Ant-Man And The Wasp

Year: 2018
Director: Peyton Reed
Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Hannah John-Kamen, Michael Pena, Walton Goggins, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne


Plot: Hank Pym and his daughter Hope Van Dyne attempt to bring back Hope's mother Janet from the quantum realm, but they need Scott Lang, who's unfortunately under house arrest after the events of Civil War. Meanwhile, a mysterious woman named Ghost, who has ties to Hank's past, tries to sabotage their secret project.


Review: The first Ant-Man was a very underrated film, even within the MCU. When fans think of the best entries in the MCU, they'd usually name the first Avengers movie, Winter Soldier or Guardians Of The Galaxy films. But Ant-Man, a relatively low key entry, tends to get overlooked. Personally I loved it, mostly thanks to Paul Rudd's charm, honesty and comedic timing, as well as Michael Douglas' portrayal of Hank Pym.

In this sequel, a milestone due to The Wasp, a female hero finally getting credited in the title, Evangeline Lilly gets to be a true equal to Rudd as Hope aka Wasp, sharing just as much screen time as him, and being involved in more action sequences this time around. Lilly certainly excels in kicking ass and becomes a formidable partner to Rudd. 

As far as story goes, this sequel focuses less on Scott's attempt to be a good dad to his little girl (though the scenes between them here are well executed) and more about him helping Hank and Hope get Janet back. There's a couple of subplots here, one involving the FBI trying to catch Scott in the act of breaking house arrest, the other being a black market tech dealer played by Walton Goggins trying to steal Hank Pym's tech. The former subplot is good enough to generate some humour, but the latter not so much, as Goggins, despite being the secondary villain here, is not much of a threat, and serves his purpose of giving Lang's buddies (once again played by Michael Pena, David Dastmalchian and T.I.) someone to fight. 

Everyone in the cast puts in good work, especially Rudd, Lilly and Douglas, as well as Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet. Laurence Fishburne gets too little to do though as Pym's ex partner, while Pena shines yet again as the comic relief. While Hannah John-Kamen puts in a spirited performance as Ghost, she isn't quite a memorable villain, more like Kaecilius than Loki, or as a reviewer quoted: a female Winter Soldier.

Director Peyton Reed does not let up on the action as he stages plenty of sequences that require Scott and Hope to shrink and enlarge back and forth to beat the bad guys, which makes for some very cool action not seen in other MCU movies. Lilly's Wasp in particular, gets to shine in a cool kitchen fight sequence.

Overall, despite a couple of weak villains and a slightly messy second act, Ant-Man And The Wasp is a pretty good sequel that measures up to its predecessor. (8/10)

P.S.: Stay for the post credit scenes, the first one is the best one.