Marvel Studios is obviously having a good year this year with its two recent juggernaut movies that are Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther which broke box office records both domestically and internationally. Now, the studio has one more movie to wrap up 2018 and hopefully will garner equal success – Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Taking place two years after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Scott Lang / Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) is under house arrest for aiding Captain America and gang in violation of the Sokovia Accords. This resulted in a rift in his friendship with mentor Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and romantic interest Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lily), who has taken on the mantle of Wasp after her mother, Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), went subatomic 30 years ago and is lost in the quantum realm forever. But a mysterious message from Janet forces all three former associates to reunite and get her back to the real world while fighting off Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), a villain who can phase through solid objects.
After Avengers: Infinity War which has a big scale of world, no, planet destruction, it is nice to see this movie taking on a more personal route having the plot only revolve around Lang’s social circle and in San Francisco. It is as if Marvel Studios wants the fans to relax from its previous movie which took place in multiple planets starring larger than life superheroes and supervillains, and enjoy its underdog tale of a family reunion.
Peyton Reed returns as director – not replacing anyone this time – and showed off his directing skills quite efficiently that balances action, comedy, and heart that this movie has. The shrinking effects are always impressive to look at and it seems like it has improved since the first movie adding a sense of realism to an otherwise unrealistic technology. Reed, who is known to direct comedies, expresses his comedic knowledge through a script that manages to give equal time on comedy and heartfelt moments. It also helps that he has actors and actresses with good comedic timing specifically Michael Peña who has the best scenes that are sure to make audiences laugh out loud.
Unfortunately though, Ant-Man and the Wasp struggles from what a lot of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies suffered from and that is a weak villain. After two great villains – Thanos and Killmonger – Marvel Studios should have stepped up their game and bring out a villain that is at least on par if not better than its previous two. The backstory they gave Ghost was not enough to emotionally affect and challenge the audiences to sympathise with her and her upbringing. Not to discredit John-Kamen, but it is just a pity to see her work with minimal help to create a compelling villain.
MCU fans needed this movie. It is relieving to see Marvel Studios taking a step back from all of the destruction that Avengers: Infinity War created and focuses more on a small problem in a town in America. It is good to see Reed adapt to the lore without any hand-holding and hopefully he returns to the franchise if a third movie was ever to be made. The post-credit scene ties into future MCU movies which fans of Ant-Man can look forward to.
[4/5]
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