Ant-Man and the Wasp

Considering recent events in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we needed a lighthearted timeout in the form of "Ant-Man and the Wasp". I felt this sequel was just as good as the first film. A comic book film can run into problems if it has an excess of popular elements and this is definitely true for a sequel. Thankfully, "Ant-Man and the Wasp" didn't have very many problems with excess. The filmmakers made some changes for originality sake and did a good job of staying true to what we enjoyed last time around. I enjoy other films in the MCU more though and that is why I gave the rating I did.

The first film was a heist movie but its sequel is a rescue movie. I applaud that change because it makes things original. Ant-Man should be making progress as a superhero. Sure he has his area of expertise, as does every hero in the MCU, but the slight of hand magic that Scott learns under house arrest becomes symbolic of Ant-Man's development. I enjoy how Jim, who was an antagonist in the first film, has completely moved past the awkwardness and is pretty tight with Scott. This has got to be the strongest stepfamily in history. As mentioned, "Ant-Man and the Wasp" stayed true to certain aspects that we loved about the first film without going too far overboard. The first use of the truth serum for example reprises of one of the best parts of the first film. The filmmakers could have had more than one of these sequences because the original film had two but I like how they held back instead. Some flawed comic book movies suffer from too many villains, jokes, one-liners, CGI shots, exposition and/or product placement. Thankfully, "Ant-Man and the Wasp" avoids all those problems as well but the film did contain too many subplots. You have the important relationship between Scott and his daughter but it has to compete with three other plotlines as Scott is trying to set up a new company with Luis and the gang, Sonny Burch trying to get his hands on the lab and Agent Woo trying to catch Scott in the act of violating his house arrest. The film also has two main plotlines instead of just one: rescuing Janet van Dyne and trying to save Ava. All this was juggled pretty well throughout the movie, all things considered, but the juggling itself affected my enjoyment. While the many supporting characters did contribute to the story in some way, the sheer number of them likewise affected my ability to fully enjoy the show. The juggling in "Infinity War" was likewise done well but that was a little more entertaining and epic. Usually, the MCU is great at honouring the source material. They do make changes when necessary but the last time Marvel Studios changed the gender of a character from the comics, it was deemed as a step too far by some. While I liked the Ancient One in "Doctor Strange", I felt there were problems with Ghost but not because she was a woman in this film. Heroes are only as good as their villains and Ava was far too easy to sympathize with. I understand that you need to have variety in this franchise and two-dimensional MCU baddies are vital but after seeing what Thanos had to offer only two months earlier, Ava isn't much of a threat. I think we should have seen more about how the events of "Captain America: Civil War" affected those in this franchise instead of just hearing about it. We can tell that Scott and the Pyms had a falling out but it would carry more weight if we were shown by way of a prologue their falling out. Then again, we needed to be introduced to Janet's back story because that is more important. I was glad for the resolution at the end because I didn't know if all the plotlines could be resolved. I like the final scene of the film at the drive-in but it’s too bad the MCU underwent a major plot point in its previous instalment that of course has repercussions in this part of the franchise. I knew what happens in the mid-credits scene was to be expected but towards the end of the film as I saw it for the first time, I felt that maybe the filmmakers would spare us the pain. Unfortunately for Scott, they delivered something worse.

Peyton Reed returns as director but this time, he got to make the film from start to finish. The only common writer between both "Ant-Man" and "Ant-Man and the Wasp" is Paul Rudd himself but Marvel Studios employed Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers to write the script for this sequel. Their past works include "Spider-Man: Homecoming" and "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" but I liked those two movies more than "Ant-Man and the Wasp". All the returning cast members were entertaining but to be honest, I prefer the TV animated version of Wasp from "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes". She was a nice source of humor and variety while Evangeline Lilly gives us a Wasp that is similar to Black Widow. Even though Michael Pena doesn't get to improvise as much this time, he was still funny. Michael Douglas wanted his real-life wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, to play Janet while Lilly wanted Michelle Pfeiffer. The latter ended up being cast and the decision worked well. Even though Hayley Lovitt reprises her role as the young Janet, I wonder if special effects were used because the first scene of the movie sure has her looking a lot like a young Pfeiffer. Laurence Fishburne is the highest profile actor who has appeared in both the MCU and the DC Extended Universe. He is also the voice of the Silver Surfer. Fishburne has been in talks with Marvel Studios for a while about a role. As a fun fact, his son plays a younger version of his character in a flashback. I was expecting Stan Lee's cameo to become funnier after multiple viewings but then he passed away a few months after the release of this movie.

This was the fifth superhero film of 2018 and Disney distributed four of those movies. Even more interesting, "Ant-Man and the Wasp" was released in July with even more superhero movies to come that year. This sequel is okay and desirable after what we saw in "Avengers: Infinity War". The filmmakers handled the sequel pretty well by holding back but like the original film, the movie wasn't perfect. I have my favourite characters and movies within the MCU but Ant-Man doesn't appeal to me as much as some of the more famous superheroes.

3.5 Stars out of 5