"Ant-Man and the Wasp" Review

"Maybe you just need someone watching your back."

The funny thing about ANT-MAN AND THE WASP is how lowkey it is amid all the high-flying blockbusters that seem to dominate the landscape these days. While the new MISSION IMPOSSIBLE movie seems to be taking itself as seriously as it always has and Dwayne Johnson’s taking his latest foray into his Schwarzenegger-esque career turn as the World’s Favorite Action Hero, Marvel Studios has seen fit to follow up two of their most daring and boldest entries with a family-friendly action comedy that seems more concerned with its comparatively miniscule problems than it is with saving the world. That’s something that you’ve always got to credit the ANT-MAN movies as being good at: they’re the best movies that Marvel has at being small. And, just like the titular hero, their size isn’t to be underestimated because they can grow bigger than a typical audience might expect.

Our story picks up from the events of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, following Scott Lang as he deals with the fallout of his actions in that movie. Paul Rudd is an incredibly versatile actor and he really gets to show off not just his comedic chops but some nice, varied emotionality. Helping this along is Cassie, his daughter played by Abby Ryder Fortson, who gets a lot more screen time in this movie. Fortson is excellent in the role, showing off a lot of the same dramatic and comedic skills that Paul Rudd has, which certainly makes it very easy to believe that these two are father and daughter. Their onscreen chemistry is excellent and while the film doesn’t go to the lengths of, say, LOGAN in selling us a precocious young girl as one of its primary elements - it’s clear that Fortson is one to watch out for in the future.

Speaking of chemistry, of course, one can’t ignore the other half of the title. Evangeline Lilly’s Hope Van Dyne gets a much meatier slice of the movie this go around. Relegated to supporting character in the first, this film truly commits to the idea of having the Wasp be the co-lead, and she gets almost all of its best action sequences. Back for the ride is the always-enjoyable Michael Douglas as Hank Pym whose cranky old man antics are back in full swing, the film even giving him just as much focus as the story demands considering that one of its main thrusts is about locating Janet van Dyne, here played by the excellent Michelle Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer’s been having a bit of a resurgence recently with her role in MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, and she brings her A-Game here in full force. She plays Janet with shades of her best versions, most reminiscent of the character’s appearance in the AVENGERS: EARTH’S MIGHTIEST HEROES television series, and gets to really shine in a way that she hasn’t in quite a while. Regardless, family’s at the center of this movie - though that shouldn’t exactly be a surprise. Parental issues are kind of at the center of all the Marvel movies and this one’s no different.

Back, of course, are Michael Pena, Tip Harris, and David Dastmalchian whose three-man schtick remains as great as ever - though it feels as if Pena’s Luis is kind of only incidentally there at times. Randall Park joins the cast as Jimmy Woo, an FBI agent assigned to watch Scott; Park’s comedy is as great as always but it honestly feels like he doesn’t get enough play in the story which is a shame because the stuff that is there is actually mostly really funny and clever. Up-and-comer Hannah John-Kamen has been having quite a great series of villainous roles recently, first in READY PLAYER ONE, and now here as Ghost, a sort of techno-thief-slash-maligned-science-experiment who gets her own full arc. Kamen would honestly feel like a breath of fresh air if not for the fact that pretty much all of Marvel’s villains in the past two years have been nothing short of excellent. However, that really shouldn’t diminish the good work that Kamen does here; she brings an eeriness, creepiness, and vulnerability to a character that could’ve easily been an afterthought. The same goes for Lawrence Fishburne’s Bill Foster, though to a lesser extent, as Hank Pym’s estranged ex-SHIELD partner. Foster’s a character from the comics, Goliath, and that gets some play here - but his role might not be as big as it maybe should be, no pun intended. Still, it’s nice to see Fishburne get to do some real character work in a comic book movie, especially considering his non-role as Perry White in BATMAN V. SUPERMAN.

Of course the real hero of this movie is clearly Peyton Reed who gets to stretch his legs without the baggage of having to take over from Edgar Wright in the previous film. Here, he really makes it known that a lot of the best parts from that first film were his ideas. Not to critique Wright too much, but Reed has really made the ANT-MAN movies his own - and it’s his style and little quirks that make this movie work as well as it does. The action scenes are all in that same appropriately stylish-yet-silly scheme that we saw of the character in the first film and in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR. That being said, there actually aren’t too many of them in this movie, with Reed opting to sub in some more lighthearted comedic moments in lieu which is probably the right call: Ant-Man’s superpowers lend themselves to comedy better than pretty much any other character in Marvel’s current stable. Reed taking advantage of that only makes this a better movie. Plus, he really knows how to make good use of the ants in this movie, comedic and otherwise.

If there’s anything that can be knocked about ANT-MAN AND THE WASP, it’s that there’s simply not enough time in the movie to fit everything that the director clearly wanted to do with it. It might have been a little simpler to leave some things out, but Reed’s commitment to making the ideas and themes of the movie work makes their inclusion commendable no matter how underdeveloped they might have seemed. It also has to be mentioned, of course, that this movie is following up Marvel’s biggest movie ever. So, it’s a good thing that ANT-MAN AND THE WASP never really concerns itself with trying to be more than it is, and for that works as an excellent palate cleanser after the emotionally-exhausting affair of AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR while getting us prepped to go in for another solo film in CAPTAIN MARVEL before the conclusion of this twenty-two film storyline in AVENGERS 4.

It’s a great time. A lot more comedy than action but it works. Highly-recommend, a truly excellent popcorn muncher and gut-buster.