Good things in small packages

Film review: Ant-Man and the Wasp

MANILA, Philippines — With Ant-Man and the Wasp (AMW), the Marvel Comic Universe (MCU) reverts back to the personal and relatively diminutive story. There is no threatened nation (Wakanda in Black Panther) or end-of-days scenario (Avengers: Infinity War); and true to the size of our superhero, no villain with massive ego, contemplating a global takeover. As in the first film in the franchise, it’s basically a heist comedy with superhero elements, and a whole lot of parenting thrown in. Is this good or bad for the prospects of this Ant-Man second installment? That really depends on your expectations quotient. 

With the origins story well established, Ant-Man and the Wasp has a nifty prologue establishing how this installment will center on a quest, led by Hope (Evangeline Lilly) and Hank (Michael Douglas), to retrieve the original Wasp, Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) from the Quantum Realm. If Scott (Paul Rudd) made it back in the first film, a vestige of hope exists that Janet could still be stuck there, and creating a Quantum Tunnel at their “collapsible” laboratory/building would be the answer for a retrieval attempt. 

In true comic book fashion, we’ve established what adventure this “issue” will be all about; and we’re dutifully introduced to the characters who will be stumbling blocks. First, there’s Sonny (Walton Goggins), unscrupulous black market tech dealer, and if Hank and Hope have their Janet “ghost,” a more substantive Ghost mysteriously shows up, portrayed by Hannah John-Kamen — and she is by far the much more interesting “antagonist.” For different reasons, they’re all after the lab as a means to unlock a mystery and/or to make profit.

Luis (Michael Peña) is back, as are Scott’s daughter, his ex-wife and so on. If the first film had a lot of visual gags like the giant blue Thomas and Hot Wheels, this time, there’s a pink Hello Kitty Pez dispenser. And as Scott, Rudd is at his most charming and hilarious when he’s channeling the Janet character from beyond the Quantum Realm. If there is a drawback to this outing, it would be the paucity of storyline — Acts 1, 2 and 3 are practically identical, the lab as hot potato and who is in possession of it. 

So if you’ve been “spoiled” by Panther and Infinity, this will seem to be a very slight outing, a minor Marvel film that while charming enough, lacks the heft and gravitas of what arrived earlier in the year. But if you felt there was a need for the MCU to lighten up, and Deadpool 2 was just too meta and an extended stand-up comedy routine, you will welcome how AMW is a throwback to the individual hero/father story and embrace the “smallness” of the film and our heroes.