Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Having just come from Infinity War, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is reeling. The film with the largest scope and greatest stakes (along with arguably the franchise’s most menacing villain) has left all fans in a sort of mourning period. I saw that film twice in theaters, and because of its weight I felt like I needed a bit of space to process all the consequences of its insane climax.

That’s part of what makes the franchise’s next entry both fitting and puzzling. Ant-Man and the Wasp takes a completely different tone than Infinity War, and that split my opinion of it. I appreciate that it does not have the large stakes and scale of most MCU films, but at the same time it also feels unimportant and almost like filler. In a similar manner to the first ­Ant-Man film, its lightweight nature undermines its own sense of self-importance but in an even worse context for such a film because it follows a much grimmer installment. I know that that might be a strange area of criticism, but with a franchise this big and this episodic context has become extremely important.

Despite that, however, Ant-Man and the Wasp was a fun and enjoyable theatrical experience. Just like the first film, it uses Scott Lang’s powers to its advantage, crafting some fun action scenes that bounce between microscopic and life-size (and even bigger on some occasions) in an inventive way, something that director Peyton Reed has really got the hang of in both films. Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly have the same great chemistry which makes their relationship quite believable and more realistic than almost every other romance in the MCU. Michael Peña’s character Luis markedly improves in this film, having a lot more to do and one ridiculously funny sequence towards the film’s midsection that had me dying of laughter.

Most of the other characters, returning or otherwise, feel pretty one-note as a rule. Michael Douglas’s Hank Pym is even more of a walking scientific explanation for every piece of tech in the film than he was last time around; Randall Park’s character, Scott’s supervising officer for his house arrest, makes one stellar joke about his second job in the first five minutes and does little else for the rest of the film, despite having a nice chunk of screen time. The two antagonists in this film are a complete wash; both Walton Goggins’s generic black-market-weapons-dealer-guy and Ghost have little to no depth or development, with the latter being especially disappointing because she could have been far more sympathetic. I don’t think I would have minded that nearly as much if I hadn’t just seen Infinity War a month ago, but now that I have seen the best example of a Marvel villain anything less is that much more noticeable. There’s also quite a few plot holes towards the third act involving a character new to this film that I won’t get into because it would be a spoiler, but the more I think about this film’s story and progression of cause and effect, the more I realize that there’s little setup for its climactic moments.

Despite those flaws, I still laughed and smiled quite a bit throughout Ant-Man and The Wasp. It makes for an entertaining couple of hours at the movies with a group of friends, and for that reason I do ultimately recommend it. I would never put it in the top tier of Marvel films, but at this point the machine is too well-oiled to make anything that is of poor quality. This film won’t make any converts to those who think the MCU is too light and disposable, but fans of the franchise should find this another enjoyable addition that may or may not be a good palate cleanser depending on their desires in a post-Infinity War landscape.

My recommendation: It’s worth watching, but your mileage may vary.

My rating: 64/100