Ant-Man And The Wasp
4 stars
Director: Peyton Reed
Stars: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña
Duration: 118 mins
Class: PG
KRS Releasing Ltd

After the (major spoiler alert!) very dark and depressing shock ending to Avengers: Infinity War, the next entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Ant-Man and The Wasp, comes as a much-needed light and comic relief.

The smallest (and oftentimes the largest) member of the MCU superhero corps embarks on his latest adventure, far and away from the world-ending shenanigans of Thanos, whose simple act of clicking his fingers wrought much death and destruction.

Paul Rudd returns as Scott Lang – ex-con, divorced father to his beloved daughter Cassie and accidental super hero when he encounters esteemed scientist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) from whom he takes over the m(ant)le of Ant Man. If you recall from the first movie, when Pym was Ant-Man decades earlier, he lost his wife Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) in the Quantum Realm, much to his and his daughter Hope’s (Evangeline Lilly) heartbreak. Yet Pym has discovered a way back into the Realm in the hope that Janet is still alive.

Lang, in the meantime, is serving out the last days of house arrest imposed on him after his brief combat with the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War. while coming to terms with the new realities of his life before Pym and Hope bring him on board their latest mission.

But, as we have come to expect from anything in the MCU, there is always someone – or something – lurking around the corner to put a spanner in the works.

Likes its predecessor, Ant-Man and The Wasp eschews the complexity and often sombre themes of its compadres. It offers a storyline that is fairly straightforward, funny and touching.

The levity of tone does come as a respite, as do the toned-down (although always breathtakingly exciting) action sequences and the much smaller cast.

Eschews the complexity and often sombre themes of its compadres

The story itself is remarkably intimate too, with the focus on two father-daughter relationships – Scott bonding with Cassie via some elaborate adventure games which, due to his home confinement, take place in a wonderful underground cavern / maze cardboard contraption.

The main thrust of the plot centres around Hank and Hope’s attempts to rescue Janet which, in turn, leads to some lovely moments between Douglas and Pfeiffer.  Scott and Hope decide to rekindle their relationship via some pithy banter and robust combat.  They are all characters who make a welcome return. Rudd maintains his roguish charm; Lilly / Hope proves to be a warrior in her own right; while Luis (Michael Peña), Kurt (David Dastmalchian) and Dave (Tip “T.I.” Harris), Scott’s comical partners-in-crime, also make a welcome return even though they have less to do.

This sequel introduces us to two new characters of the piece – black market dealer Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins) and the mysterious Ava / The Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen).

The latter is the main villain of the piece, a young woman determined to steal Hank’s latest piece of technology and who will stop at nothing to get it – although her reasons are not entirely evil.

However, the subplot involving the former feels a little unnecessary and seems to be there simply to pad out the storyline further.

Embellishing the whole is a load of action with the filmmakers – returning director Peyton Reed and his team – having as much fun as possible with the overall premise.

Brace yourselves for car chases across San Francisco’s scenic street as cars shrink to Matchbox-size and back with ease. Giant Pez containers become a lethal weapon; normal ants prove to be efficient flying machines, while human-sized ants play the drums.

The main location for the film is a huge building which houses Pym’s laboratory and shrinks to suitcase size as and when is needed... there is so much more. F-ant-astic fun indeed.

And yet (another major spoiler alert) given the MCU is of course one big world, the tragic events in Infinity War are destined to catch up with Scott and the Pym family so make sure you stick around for the end credits.

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