Starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale. Directed by Peyton Reed.
Movies cost a lot of money, so for a big tent-pole release to be referred to as a palette cleanser may seem like the absolute faintest of praises, but that’s what the twentieth film from Marvel Studios is. A little sorbet between Infinity Wars.
Set before the events of the world-ending Avengers dust-up, Scott Lang finds himself under house arrest by the FBI for helping Captain America during the events of Civil War. When a person who can phase through walls – the enigmatic Ghost – shows up, he, Hank Pym and Hope van Dyne must team up to stop shady crooks, the FBI and Ghost from capturing them all the while finding a way to rescue Hope’s mother from the mythical Quantum Realm.
Firstly, after the game-changing thrills of Black Panther and the heart wrenching events of Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp feels a little bit more in line with Thor: Ragnarok, though it lacks the hearty belly laughs of that or the welcome surprise of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1, no, what this has is more of what made the first film so thoroughly enjoyable, if a little incidental: a decent helping of charm.
Paul Rudd is a likeable lead, making Scott an everyman with killer abs that you can route for. He’s not a genius, he’s no god, barely a fighter, he’s just a guy who knows a few things and is willing to try. Rudd, one of the co-writers, crafts the epitome of an average joe who becomes a superhero, and despite being involved in some fun moments and sequences, the best scenes involve him and his daughter Cassie – brilliantly played by Abby Ryder Fortson.
The scenes with Rudd, Fortson and the all too brief roles for Judy Greer and Bobby Cannavale as former wife Maggie and new husband Paxton are good fun too. It’s also good to see the idea of modern parenting portrayed well in a modern blockbuster. Scott and Maggie are divorced, and Paxton is her new husband, but the three of them are friends, care about each other and care for Cassie. The recurring motif of group hugs is a similarly welcome addition to the film.
As the other top-billed hero, Evangeline Lilly is great as Hope van Dyne / Wasp, a superhero in her own right and one much more ready to show off what a lady can do. It’s no mistake that she gets the lion’s share of the action sequences; she was one of the more intriguing aspects of the first film and along with her scenes with Michael Douglas, the film’s recurring motifs about fathers and daughters is really made strong. Douglas is also a man having the time of his life as scientist and former hero Hank.
Even the comic trio of Michael Pena, Tip “T.I.” Harris and David Dastmalchian make for enjoyable comic relief along the way. But it’s the newer people that land the best roles aside from our two heroes. Hannah John-Kamen, a woman who appears to be in absolutely everything at the moment, brings a level of intensity to the villainous Ghost, who can phase through walls. The writing and her performance make for a woman antagonist that is formidable, powerful but also sympathetic. More than Ragnarok’s Hela, here we have someone who we can fear but we also get an understanding of the inner turmoil, while Laurence Fishbourne and Michelle Pfeiffer appear to be having the most fun possible whilst keeping straight faces.
Director Peyton Reed doesn’t slack either; each Marvel film is a different subgenre of filmmaking and while the first film was a big superhero film that happened to turn into a heist caper, this time around we’re in the realm of romantic comedy. It feels – with the snipping and comments – to be a lot like a screwball comedy much like Bringing Up Baby but with car chases and giant Hello Kitty Pez. Reed might not be able to master a dight sequence on a par with anything else in the series – there’s nothing as cool as Thor taking down villains to Immigrant Song or as epic as the protecting the core sequence from Age of Ultron, but he manages to make the many car chases look urgent and has fun with the shifting size of the vehicles.
Like what you’re reading? Leave us your email and get the latest film news and reviews, straight to your inbox.
[email-subscribers namefield=”YES” desc=”” group=”Film Newsletter”]
The visual effects and the musical score by Christoph Beck are both incredible, having a sort of neon vibe to them which taps into the madness of the 60s drug abuse that most comics were written during. The Ghost sequences feel like Jack Kirby drawings or Steve Ditko.
Ultimately, the key issue with Ant Man and the Wasp comes from the timing. It’s hard to see what the point of the film is. There’s nothing radical about it’s storytelling, and it’s far from a game changer in terms of its events. As the film unfolds it feels a little strange to place this after the surprise of Ragnarok, the importance of Black Panther and the universe shifting Infinity War, instead, this feels a little like a non-entity. That’s not to say it’s bad, it isn’t, it’s a good amount of fun. But there just isn’t much reason for the film, and following something as heavy as Infinity War and the more intriguing Captain Marvel it feels like bad timing. Ironically, it’s a small film, barely noticeable in the world of Thanos and his world ending schtick.
