Movie Review: Ant-Man and the Wasp

Certificate 12A, 118 minutes

Director: Peyton Reed

Stars: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña

Ant-Man and the Wasp opens with Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) talking about the night Hope’s mother died. Janet Van Dyne is telling a young Hope that she and Hope’s father have to leave on a last minute business trip. Which Janet says is boring. It’s definitely not. Ant-Man and the Wasp arrive as a missile is launched and an older Hank is telling Hope (Evangeline Lilly) in the present that they couldn’t cut through the armour of the missile. The only way in was to shrink between the molecules and enter the quantum realm, and once in there, there would be no returning. Too many lives were at stake and Hank would have gone but his suit was damaged. So Janet went, stopped the missile, and never returned. Then, in Ant-Man, Scott had entered the quantum realm and returned, which made Hank think that Janet could be rescued as well. So he has dug out some old plans for something called a Quantum Tunnel.

Under House Arrest

In Infinity War, Scott Lang was stated to be under house arrest for his actions during Civil War. This film takes place during the last days of his “house arrest”. Scott (Paul Rudd) is at home with his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson) and there are playing a very elaborately constructed game that involved adding mazes and cardboard slides to his home. Luis (Michael Peña) is also there, but he’s fretting more about the presentation their security company, X-Con, has coming up.

At the end of Scott and Cassie’s game, they slide down the stairs, out the door and into the garden. Then Cassie notes an alarm going off – Scott’s foot has gone through the fence. On the ankle of that leg is the ankle monitor that keeps track of Scott’s location. Which means that he’s technically breached the terms of his house arrest, so a horde of FBI agents, led by Agent Woo (Randall Park), descend on the house and search it. Agent Woo seems a generally nice guy, if perhaps out of his depth, and Scott explains to him the sort of things you have to do to keep a ten year old amused when you can’t leave the house. Which included learning magic. It’s the last three days of Scott’s house arrest, and Woo reminds him that for three years afterwards Scott will be on parole and can’t associate with such as Hank Pym or Hope Van Dyne – it was their technology Scott used in Germany, so they are wanted fugitives – and if he does it’s 20 years in prison. Scott says that he hasn’t contacted them and they wouldn’t want to talk to him anyway – Cassie helpfully points out that Hank and Hope hate him.

Hank and Hope Want Scott’s Help

However, afterwards, Scott is in the bath when he suddenly has a vision of Janet Van Dyne. He pulls out a hidden phone and leaves a message for Hank, although during the message he does realise how daft it sounds. Perhaps not as daft as he thought, because later something stings Scott, he passes out and wakes up in a car with Hope. She and Hank believe that Scott got entangled with Janet when he was in the quantum realm and can help them find her. So they need his help. Scott, being under house arrest, freaks out about this, but a replacement has been left with his ankle monitor carrying out Scott’s normal daily routine. The replacement is a six foot long ant. Besides, Scott will be back for lunch. Which is definitely not going to happen.

Scott, when he sees that Hank and Hope are in a run-down office building, offers them money. The interior of the building houses a secret lab, though (one that is staffed by giant ants); money is not needed. Plus the building can be shrunk to the size of a carrying case and carted away. They just need one component to stop the quantum tunnel overloading, which black market tech dealer Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins) is selling them. He has uncovered Hope’s true identity and wants more. So she demonstrates the Wasp suit shown at the end of Ant-Man; Scott presumes that Hank didn’t have the wings or blasters that suit has when Scott was Ant-Man. Which is not the case; Hank had them alright. There is someone else who wants the tech too; Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen, Ready Player One) who appears to have the ability to phase through solid matter. And the problem with office buildings that can be shrunk to the size of cases is that they are easy to steal.

So, this is definitely not going to be over by lunchtime. First they need to find the lab again, and a former S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague of Hank’s, Dr. Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne), is turned to for help. Fisher doesn’t particularly like Hank – but it seems that this is how many people feel about him. He doesn’t have a knack for charming others. Agent Woo is sure that Scott is violating the terms of his parole during the last few days – which he most definitely is – and is trying to prove it. The Ghost wants the technology for her own aims, as does Burch.

Reviewing Ant-Man and the Wasp

The film is available in 2D and 3D, with the 2D version being the one watched. There is enough CGI in the film that this could have worked decently with 3D. There are a lot of effects in the film, with people who can change size from very small to very large, and frequently do so in mid air, plus one who can phase through matter and the entire quantum realm. In action terms, this is probably a bigger film than the original, with a lot more damage.

Where Does Infinity War Come In?

It’s pretty clear that the film is happening prior to the events at the end of Infinity War, and the ending of that was pretty dark. Ant-Man and the Wasp lightens up the mood a whole lot. Whether it’s the bantering between the different characters, primarily Scott and Hope, or the extensive use of Hank’s size-changing technology to comic and frequently violent effect – Scott is given a work in progress suit that appears to be a little on the buggy side, which results in him getting in different sizes. Car chases where full size cars chase ones the size of toys – perhaps literally Hot Wheels toys, as Hank keeps his fleet of vehicles in the world’s coolest Hot Wheels rally case – it contains cars that transform to full size – or a giant Scott uses a flatbed truck as essentially a skateboard (and there’s also the view through the window of a cafe full of completely oblivious people as giant Scott tries to stop said truck). Plus, if you can change the size of something in mid-air, you get unusual weaponised items – like salt shakers and Pez dispensers. Plus there’s an argument about whether or not something can be called a truth serum – between someone it’s going to be used on and his friends and the men with guns who have just taken them prisoner (and the actual questioning shows one of the problems with such things as well). Stan Lee makes one of his standard cameos as well.

There is a lot more focus on Hope, as the Wasp, in this one – but then she does share the title. She also appears pretty competent at what she does. Hank also appears to get some more screen time. The interactions between the characters, the effects and the humour can easily make the film’s one true flaw be overlooked – it lacks a true, definite villain. It is a nice change of pace from the much more grim and gritty – and bigger – Infinity War. There are far fewer characters than that MCU-shaking film had, so more time can be spent on them. Agent Woo gets quite a bit of screen time, and he does seem both interesting and totally out of his depth.

There is a mid-credit scene and a post-credit scene. The post-credit scene is more of a throwaway bit of fun, although it ties into other things. The mid-credits scene is much longer, and much more important. Ant-Man and the Wasp is a much more light-hearted change of pace that provides a nice breather after Infinity War.