Peyton Reed‘s first Ant-Man.
That’s a bit of tongue-in-cheek to get us started.
After successfully bringing Ant-Man to life by picking up the pieces from a very public fallout between Marvel Studios and Director Edgar Wright, we see Reed fully take the reins of the tiny hero.
And with him doing so, Evangeline Lilly‘s Hope Van Dyne goddamn suits up as the outrageously fantastic Wasp, while Paul Rudd ‘Paul Rudds’ in this new family, chase adventure!
Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is grappling with the consequences of his choices as both a superhero and a father. Approached by Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), Lang must once again don the Ant-Man suit and fight alongside the Wasp.
The urgent mission soon leads to secret revelations from the past as the dynamic duo finds itself in an epic battle against a powerful new enemy.
BIG FAMILY FUN.
Man, that’s what this film is.
Comparing this film to its predecessor, you can see how much darker the first was, as Ant-Man explodes into daytime hijinks.
Or is that the Wasp.
While Rudd gets another great outing as Scott Lang (with classic shirtless scene in tow), it’s Evangeline Lilly who really gets to fly as the Wasp.
Frenetic action sequences that contrast the skill level between Scott and Hope; We see her glide around bad guys with brutal ease while Pym Particle’ing the heck out of everything and herself (the kitchen scene from the trailer? You’re not even ready for it).
Jokey crew Michael Pena, Clifford Harris and David Dastmalchian return to buffer the movie with their witty rhetoric, while Michael Douglas shifts Hank Pym’s grumpiness to something even more hilarious than the first.
Joining them are newcomers Walton Goggins and Hannah John-Kamen as the evil-doers; Laurence Fishburne as a foil to Douglas’s Pym and Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne, Hope’s mother.
Providing an entertaining chase film, with villains that give the heroes something to do, Ant-Man & The Wasp sits in this nice little hub of being good family fun amongst the sweeping dread of some of its MCU siblings.
And that might just mean this little film, may grow to stand out the most.
Summary
Ant-Man & The Wasp is more Wasp, and rightfully so, as she takes us on a family-fuelled chase film through everything QUANTUM! Frantic fun that makes you smile and oh boy, those end credit scenes.