Ant-Man And The Wasp

This doesn't achieve what the original heist film did but it's a real joyful thrill after Infinity War. I would give Ant-Man And The Wasp a 7.5/10.

Ant-Man has been my favourite Marvel character since his introduction for a whole host of reasons but there are a couple that shines through and makes this such a strong film. In this sequel, Scott Lang is waiting out his house arrest after the events of Captain America: Civil War, one of the big conflicts for him throughout the film is balancing the responsibility of seeing this arrest out for the sake of his daughter while also tackling the responsibility of being a small-time superhero. The family values that stem from this protagonist and the conflict he faces over resuming the mantle of Ant-Man is a really grounded motivation, one that is very different from many of the other Marvel superheroes we've come to see over the years. There is also a great use of comedy that keeps the film light-hearted and entertaining throughout, the quips and fast dialogue that races between these characters feel like something straight from the page of a comic book. The cinematography looks stunning, the way in which they build upon the difference between the small superhero perspective and that of a more normal perspective still has a lot of creative talent. The special effects look great and go hand in hand with how perspective is filmed; the tiny heroes look great, the Ghost antagonist is caught brilliantly and the design of the Quantum realm is very beautiful. The score for the film has a high energy throughout keeping the frantic fights, heists and chases lively; the soundtrack also hits all the right notes with 'Come On Get Happy' by David Cassidy setting a consistent upbeat tone.

Evangeline Lilly, who played Wasp, is definitely a more intense superhero as she is described within the film; Lilly plays a character with an extremely tough exterior who is driven by a very strong personal goal. Michael Pena, who played Luis, was absolutely hysterical in the original Ant-Man and he just keeps nailing it in the sequel; Pena has a fun new angle as the stressed-out boss of the ex-con crew, who are trying desperately to make their newfound security firm take off. Hannah John-Kamen, who played Ghost, has to be one of the most interesting antagonists introduced to the Marvel Universe; John-Kamen's desperation to survive her deteriorating condition makes her a sympathetic role even as she takes riskier extremes to achieve her goal. Abby Ryder Fortson, who played Cassie, is a very sweet, charming role; Fortson has such great chemistry with Rudd and it's really interesting to see how this character has grown to desire to be a superhero similar to her on-screen father. Randall Park, who played Jimmy Woo, is a hilarious new addition to the Ant-Man cast; Park lends a very fresh sense of comedy as the rather clueless FBI agent assigned to the arrested Ant-Man. Michelle Pfeiffer, who played Janet Van Dyne, is such a warm, kindly role; Pfeiffer's best moments are the emotional scenes in which she 'reunites' with Douglas and Lilly. Michael Douglas, who played Dr Hank Pym, is a lot more abrasive within this film after the events of Captain America: Civil War; it's very interesting how this role is so unapologetic for his past as it makes him a more flawed protagonist to watch than some of the other characters.

However, the best performance came from Paul Rudd, who played the title role of Ant-Man. Rudd really stands out as one of the leading superheroes in the Marvel universe because he's so good at making a grounded, likeable character. Even if Ant-Man can be a bit of a schmuck who screws up he has the right motivations and an innate drive to do the best by others, especially his family and friends. The ease with which Rudd delivers some extremely funny content is entertaining to watch and his role shines as one of the comedic pillars of this film.

This film had a lot of moments in which certain events happened quite conveniently for the sake of advancing the plot, or characters who had no knowledge of an event from earlier in the film suddenly possessed this knowledge because they had 'heard about it'. This manner of writing felt like an easy way to cut some narrative corners and cheapened the impact of some scenes. This sequel also suffers from the same problem the first film had; the light and easy-going tone is brilliant but it certainly means the stakes never really feel too high. Because the main characters feel fairly safe from start to finish there is a decided lack of tension and the conflict feels like it will be fairly easily resolved.

Walton Goggins, who played Sonny Burch, is a pretty unnecessary antagonist within the film; Goggins doesn't really feel like he contributes much and is probably inserted to make up a little additional screen time. Bobby Cannavale and Judy Greer, who played Paxton and Maggie respectively, come across quite over the top in terms of how pro-Scott Lang they are now; these characters definitely have presence due to their role in the original but they don't really do anything with it. T.I. and David Dastmalchian, who played Dave and Kurt respectively, just fade into the background because the film doesn't know what to do with them; they come across as sidekicks to Pena and as such don't really get to go through their own arc. Laurence Fishburne, who played Dr Bill Foster, was quite a docile supporting antagonist for the film; Fishburne hasn't really had much luck in the superhero genre with his stint as Superman's boss bombing in Man of Steel and now the pretty dull portrayal of a mirrored version of Michael Douglas' role.