Ant-Man and The Wasp

     "If only Cap could see you now"

     Our first post-Infinity War MCU film (though not chronologically) and its the palate cleanser you expect it to be, and the one we need. The first Ant-Man stands out as my favorite Marvel movie, with its frantic action and charming lead Paul Rudd. If you liked the first movie because of these things, you'll enjoy its sequel, which is an adequate but enjoyable return to the shape-shifter. It's more of the same, doubling down on the humor that made the first film feel so light handed, albeit a bit more grounded due to where it takes place within the timeline. While its held back by a somewhat shallow gaggle of villains, its still all the Marvel fun you want, with some really cool special effects, while still building upon the world from previous installments.

     A brief recap brings us up to speed on the plot of this follow-up: Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) during their time as the original Ant-Man and The Wasp, are tasked with stopping a soviet missile. Janet, in order to get through the casing into the missiles systems, shrinks herself beyond a subatomic level, becoming lost in the space known as the Quantum
Realm, a place less bound by physics, geometry, time and space the deeper you go in. Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and her father Hank have been working on a new machine to help them access the Quantum Realm in order to find her, believing her to still be alive in there...somewhere.

Source: ComicBook.com

     Meanwhile, after having participated in the big showdown on Cap's behalf in Captain America: Civil War, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) has been living under house arrest, earning his Best Stay At Home Dad in the World nomination spending time with his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson) and back in the good graces of ex-wife Maggie (Judy Geer) and bear hugger Paxton (Bobby Cannavale). It's a
sweet dynamic to see, one that feels well deserved for our hero. Three more days and he's a free man, able to officially jump into that family chemistry. Meanwhile, ex-cons Luis (Michael Pena), Kurt (David Dastmalchian), and Dave (T.I.) have started their own security business, Xcon. They remain the unsung heroes of this particular franchise, with their offbeat humor reinforcing the new earned sense of normalcy:

     "What's up with the over expensive pastries? We gotta keep the food budget down."

     "Well, what are we supposed to eat for breakfast?"

     "The oatmeal packets."

     "Oatmeal packets."

     "It's insult."

     "Why is it insult?"

     "Because it tastes like sand."

     "You know why, because its organic."

Source: www.nme.com

     Back to the main plot, and to me the most interesting aspect: after having a dream in which Scott is Hopes mother, playing hide-and-seek with a young Hope, it's the thing needed to give Hank Pym that long overdue phone call to reunite our friends. Turns out, Scotts brief time in the Quantum Realm at the end of the first film has connected his and Janet van Dynes consciousness via quantum entanglement. This convinces them that Janet is alive, and begrudgingly accept Scotts offer to help. They're not alone in

the quest for this quantum power, as a mysterious individual with the ability to shift through reality (Hannah John-Kamen) is looking for the same access to the realm to cure what ails her. Before we know it, things are going micro and macro.

     What I liked the most about the first film were its action sequences. The constant shifting of size, with environmental context to add to the moments, created a truly unpredictable playground. There's some cool additions this time around, such as the shrinking building that turns into luggage, and the collection of real life match-box cars. It's implemented into the humor as well, with Scott struggling with a "work in progress" new suit. Ghost, the shape shifting villain, has the coolest special effects, with after images constantly merging and dissipating, a trippy omni-feature that showcases her struggle with maintaining her physical form.

Source: BGR.com

     As mentioned, Ghost isn't the only villain in the film, with Walton Goggins playing some sort of shady business type, and one other which goes into spoiler territory. It's not that their bad, they all bring their respected performances, if limited to their characters. It's just that due to their limited roles, they mainly serve as plot devices for the events unfolding in the film. Therefore the screen time spent on them could've been spent on something more important.

     Squabbles aside, its another solid entry into the MCU. More humor from Rudd and crew, the same ever changing action, and some neat scientific nummies, and we've got our usual helping of Marvel entertainment. And as usual, sets us up for the future.

(note: there are two after scenes, one set during the middle of the credits and one after, with the former being more important. If you have yet to see Infinity War, I highly recommend you do not see this.)

8 subatomic particles out of 10

But that's just my opinion. What do you think? Comment below and be a part of the conversation!