After sending us soaring with Black Panther and stomping our feelings into the ground with Infinity War, Marvel has offered moviegoers a bit of a reprieve from those two heavy hitters in the form of Ant-Man and the Wasp, a charming, yet disposable entry into the Marvel canon. It’s a movie that’s meant to entertain, and does, but just cannot rise above being enjoyable in the moment.
Ant-Man was a surprise hit a few years ago and the sequel takes much of its cues from that film. Now under house arrest from his actions in Captain America: Civil War, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is biding his time by sticking to a routine of playing fake drums, watching TV, and hanging with his daughter every weekend. Naturally, just as he’s about to be free from that affliction, he has a dream/shared memory of Janet Van Dyne. He calls Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and after being abducted by Hope (Evangeline Lily), realizes that they have been trying to reach her mother in the quantum realm and with Scott’s vision, might be able to. Their plans bring them into contact with a shady businessman and a villain called Ghost, whose phasing ability and own desires for the quantum zone, put their mission in jeopardy.
Coming on the heels of Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp was going to feel like a bit of a come down. Marvel tries their best to make you not feel that way with how humorous the movie can be, but really this feels like it will be an afterthought in a week, mainly because the villain(s) of this piece are not up to snuff like Killmonger and Thanos were. To be honest, though it was cool to see Ghost use her powers, her motivations are flaky as hell. This movie tries to mine some more emotional energy from some sins of the father type stuff but it just didn’t move me. Walton Goggins plays a devious businessman who gets to just do his Goggins thing but never rises above.
This movie doesn’t feel like a waste of resources (the set pieces are wonderful and the action top notch) but it certainly is a waste of the Oscar nominated talents of Laurence Fishburne and Michelle Pfeiffer. If you’re going in expecting a fun showcase for these actors, you might want to dial those expectations back.
To be frank, I’m not sure there was much other way for this movie to go after being hit with universe shaking films and prior to the introduction of a new Marvel era in 2019. I just wished Ant-Man and the Wasp had more oomph.