Ant-Man and the Wasp is the twentieth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and is the sequel to the 2015 Marvel movie, Ant-Man. The film was directed by Peyton Reed, and was produced by Kevin Feige and Stephen Broussard. It stars Paul Rudd (Scott Lang / Ant-Man), Evangeline Lilly (Hope van Dyne / Wasp), Michael Pena (Luis), Walton Goggins (Sonny Burch), Bobby Cannavale (Jim Paxton), Judy Greer (Maggie), Tip “T.I.” Harris (Dave), David Dastmalchian (Kurt), Hannah John-Kamen (Ava Starr / Ghost), Abby Ryder Fortson (Cassie), Randall Park (Jimmy Woo), Michelle Pfeiffer (Janet van Dyne), Laurence Fishburne (Bill Foster), and Michael Douglas (Hank Pym). It was distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
(SPOILER ALERT!!!)
(You’ve been warned!)
After the events of Captain America: Civil War, Scott Lang is now under house arrest
due to his participation in assisting Captain America, and both Hank Pym and
Hope van Dyne had cut ties with him. But a message from the Quantum Realm will
reunite him with his former allies to take on a new mission.
Ant-Man
and the Wasp’s theme differs from the first movie. In the
first movie, we focused on the “father-daughter” relationships, Scott doing
everything to be with her daughter, Cassie, and Hank fixing his broken
relationship with Hope. To quote Hank, “It’s not about saving our world, it’s
about saving theirs.” Wherein the second movie, it’s about “partners”. With
Hank looking for ways to retrieve his wife from the Quantum Realm, and Scott
rekindling his partnership and relationship with Hope. On the other hand, the
tone of the movie stays the same. Still a family and kid-friendly movie, that
everyone would enjoy. Fun action sequences and comedic jokes are thrown into
the movie as well.
The story is set between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. I do think that
the plot of the film was thought out pretty well. It showed the effects of
Scott joining Cap’s team plus the things that were left off from the first Ant-Man movie, and at the same time the
movie might be giving us hints that Ant-Man may have a key role in the next Avengers film. But there are a few
things that keeps me wondering, such as what happens to Pym’s company now that
Cross is gone, and both Hank and Hope are fugitives? How was Scott able
to mail the suit if they were captured right after the airport fight? And how
did Scott end up in a house arrest if Steve Rogers broke his team out of the
prison? Still, these are small things to worry about compared to the questions
left to us about what can and will happen in Avengers 4.
The action scenes and visual effects were thrilling,
and the car chase part was absolutely fun to watch, but I do feel that there
weren’t enough actions in the movie especially if you compared it to the first Ant-Man film. Even with Ghost. Ghost was
an excellent villain. Her backstory and motives were well explored, but it seemed
that she didn’t really have that “one step” advantage and wasn’t really
outmatching Ant-Man and Wasp in combat. The climax were more focused on the car
chase and rescuing Janet that their final battle with Ghost wasn’t really
satisfying that I felt that they could have shown more. I feel like even the
ants weren’t fully utilized in this movie. It seemed that the their only real
challenge was the time running down for them to retrieve Janet from the Quantum Realm.
I wouldn’t deny that it was exciting seeing
this cast, and it was worth watching them perform. Rudd, Lilly, and Douglas, of
course, were amazing with their roles, more so that we now have seen Lilly perform in
a superhero suit. Pena, still is the fan favorite that you wouldn’t love both Ant-Man movies that much if he wasn’t in
them. Harris, Dastmalchian, and Goggins did good as well. And as I said about
Ghost, she was an excellent villain, and we have John-Kamen to thank. Pfeiffer
and Fishburne, coming into the mix, blended in nicely with their great
performance. And both Fortson and Park were adorable enough that it was fun
seeing them in their scenes.
I would also like to point out that it was
funny and at the same time heartwarming seeing Scott’s ex-wife, Maggie, and her
husband, Jim, are now in a lovely terms with him, that they became so
supportive and now have faith in Scott, and seems that they became a whole
family. It was just really pleasing to see.
But the mid and post credit scenes though. As
much as this was a fun and friendly movie, it will still remind us of how
devastating the current state of the MCU
is, the effect that the Avengers:
Infinity War left us with. That it can still make us suddenly say, “Oh my
god!” while watching that scene. Left us wondering again, “What happens now?”
Ant-Man
and the Wasp is a very enjoyable movie. Excellent cast, a
great plot, and a heart pounding twist at the end. But I do prefer the first Ant-Man film, still Ant-Man and the Wasp still passed the MCU standards and might still be part of my top ten favorite movies
this year. I just can’t wait to see Ant-Man in Avengers 4 and for them to give us the answers we have been dying
to know.
Rating:
7.5/10
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Thanks The Philippine Star for the movie screening and for the free tickets.
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