Review: Pass the Time with 'Antman and the Wasp'
This review was originally published on UW Film Club, but has since been reuploaded here with the author’s permission.
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Like the original film, Scott Lang and crew has the tough task of following in the footsteps of the latest Avengers film, and this time, its no easy feat. With the release of Avengers: Infinity War, Antman and the Wasp has rather large shoes to fill, but Marvel aficionados are lucky because this film does the same shtick on a different day. Fans of by-the-number plot lines, light-hearted tone, and flat motives should rejoice as the latest Marvel film does just that and does what all Marvel films do the best: pass the time and service passive entertainment value.
Directed by Peyton Reed, Antman and the Wasp rounds out Marvel Studios’ third and final release of the year. In the aftermath of Civil War, Scott Lang, the titular Antman played by Paul Rudd, is put under house arrest for breaking the Sokovia Accords. His accomplices Hope and Hank Pymn, played by Evangeline Lily and Michal Douglas respectively, have gone into hiding and started work on a technology that would allow them to enter the Quantum Realm to save Janet Pymn, their mother and wife who has been trapped in limbo for thirty years played by Michelle Pfeiffer. In the process of harnessing the new technology, they are pursued by Sonny Burch, a black market salesman played by Walton Goggins, and Ghost, a partial-shifting villain played by Hannah John-Kamen, who are trying to steal the technology for their own needs. Together, Antman and the Wasp reunite to save Janet and prevent the technology from falling into the wrong hands.
As it sounds, the synopsis is considerably smaller in scope than Marvel’s recent offerings, but to the film’s credit, that’s what Antman films are all about. Like the original, the narrative isn’t too concerned with grand plot lines that threaten the world (or the universe), and instead opts for a framework that allows for smaller characters in a scaled back, personal story; similar to the smaller-than-life super heroes in the film, the narrative follows suit. That being said, this narrative doesn’t make use of its smaller scale to tell more personal stories. The motivations in the film are to save Janet, so with mother-daughter/husband-wife connections you would think there would be a stronger sense of emotion in the film, but unfortunately it fails to stir up any emotion.
Instead, the film operates primarily as an action comedy. Jokes are your standard fare with Rudd’s Lang playing the lovable father who has a sense of humor, while Michael Peña’s Luis brings the better laughs due in part to his quick and sharp delivery. Action is equally fine; the Wasp’s and Antman’s shrinking and growing abilities make for some permissible choreographed sequences, but they often lack heft in the narrative, as if their existence isn’t justified or meaningful. The film is a happy-go-lucky piece that checks all the boxes of a standard film, but never going the extra distance to be something that stands out.
There isn’t really much that hasn’t been already said about superhero films of this ilk. They will follow the same story beats that you expect. They have a persistent light-hearted tone that prevents the film from generating any kind of substantial emotion. They have jokes that diffuse tension and lighten tone. And they have cookie-cutter villains. It’s a rinse and repeat formula that generates ticket sales, so its not gonna change soon, but they are problems none the less. If you want to see a better movie with ants, go see Hereditary instead.