We’re still trying to swallow “Avengers: Infinity War,” but Marvel knows well how to make it up to us for letting us hanging until May 2019!
We saw “Ant-Man and the Wasp” and here our review.
Title
“Ant-Man and the Wasp”
Behind and in Front of the Camera
The first standalone Ant-Man’s movie hit a few bumps in the pre-production phase with the first-choice director Edgar Wright who left along with the D.P Bill Pope and the composer Steven Price.
To replace Wright, it arrived Peyton Reed (“The Break-Up,” “Yes Man”) who took the work where it had been left off and succeeded in including the movie inside the Phase Two of the MCU.
Now we are in Phase Three, straddling the two most important Avengers’ movies of the entire cinematographic universe, and Reed has managed to create this movie from scratch, continuing from where we were but with his own style.
Also in the cast, we find the same actors from the first movie, with Paul Rudd, perfect for his role since the first scene, Evangeline Lilly finally in costume, Michael Douglas as Henry Pym, and Michael Peña.
But “Ant-Man and the Wasp” sees very important new-entries too, with the arrival of Michelle Pfeiffer in the shoes of Janet van Dyne, the original Wasp as well as Pym’s wife (Douglas would’ve wanted his real wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, for this role, but the production has preferred to point on the reborn Pfeiffer), and of Laurence Fishburne, who brings on the screen a major Marvel character: Goliath (or Black Goliath).
As the villain, we find Ghost, played in an unprecedented female version by Hannah John-Kamen (“Ready Player One,” “Black Mirror”).
Who’s Got the Typewriter
Compared to the team of the first movie, of course, we don’t find Wright and Joe Cornish, while we find againn Paul Rudd, also as screenwriter, and Adam McKay, with the director himself and Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari.
What to Know (ABSOLUTELY NO SPOILERS)
The last time we had seen Ant-Man in action was 2016, during the great battle among superheroes in “Captain America: Civil War,” and in “Ant-Man and the Wasp” the events resume shortly after that.
Now Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man, has to face the consequences of his choice: standing by Cap’s side (and therefore against the law). And in fact we find him, as anticipated in “Avengers: Infinity War,” under house arrest intent on doing it right to redeem himself and enjoy his life as a father of his beloved Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson).
Although the relationships with the Pym are not the best, Lang finds himself cooperating again with Henry and Hope, now fugitive because owners of unregistered technology, taking part in an adventure that, as could be expected, brings us in the quantum realm.
“Ant-Man and the Wasp” keeps the comic tones, hold up especially by the amazing Paul Rudd and Michael Peña, perfect shoulder throughout the film. The constant cut between the seriousness of the Pyms and the comedy of Lang’s world is one of the strong suits of the film, which even with simple gags manages to conquer the public for its entire duration, explaining once again how much this strategy has been used badly in “Thor: Ragnarok.”
What You’ll Need
After everything that’s happened in the MCU from 2015 to present day, it’s a good thing to re-watch the first Ant-Man’s standalone film to have a complete picture.
Then, you have to be careful to understand where and when “Ant-Man and the Wasp” takes place, since it’s the first Marvel movie after “Avengers: Infinity War.” It’s important to remember that it’s not subsequent to the battle against Thanos, but basically at the same time. We are not given in fact new information about the “post-snap,” but it lets us know why we didn’t see Scott and Hope in Wakanda.
What They Say
Evangeline Lilly in an interview with Vanity Fair, on any links between “Ant-Man and the Wasp” and “Avengers: Infinity War:” “When I heard about “Infinity War” and the direction that they’re heading, I did have this moment of realizing, oh, wow, there’s a bit of a déjà vu for me with the Lost franchise. We are hitting that [Lost] Season 4 space where everything’s about to shift, and you’re about to lose the solid ground underneath you. And [“Ant-Man and the Wasp”], of course, will play a part in that. Those characters are experts in the quantum realm. In “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” they are trying everything in their power to safely enter the quantum realm and return back from it because they have evidence from the first film that Scott Lang was able to do that. If he can do it, why can’t we?”
One Last Thing…
Some secondary characters, who are more important in the comics, are very interesting. In addition to the above-mentioned Goliath, played by Laurence Fishburne, it’s interesting to see how they built the Ghost’s cinematographic background.
In the comics, Ghost (besides the fact that it’s a man) is a historic enemy of Iron Man and a member of the Thunderbolts, while in “Ant-Man and the Wasp” it’s a girl who has suffered an accident caused by her father and that turns out to be Elihas Starr, aka Egghead, one of the great archenemies of Pym’s Ant-Man.
Out of 5 Monkeys
