Ant-Man and the Wasp Movie Review

By: Lynn Barker

In Ant-Man and the Wasp, it’s two years after Ant-Man/Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) worked with the Avengers during the events of Captain America: Civil War. It’s before “Infinity War” and Scott is under house arrest. Since he stole the super suit from Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), Feds are looking for Hank and scientist daughter Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and they have gone into hiding. Scott is establishing a great relationship with young daughter Cassie (Abby Rider Fortson) when Hank and Hope ask him to help them fight a new villain and rescue the first Wasp Janet Van Dyne who may still be alive in the Quantum Realm.

Scott is a wonderful dad to daughter CassieCourtesy of Marvel Studios

Recap

In a flashback, we see young Hank Pym with wife Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) who is also superhero the Wasp. With young daughter Hope, it’s a loving family but in trying to defuse a bomb, Janet has to go “sub-atomic” and super tiny to get inside the missile and becomes trapped in the Quantum Zone. Hank, then Ant-Man, thinks she is dead. Young Hope takes it very hard. In the present, Hope and Hank wonder if she might still be alive.

Wasp wants to save her mom JanetCourtesy of Marvel Studios

Scott and Cassie

On house arrest, Scott spends hours wearing an ankle tracker and living adventures with his daughter in make-shift tunnels he’s built inside his house. He’s the fun, perfect dad. His buddy and co-worker in Scott’s new security company Luis (Michael Peña) knows Scott can’t come to an important meeting because his house arrest doesn’t expire for three days. When Cassie isn’t home Scott does karaoke, folds origami, plays drums etc. At night, he dreams of the Quantum Realm and sees Janet there. She seems to take over his body. He phones Hank. The original Wasp is alive!

Hank and Hope are ready to open the Quantum tunnelCourtesy of Marvel Studios

Call to Tiny Action

Hope knocks Scott out, puts his ankle tracker on Scott’s giant pet ant and drives him away in a tiny car. He apologizes for his antics with the Avengers. She wonders why he didn’t take her along. Inside an office building, Hope and Hank run a lab. They have built a tunnel and a pod to take them to the Quantum Realm hoping to rescue mom/wife Janet but they can’t keep the tunnel from overloading. Scott swears he can’t go to the Quantum Realm because he destroyed his Ant Man suit. Hank is furious. Scott has to go back home because he’s due to get his monitor removed and the cops must find him there. We see a “ghostly” figure watching the trio leave.

FBI man Woo is sure Scott isn't at homeCourtesy of Marvel Studios

Black Market Baddie

Hope meets with black market trader Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins) who is supposed to sell her a component needed to keep the Quantum tunnel from overloading. He takes her money and demands she let him in on whatever she is building. He has buyers. Hope refuses, turns into the new Wasp and kicks butt bigtime. On her way out, however, she is attacked by the Ghost. Hank sends Ant-Man, wearing a prototype suit, in to help. Ghost takes off with the miniaturized lab building!

Ant-Man and Wasp see Ghost phasing outCourtesy of Marvel Studios

Regroup

Until they can find the lab building and enlarge it again, the trio hides at Scott’s security offices wondering who is this ghostly figure who can pass through objects. She is phasing in and out. They go to Hank’s old lab partner Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne) for help but he turns out to be a kind of surrogate dad to Ava Foster/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) who is unable to stop phasing between our world and the Quantum Realm. While FBI agent and Scott’s parole officer Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) tracks the trio, Scott admits that he did keep the original suit but it is hidden inside a toy trophy that daughter Cassie has taken to school for show and tell.

Bill Foster wants to save Ava/GhostCourtesy of Marvel Studios

Trophy Trek and Ava

With Hank’s new suit malfunctioning, making Scott huge then tiny without control, he gets inside the school (with hilarious results) and gets the trophy back. Using tips from Bill, the good guys find the lab and Ghost/Ava recovering in a chamber. She wakes up and overpowers them telling Hank that she hates him for discrediting her dad Elias Storm who was working on a way to the Quantum Realm but his experiment exploded and all were killed except child Ava who was effected so that she phases between realms and is in great pain most of the time. S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited her and made her a stealth operative. Bill met and has tried to help her. She has only a week or two to live.

Ava/Ghost only has a short time to liveCourtesy of Marvel Studios

Escape

Ants called by Hank help our trio escape and grab the miniaturized building. Meanwhile Sonny confronts Luis looking for Scott and the lab. Sonny’s thug injects Luis with a type of truth serum and he tells “all” he knows…in detail. Woo gets closer as the group upsizes the lab and starts opening the tunnel to the Quantum Realm but it shuts itself down! Scott goes into a kind of trance and “becomes” Janet who guides him through fixing the tunnel. Hank will go in to find his wife but her location inside the Realm keeps shifting! 

Sonny Burch has the tiny lab buildingCourtesy of Marvel Studios

Loose Lab

Ghost again grabs the lab, now tiny but Sonny ends up with it. After a crazy car chase in which giant Ant-Man uses a flatbed truck as a skateboard, huge Ant-man wades out into the bay to get the mini-lab back from Sonny who has boarded a ferry boat. Hank is able to enter the Quantum Realm in the pod but crashes. Can he get to Janet in time to bring her home? Will Scott be caught outside his house before he is due to be released? Can Janet heal the phasing Ghost? Will Sonny and/or the FBI stop the whole operation?

Note:  Be sure to stick around for the usual Marvel mid-credits scene. This time, Hank and Janet have created a smaller and portable Quantum tunnel housed in the back of Luis’s van. Ant-Man uses it and is in the Quantum Realm when……something happens!!   There is also a short, cute shot at the very end of the credits so don’t miss that.

The pod inside the Quantum RealmCourtesy of Marvel Studios

Wrapping Up

Ant-Man and the Wasp is certainly the funniest Marvel movie since Thor: Ragnarok and fans needed fun after the very dark “Infinity Wars”. The stakes aren’t universal in the film but very personal and, that too, is refreshing. Action sequences involving teeny and giant Ant-Man and Wasp are creative and fun to watch. The car chase over San Francisco hills involves a giant Hello Kitty Pez dispenser and a flatbed truck used as a skateboard. What’s not to love? With all the tiny to big action, seeing the movie in 3-D is a nice idea.

Giant Ant-Man about to use a truck for a skateboardCourtesy of Marvel Studios

The story unfolds and unravels on several levels and can get convoluted and inexplicable at times. Janet can enter Scott’s dreams and even take over his body from the Quantum Realm?? Huh?  Humor is top notch with funny guy Luis, wonderfully played again by Michael Peña, keeping things light. I especially loved Scott and Hope reenacting Luis’s rapid-fire version of what has happened up to now…both talking in Luis’s voice of course. Hilarious! It’s also nice that their mutual attraction remains.

Luis (Michael Peña) sees giant Ant-Man in the bayCourtesy of Marvel Studios

Ghost, as a villain, isn’t very heavy duty but she makes a nice action fight partner for Wasp. Hey, we’re not expecting Thanos here!  Baddie arms dealer Sonny is a cliché character who could have appeared in any crime adventure. Ant-Man/Scott Lang, however is so quirky and lovable that we can relate to him far more than many of the other Marvel heroes. His determination to be a wonderful dad while at least helping do good deeds, is very sympathetic. We had a really good laugh and were entertained enough to go four stars.

Ant-Man and the Wasp Movie Rating: 

Courtesy of Marvel Studios

See Ant-Man and the Wasp in theaters Friday, July 6^th!

Have Your Say

Does the Ant-Man character win you over? Are you glad he’ll be joined by a female partner this time? Are you looking forward to a laugh as well as dynamic action? Buzz in with a comment below!