Before you discount everything I’m going to say about this fine Ant-Man sequel simply because I have superhero fatigue, (and I’ll politely remind you that there are now 20 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe—20!) keep in mind the fact that, after Thor: Ragnarok turned that franchise around, Ant-Man became the weakest superhero in Marvel’s catalog. I think that’s a pretty indisputable statement. And, unfortunately, Ant-Man and the Wasp is simply more of the same. If you liked the original, 2015’s Ant-Man, you’ll like the sequel and have probably already tuned me out. And if you didn’t care for it? Or found it okay, like I did? You’ll find this one merely okay as well. However, combine this mediocrity with my cynical superhero fatigue, and you have one frustrated moviegoer.
Paul Rudd continues to be the best thing this franchise has to offer. His casual and lighthearted demeanor is perfect for a Marvel movie, and Paul Rudd delivers his humorous lines with the delivery you’ve come to expect from Paul Rudd. He made me laugh on several occasions. It’s still very weird to see Michael Douglas in a superhero movie, but at the end of the day I’m not complaining about that. And Michael Peña is still hilarious.
The film features a decent villain, Ghost, who is portrayed exceptionally well by Hannah John-Kamen, but her motivations are rather shallow and pale in comparison to the previous three villains Marvel has put onscreen (Thanos from Avengers: Infinity War, Killmonger from Black Panther and Hela from Thor: Ragnarok). Honestly, Ghost falls into the “it’s fine” category as far as villains are concerned, but she is saved by Hannah John-Kamen’s performance, as well as some some good editing/CGI. Everyone else is . . . fine, but there’s not much to speak of with them.
Ant-Man and the Wasp has some cool visuals littered throughout. The film is a good showcase for what CGI can do in 2018, but it doesn’t really push any boundaries, and the quantum realm it investigates still feels like it’s colorful simply for the sake of being colorful, so it doesn’t really add to the film at all. And we don’t have any over-the-top performances to entertain us like Jeff Goldblum as The Grandmaster did in Thor: Ragnarok.
As with its predecessor, I felt like Ant-Man and the Wasp was not much more than a bottle episode for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, designed primarily to make Marvel/Disney as much money as humanly possible. And it will still make boatloads of money, despite the fact that this is the 20th installment in the MCU. The story feels like a boilerplate superhero story, and very little happens outside of this standard formula. The villains are boilerplate villains and the hero overcomes all adversity to win the day (and the girl) at film’s end. The only scene of consequence in this film occurs in the credits, which is a little frustrating because the events from other recent Marvel films could have (and should have) been utilized better here. Because of the placement of this scene, the sequence wipes out the events of the entire movie preceding it, really making this movie pretty useless.
Ant-Man and the Wasp has some witty dialogue and some decent visuals, but it adds very little to the existing MCU. At the end of the day, your money is better spent elsewhere.
Also, Stan Lee makes a guest appearance. Again.
