Set two years after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man and the Waspopens as Scott Lang works to balance being a father and a super-hero, all while still under house arrest. Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym, both MIA and on the run, present an urgent mission that combines past and present, prompting our two former flames to ban together for a greater good.
Ant-Man and the Waspis the best MCU sequel since 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. A strong heist adventure disguised as a comic book film, when compared to the original the jokes are crisper, the acting is better, and, more importantly, the story is more compelling.
One of the pitfalls of many Marvel films is the villain. Thankfully here we get a broken character that you feel for in Hannah John-Kamen’s “Ghost”. A victim of an experiment gone wrong, she wants nothing more than to evade death, and who can blame her. It isn’t her fault that to save herself she must sacrifice the life of Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer). John-Karmen is able to bring a degree of gravitas to the role, giving us an unusually strong villain that you have a hard time rooting against.
This film is perfectly cast. Paul Rudd is brilliant again as ‘Scott Lang/Ant-Man’, but his performance is brought to a whole new level when paired with Evangeline Lilly’s ‘Hope can Dyne/Wasp’ and his daughter ‘Cassie,’ played to perfection by Abby Ryder-Kamen. Michael Peña, often underutilized, gets to show off his comedic timing and proves to be the scene-stealer of the film, giving us huge laughs throughout. Newcomers Randall Park, Michelle Pfiffer and Laurence Fishburne bring both comedy and drama to their roles, though Pfiffer (as expected) doesn’t get nearly the screen time she deserves.
The film keeps you on your toes from beginning to the highly anticipated post credit scene. It’s full of suspense, humor, and action, mixing in just the right amount of romance and heart. On top of that, Ant-Man and the Wasp is a story about family. Rudd’s Lang has a great relationship with his daughter, an often-overlooked detail that adds to the depth of his character, and helps to better explain his actions throughout the film.
