Ant Man and the Wasp (2018)

Directed by: Peyton Reed | 118 minutes | action, adventure | Actors: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, TI, David Dastmalchian, Hannah John-Kamen, Abby Ryder Fortson, Randall Park, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Douglas, Divian Ladwa, Goran Kostic, Rob Archer, Sean Kleier, Benjamin Byron Davis, Michael Cerveris

The Marvel Studios have responded extremely well to the wishes of moviegoers. This movie studio knows what comic book fans want, what the average family wants, and what action fans crave. Pretty much every production from the Marvel stable meets this checklist. References to obscure comics, funny sidekicks, great spectacle and the casting of major Hollywood stars: everything is worked out down to the last detail. The range of heroes is also very diverse. The cynical Iron Man is a very different character from the honorable Captain America. Then you also have the tough Thor and the silly Guardians of the Galaxy as a counterbalance. Ant-Man embraces the geeky side of Marvel and isn’t afraid to make fun of himself. This formula still works and this second part is airy feel-good popcorn entertainment that sends you out of the room with a smile from ear to ear.

In ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ you find out what happened to Ant-Man aka Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) after his appearance in ‘Captain America: Civil War’. The best man has been placed under house arrest for two years after his action in Germany where he fought with other superheroes and got into a fight with Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and her father Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Scott hasn’t been an Ant-Man since then. After a vision in which he sees Hope’s lost mother (Michelle Pfeiffer), the antihero decides to contact Hank. Then everything accelerates and Ant-Man can get back to work. This time with The Wasp, Hope’s alter ego, but that’s not going to happen…

What makes Ant-Man such a great character is that this superhero is so wonderfully down to earth. Rudd portrays the character in a very sympathetic way, so that it is no problem at all to identify with this somewhat dull hero. The film knows that the source material is crazy and is proud of it. So you can see a lot of entertaining nonsense in the action scenes. In the trailer you already saw that during a fierce fight a salt shaker was enlarged and a miniature car was transformed into a spacious family car. You can expect this kind of fragments in multiples. The action is creatively portrayed.

The action therefore looks good and is clearly presented. That can’t be said of the script, because ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ is bursting at the seams with side characters such as villain Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins) and needlessly complicated plot lines (something with quantum technology). The story, written by five(!) people, is muddled and at the expense of the real villain Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) who does not get the depth it deserves. Laurence Fishburne also gets as Dr. Bill Foster too little to do. The same goes for Michelle Pfeiffer. The role of Douglas has been enlarged again, which is a shame because the actor comes across as quite nagging in this role.

Director Peyton Reed has made an entertaining film. Despite the lack of depth and the unclear script, this production never gets boring. The joke density is high, the action creative and the cast charming. One of the best blockbusters of the year.