Ant-Man (series)

ANT-MAN & THE WASP (12)

D: Peyton Reed

Disney/Marvel (Kevin Feige & Stephen Broussard)

USA 🇺🇸 2018

118 mins

Science Fiction/Adventure/Comedy

W: Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Paul Rudd, Andrew Barner & Gabriel Ferrari [based on characters created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Larry Lieber & Ernie Hart]

DP: Dante Spinotti

Ed: Dan Lebental & Craig Wood

Mus: Christophe Beck

Paul Rudd (Scott Lang / Ant-Man), Evangeline Lilly (Hope Van Dyne / Wasp), Michael Douglas (Hank Pym), Michael Peña (Luis), Hannah John-Kamen (Ava Starr / Ghost), Walton Goggins (Sonny Burch), Laurence Fishburne (Bill Foster), Michelle Pfeiffer (Janet Van Dyne)

Avengers: Infinity War was such a cinematic behemoth that any Marvel movie that followed was going to feel small in comparison, so it's quite fitting that the next in the MCU series of films would be about the most diminutive superhero in the comic book canon.

Following on from the events in the first film and Captain America: Civil War (qv), Scott Lang is under house arrest as punishment for his actions, passing his time by looking after his daughter and generally goofing around. Meanwhile, former Shield scientist Hank Pym and his daughter Hope Van Dyne are conducting a new experiment which may prove that Pym's wife and Hope's mother, Janet, the original wasp, is still alive and trapped in the quantum zone, which Ant-Man shrunk down into in the original film. Hank and Hope abduct Scott for his assistance, but also attract the unwanted attentions of Ghost, a woman with a molecular instability who also needs to benefit from the quantum science, as well as Sonny Burch, a black market trader who deals in the high tech.

Though the film provides enough entertainment through action set pieces and scenes of comedy, it does suffer by having villains who just aren't interesting enough, especially for Ghost, who is given a victim status which we are forced to empathise with. 

Though Edgar Wright was replaced halfway through production of the first film, it's clear that he had a huge positive influence on the outcome of the film which this sequel sadly lacks. It does provide a fun distraction, but it just doesn't stand tall like the bigger Marvel movies.

6/10

ANT-MAN & THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA (12)

D: Peyton Reed

Disney / Marvel (Kevin Feige & Stephen Broussard)

US 🇺🇸 2023

124 mins

Science Fiction/Adventure

W: Jeff Loveness [based on characters created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby]

DP: Bill Pope

Ed: Adam Gerstel & Laura Jennings

Mus: Christophe Beck

Paul Rudd (Scott Lang / Ant-Man), Evangeline Lilly (Hope Van Dyne / Wasp), Jonathan Majors (Kang the Conqueror), Kathryn Newton (Cassie Lang), Corey Stoll (Darren Cross / M.O.D.O.K.), Michelle Pfeiffer (Janet Van Dyne), Michael Douglas (Hank Pym)

Perhaps superhero movie fatigue by the time this 3rd Ant-Man film and 31st of the Marvel Cinematic Universe had come to cinema screens in February 2023, resulting in underwhelming takings at the box office, but it simply has to be said that this is a disappointing entry from Marvel.

Both Ant-Man & the Wasp take a back seat for Scott’s precocious daughter, Cassie Lang to take centre stage and show the grown ups how it’s done.

The first act goes by in a flash, as we’re introduced to the insufferable teenager as a social activist, who also created a quantum realm McGuffin in Hank Pym’s basement so the rest of the plot can happen.

Inevitably, everyone gets sucked into this, reduced to subatomic size into an environment that can only be described as Star Wars on LSD.  Henceforth, it’s green-screen backgrounds all the way, as the group get split up and discover their are two warring factions in this universe, with one led by Kang the Conqueror, who plans to escape and wreak havoc in the real world.

The film really is a complete mess, shoehorning in a character who it’s difficult to care about and stupid humour that undermines a villain that could and should have been seen as a major threat.

It’s a shame that the always dependable Paul Rudd takes a back seat here, since he should be the lead, and Evangeline Lilly is given even less to do, so the film really should have been honest and called itself “Ant-Man’s Daughter”.

Jonathan Majors as Kang is certainly the films highpoint, presenting himself physically as an imposing villain, though the dialogue he’s given and the delivery in which it’s given works very much against this.

Michael Douglas & Michelle Pfeiffer look like they couldn’t have given less of a damn to be in this, whilst Bill Murray seems happy to take the money in what amounts to an incredibly pointless cameo that exists only to ape Jeff Goldblum’s charismatic appearance in Thor: Ragnarok.

Overall, it passes the time as chewing gum for the eyes, but Marvel’s stock has certainly fallen following the release of Avengers: Endgame, resulting in conveyor-belt style moviemaking to try and squeeze every last penny from the fans, who surely deserve better than this.

5/10