Review of Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) by Grantd243 — 22 Jul 2018

Ant-Man and the Wasp picks up after Captain America: Civil War, and basically Scott isn't doing Ant-Man stuff anymore because he's under house arrest for two years due to his part in the airport fight.

He still has the suit and everything, but his days are primarily spent entertaining his daughter and helping Luis with their security company. Eventually, he has a vision of Dr. Pym's wife and he calls him, which results in Hope (the Wasp) knocking him out and bringing him to their lab because they want to rescue Mrs.

Pym from the quantum realm. He then eventually gets back into the Ant-Man suit and that's where the film really kicks off. I found the story of this film to be completely and utterly okay. I was entertained.

However, I think that this is one of the weakest Marvel stories that has been portrayed on the big screen since perhaps the first Ant-Man. Take Paul Rudd's humor out (which I really do enjoy) and this story is frankly kind of.

...meh. Our heroes spend a fairly large portion of the film trying to obtain a part of technology necessary to their mission, and then finding a spot to set up the lab and complete the mission, but the villain gives them some trouble along the way.

The villain, while somewhat relatable, is once again weak and the other "bad guy" portrayed by Walton Goggins is about as cookie cutter as it gets. There's never really a sense of danger. The villains seem more like annoyances that the heroes have to deal with, and it's always known that they will complete their mission by the end of the story.

I can respect that this film does seem fairly self-contained apart from the after-credits scene that ties it in to Avengers: Infinity War, but that doesn't take away from the fact that it's just an okay story.

Characters: I do really like the character of Scott Lang. His humor is very wholesome and genuine, and he is one of the more relatable heroes in the current MCU. Hope is also a solid partner for him both on missions as the Wasp and otherwise.

Also, while a lot of people seem to really like Luis (Michael Pena), I can't stand him. I find him entirely unfunny, and every time he took control of a scene I was just waiting for him to be off screen.

Overall: I had a good time watching Ant-Man and the Wasp. It provided what I have come to expect from Marvel films: entertainment. Is it fairly typical? Yeah. Will it go down as one of my favorite Marvel films? Nah.