Adam Lark
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is on a kill streak, undeniably becoming one of the most impressive franchises cinema has ever known at this point. This year has already shown us that both the incredibly well-done Black Panther and the masterfully star-studded Avengers Infinity War are signs of the Marvel Cinematic Universe not slowing down any time soon. However, if you thought of the first Ant-Man as good or even very enjoyable, you have no doubt believed in this film working just somewhat, somewhat enough to just carry us into the next anticipated Avengers flick with chronological threading to introduce Ant-Man and the Wasp into the next adventures with the Avengers. Guess what? It not only surpassed your expectations or the first Ant-Man, it simply dominated as a Marvel Cinematic outing in every way it pleased. I use the word “pleased” because this film gladly had nothing to prove. Quite frankly the opposite in its own attitude after the release of 2015’s Ant-Man. It felt like the movie KNEW that it would be a surprise treasure without having to convince you of the surrender of your disbelief in the characters and their abilities. You already fell for ant-tech and shrinking technology in the first one and the film knew that it had nothing but charm to help these lovable characters along the way. I sincerely believe we should create a word in the English language that combines hubris, charm, loyalty, humor, self-awareness and consistent care for the audience at large so that we could use that amalgamated term for movies like this in the future without typing out so many words. This is my review of Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Ant-Man and the Wasp begins with Scott Lang (played hilariously again by Paul Rudd) being under house arrest after the events of Captain America: Civil War. Scott finds himself in a bind on house arrest as his daughter Cassie (played adorably by Abby Ryder Forston) is only able to see him on weekends and Lang always makes his best efforts to be the best dad he could be. His ex-wife Maggie and her new husband Jim (played by Judy Greer and Bobby Cannavale, respectively) are finally on great terms with Scott after their relationship grew after the events of the first Ant-Man. They are finally a happy family with all things considered, with Lang having to come to terms with his house arrest after the events of Captain America: Civil War impeding his ability to resolve his superhero identity alongside his colleagues. Hope (played charmingly by Evangeline Lilly) still has issues with the fact that Lang is under house arrest and is currently seeking a way to rescue her mother from the quantum realm. This all in tandem with Hank Pym (played by Michael Douglas) doing the same. The basis of the story is seen in the trailer with a mask menace hot on their trail. A new creature known as “Ghost” appears to want every method of traveling to the quantum realm for her own benefit. Ghost (played by Hannah John-Kamen) is a creature plagued by the desire to travel to the quantum realm for herself. After Lang is ready to end his house arrest, the team seeks to find Janet, the first Wasp, played by Michelle Pfeiffer with a great comeback to the superhero genre. They found themselves in so many scenarios and loops of technological requirements that they seek out the help of old friends. Lang seeks his partners in “crime” Luis (hilariously played by Michael Peña), Dave (T.I. Harris) and Kurt (David Dastmalchian). All this while Hank seeks his old partner Bill Foster (Lawrence Fishburne) to help in quantitative and molecular theory to complete the mission.
To really begin about what I loved about this movie is to talk about the chemistry. Not just the chemistry between Hope and Scott. I mean the chemistry between all interactions and story ties. The chemistry between each character ranges from hilarious, treacherous to endearing. The spectrum has it all and all quite well done. There is not a moment of awkwardness nor having to jump through hoops to enjoy any dialogue here. Granted, this was the first film’s weakness. Ant-Man had some scenes that were, to me, desperate to land with comedy and some even were too desperate to land with exposition. Hell, even after all the comedy worked in this one the exposition still had some moments of stagnation but learned from it quickly and even poked fun at it. Like watching an Olympic gymnast falter yet stick the landing perfectly, Ant-Man and the Wasp learned that the scientific mumbo jumbo could not breathe without some calling out and course correction. There is a line that Lang says during an interaction between Hank Pym and Bill Foster where he says, “Do you guys just put Quantum in front of everything?” I mean, fucking hilarious after the previous scenes of crucial dialogue, it puts the audience’s all-seeing eye yet the not-knowing mind to what their talking about in the right place for comedy’s sake. Anyway, back to the chemistry.
