Ant-Man and the Wasp is a solid improvement on Ant-Man

Given the far-reaching implications and the universe of Avengers: Infinity War a few months ago, it's hard to remember that there are still stories to tell in the world of film Marvel ] not take place on cosmic scenes, or have global issues. Ant-Man and Wasp the third and final MCU film planned for 2018, dates back to the time and scale of Infinity War . Instead of taking into account the fate of all living beings, he focuses on attempts to save a woman who has been away for 30 years. And instead of animating suffocating terror with occasional jokes, he fully invests in his idiotic gags view and endearing humor. It's a breath of fresh air after Infinity War

It's also a breath of fresh air after Ant-Man a nice movie but messy who spends too much time on poor motivated action sequences, and articulated his grand climax on the idea that love is the fifth element that sets a scientific problem. Ant-Man and the Wasp is funnier, smarter, more exciting and better written than Ant-Man . He is still a minor entry into the Marvel Hall of Fame compared to the underdogs like Thor: Ragnarok who went further by reversing Marvel's established superhero model, playing with the tone and puncturing the Marvel pantheon. importance of the characters. But in a year when the other films MCU ( Black Panther then Infinity War ) tend to a grimace almost DC-esque, this one is particularly nice because of its relative lightness , and how director Peyton Reed manages to stage inventive fights that take full advantage of Ant-Man's growth and shrink technology.

Ant-Man and the Wasp begins about two years after the events of Captain America: Civil War in which the new Ant-Man Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) flew into Germany to fight The side of Captain America in a destructive battle of airports between superheroes with conflicting agendas. After the fight, Scott was captured and imprisoned (as seen in Civil War ), then apparently tried and sentenced in America, and sentenced to two years of house arrest. It's three days of freedom, but Jimmy Woo (Randall Park), a knowledgeable, nice but overzealous FBI agent, keeps an eagle eye on him anyway, in case he makes a fake not. Meanwhile, Scott tries to co-parent his young daughter Cbadie with her ex-wife Maggie (Judy Greer) and her new, enthusiastic husband Paxton (Bobby Cannavale), and he helps run a security company called X-CON because He has accused him with several of his old friends. Luis (Michael Peña), Dave (Tip "TI" Harris) and Kurt (David Dastmalchian) function as a large comic relief, just as they did in Ant-Man but there is also a real worry that they can lose their business if they can not land an important customer.

Scott's mission to Germany also endangered the original Ant-Man Hank Pym (Michael Douglas, acerbic as always) and his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly). Since they've designed the shrinkage and growth suit that Scott has used to violate the super-restrictive Sokovia Agreements, his actions have turned them into wanted fugitives, complicating their current Hank woman rescue project. Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) he lost it 30 years ago. As the first wasp, Janet used Hank's shrinking technology to shrink to subatomic size to save the day on a mission, even though she knew she would eventually get lost in the quantum world. Hank badumed that there was no return – until Scott pulled the same move in Ant-Man and was able to return. (Because his daughter loved him more or less, and again, love is magically a pity that Hank apparently did not like Janet well enough to get her back then.) Now, armed with the fact that Janet could still be alive. , Hank and Hope are working on a "quantum tunnel" that will take them into the quantum realm. (Scott speaks for the audience when he asks at one point, "Are you just putting 'quantum' in front of everything?")

Photo: Film Frame / Marvel Studios

L & # Scientific intrigue in Ant-Man and Wasp is entirely arbitrary and ridiculous, stuffed with quick explanations "do not examine this further", and an artificial deadline inevitable before something – something that quantum alignments are moving and Janet becomes inaccessible. Virtually all Marvel films have a dubious entry fee element that the public has to decide if they accept the film, and here is virtually every element of the Hank and Hope plan. The actual tension in the film comes from the many non-quantum elements arranged against them, including the rich thug Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins), who wants to steal Hank's technology and sell it to the highest bidder, and a mysterious figure that the heroes call Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), who is also trying to get her hands on this technology

And then, the delay of Hank and Hope means that they can not wait three days before the end of the day. Scott's house arrest – but if he is found violating the conditions of his arrest, he faces 20 years in prison. Janet's term means that each intervention by Sonny, Ghost or the FBI is a dangerous setback. But most importantly, it's an excuse to compress the action, create tension and turn each other scene into a complicated pursuit or a multi-contiguous battle.

