I don't know why Ant-Man gets such a bad rep among the MCU heroes. It can hardly be the character, because he's one of the funniest and most grounded characters in the series; perhaps it's that he's too pedestrian, and (out of his suit) not terribly special apart from his fast-thinking, safe-cracking mind and simple old-fashioned guts. It can hardly be Paul Rudd, who gives "dad bod" a smoking hot run for its money and whose wisecracking, heartstring-tugging performance carves out its own sizeable niche in the enormous MCU cast.
Perhaps the reason Ant-Man is so low on many fans' list of favorites is because, as a film, it is far more standalone than many others in the franchise. The other heroes who have tons of money, strength, powers, and influence change big, galactic things in their films. But Ant-Man's adventures are distinctly smaller in scope, and so these films don't feel as Big and Important as, say, a Thor movie. But they're not supposed to!
Ant-Man and the Wasp is a delightful, funny, sweet, interesting, and thoroughly entertaining romp that is both welcome and needed after the last few MCU movies. There's no big war happening. Thanos is nowhere to be seen. There aren't dozens of characters to keep track of. Michael B. Jordan isn't breaking our hearts and minds. Michael Pena does his speedy voiceovers again.
This is -- much more importantly -- the first time a female character has been given title credit, and Evangeline Lilly rocks every minute of her screen time as the Wasp. She's smart, funny, badass, in a suit that isn't particularly sexualized, and shows that leading women are long overdue in the MCU. It's also notable for having one of the most clearly queer-ish scenes yet in the franchise, when Janet van Dyne (the original Wasp, played by Michelle Pfeiffer) uses her quantum entanglement with Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) to reconnect with her husband Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Scott changes his posture and his voice and suddenly he's channeling Janet, caressing Hank's face and holding his hand as they work together to rescue Janet from the quantum realm. The whole thing may just be played for laughs -- in the screening I sat through, there was riotous laughter from the back row -- but it's a sincere moment and Hank shows no discomfort or hesitation when Scott reaches out to him in tenderness.
The rest of the film is a fitting sequel to the first Ant-Man, featuring cinematic stylization unlike anything else in the franchise, fresh and unique humor, and some really ingenius storytelling. Think about it -- we're wowed by Doctor Strange's ability to warp the very fabric of reality, but that's a whole lot of safety netting for lazy writers: mess up or reach a plot hole, and have him cast a spell or two. But team Ant-Man has to rely on careful planning, fights have to be carefully choreographed, and the special effects can often be shot practically. I'm not saying one is better than the other, but it makes these films -- all of them -- far more rich when we can appreciate their varying aesthetics.
A final note: while Walton Goggins's villainous character is boring and flat, Hannah John-Kamen plays a fascinating antagonist called Ghost. While, like Killmonger, she's not a "villain" in the usual sense, Ghost is simply trying to survive and live a life free of excruciating pain. This path puts her at odds with team Ant-Man, and so their run-ins become fights. But her thankless role and dedicated performance shine in this film, and she may be one of the most interesting antagonists yet written in the MCU. Especially cool is that she doesn't die or need to be locked up at the end, but instead is helped by our heroes. Plus, her powers (if we can even call molecular breakdown a power?) are really cool to watch, even as we're aware that they're killing her. Ghost is also notable in that, in the comics, she is a male character. Hooray for having another powerful, interesting female instead!
P.S.: The mid-credits scene -- after the fun and funny film -- drives a stake right through our warm fuzzies when, while harvesting quantum energy to help Ghost, Scott gets stuck in the quantum realm when Hank, Janet, and Hope all disintegrate into ash. They were the only ones monitoring Scott when Thanos snapped his fingers and destroyed half of humanity. It's a brutally chilling reminder of where we are in the MCU storyline that is sure to wipe the smile off your face.
Perhaps the reason Ant-Man is so low on many fans' list of favorites is because, as a film, it is far more standalone than many others in the franchise. The other heroes who have tons of money, strength, powers, and influence change big, galactic things in their films. But Ant-Man's adventures are distinctly smaller in scope, and so these films don't feel as Big and Important as, say, a Thor movie. But they're not supposed to!
Ant-Man and the Wasp is a delightful, funny, sweet, interesting, and thoroughly entertaining romp that is both welcome and needed after the last few MCU movies. There's no big war happening. Thanos is nowhere to be seen. There aren't dozens of characters to keep track of. Michael B. Jordan isn't breaking our hearts and minds. Michael Pena does his speedy voiceovers again.
This is -- much more importantly -- the first time a female character has been given title credit, and Evangeline Lilly rocks every minute of her screen time as the Wasp. She's smart, funny, badass, in a suit that isn't particularly sexualized, and shows that leading women are long overdue in the MCU. It's also notable for having one of the most clearly queer-ish scenes yet in the franchise, when Janet van Dyne (the original Wasp, played by Michelle Pfeiffer) uses her quantum entanglement with Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) to reconnect with her husband Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Scott changes his posture and his voice and suddenly he's channeling Janet, caressing Hank's face and holding his hand as they work together to rescue Janet from the quantum realm. The whole thing may just be played for laughs -- in the screening I sat through, there was riotous laughter from the back row -- but it's a sincere moment and Hank shows no discomfort or hesitation when Scott reaches out to him in tenderness.
The rest of the film is a fitting sequel to the first Ant-Man, featuring cinematic stylization unlike anything else in the franchise, fresh and unique humor, and some really ingenius storytelling. Think about it -- we're wowed by Doctor Strange's ability to warp the very fabric of reality, but that's a whole lot of safety netting for lazy writers: mess up or reach a plot hole, and have him cast a spell or two. But team Ant-Man has to rely on careful planning, fights have to be carefully choreographed, and the special effects can often be shot practically. I'm not saying one is better than the other, but it makes these films -- all of them -- far more rich when we can appreciate their varying aesthetics.
A final note: while Walton Goggins's villainous character is boring and flat, Hannah John-Kamen plays a fascinating antagonist called Ghost. While, like Killmonger, she's not a "villain" in the usual sense, Ghost is simply trying to survive and live a life free of excruciating pain. This path puts her at odds with team Ant-Man, and so their run-ins become fights. But her thankless role and dedicated performance shine in this film, and she may be one of the most interesting antagonists yet written in the MCU. Especially cool is that she doesn't die or need to be locked up at the end, but instead is helped by our heroes. Plus, her powers (if we can even call molecular breakdown a power?) are really cool to watch, even as we're aware that they're killing her. Ghost is also notable in that, in the comics, she is a male character. Hooray for having another powerful, interesting female instead!
P.S.: The mid-credits scene -- after the fun and funny film -- drives a stake right through our warm fuzzies when, while harvesting quantum energy to help Ghost, Scott gets stuck in the quantum realm when Hank, Janet, and Hope all disintegrate into ash. They were the only ones monitoring Scott when Thanos snapped his fingers and destroyed half of humanity. It's a brutally chilling reminder of where we are in the MCU storyline that is sure to wipe the smile off your face.
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