After the foundation-shattering events of Avengers: Infinity War, Disney smartly programmed a sequel to Ant-Man, one of the more irreverent heroes in their roster, to follow it up. With Ant-Man & The Wasp, the hope is that a fun and breezy summer offering will act as the perfect antidote to the destruction of that towering team-up, ensuring the momentum continues to roll and pick up speed as we head for Avengers 4 next year. While there's no denying that Ant-Man 2 provides the lightness needed, it may actually be too slight and disposable for its own good.
Ant-Man and the Wasp sees the titular heroes work together with Hank Pym to retrieve Janet van Dyne from the quantum realm, where she has been lost for decades after a mission required her to enter the realm without the technology to then escape. When their portable lab is stolen by a quantumly unstable masked woman, the team realise how dangerous their technology could prove to be in falling into the wrong hands. Peyton Reed returns as director with cast members Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña and Michael Douglas, alongside franchise-newcomers Hannah John-Kamen, Michelle Pfeiffer and Laurence Fisburne.
Fun, light and breezy, Ant-Man & The Wasp is the type of fizzy romp that the summer blockbuster window was built for. Bright and colourful, it is an often dizzying experience but frequently entertaining and rather funny throughout. Reed delivers a number of enjoyable set pieces and ensures that, even with the endless, occasionally grating talk of quantum entanglement and stable tunnels, we are having fun. From flying Pez dispensers and growing salt shakers to the beautifully iridescent realm, there's evidence of some creativity in the visual approach - but it cannot quite inject enough personality elsewhere to set it out from the crowd. Even with a big budget at its disposable, it never begins to approach the scope of superior superhero stories, disappointing considering that this particular sub-genre was set up as one of the MCU's most frivolous, eccentric and potentially imaginative properties.
The five-person screenwriting team cook up a serviceable if ultimately disposable storyline but it is never quite able to capitalise on the barminess of the premise; it really takes the cast's efforts to elevate this film. It drops the biggest exposition-dump you may ever see on screen in the opening act but it hasn't quite got its tongue as firmly in cheek as it intends. It struck me as a very generic affair, one that sticks to a template it rarely diverges from; it unfolds in an obligatory manner and - as it knew running so closely to Infinity War - struggles to find its own unique rhythm to prevent it from being overshadowed by the bigger, meatier stories it is surrounded by.
It never dances to the beat of its own drum, which is exactly what it needed to do in order to leave its mark on the larger universe. In fact, you could almost entirely skip this instalment in the franchise; that's a win for casual audiences (and perhaps reveals why it has underperformed at the box office so far) but those looking for something more may find themselves underwhelmed by how little weight this film carries. Not every film needs to enforce the stakes of something like Infinity War but this feels frustratingly futile.
Rudd and Lilly are as charming as ever, doubling up on the terrific dynamic found in the first film to delightful effect. With Rudd stronger on the comedic front but Lilly more convincing with the emotion, they make a fine pairing and compliment each other superbly, weaving the two main narrative threads solidly. I'll never grow tired of Rudd calling his daughter 'peanut' or seeing Lilly kick several asses. As demonstrated in the first film, neither could confidently carry the series on their own - together, they are stronger, a message interwoven throughout much of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Pfeiffer is a terrific addition but underutilised even by her standards, while the writers cannot quite figure out how to use John-Kamen, despite her best attempts to make Ava/Ghost a worthy adversarym with an attempt at an aching backstory falling short.
Like a rollercoaster, Ant-Man & The Wasp is an exciting ride, even though the feeling quickly disappears when you're back on solid ground. It's the most throwaway entry in Phase Three, an altogether forgettable experience - if it wasn't for an ingenious mid-credit sequence which annoyingly employs the idea of 'saving the best until last'. It's fun and it's funny and there's no denying that the humour lands and the set pieces are at the very least amusing - but it's an otherwise hollow release used only to bridge the gap between the tentpoles, missing the opportunity to groove to its own rhythm and really grow the Ant-Man series to size. While a touch stronger than the original given the brightness and slickness of the visuals, Ant-Man & The Wasp remains a sub-series that shrinks in comparison to its potential.
The five-person screenwriting team cook up a serviceable if ultimately disposable storyline but it is never quite able to capitalise on the barminess of the premise; it really takes the cast's efforts to elevate this film. It drops the biggest exposition-dump you may ever see on screen in the opening act but it hasn't quite got its tongue as firmly in cheek as it intends. It struck me as a very generic affair, one that sticks to a template it rarely diverges from; it unfolds in an obligatory manner and - as it knew running so closely to Infinity War - struggles to find its own unique rhythm to prevent it from being overshadowed by the bigger, meatier stories it is surrounded by.
It never dances to the beat of its own drum, which is exactly what it needed to do in order to leave its mark on the larger universe. In fact, you could almost entirely skip this instalment in the franchise; that's a win for casual audiences (and perhaps reveals why it has underperformed at the box office so far) but those looking for something more may find themselves underwhelmed by how little weight this film carries. Not every film needs to enforce the stakes of something like Infinity War but this feels frustratingly futile.
Rudd and Lilly are as charming as ever, doubling up on the terrific dynamic found in the first film to delightful effect. With Rudd stronger on the comedic front but Lilly more convincing with the emotion, they make a fine pairing and compliment each other superbly, weaving the two main narrative threads solidly. I'll never grow tired of Rudd calling his daughter 'peanut' or seeing Lilly kick several asses. As demonstrated in the first film, neither could confidently carry the series on their own - together, they are stronger, a message interwoven throughout much of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Pfeiffer is a terrific addition but underutilised even by her standards, while the writers cannot quite figure out how to use John-Kamen, despite her best attempts to make Ava/Ghost a worthy adversarym with an attempt at an aching backstory falling short.
Like a rollercoaster, Ant-Man & The Wasp is an exciting ride, even though the feeling quickly disappears when you're back on solid ground. It's the most throwaway entry in Phase Three, an altogether forgettable experience - if it wasn't for an ingenious mid-credit sequence which annoyingly employs the idea of 'saving the best until last'. It's fun and it's funny and there's no denying that the humour lands and the set pieces are at the very least amusing - but it's an otherwise hollow release used only to bridge the gap between the tentpoles, missing the opportunity to groove to its own rhythm and really grow the Ant-Man series to size. While a touch stronger than the original given the brightness and slickness of the visuals, Ant-Man & The Wasp remains a sub-series that shrinks in comparison to its potential.
★★★★★✬☆☆☆☆
(5.5/10)
Summary: Ant-Man is the very definition of a fine film. It's nothing special but perfectly serviceable. Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly are charming as the titular heroes and keep this otherwise standard sequel ticking over - but it's worth it for that mid-credit sequence, easily the film's standout moment.