Ant-Man and The Wasp Review

Ant-Man and The Wasp (2018)
Directed by: Peyton Reed
Written by: Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangline Lily, Micheal Douglas, Michelle Phiefer, Micheal Pena, etc.

You know, 2018 was a BIG year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe!!! "Black Panther" was a momentous hit worldwide becoming the first African American lead cast/black superhero film to make over a $1 billion dollars at the Box Office by spending word that the black dollar should not be underestimated by Hollywood as it created an almost revolutionary movement with many black movie goers dressing in African wear and attire.  Soon after came the biggest film of the franchise yet, "Avengers: Infinity War", the first part of the 10 year culmination of films starred way back in 2008 with the first "Ironman".  It was an unprecedented event that led to the film making over 2...yes 2! billion dollars worldwide to become the highest grossing superhero ensemble pic of ALL TIME!!! :) It seemed that Marvel Studios under Disney's distribution was unstoppable...and while that remains so.we can't forget that this franchise has been anything but a smooth ride! O_o Films like "Thor: The Dark World" and "Captain America: The First Avenger" were highly forgettable chapters in the franchise only to be greatly surpassed by their sequels and the less said about "The Incredible Hulk"...the BETTER!  It's unfortunate that the sequel to 2015's fun and entertaining "Ant-Man" is quite mediocre and utterly bad in this second adventure in the lives of Scott Lang, Hank Pym and Hope Van Dyne.  Honestly, if "Black Panther" was the more than satisfying appetizer and "Infinity War" was the highly anticipated entree.....then "Ant-Man and the Wasp" would be the lackluster dessert that you just can't finish.  It really pains me to say that, especially considering how great the cast is, especially Paul Rudd, as his usually irresistible, charming self playing Scott Lang and Micheal Pena, who nearly steals the show in most of his scenes as one of Scott's best buds/co-workers, Luis but for the most part, the film seems to not know how to truly utilize these characters and make the follow-up to the original a more compelling adventure than the first.

Peyton Reed's directing just comes off awkward and insulting at times met with the "beating the comedy into your head" script written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers.  The film really highlights a continued error as well as problematic tone with some of these MCU movies and that's the dialogue just goes on and on while the actors improve the scenes into annoyance.  We get it, Paul Rudd and co are funny, but the comedy feels so forced and drain out that I just couldn't take the movie seriously at times as a superhero flick or a serious family drama about a father trying to stay out of trouble to be with his precious daughter.  Did we really need that scene of Rudd's Lang misinterpreting and drawing out the hedonistic punch line of the whole thing???  Did we really need that overtly gimmicky sequence of Hope and Scott sneaking into his daughter's elementary school which reminded me of something out of a Wayans Bros hemmed parody film???  Also, the whole "truth serum" gag wore out its welcome by like the third joke in....yet another....scene played for over the top slapstick than actually moving the plot along at a steady and naturally entertaining pace.  And what is that plot you ask??? Well....it's......uhhh.....finding a lab......yes......finding a laboratory!!! o_o  I mean, that's all there is to the movie besides the two main villains that I will get to but it's basically one of the most straight-forward and non eventful films of the MCU!!! O_o  Coming after "Black Panther" leading the charge with it's political inquisition about the oppression of black people around the world due to Wakanda's negligence and Killmonger causing a civil war and terrorism in the futuristic, hidden country that could lead to a world filled with vibranium armed black communities  and "Infinity War's" pulse pounding ride of Thanos' universal threat that had both the Avengers and The Guardians racing against time to stop him.......we get a movie about....three factions, one good, two bad, trying to get their hands on Hank Pym's lab.....o_o..... Now don't get me wrong, some of the motivations behind getting the lab are emotionally driven and paramount, like Hank and Hope realizing that legendary Janet Van Dyne is still alive in the Quantum Realm that Scott was briefly stuck in and need the lab to travel there to save after 30 years in captivity there.  The other is because of one of the villains of the film, Ava aka Ghost, wanting to get her hands on Quantum Realm energy by draining it out of Janet and making herself whole again as she has suffered from a fatal accident that took her parents' lives as a child.  The character of Ava aka Ghost tho, is quite lackluster and a shame as you can tell the writers were trying to keep with the sudden new trend of MCU villains not sucking since the remarkable brilliance behind Killmonger's tragedy motivated intentions as well as worldwide solution to the black struggle in "Black Panther" and Thanos' breathtaking journey of sacrifice and fascinating savior mentality during the devastating events of "Infinity War".

The thing is, there's nothing to her as a character because the depth they try to give to her isn't even warranted or earned.  Honestly, the coolest thing about her are her phasing abilities and the stunning special effects used on her when she's on screen either using them and literally trying to stay present in reality.  The writers actually missed a greater opportunity in her character by showing a clear relationship between her and Laurence Fishburne's criminally underutilized Dr. Bill Foster aka Goliath.  I mean it's not just the fact that an actor such as Fishburne is wasted beyond forgiveness from the audience but his potential heartwarming relationship between Bill and Ava is just underwritten and horribly executed.  These two clearly have many years of history as it's revealed Bill took in Ava to not only look after her and raise her but desperately find a cure for her condition but we only get brief glimpse of it instead of an actual development between the characters.  I mean Jesus, "Infinity War" didn't only fully introduce Thanos but it made him into one of the most complex and captivating villains of the MCU....in just 2 hours and 45 minutes! Yet here, the scenes between Laurence and Hannah John-Kamen's characters fall flat because we're more told through their characters why they are so close and not showing why they have an almost father/daughter relationship between them.  I mean, at the end of the film, they are ready to sacrifice themselves for each other, which is fine and well, the build up to that moment just wasn't there unfortunately.  Again...what a waste of a potentially sympathetic villain and even more sympathetic arc between two characters played by clearly gifted and passionate actors....sigh.  What also doesn't work???  The forced romance between Hope and Scott...which just....it's just kind of there.  Feels more like sexual frustration or tension than two character developing a genuine love for each other.  Also, it doesn't help and really hurts the film more than anything that "Ant-Man and the Wasp" feels more like "Hank Pym and his daughter featuring Scott Lang".  I mean...seriously!!! That is where the script leads the film into it's most grating flaws. Suddenly, the star of the first film is reduced to comic relief and the "just along for the ride" character in the sequel!!? O_O  Are you kidding me!!? -_- Which is an embarrassing shame and tragically harmful to the film because Paul Rudd should have STILL been the anchor for this light-hearted adventure trilogy of the MCU.  Paul just works better when he's fought and center instead of Michael Douglas's grumpy Hank Pym and Evangeline Lily's often times unlikable Hope Van Dyne aka The Wasp.

