Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) Written by: Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, & Paul Rudd Directed by:Peyton Reed

     

     Will Marvel ever miss the target again? It's hard to imagine that they could. This is another film where Marvel proves they know how to play the long game. None of their movies seem to be set up for a stand alone entity, and this ties directly into the events that we saw in Avengers: Infinity War. Not to mention that this is probably the most funny franchise in the MCU.

     We last saw Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) in a floating prison at the end of Captain America: Civil War. Since then, he has been on house arrest and forbidden to have contact with Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) or Hope Van Dyne/Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), or to use any form of technology. We, of course, know that this won't hold up. Otherwise, we wouldn't have a film.

     New theories emerge as we learn that there is a chance that Hank's wife, Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) could possibly still be alive after being trapped in the Quantum Realm for the last thirty years. This sets Hank and Hope on a quest to build a transportation device that can be used to rescue her. Seeing that Hope and her father are both being hunted by the FBI for violating the Sacovian Accords, they must purchase their tech from a black market dealer played brilliantly by Walton Goggins. As he and Hope meet up for their final exchange, a new player enters the game. Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) interrupts the exchange and makes off with the last piece to the Quantum machine, as well as the shrunken Pym lab.

     Scott (Rudd), having had a dream like premonition of Janet, calls Hank and Hope to offer his help. This, of course, leads to Scott breaking the terms of his house arrest and setting off in an attempt to find Ghost, retrieve the lab, and enter the Quantum Realm to save Janet, all while keeping the FBI from discovering he has left his home. Seems a monumental task, but not for our team.

     Rudd enlists his team of misfits from the first film; the scene stealing Luis (Michael Peña), Dave (T.I.), and Kurt (David Dastmalchian) to assist in the plan and simultaneously get their budding security company, X-Cons, up and running. Meanwhile, Hank and Hope decide to visit and old colleague of Hank's, Dr. Bill Foster/Goliath (Laurence Fishburne) who may also be able to help.

     We quickly discover that Foster has been aiding Ghost in her attempts to find a cure for her "phasing" power, which is quickly killing her. We also find out the Janet holds the key to Ghost's recovery. This fact leads ghost to want to kill Janet to absorb the Quantum energy that Janet has stored within herself over the last thirty years.

     I wrote the other day about the Incredibles 2. I mentioned that sequels rarely live up to the original, and in many ways, the same is true for this film. However, there are some great character strides that are made between the first film and this one. One example is Scott's daughter, Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson). She steals every scene she is in and completely steals your heart with it. I loved the role of Paxton (Bobby Cannavale), who is Cassie's step dad. He adores Scott and frequently shows it, physically! Then there is the role of FBI Agent Jimmy Woo (Randall Park). He tries so hard to bust Scott violating his parole, of course, with no avail.

     This was just another in a long line of fantastic Marvel films, and needs to be seen to fully understand what will happen in the follow up to Avengers: Infinity War. So, anyone who has invested the time to keep up with the MCU thus far, definitely go see this movie! Loads of fun and very family friendly.