By: Giovanni Mendez
Head Editor
Following Avengers: Infinity War with a very dreary ending where *spoiler alert* most of our favorite heroes are dusted from existence by Thanos including Spider-Man, Black Panther, and most of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man and the Wasp had a big task of rinsing the audiences palettes with a fun, witty adventure with Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and the gang. This movie didn’t need to be better than Infinity War but it did have to be akin to the first movie which was such a delightful addition to the MCU, introducing new elements that will play important parts in the future of these films in this mass universe. So lets answer the question, does Ant-Man and the Wasp live up the MCU standards of excellence???? Well, lets look at the different aspects of the film and evaluate that.
Plot:
So lets discuss the main story that this film is centered around. In the beginning scene, we hear Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) talking to Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lily) about how her mother, Janet van Dyne, also the original Wasp, got lost into the quantum realm to stop a missile and after seeing Lang come out of that realm, which was thought impossible, Pym rekindles plans of a quantum tunnel to go into the realm and rescue Janet.
After so, we find Scott under house arrest due to the events of Captain America: Civil War, and soon to be out of it as his two year term is coming to end. Despite his sentence, he still acts like his normal self, being a fun-loving father to his daughter, Cassie and actually has started a security business with Louise (Michael Pena). As Scott just kills time til his release, he has a flashback to when he was in the quantum realm and this time, he gets connected to Janet and also experiences a flashback of hers where she is playing hide and seek with Hope. After that experience, he calls Pym to tell him about it but feels horrible for making him and Hope wanted from the FBI due to their tech and the Sokovia Accords and breaks his phone to disconnect. This event sparks our journey in the film where they take Scott in to get more information and help them get Janet back into their lives. But this doesn’t come with their challenges as they encounter a women named Ava, who goes by her comic book name Ghost, who is looking to steal this quantum tunnel to save her life. This cause our heroes to be on chase to get back their machine but also save Janet.
The plot is consistent with the first movies plot as it surrounds around our heroes trying to get something like the YellowJacket suit or Janet and theres tons of road blocks that they face to getting them. Though its similar, this is a recipe of success for this sequel as it serves the characters well in where we see them develop with each other and provides us with another fun journey.
Characters:
Within the film, we see a lot of returning faces but we do get some new additions into this franchise. But lets discuss our returning heroes and their companions.
Though the title features both heroes, Evangeline Lily’s Wasp steals the show as we finally see the classic super-heroine/original Avenger done right on the big screen. She brings an powerful performance in not only personifying the physical attributes of the Wasp but also brings this the determination and boldness of the women behind the suit. She doesn’t play second fiddle to Ant-Man but actually schools him and shows they she is the better hero of the duo. Now thats not taking anything away from our first titular character in Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang. Rudd continues to bring a delightful, funny performance that we have become accustomed to from his last two appearances in the MCU. Ultimately, both are great complaints to each other and their chemistry is outstanding as you can believe both can be a fighting duo but also in a romantic relationship.
Not only do the our main heroes stand out but so do our supporting cast. Michael Douglas continues to be the living manifestation of Hank Pym, being the aged, determined hero who in this film, looks to save his wife from what he thought was an impossible task. Our comedic relief continues with Michael Pena and his pals with T.I and David Dastmalchian as their main purpose is just to provide comedic moments. In the first film, these characters served more of a purpose in helping Scott retrieve the YJ suit but their duties in the film don’t serve as much in the second iteration which can be a positive or negative depending on how you feel about the characters. For me, it didn’t mind their purpose as i always saw their characters as comedic relief but depending on our preferences, they can be disappointing.
Our villains in this film play a significant part in this film as they are the main roadblock for Hank and Hope getting back Janet from the quantum realm. Hannah John-Kamen provides a excellent performance as Ghost where as the film progress, you start to root for her as she is another sympathetic villain for the audience. In my eyes, i don’t view her character as an villain as throughout the film she is just trying to use Pym’s tech to help her survive her conditions of quantum phasing but ultimately, she does get in the way of our heroes mission and that makes her the antagonist. But she does play the character great as you believe she is threat to Lang and van Dyne as they try to bring Janet back. We also can sympathize with her character as Bill Foster aka Goliath, played by Laurence Fishburn, as he is the moral backbone for her and stops her from becoming a full-fledge villain. Now, Marvel has become known to having some weak villains though lately they have killed it with Killmonger and Thanos, but they do fail with one of their villains for me in this film which is Sonny Birch, played by Walton Goggins. His character is ultimately pointless in the film and doesn’t serve any threat to the tiny heroes and is just there to provide a piece of tech for them. I believe he just could have been served better as Goggins is a great character actor but the character given to him in Ant-Man and the Wasp was not a great character. The character is just a slimy, black market dealer who looks to take advantage of Pym’s tech and make a profit. That it. Quite lame for my standards in the MCU.
THAT Post Credit Scene!:
Now the mid credit scene is the one of the most important scene in the film. In this scene, we find Hank, Janet, Hope, and Scott, with a smaller version of the quantum tunnel, planning to send Scott into the quantum realm to get energy within the realm to help heal Ghost from her condition which was healed by Janet once she was save from the realm. Before sending Scott, Janet advises him to not get sucked into an time voids as he could get lost and Scott jokes it off and they send him. Once in the realm, Lang retrieves the heal elements needed and is ready to return but as Hope counts down to bring him back, the mic goes blank and we find Scott saying to stop joking around as if they playing a cruel joke on him being lost but actually as we see from Earth, all three of Hope, Janet, and Hank have been dusted by Thanos from Infinity War and we see Scott stuck in the quantum realm, distressed from not knowing whats happening.
This scene is quite important for the future of the MCU as not only another three important character are “killed” by Thanos but a new element may have been introduced that could play a part in Avengers 4. When Janet talks about time voids, it hint that Scott can utilize those voids to go back in the past, which we have seen from set photos for Avengers 4 where we see our heroes back in the battle of New York including Ant-Man. So this scene may explain how that occurs.
Conclusion:
Ant-Man and the Wasp is another great addition to the MCU as they continue to develop their heroes and their universe and it leaves us wanting more from each and every one of these characters.
The 407 