For a team-up superhero film, there isn't much of "Ant-Man and the Wasp" doing their thing together like in the comics.   It's more Evangeline Lily's Hope looking like a badass and making Rudd's Scott look more incompetent in comparison, especially after the first film! What?! O_o  And yes, we know why Hope didn't suit up in the first film because of her father's fear of losing her like her mother but Hope's brutal and brilliant done fight sequence only highlight how dumb that was as Hope seems to be able to take of things on her own without Scott; even able to clear a room full of thugs without a sweat in one of the film's first fight scenes.  So what exactly is the point of them together when only at the very end of the film shows how good they are as a team???  Once again, no development there! -_-  Onto another issue with the other villain of the movie and the dumbest reason behind getting Hank's lab in Walton Goggins' laughable Sonny Burch.  Some kind of tech dealer that gave Hank and Hope the part to build their Quantum Realm traveling machine in exchange for payment but wants ALL the glory and wealth for himself after finding out who Hope is.  Arguably the worst aspect of the film, I couldn't help but look at by facebook updates while he and his faceless goons were on screen.  They are only there for elaborate fights and things for Scott and Hope to hit while they get to their own main objective for getting the lab....that being to travel to the Quantum Realm to retrieve the 3 decade missing Janet Van Dyne played by another underused actress in Michelle Pfeiffer.  Instead of a deeper exploration of Janet herself, her past as The Wasp I and her life in the Quantum Realm, we only get a true glimpse of her toward the end as her and Hank have a well acted moment by their actors but it's more Michael and Michelle's performances that try to salvage a scene that had no real payoff to it. Sorry.  Also, the Quantum Realm has seemed to have changed Janet and given her strange new abilities like putting an "antenna" in Scott's head and curing Ghost of her phasing powers.  How? Why?  It's never explained!!! O_o  Maybe in "Ant-Man 3"???? Not to mention, once again, I would have rather had more scenes with Rudd's Lang as the two most genuinely heartfelt scenes of the scene has him being at the center of them.  Janet speaking through Scott to help Hank and Hope find her could have been painfully awkward or silly but Rudd not only pulls it off tremendously but shows he is a capable dramatic actor when the script calls for it.  Lastly, the scene between Scott and his daughter Cassie, played by the older and honestly wonderful child actor, Abby Ryder Fortson talking about his duties as Ant-Man and encouraging him to have a partner were brief looks into a film that never was.  Something funny, fantastic and family friendly without trying to hard thanks to Rudd's impeccable wit and Abby's beyond her years professionalism.  Cassie, among Pena's Luis, were the natural scene stealers of the film giving us realistic reactions and compelling devotion to the characters and story at hand.

But onto the film's strongest suits like the fun and comedic action scenes like Hope forcing things to grow and shrink while Sonny's men chase after her, Scott and Luis to get to the lab or the visually stunning sequence of Hank traveling to the Quantum Realm by shrinking through various dimensions of reality.  Clearly, the problem with the film wasn't the effects or action that went into showing how impressive the shrinking/growing aspects of the Ant-Man mythology but how inexcusably forgettable this movie is in the grander scope of the ongoing MCU storyline.  Honestly, I don't know what went wrong between Kevin Feige and the production of this film but it seems like during the biggest year of Marvel Studios with two multi-billion dollar blockbusters, "Ant-Man and the Wasp" really got the short end of the stick in terms of plot and progress in the franchise. Sure, returning small, side characters like T.I.'s Dave and David Dastmalchian's Kurt carry the film fine but it's sad how when brief moments of those two interacting with the rest of the cast is more enjoyable than most of what the film is.  A film that is heavily crushed by an amateurish script, lukewarm directing, poorly developed characters and two plots involving two sets of villains who are more pathetic than threatening in the end.

"After a promising and unique first film in 2015's "Ant-Man", it's slapstick overkill filled sequel, "Ant-Man and the Wasp" is a tired and often tactless film that creates one of the most meandering adventures in the MCU in a while.  It's a terribly bloated summer blockbuster that severely mishandles its stellar cast with such well known performers as Laurence Fishburne and Michelle Pfieffer being reduced to minor roles while the bulk of the film focuses on weak storytelling, disposable villains and the criminally charming Paul Rudd taking a backseat during the worst entry of this pioneering and redefining film franchise.  When the only redeeming quality is a chilling mid-credit end scene that effortlessly ties into the earth shattering conclusion of "Avengers: Infinity War", then you know the past 2 hours of the actual film wasn't worth it overall."

Final Film Score: C-