... At least until the end-credit scenes bring about Infinity War's apocalyptic ending. Ten more months till Part 2 seems like an eternity. At least the second scene has some good comic relief.
Anyway.
Scott Lang (Paul Rudd): ex-husband, ex-con, and ex-superhero Ant-Man (sometimes Giant Man). He's been under house arrest ever since his unsanctioned super-heroics in Civil War. He and his buddies run a security company while he waits out the end of his sentence. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), the former Ant-Man and his daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lily), are fugitives because of Scott's aforementioned Civil War action. But they need his help.
Pym's wife, Janet, the super-heroine The Wasp, vanished into the subatomic Quantum Realm thirty years earlier. But Scott went there in the last movie and came back. His trip there left him quantumly entangled with Janet. Pym and Hope, the new Wasp, grab Scott to help them build a quantum tunnel to locate Janet and get her out. Easy?
No. They're pursued by the FBI, including agent Jimmy Woo (Randall Park), crooked arms-dealer Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins), and a masked woman, The Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen). Burch and the Ghost want Pym's quantum technology for themselves. Our heroes are running out of time to get Janet out. Scott has to get home before curfew. It's a tall-order for a hero who grows small ... and big.
Rudd and his co-writers, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, make sense out of Scott's adventures. He's still a likable superhero and father who wants to do the right thing if not for that ankle-monitor. His ordeal is understandable. His mission provides great tension and humor as complications arise. The resolution to this caper was a good one. And yes, Hope proves herself a great superpartner for Scott.
Scott's buddies are still awesome comic relief. Burch is an acceptable antagonist; not that memorable but he's a capable threat. Dr. Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne) is a welcome presence here. The Ghost is perhaps the most benign Marvel villain; she's antagonistic but her motives are sympathetic. Pym's ego drives the backstory but the exposition felt rushed at times. This is most apparent with the story of The Ghost's father, Dr. Starr (Michael Cerveris, in a cameo). That's the only real flaw of this fun super adventure.
All the size-changing effects make the humor and action as fun as the first film. Scott's mishaps with his suit provide a few laughs and impressive visual effects. His upscaling to Giant Man is cool. The Ghost's intangible effects are also flawless. The Quantum Realm is an amazing CGI environment.
Ant-Man and the Wasp seems like harmless filler for Infinity War Part 2. But its end credit scenes set Scott up for his role there after he missed Part 1. The revelation will hit you hard. The movie itself is a fun sci-fi adventure with an atypical, yet capable antagonist. Its moral dilemmas felt right at place in a classic Star Trek episode. You won't get antsy during its 118 minutes. Just after...
No comments:
Post a Comment