Ant-Man and the Wasp – Film Review

The first ‘Ant-Man’ film had a lot of production woes with it being delayed due to Edgar Wright’s schedule and for his departure from this film due to creative differences with Marvel Studios. Peyton Reed did a great job with making the film work and with this sequel he really gets to make the film his own. I did feel as though he took a lot of the stuff that worked with that film and didn’t add much more to plus it to make it his own unique style. There needed to have more energy and inventiveness for it to stand out more. I do feel that this is one of the better Marvel sequels. I would say it’s on par with ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2′ as in terms of quality.

Regardless of that I had a great time with this film and with an audience that was loving what was on screen. It did overall help my viewing experience. With this being Marvel Studios’ twentieth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this is the first to have a female character in the title. For this being the first female lead film I felt it did service the character well. She had her own independent storyline that didn’t detract or overstep from the film or from Ant-Man’s separate arc as well. I felt as though they truly became a team by the end of the film.

I do some dumb things, and the people I love the most – they pay the price.

Evangeline Lilly does a fantastic job as The Wasp in bringing her on screen. Though she doesn’t have a standard
origin story she takes charge and has shown in the first movie her ability to fight. The relationship between Scott and Cassie was really strong. I liked what they did with the aftermath of Civil War and had him under house arrest with coming up with fun ways to spend time with his daughter inside the house. Abby Ryder Fortson has some great scenes and I hope she or this character becomes Stature like in the comics.

Michael Pena’s Luis makes his return as does the rest of the crew. The stories Luis tells are so funny and well executed. I really like his character and his relationship with the main characters. Ghost and Bill Foster were standard characters. I liked the motivations and backstory of Ghost. I thought that was well done, I would have liked to have seen more showcased. Finally Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer are great as Hope van Dyne’s parents. I would have liked to seen more of Janet van Dyne. The quantum realm that she was in was interesting but there wasn’t enough explored.

Overall I had fun with the film that was made but I would recommend having it punched up for the third installment that has more action sequences that aren’t all given away in the trailer. The comedy I feel they have down with the campy feel, they just need a better balance of serious and fun.
8/10