Ant-Man and the Wasp Bring the Fun in Many Sizes

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Ant-Man and the Wasp is a hilarious ride through the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In my humble opinion, it is the funniest of the MCU movies and was the best comedy this year. It wasn’t all laughs, but every joke landed. Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, a lovable loser just trying to do right by his family and friends, is still one of the best casting choices Marvel has made. The movie did a great job addressing his role during Infinity War and why he, Hope, and Hank were on the outside looking in. Everyone who wasn’t a villain in the first Ant-Man returned, including Michael Pena’s Luis, who cemented himself as the second best MCU secondary character, only behind Korg. Pena brings the humor consistently and his character really shines. Similar to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, I was nervous that the trailer gave away too much, but it left plenty for the paying audience. Much of the action was given away, but that was necessary to convince people that it is a worthy follow-up to Infinity War, which it is. While I did love this movie, it is not without fault. The villain tries to elicit sympathy, but it doesn’t really connect. I found myself connecting much more with Thanos than Ghost, which undercut her character. Her character wasn’t the only one whose motivations were subverted. Any scene with emotional weight, save two or three, was interrupted with a joke. Every one of those jokes was funny, but it took away from the depth of some of the more serious characters, especially Hank Pym. But even with those issues, I thoroughly enjoyed Ant-Man and the Wasp and am looking forward to seeing it again with my brother and then again with my mother. Ant-Man and the Wasp was the funniest MCU movie and a worthy successor to Ant-Man. It’s small scale story with large scale implications earned it 11,000 out of the 12,000 species of ants on earth.

Below this line is a spoiler, so don’t continue unless you want have seen the movie or don’t care, but you have been warned.

That's right, a DC Comics reference in a Marvel movie review. Deal with it! But seriously, there is a spoiler right below this.

I loved the story thread with Janet Van Dyne, but I wished that she didn’t age in the quantum realm, because when she is brought out, Michael Douglas would be married to a much younger woman, just like in real life with Catherine Zeta-Jones. In fact, Catherine Zeta-Jones would have been a hilarious casting for Janet Van Dyne. Not a good casting, but a funny one.