Review: Ant-Man and the Wasp
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As Scott Lang balances being both a Super Hero and a father, Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym come to him with an urgent new mission that finds Ant-Man fighting alongside The Wasp to uncover secrets from their past. IMDb
Would you believe this is the 20th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? A universe that has existed for a mere 10 years? It took 40 years to get 10 films in the Star Wars universe and 39 years to get 13 Star Trek films. It’s almost as if Stan Lee and his much younger associate Kevin Feige are after world domination or something.
Surely this behemoth must be running out of steam? When will it falter?
Surely the ones, like me, who drank the Kool-Aid early and were smitten are too bruised to enjoy ourselves after Avengers: Infinity War? You must be joking. Thanos’ actions were devastating and I can’t wait for Captain Marvel but in the meantime, I want some fun.
This adventure delivers that – and may do so even better than Ant-Man did.
It is so much more fun than either Infinity War or Civil War. It does not have the cultural weight of Black Panther to carry. The evil is neither charismatic like Loki (although one of three sets of adversaries is lead by the delightful Walton Goggins) nor depressingly unstoppable like Thanos. It is not insidious evil-on-the-inside like S.H.I.E.L.D either. It is visible and satisfyingly beatable.
There is also a lot (a. lot.) of humour too. Probably because before director Peyton Reed made the first Ant-Man he was known for comedies. Quip-a-licious star Paul Rudd also takes a writing credit and steals every one of his scenes. The rest of the cast are so good too. Michael Douglas does a great job as Hank and Evangaline Lilly, as Hope, is so tough she could take on Wonder Woman (she wouldn’t win, but let’s not cross the streams here). Michelle Pfeiffer is touching as their wife/mother who has been trapped in the quantum realm for years. But apparently took a full makeup kit with her (surely I can be a little catty?).
Then there is my man Michael Peña – could he narrate my whole life please? Hilarious but joyful too. His two cronies prove there is no such thing as a small part. In fact, maybe that is the difference – this film has heart in every part. Exemplified by Abby Ryder Fortson as the centre of Scott’s life, his daughter Cassie. She is never saccharine or sickly cute but stares down the FBI and absolutely has her dad’s back.
Another complete badass is introduced played by Hannah John-Kamen (assisted by Laurence Fishburne as Hank’s old scientist buddy). Love, love, love Hannah in Killjoys and I thought she was a great baddie in Ready Player One. I hope we see more of her character, Ghost.
We, the audience, were so keen for fun, so ready to laugh and cheer and, as Marvel nerds, we naturally stayed for the mid-credits sequence at the end. As soon as the guy behind me realized what was happening he just started yelling “No, s**t, no, no, no” and not one of us frowned at him because we all felt the same way.
If Marvel gets any darker – I say we riot!
Roslyn saw this film as a guest of Limelight Cinemas Tuggeranong.
Feature image: facebook.com/pg/antman
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