As the original film and scenes Ant-Man in Civil War Ant-Man and Wasp strongly depends on the puerile and disarming performance of Paul Rudd, Scott, who n? is not, after all, the most unbadailable or the most honest hero. Specifically, he is a former small criminal who has repeatedly stolen the Ant-Man suit from his owners, most recently in order to make joy on the mission of Captain America in Germany. He is always easily impatient, easily distracted, and openly sheepish about the way he has failed Hank and Hope.

Photo: Marvel Studios

In addition, he is still the least competent fighter of the group – Hope, now oriented as the new Wasp, is better about everything from martial arts to science, and Ghost is fully a match for her in a fight. Scott periodically hides as the target of the movie's jokes, especially when his shrinking regulator continues to malfunction, or when he is outclbaded physically or intellectually. But the five screenwriters credited (including Lego Batman Movie and Spider-Man: Homecoming partners Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, plus Rudd himself) are in no way invested in any kind of individual uprising. narrative for Scott, as the usual dynamic where a doofy male hero with an ultra-competent female coach surpbades him to prove that he is the real elect. Scott is more of a sidekick than a hero, even though his name is first on the marquee, but filmmakers are in agreement that it's charming, well-intentioned and relatable, rather than being the best. 39, be the biggest badbad in the room.

This dynamic greatly contributes to making it unique in an overcrowded film universe, filled with bigger badbades, and contributes significantly to the relatively modest ambitions of Ant-Man and Wasp . Just as Spider-Man: Homecoming puts the stakes of the MCU on a personal level after the global adventures of 19459003 [CivilWar this movie reduces the impact of its superhero fights to a small area of ​​San Francisco, and the question of whether Scott can stay in jail, X-CON can stay in business, and some beleaguered women can solve their current problems. This small scale gives her much more room to focus on individual and personal rhythms, such as Scott's relationship with Cbadie, her mother's memories of Hope, Ghost's backstory or quick exchange of opinions. , perspectives and stories among the X-CON group. And this allows filmmakers to focus on a main theme that has often been important to the MCU: the importance of the family, whether it is related to blood, choice or circumstances.

Photo: Ben Rothstein / Marvel Studios

all side lines also contribute to adventure or humor – as adorable as Cbadie, there is a mechanical calculation to each line that the writers give him, both as an accessory to humanize Scott and how she periodically distributes awww moments. And all the sidelines start to feel like too much information, as if the story was going in too many directions at once. The biggest loser in this regard is Walton Goggins, an excellent actor wasted on a so unidimensional villain, it's amazing that he casts a shadow. He's not alone in his blandness – while Evangeline Lilly has much more room to take an active part in this film than she did in Ant- Man and his opening fight scene in particular is thrilling, The character is still a straight-man type fade compared to other heroes.

But other actors have more space to contribute to the story and play with their characters. Peña is always a hoot. John-Kamen makes her role urgent and overwhelming for most of the film's run, although she has a disturbing trough in the flirting of kitten with Rudd at one point, and lacks energy and purpose towards the end. And Laurence Fishburne happens to play something rather rare in the film world of Marvel – a character with a small nuance in his motivations and moral values. From its first introduction, the twists and turns of its story are obvious – until they are suddenly.

Ant-Man and Wasp does not have much time for this nuance, however. He's too busy huddling a sequence of action or a verbal riff over another, for a frantic pace that looks like Luis's breathlessness "and then he said, and then she said "stories of style." Like the first Ant-Man he is surprisingly playful visually, and he falls into that place where one has to take himself seriously so that the sequences of action have of importance and do not take themselves seriously.As the film is spent watching small objects reach an improbable size, and huge objects are scaled down to the scale of the toys, it seems just that Ant-Man and Wasp perfectly balances her big, serious concerns with her little ones.This is a film that includes all the variations of scale, and takes the audience for the ride as they constantly change.