Let’s first talk about how well the characters represent the film’s central theme: legacy. Hope wanted to become the new Wasp, Scott Lang happened upon becoming Hank Pym’s new Ant-Man by a default in scarcity to protect the tech. But what of the correlation between the parent-child arc of symbiotic influence that seems to inspire us in families? We see clearly that Hope had disdain for her father hiding the fact that her mother Janet may still be alive after believing she was dead yet still follows in her parents’ footsteps. Cassie follows her father with great faith and admiration even knowing that he is a criminal with a heart of gold. Without spoiling too much, you would think that Ant-Man and the Wasp was a romantic comedy, but it is not as much even with the romantic relationships between Scott and Hope and Hank and Janet. We know that our parents are flawed yet did their best and children feel the burn of any consequences whilst upholding the great nature of their flaws with their best intentions. Granted, this film highlights this better than ever in the MCU, in my opinion. There is a very touching scene as Cassie believes Scott to be the greatest dad ever, Ant-Man or no. She speaks with him after an experience when Scott’s safety was on the line after FBI agent Jimmy Woo (played by Randall Park) suspects that Scott’s house arrest was compromised. After Cassie saved Scott from the event, she tells Scott that she would love to be his partner in crime. To this Scott laughs as any parent would not wanting to put their child in the danger an adult would be in as the child does not know how the world really works yet beyond their grandeur as a teachable parent. He brushes this jokingly aside for a second when Cassie adorably and sadly says, “Don’t laugh… I can be your partner.” As she truly means to really be like her father and protect him for real. This, to be honest, made me go “awwwwww” on the outside but really on the inside feel this is the spark that so many kids have about loving their parents and what they do to honor their heroism by wanting to be that brave. This is so endearing, this moment. This is the central theme of both Ant-Man pictures and all the themes involved are fully realized. Legacy by forgiveness and love for the greater picture of heroism in the eyes of the next generation who can become better than their teachers.
The action was extremely cool in short bursts. If you are expecting drawn out explosions or grand experiences of action, move onto the next film. This is meant for more closer combat, more drawn-down shock and awe. This is the real deal of being effective without having to blow your mind in anyway but the choreography. And the choreography is ninja. So sleek, so effective, so close to the sword and imperative to what the films is talking about. Everything in this movie is close to the chest action wise and as far as any emotional connections. Everything in Ant-Man and the Wasp syncs up so vividly and so well that I think that this is one of the more perfect MCU films that no one expects coming! I am so happy that this is the palate cleanser after the sadness of Avengers Infinity War that this breathes a whole new life into the themes of legacy and differing action from the other MCU films.
Each MCU film is hilarious but this one is extremely funny. Granted, all MCU films are amazing and hilarious to each degree. Though consider this: Ant-Man and the Wasp is not so much of an MCU shotgun shell of references, it is so quick to shoot from the hip and hits the target with a 90% accuracy rate. The jokes are so self-contained yet super-fast that they are laughs a mile a minute. I fucking love that about this film. Ant-Man’s 2015 outing lacked this prowess. There were a lot of great jokes but no great consistency. One of the returning scene stealers is Luis and the greatest quips coming from some tough competition with other characters this time around. My god! Remember the montage of Luis telling the story of how he came into a contact for Ant-Man to meet Captain America through Falcon at the end of the first Ant-Man? The montage here is funnier somehow. So brilliantly clicking with the urgency of the scene that made it so perfect for both of Lang’s former criminal associates when they are caught in a pickle. I adored that scene and laughed my ass off throughout. Crafted with comedic excellence and timing.
My only gripe with the film is that the pacing did have its challenges. Some scenes were still a bit in the wrong place at the wrong time, but it didn’t change much. Some scenes were dragging a bit but still were welcomed. To nit-pick, I feel as though the only changes it needed was deletion of inferior scenes that weren’t necessarily bad, as general as that sounds, as the film would have scooted right along without pit stops. But whatever, I digress. This film still does a great job at bobbing and weaving through certain tropes that I will not spoil here. Sure, somethings are predictable. Others? I am actually glad that they could duck out of the obvious when they did. Though to be frank, the comedic timing needed certain pick-me-ups and delivered quite nicely in favor of certain moments of development that I actually was okay with seeing get done.
To those of the fans that might deem this as a Marvel outing that may play no big role or even have dire consequences, take note of a few things. Number one, I understand that a funny film may or may not be needed as a “palate cleanser,” but just know that this is a film to consider as just that. Another “Bad guy kills us all unless we stop it” arc is shadowed instantly due to the chronology of this film and release date after Avengers Infinity War. Anything point to become more dire or consequential than it is would be deemed moot immediately. Number two, if you do not like this film as not being a fan of the first one, I actually can understand that. This film does not take any more risks than it had prior to the first. No more selling points to suspend the disbelief of the viewer. That has already been clarified and done well to open the door for this film and those who like this one as it is. Is it a film that I would defend to the death as being objectively amazing? No. But what I will do is always know that this was superb, funny, graciously needed after Avengers Infinity War’s darkness and well-rounded MCU flick that I greatly enjoyed. Ant-Man and the Wasp was a terrific ride with some of the best chemistry between any and all characters in the Ant-Man lore as well as honorable mention within the MCU as a whole for being a kick ass, funny movie that rivals a lot of the greats. As a final note, I am glad that they went the route of showing that depravity creates tension and not monsters. Monsters have a choice out of that scarcity. Without spoiling anything as that is docking up to spoiler territory, this movie captures what would make a monster out of the scarcity of luck or the ability to live and no the “fuck the world” attitude because of it. To that end, I admire that so much for it by also being a compelling MCU film that rivals the funny greats with some incredible moments of character endearment and charm to carry the weight of its own existence effortlessly.
Lark Score: 9.7/10
P.S.
This movie has the funniest Stan Lee cameo ever. Write that down. Excelsior!
