Ant-Man and the Wasp Review

3 Stars

Review by Owen Herman

Avengers: Infinity War was a blockbuster masterpiece. It was a film of high stakes and its end had devastating consequences for the cinematic universe inhabited by series’ heroes. Where could Marvel go from there? The answer was to go as small as possible, bringing out a light-hearted small-scale Paul Rudd comedy. Ant-Man and the Wasp may be one of Marvel’s weaker entries, but in the context of the MCU it works perfectly.

Set before/during the events of Infinity War, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is under house arrest thanks to his association with Captain America. All that is keeping him busy is entertaining his young daughter and trying to run a security firm with his friend Luis (Michael Peña reclaiming his crown from Taika Waititi’s Korg as the funniest character in the MCU). Meanwhile the Wasp, Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lily), and original Ant-Man Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) are trying to reach the quantum realm to recover Hope’s long-lost mother. After a run in with Hannah John-Kamen’s ghostly villain this quest is put in jeopardy and it is up to Ant-Man and the Wasp to team up and reach the quantum realm in time.

If you’re still unsure about what the quantum realm is then don’t worry because not even Ant-Man himself seems to know. The film is packed with technobabble and plenty of convenient science, but the comedy helps distract from this. As mentioned earlier Peña takes most of the laughs, but Randall Park’s hapless FBI agent is worthy of a mention as well. The action is fast and fun, with some clever use of size distortion. John-Kamen is great as the main villain, but she is unfortunately not given a big enough role thanks to so many other villainous characters fighting for screen time.

Staying for the mid-credits scene is a must but waiting till the very end is really not worth it, the post-credits scene is perhaps the worst of the MCU so far. Ant-Man and the Wasp is a fine entry into the MCU, and it is exactly what is needed after the brutal end of Infinity War.