**** outta *****

4 outta 5

After the craziness of Avengers: Infinity War, the most recent effort of the Marvel Cinematic Universe of Ant-Man and the Wasp is more about being a fun romp.  Surprisingly, this film is one of the best paced MCU entries ever as it’s basically one long chase scene over the course of a few hours. It may not have the heist film hook of the original Ant-Man but this is a really great ride.

Scott Lang aka Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) has been under house arrest for 2 years for assisting the wanted criminal, Captain America.  One day he has a vision of Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) trapped in the Quantum Dimension, a realm he once traveled to as the incredibly shrinking Ant-Man. Scott is contacted by her husband, Hank (Michael Douglas) and his daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lilly), saying that his connection with Janet can save her along with technology supplied by a criminal boss, Sonny (Walton Goggins). Unfortunately, soon afterwards their technology is stolen by the phase-shifting Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen). Now they have to find Ghost, save Janet, and get Scott back home before the Feds realize he’s gone. 

Rudd was the centre of the first Ant-Man film however this is very much an ensemble. The lack of a central character makes this movie a tad thematically directionless but the continual clip of things happening keeps it very lively along with Rudd supplying a steady stream of quips. While Ant-Man still does cool stuff, the person in control of the action is Hope who also has shrinking (and flying! And lazers!) technology. As Ant-Man bumbles his way through most action she is the one who has a plan.  Douglas’ Hank is haunted by his past mistakes and this is about him making amends. There are a few flashbacks to 30 years ago that digitally de-age Douglas and Pfeiffer to their late 1980s selves and it’s pretty astonishing. Pfeiffer isn’t in the movie much but her scenes have a sense of emotional pathos. She gets random magic powers just for the hell of it which is odd even for an Ant-Man movie. 

Since this is so zippy being invested in the character relationships is mostly based upon having watched the previous film.  Scott also gets assistance from his buddy, Luis (Michael Pena), a fast talking ex-con who is trying to start up their security business and keep Scott off the Feds radar. Anything Luis says is comedy gold as he supplies random, awkward chit-chat. One time as he pulls up beside them he drops “Whazzaapppp?!” When he gets no response he says meekly that it’s from “that beloved commercial”. He is full of lines that are totally weird and random. Goggins is probably the biggest baddie, basically playing a somewhat frustrated gangster who monologues a lot which Goggins is good at. 

There is a bit too much gobbledegook about Quantum Realms, connecting across dimensions, etc. etc. Marvel movies are generally pretty good at keeping the technobabble at a mid range but this overdoes it. Still it does allow for wacky scenes like when Janet’s mind jumps into Scott’s body and has an emotional reunion which her family which also allows Rudd to do a pretty spot-on Pfeiffer impression. The backstory of Ghost about being a trained killer will work if one knows the Marvel history about S.H.I.E.L.D. spies. John-Kamen plays Ghost nicely crazy and VFX trickery shows her in multiple places at once like an intangible ghost. A former associate of Pym’s is played by Laurence Fishburne, he gets in some snarky back and forth with Douglas and its fun to see these actors go toe to toe. There are a lot of subplots throughout Ant-Man and the Wasp but the movie keeps going in straightforward line as opposed to jumping randomly in between. 

Where the movie rocks is shrinking and expanding scenes as characters bounce up and down freely. Cars go from full size to Hot Wheels sized which makes for really cool action bits. Scott’s suit is a bit glitchy which leads to fun moment when he expands in a crammed supply room and then shrinks down to toddler size as everyone makes fun of him. The finale is a romp across San Francisco winding streets as Ant-Man and friends flip between miniature, regular and giant sized, all while there is a ticking clock to save people in the Quantum Realm. It’s an inventive, breezy piece of filmmaking that keeps all of these juggling plot balls in the air easily. Also for fans of the larger story of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the (now mandatory) post-credit scenes are legitimately great and dramatic if somewhat tonally jarring to the carefree romp that preceded it. The also mandatory Stan Lee cameo in this film is one of his funniest. 

Ant-Man and the Wasp is a fun return to this unique corner of the MCU. It may not have the everyman to superhero vibe of the first Ant-Man film however this hits the ground running and doesn’t let up. It’s swift, imaginative and very hilarious. After the galaxy spanning life or death stakes of Avengers: Infinity War this is a blast of joy.