It’s been a few months since the events of Marvel’s Infinity War. The Avengers have been brought to their knees and the known universe has suffered its fair share of losses. So, what follows such dire events? A light-hearted sequel to 2015’s underwhelming Ant-Man.
Ant-Man and the Wasp sees Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) on house arrest after his super-excursion to take part in the airport skirmish known as “Civil War.” All he wants to do is finish out his sentence and raise his daughter the best way he knows how to. However, his plans of being a perpetual hermit are dashed as his mentors, Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and daughter Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), come calling to get his help to undo a major loss they suffered.
This “incredible journey” to the center of the quantum realm would be all-too-easy if it weren’t for the interference of the villain of the week, Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), who has the ability/curse to phase through anything.
I believe Ant-Man and the Wasp is meant to be a fun-filled palate cleanser to the recent Marvel productions, but the entire effort comes off as uninspired and tedious. Peyton Reed (Bring It On, The Break Up) returns in his place-holder directorial role and proves once again that he is capable of filming a Marvel movie.
Even while turning out entirely mediocre, the first Ant-Man had the creativity of Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish to bounce off from, as they wrote the original concept for the movie. Sadly, the creativity pool is quite shallow this second time around. This sequel is essentially microwaved french fries. The original fight choreography that was once inspired by brilliance has become forgettable and gimmicky, at one point borrowing the chef/Sebastian scene from The Little Mermaid.
The focus for this sequel is The Wasp/Hope Van Dyne, who is clearly a better/cooler hero than Ant-Man ever could be. This should have been called The Wasp and Ant-Man, to be honest. It is she that gets all the decent action scenes here, as the never-ending joke is that the Ant-Man suit never quite works the way it should. As a hero, she is fun to watch, but Evangeline Lilly seems to be monotonously driven to read her lines, cash her paycheck and go home. Hope and Scott are meant to have this tension and chemistry, but instead there’s vapid banter that does nothing to establish the characters further.
The entire cast is wasted, notably Michael Pena, who plays a bored version of his character from the first movie. Also, Walton Goggins and Laurence Fishburne must have been extremely bored to take these parts. Goggins chews the scenery like few other villain-types, but it’s embarrassing to watch him be so wasted here. Also, I’ve now seen Fishburne in possibly the worst scene in his career as he is shielding himself from large CG ants surrounding him.
The only thing I’ll remember from this movie, as it leaves your brain as soon as it touches your eyes, is the moronic attempts at being scientific. If something scientific is malfunctioning, it’s okay, someone will push a Science Button. If the quantum waves aren’t aligning, it’s okay, someone will pull the quantum lever. It almost intentionally beats you over the head with how little thought was put into the script. If something doesn’t make any sense, it’s okay, push the lame joke button and the audience will be lulled back into familiarity.
Ant-Man and the Wasp actually makes Infinity War and Black Panther into better movies simply because it exists. So little effort was put into this production, that it makes anything similar into a better quality movies. Ant-Man and the Wasp is the ugly friend of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you’ve seen the previous 19 Marvel flicks, you’re going to see this one. I am only here to temper your expectations of possibly the dullest blockbuster in years. D
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