the plot, but each is brought back with enough to do that we do get reminded why we adored this crew the first time out in 2015.
Pena is the standout. He delivers much of the humor, which is something audiences will expect from Ant-Man and the Wasp, given how hilarious they found the first film. Pena has one scene that had my entire theater laughing out loud so boisterously that this film needs to be seen again just to hear what else Pena said. Rudd is the other aspect of the comedic delivery in this film, although he is not as profoundly hilarious as the actor was asked to be in Ant-Man.
It’s not like the sequel is absent of laughs, it is just that it appears the stakes are much higher this time out and therefore there is not as much room for levity. That’s a shame. It was humor that set the Ant-Man universe apart from every other series over at the comic book studio.
Douglas is fine. He is given a role in the sequel that is allowed to fully explore his emotional scars over his lost-for-decades-love. The quintet of screenwriters who bring us Ant-Man and the Wasp—Rudd, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari—do not provide the Oscar winning actor with much meat to dig his teeth into emotively. That too is a bit of a shame as there is a priceless resource on that set in the form of the legend that is Douglas and his role seems a bit more pedantic this time out.
Laurence Fishburne joins this titanic troupe as Dr. Bill Foster. He is a scientist who used to work with Dr. Pym and was taken off a project due to differences in how the experiments should move forward. He is a wild card in this flick in terms of where his allegiance lies and a role like that could not be handled better than by someone with the skill set that Fishburne possesses. That same sentiment can be applied to Walter Goggins’ part, Sonny Burch. Whose side is he on? Why is he here? All questions that are expertly crafted by the fab five screenwriters for both characters.
Lilly rides her Wasp character like a champ. After grabbing us by the lapels and never letting go in Lost and making the most of a thankless role in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy, it is incredibly stellar to see the actress given a part that is the absolute finest in her career. From its rich character arc, action sequences that provide her with all kinds of literal kick-ass opportunities, tender and emotional moments with her father—what with the thrill of finding her long-lost mother—and the aforementioned spark with Lang, it is Lilly who is the MVP of Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Director Peyton Reed returns to helm the series and once again shows why his touch is the perfect one for this Marvel landscape. He knows how to interweave comedy, action and emotional ups and downs. It’s all over his resume, from Bring it On, The Break-Up to Mr. Show with Bob and David.
One must also keep in mind that this is a middle chapter in what is expected to be a trilogy. Often, those tend to feel like a bit of a let down from the first edition as a third flick will pack all the punches and elevate all the elements. We as film journalists talk so much about The Empire Strikes Back because it was one, so brilliant and two, the rare second chapter in a trilogy that left jaws dropping in the best of ways.
There is also the aspect that the character of Ant-Man does not exist in a vacuum. Yes, this is his own series, but he firmly lives within a universe that includes all the Avengers and characters we have yet to cinematically meet (such as Captain Marvel). Marvel CEO Kevin Feige has the ultimate control over how each one of these series play out and interplay collectively. That’s why this wee bit of a let down from first Ant-Man to second has us not in the least bit worried about a slipping in quality.
There are cinema big pictures and there is what Marvel is doing.
Enjoy Ant-Man and the Wasp for what it is—a thrill ride with a decent number of laughs played out with actors and actresses who are firmly in control of where this roller coaster of cinema is heading.
Grade: B