ANT-MAN AND THE WASP
Cert Running time
Summer just wouldn’t be the same without a Marvel superhero film. And while Ant-Man and The Wasp might lack the sheer intergalactic scale of Avengers: Infinity War or Thor: Ragnarok, it more than makes up for it in terms of thrills, spills and that rarest of superhero movie elements – a wonderfully surreal sense of humour.
As convict-turned-superhero Scott Lang (aka Ant-Man), the charismatic Paul Rudd manages to balance gags with gunplay. And in his third outing as the would-be hero, he’s so at ease, this time fighting evil alongside possible love interest Hope van Dyne (aka The Wasp), played engagingly straight-faced by Evangeline Lilly. Director Peyton Reed has a background in sophisticated comedy (with films such as Down With Love and Bring It On) and – as with the first film – he brings an effervescent sensibility to his sequel, managing to blend heist high jinks with traditional superhero action.
And despite running close to two hours, the film moves at a cracking pace and is packed with twists and turns.
Set two years after Scott made the misstep of helping Cap in Captain America: Civil War, he now finds himself wearing an ankle tracking tag with regular FBI checks. But Hope and her dad Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) need his help after realising Scott’s stint in the Quantum Realm may be the only way to try to rescue the original Wasp, Janet van Dyne (Hank’s wife and Hope’s mother), played by Michelle Pfeiffer.
Scott is soon back to his superheroing ways as they try to build a device to revisit the Quantum Realm. But there are plenty of obstacles – in the form of the semi-ethereal Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen, from TV sci-fi series Killjoys); a smarmy black market tech dealer (go-to bad-guy actor Walton Goggins) and a bunch of super-keen FBI agents.
As in Captain America: Civil War, Scott gets to veer between tiny Ant-Man and Goliath modes, but the best moments come as he and The Wasp get to make one of the best superhero teams with their complementary skills, witty flirting and genuine sense of bonding.