Marvel fans, the time has come to welcome the return of our smallest superhero, Ant-Man! Now paired with The Wasp, Ant-Man finds himself in another adventure while trying to comply with law enforcement on the terms of his parole. What kind of hijinks should you expect? Can kids of all ages enjoy the film? Does the movie somehow tie into Avengers: Infinity War? Ooooh … more on that later after the jump.
We really enjoyed the first installment of Ant-Man. It was unique, comical, and overall a worthy addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While it is possible to enjoy Ant-Man and The Wasp without any knowledge of the surrounding Marvel canon, it is a more complete experience if you have seen the original Ant-Man film, Captain America: Civil War, and to a lesser degree, Avengers: Infinity War. A quick recap for the newbies and those needing a refresher: Scott Lang, a recovering thief if you will, is manipulated by scientist Hank Pym into wearing a suit that is capable of shrinking him to the size of an ant. As Ant-Man, Lang faces challenges of not only individuals with nefarious motivations, but also balancing his role as a divorced father and his growing attraction to Pym’s daughter, Hope. Lang’s adventures gain the attention of Captain America who recruits him in an internal conflict within The Avengers which results in Lang’s capture by law enforcement.
It is at this point that Ant-Man and the Wasp truly begins which means that the events in this film run in parallel to the events of Avengers: Infinity War. So if you’re expecting this film to deal with the fallout of Infinity War, you will be disappointed. Instead the film centers around an attempt to retrieve Hank’s wife, Janet, from the subatomic quantum realm. Hank and Hope have stood up a laboratory with technology that could be capable of retrieving Janet but there’s just one problem: Ghost, an adversary capable of phasing through solid matter. Ghost is after the same technology and appears ready to stop at nothing to obtain it from our trio of good guys.
Another form of technology in high demand is the reverse-aging CGI trick that has been seen in a number of recent Disney films (e.g. Rogue One, Civil War, and Pirates: Dead Men Tell No Tales). This bit of movie magic is impressive beyond belief and is at its absolute best in Ant-Man and The Wasp. Perhaps the best compliment that I could give is that the audience appeared to completely accept this age-defying transformation as part of the storytelling. It was simply a mechanism by which to provide backstory rather than using CGI just for the sake of being able to do so.
The original Ant-Man excelled in large part due to its irreverent humor, particularly from the titular character. While there is some of the same humor in the sequel, it doesn’t pack quite the same comedic punch as the original. There is still Luis, Scott’s sidekick, who is capable of stealing any scene with his meticulous attention to detail as a storyteller. In fact, this film could have benefitted from more Luis scenes and even some more clever zingers from Ant-Man himself. On the other hand the film does maintain the endearing father-daughter relationship that Lang has with his daughter who he affectionally calls ‘peanut’. To that end we do recommend you bring your ‘peanuts’ to this film as it is definitely appropriate for the entire family. There are simulated action scenes of course but nothing on the order of say Infinity War.
Speaking of that film, as already stated Ant-Man and The Wasp takes place in parallel with the events of Infinity War so there is no insight to be gained on that front. However, the filmmakers found a clever way to tie into the current events of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and that moment is arguably the highlight of the entire film. The audience was buzzing afterwards (pardon the pun) about that indirect acknowledgment.
Want to find what exactly that nod to the MCU entails? Well you’re not gonna find out in this review. You’re going to have to go to the theaters — with your kids in tow — to catch Ant-Man and The Wasp up close.
P.S. End credit scenes … you know the drill. Movie is not over until it’s over.
Ricardo Escobar has served as contributing writer for modernmami™ since 2013. When not blogging for modernmami™, you can catch Ricardo theme park hopping every chance he gets (an activity he deems as “official research”). Follow Ricardo on Twitter and Instagram to see his adventures to theme parks, signature dining establishments, and everywhere in between.Disclosure: We were provided a complimentary advance screening of the film to facilitate this post. All thoughts and opinions are our own.
Leave a Comment Below!