Ant-Man & The Wasp

Official Australian release date: 5/7/18. Viewed: 4/7/18.

Director: Peyton Reed

Actors: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Hannah John-Kamen

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Rating: PG

   

‘Ant-Man & The Wasp’ is the third Marvel film in the last five months – but importantly, it’s the first since ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and the last for eight months. Definitely recommend seeing Infinity War before this. This sequel sticks to the winning formula of the first – Scott/Ant-Man (Rudd)’s charm/humour, Hope/Wasp (Lilly)’s resolve/smarts and Hank (Douglas)’s mentorship/atonement. Less of a heist focus this time, though – more of a rescue mission.

Excellent support cast again, most notably Luis (Pena), who has plenty of great lines and laughs. His two offsiders, Dave (TI) and Kurt (Dastmalchian) also get some screen time, as does Cassie (Forston) – Scott’s daughter. There’s also FBI agent Jimmy (Park), Bill (Fishburne), Janet (Pfeiffer) and Burch (Goggins), all having something to add. The film starts a little slow, trying to establish where we are (after ‘Captain America: Civil War’, just before ‘Avengers: Infinity War’).

The film picks up with the introduction of Ghost (John-Kamen), who’s an interesting antagonist, with her phasing powers. Plenty of good action scenes, balanced (mostly) with humour. Once again, the most stunning scenes are the sub-atomic/quantum realm shrinkages, with exceptional and trippy visuals. As always, stay for the end credits. Not better than the first film, but no worse either.

Overall: Another fun & slightly off-kilter ‘superhero’ film.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.