In my opinion, Ant Man and the Wasp is a good film, but it didn’t really blow me away. A funny film with clever action is made better with Paul Rudd and Michael Pena, but apart from them the cast is pretty unforgettable, even Evangeline Lily…
It should be noted that there will be minor spoilers ahead.
Firstly this isn’t a bad film, it’s a funny action movie that plays to the strengths of its’ lead actor and the possible action due to his powers. It was by far the quietest opening to a Marvel film I’ve been to, maybe due to poor marketing and releasing a month after the USA release.
The main plot of Ant Man focuses around rescuing Janet van Dyne, Michelle Pfeiffer, from the Quantum Realm (Which Scott visited to kill Yellow Jacket in the first film) ,and unfortunately due to this, the bad guy, Ghost, is almost forgotten about. Scott is under house arrest for breaking the Sokovia Accords in Civil War, and because of a mental link with Janet (Some quantum cross over shizz) he is reunited with Hope and Hank, who are on the run because of the events of Civil War.
While this is going on there’s this young woman named Ava, who happens to also be Ghost, who is going to die unless she harnesses quantum energy, which could destroy Janet… Additionally you have Sonny Burch (played by Walton Goggins) who is after the tech in Hank Pym’s lab, which would obviously jeopardise Janet’s chances if he gets his hands on it. Oh, and the lab shrinks making it incredibly easy to steal. This is the entire plot and you don’t need to be a genius to really work out what happens. It’s just a bit… Minimal.
So the good points… The humour is absolutely on point, Paul Rudd is at his best and had me in absolute stitches, equally Michael Pena is as hilarious as he was in the first one. The action is slick and stylish and definitely got me excited, definitely with the added abilities the Wasp brings. The bond between Hank, Hope and Janet is effective and emotional and really does make you feel that they want to retrieve her after all these years. It’s a Marvel film so it has that charismatic charm running throughout. The mid credits scene is also very, very awesome, but I shan’t spoil it!
Now for the bad points… Both of the main villains are inconsequential and forgettable, as they’re only there to act as a buffer so the plot isn’t entirely focused on Janet’s rescue. Sonny Burch is needlessly forced in to the story just so he can pose a minor threat at the end, and it’s the same story with Ghost, who was badly acted and honestly just annoying. Michael Douglas needs to up his game from here on out, as almost every line he delivered was flat and not funny, adding an unnecessary level of cheese to the film. For the whole file Scott’s suit was ‘faulty’ and although it made for some very funny moments, it meant that his action sequences weren’t nearly as good as the first film, which definitely annoyed me. There wasn’t enough of Michael Pena (or the rest of Scott’s ex-con gang) either, as they’re a definite highlight they needed to be in it more, perhaps by removing Walton Goggins’ role as Sonny.
Overall it’s a filler movie through and through which flopped a bit for me because it didn’t follow Infinity War, and told a pointless story that took place beforehand. I like Paul Rudd as Ant Man, and definitely laughed a lot, but it wasn’t as good as the first Ant Man movie. For me it falls into the average sequels with Thor 2 and Iron Man 2. It needed an extra spark or twist to give it some flair and perhaps less characters forced into it who we’ll likely never see again.
Still it’s a humorous action film with some brilliant moment and impressive visuals. I give it a: