New Release! Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) [Spoiler-Free Review]

I feel that it's highly appropriate that this
poster has Hope "The Wasp" van Dyne
front and center. In many ways, she owns
parts of this movie as much, or more, than
the Scott Lang character.

No Spoilers! Read On!!

Director: Peyton Reed

A light and entertaining follow-up to the original Ant-Man, and a drastically peppy apertif to the massively epic and ultimately grim Avengers: Infinity War from just a couple of months prior.

In the grand-scale Infinity War movie from this spring, which included nearly every single hero and villain from the ever-expanding, 18-film Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), there were only a couple of conspicuous absences. One of them was Scott Lang, a.k.a. "Ant-Man," (Paul Rudd) the cat burglar-turned-techno-hero who had last been seen in a massive underwater prison towards the end of 2016's Captain America: Civil War. At the start of this movie, we get the full explanation of where Lang has been for the last couple of years, right up to a few days before the events of Infinity War.

In short, Lang's now rather quiet life is interrupted by a strange experience which puts him back in contact with Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter, Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly). Hank and Hope have been hiding from the law, secretly pursuing a lead to Hank's wife, the long-presumed dead Janet Van Dyne, a.k.a. "The Wasp." In their quest to see if Janet is still, indeed, alive they must dodge not only the federal authorities, but also contend with a mysterious figure known as "Ghost," (Hannah John-Kamen) as well as the greedy, amoral capitalist Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins).

This movie was very much in keeping with the original. It's light and fun, with more than a few really entertaining uses of movie magic to illustrate the shrinking and growing powers of Dr. Pym's astonishing technologies. Since the first movie was originally under the helm of Edgar Wright, I was never how much of the original I enjoyed because of Wright's ideas, rather than Peyton Reed, who was brought into oversee the actual film once Wright stepped away. I was pleased to see that, in this sequel, the humor and more personal scale are all still very much alive. This second film actually offers a little more of the fun back-and-forth between the smart-ass Lang and the cantankerous Hank. With Paul Rudd's instinct for comic timing paired with Michael Douglass's overall acting chops, it works like magic.

Blessedly, Luis is back. Even more blessedly, the writers
avoided the pitfall of overdoing a good thing. They used the
hilarious supporting character in just the right doses.

This is a good place to mention just how much I've grown to love Evangeline Lilly in these movies. Her portrayal of Hope Van Dyne was a real highlight of the first film for me, even though she was relegated to a support role who never got to show off her real fighting skills. In Ant-Man and the Wasp, though, she all but completely takes over. Her proficiency with the Pym particle technology, merely hinted at in the first movie, is now on full display. In short, she kicks serious ass. And unlike one or two of the other women who have been cast in MCU hero or villain roles, I completely buy Lilly as a tough-as-nails fighter.

All the other enjoyable elements of the first film are there. Fun supporting characters like the ever-affable Luis and others are used to good effect, without ever being overused. The plot moves along at a good pace, and the action never grows dull. The litmus test here is my wife, who tends to grow bored quickly with most movie action, but admitted that she actually found most of the action in this movie engaging and enjoyable. This was a testament to the creativity of the visual artists behind the movie.

Like the first Ant-Man, this is not a superhero movie that is going to redefine the genre or maybe even win over anyone who is categorically opposed to such films. It is, however, a fun popcorn movie that is blessedly self-contained. Even those who haven't seen most of the other MCU movies can jump right in and enjoy it, with only the first film being a suggested prerequisite.