Movie Review: Ant-Man and The Wasp

Ant-Man and The Wasp
Directed by: Peyton Reed
Written by: Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Paul Rudd, Andrew Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lily, Michael Douglas, Michael Peña, Hannah John-Kamen, Laurence Fishburne, Michelle Pfeiffer

Review by Mia Santos

If any of you —-like myself—-were wondering where was Ant-Man during the latest Avengers film you are not alone. Ant-Man and The Wasp, the sequel to Ant-Man (2015) comes out in theatres July 5 and takes place just before Thanos’ reckoning! The film begins with a little backstory and origin of The Wasp, Hank Pym’s wife and Hope’s mother Janet Van Dyne (played by Michelle Pfeiffer). After a difficult mission, Janet risked her life to save thousands. As a result, has been stuck in the Quantum Realm for the past 30 years. After Ant-Man’s brief visit to the quantum realm in the first film, Hank (Michael Douglas) and Hope (Evangeline Lily) set a plan to rescue Janet.

Meanwhile, Scott Lang, played by the ever so funny Paul Rudd, is on his final days of house arrest after committing his stint in Germany during Captain America: Civil War. The man has taught himself origami, cool magic card tricks and even built an intricate maze of cardboard to keep his daughter Cassie entertained during their weekly visits. There is a precious moment where Scott tells Cassie his most prized possession is a tiny trophy that says “World’s Greatest Grandma” on it given to him by her. They share many cute dad and daughter scenes in the film. It really shows Scott’s ability to be a super dad as well as a superhero.

When Cassie isn’t there he is playing drums, cry-reads The Fault In Our Stars and trying his best to stay out of trouble. We learn he hasn’t had any communication with Hope and Hank who are on the run from the FBI themselves. That is until he has a vision of Janet in the quantum realm and is shortly kidnapped by Hope to help them with their rescue mission.

I don’t want to give too much more away. But this film is a hilarious, action-packed, bundle of fun and a nice change of pace to some of the other Marvel movies that have been released earlier this year. There are some badass action scenes by The Wasp, a few car chases, plays on size and scale and some great moments with Luis (Michael Peña), Scott’s ex-con friend, fellow Morrissey fan and business partner. We’re also introduced to Ghost played by Hannah John-Kamen, one of the villains out to get Hank Pym and Hope Van Dayne. Although her backstory is the usual Marvel universe tragedy, her power to phase is pretty cool!

I found this film to be so well-rounded. Keeping everything contained and giving us just enough from heartfelt scenes of Scott’s life as a father. Keeping his crime-fighting under wraps to the romantic tension between Hope and Scott, to the badass fight scenes and the comedic relief in between. It’s the chaser we needed after The Avengers: Infinity Wars doom and gloom. That said, stay for the end credit scenes! There are two of them. They are definite links to Infinity Wars and Avengers 4! I WILL NOT SAY ANYMORE!

Verdict: WATCH IT!  This is a must-see on the silver screen! If you haven’t seen the first film, you will need to before viewing this one. There is a lot of important information that ties the stories together. It is not a stand-alone sequel, but it is a good one. Also for those nerdy parents out there this is a safe one you can bring the whole family to. Behind every man, there is a better woman, and Ant-Man and The Wasp is a refreshing partnership that was well overdue. Bravo!