Ant-Man and the Wasp (MCU 18? or 19?)
So we watched this after Infinity Wars, but in retrospect that was stupid. The argument is that because the mid-credit scene happens in the Snapture, this should be watched between the two Avengers films, but I am deeply unconvinced. I think it would be better to get to the mid-credit scene and be wildly confused by what happened… and then have the explanation in Infinity Wars. So, I’m putting this next in my reviews.
This movie is pretty daft, all told. I like that it’s the after-effects of Civil War; I think that’s a really nice aspect to the entire saga. But… a lot of this film is just silly. Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, and Michael Pena continue to be perfect little cinnamon rolls and honestly they give me life. I’m intrigued by Hank Pym turning out to be actually not a very nice person, here – and I really like this as a reveal! – and I had no idea Laurence Fishburne was in this film and that was a splendid discovery.
But the rest of the film? the narrative? Sheesh. It’s just… so silly.
Quantum realm! Time… stuff! Living in miniature and completely alone and not going nuts!
(The opening, where we find Scott has been under house arrest for nearly two years and has had to entertain the kid for weekends in that situation, is all too real right now.)
Anyway… yeh. This is not a great film. I mean, it’s fine – I don’t regret watching it, I’m super glad the ex-wife and new partner came around to actually accept Scott into Cassie’s life, and so on. I can put up with a lot of hand-wave-y science nonsense (I have watched The Core… more than once) but this pushed even my limits. Perhaps the best bits were cars getting big and small during car chases, but only if you don’t think about it too much. The narrative also suffered from lacking a convincing antagonist. Ava was theoretically interesting but she absolutely should not have been playing a villainous role – and that does kinda switch with the arms dealer stepping into that, but the whole thing was just so messy and confusing.
So. Not great. Only got made to set up ~~the quantum realm~~ for the Infinity saga, as far as I can tell.
Ant-Man (MCU 13)
And now we get to the first MCU movie we haven’t seen! I am, clearly, a pretty big fan of superhero movies, but… we didn’t even think about seeing this one at the cinema.
I mean. Ant. Man. Really?
Even when I saw it was Michael Douglas and Paul Rudd!
I mean. Ant-Man. Just… nah.
However! How wrong I was!
Yes, Ant-Man is indeed in some ways very silly. The name is definitely silly. But within the MCUverse, shrinking in entirely logical as a concept, and that’s something you just have to go with.
Interesting thing I was considering while watching: Tony chooses to be Iron Man; Thor is born as Thor; Steve chooses to be Captain America. Bruce, Natasha, and Scott all to some extent have their identities thrust on them – in very different ways, of course, and I’m not suggesting there’s an equality in their experiences. But it is interesting to consider how they come to their positions (which gets even more interesting when you consider Sam Wilson vs Bucky).
Anyway. Michael Douglas is wonderful as Hank. Really every minute he’s on screen is just cool. Paul Rudd is delightful as Scott Lang, and I should never have expected anything else. I knew nothing except what I gleaned from the Avengers films about Scott before this; the film made him entirely relatable and entirely appropriate to the position of Ant-Man. Evangeline Lily is great as Hope and since I didn’t even realise she was in this film, everything she did was unexpected and wonderful.
I was fascinated to see that this does slot into the larger Avengers ‘verse – and I hadn’t expected it: a newspaper about Sokovia, breaking into Avengers HQ, selling tech to Hydra… it kinda required Avengers background knowledge, which I think is interesting for a theoretically standalone movie, but I suppose there’s an expectation that no one will go see this who isn’t invested in Avengers in either film or comic incarnation.
This definitely does have its silly elements, but they’re ones I enjoyed, overall. Michael Pena is fabulous as Luis – I love him in The Martian and he’s very different here but still has that superb timing that makes all of his lines a joy to watch. The other numbskull crims are very silly but play their part. “Yellowjacket” is actually a pretty ordinary villain; the real opponent in the film is time, and Lang learning to trust himself and Hank and Hope. It’s not exactly an original narrative – not-really-a-criminal has chance to redeem himself largely for the sake of child – but it was played well enough I was happy to go along. I was very glad it didn’t dwell overlong on how Lang got to the point of burglary; nor that there was any suggestion of his getting back together with Maggie. Instead, the suggestion is Maggie and Paxton will give him room in Cassie’s life, without giving up their own space, which is entirely appropriate. Also, Hank’s reaction to Hope and Scott kissing is entirely appropriate.
This was way more enjoyable than I had expected and makes me happily anticipate Ant-Man and the Wasp. I’m still not sorry I didn’t spend the money on cinema tickets, though.
Randomly Yours, Alex 