‘Ant-Man and The Wasp’ Movie Review: Saving A Long Lost Love

Ant-Man and The Wasp give us a right mix of humor, action, and relationships. The story is set two years after the events of Captain America: Civil War. While the fallout of these events initially has a hold on the plot, the heroes eventually work their way out of the mess. As the heroes use all the resources available to them, their unrelenting enemies chase after them wherever they go.

The Plot

Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) goes about his seemingly normal daily routine while in House Arrest. As he enjoys the time he has with his daughter, Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson), he has a vision that calls the attention of Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lily). Eventually, the team reunites to achieve one goal. The Trio needed to save Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), Hope’s mom and Dr. Pym’s wife, trapped in the Phantom Zone.

However, the Phantom Zone was not their only problem. Scott’s parole officer, Agent Jimmy Woo (Randall Park), was always on Scott’s heels. Also, a black market arms dealer named Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins) and his lackeys wanted Dr. Pym’s lab for himself, so he could profit from selling it. A lady who calls herself “Ghost” (Hannah John-Kamen) wanted the lab, too, since it was the only hope for saving her life. Ant-Man and The Wasp start off with a flashback to a different time, when Dr. Pym and Janet first used the suits on a mission.

Scott Lang

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Scott Lang approaches the end of his two-year house arrest period when he gets a vision about Janet. The dream brings him back into the action. As Ant-Man, Scott works together with Hope and Dr. Pym to pull Janet out of the Phantom Zone. They successfully evade capture numerous times (the FBI caught the father and daughter duo once although they escaped) and Scott even makes it back to his house in time for his sentence to end.

Ant-Man’s humor is his best asset. He continually jokes around even when he is in trouble, but this does not make him sloppy. Also, his behavior around the complex sciences of their mission pretty much represent the fans in the MCU who are not as much as science-inclined as everyone else. He makes his marks in the hearts of the fans as a crowd favorite.

Hope Van Dyne

Hope Van Dyne was not named “Hope” for no reason. Throughout the movie, she clings on to the hope that she would help her father find and reunite with her mom once again. While her relationship with Scott gets tainted by Scott’s actions at first, she ultimately admits to herself that she loves Scott, regardless of what he did. Hope even jokes that if Scott asked her to go with him, he would have evaded the FBI.

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It is the time of the heroines. Most of the superhero movies shed the spotlight on female heroes. This development in the cinematic scene helps bring about the ideals of feminism and gender equality. Marvel has numerous strong female characters, and the idea of more of them having the spotlight makes me feel ‘hopeful for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Ghost

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Ghost, or Ava Starr, is a victim of an experiment gone wrong. An accident in one of her father, a former colleague of Dr. Pym named Elihas Starr’s tests caused her cells to destroy and rebuild themselves continually. Her affliction enables her to travel through walls, and it gave her incredible strength. Ava’s parents died in the accident. Later on, the government saw potential in Ava, so they train her to become a killer, hence her nickname “Ghost.” When Ava’s condition worsens, Dr. Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne) continued to care for her when the government lost interest in her.

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Ava’s actions are understandable since she was desperate. It must have been hard to grow up all those years, without friends and family. Those who knew her took advantage of her, except Dr. Foster. Whatever his disagreement was with Dr. Pym, he pushes it aside to plea to him, asking him to save Ava. Thankfully, Janet stabilizes her using the abilities Janet now has after her time in the Phantom Zone. I think that we would see more of Ava in the next movies. After all, they did evade the cops, and their fate is yet to be determined.

A Love Tested by Time

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Dr. Hank Pym stops at nothing to be reunited with his wife. Despite the numerous distractions and intrusions, Dr. Pym sees his mission through. His courage and intellect are truly admirable. At one point in the movie, some ants are seen helping him out in his lab. Also, their escape from Sonny Burch’s trap was epic. Seeing his inventions work flawlessly is mind breaking.  Because of his talents and his tools, he gets the chance to reunite and bring his wife back to the world.

The reunion of the couple was magical. When Dr. Pym descends into the Phantom Zone, he goes through the wonders and dangers it presented. When it seemed like all hope is lost, Dr. Pym stops at Janet’s last known location. Eventually, Dr. Pym meets his wife once again. After all those years, they are finally in each other’s arms. A love like that hits me pretty hard.

Other Notable Characters

The officers in charge of Scott’s House Arrest were a funny bunch. Whenever they had the limelight, they always said something embarrassing or funny about themselves. In the end, Scott plays them as he makes it back in time to his house. Agent Woo knew that Scott somehow made it out of his house without having the ankle monitors alarm him. Maybe he is convinced that it was magic. Agent Woo did ask Scott about the card trick he performed.

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Sonny Burch was your typical B-Grade villain that kept causing trouble to the heroes. His attempt to convince Hope to involve him in their project failed, so he tries to use force to acquire the lab for himself. When that fails as well, Sonny’s efforts do not stop there. After tracking the heroes down, he uses his connections in the FBI to have them arrested. He was a persistent villain until the end. It was just hard to erase the image of Rip Taggart, a protagonist Walton Goggins played in SIX.

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Scott’s best friend and business partner, Luis (Michael Peña) as well as his employees, Kurt (David Datsmalchian) and Dave (T.I.) had their fair share of the action. Luis helps the Trio in distracting Ghost to keep her from getting to the lab. Also, he has two encounters with Sonny Burch: the first time was when Sonny had his men inject a truth serum to reveal Scott’s location; the second time was when the action made its way to town.

Kurt and Dave had some fun, too. While the team was preoccupied with the action inside the lab, Kurt and Dave managed to tase Sonny and his associates. The bonus was when they injected the truth serum to them. The duo’s good works did not go unnoticed. Days after the battle, they finally land a contract for their security company thanks to their appearance on T.V.

Post-Credits

What happened in the Post-Credits scene left everyone shocked. Dr. Pym, Janet, Hope, and Scott were working on the first official scientific exploration of the phantom zone when the family suddenly disintegrates, leaving Scott trapped in the Phantom Zone. Back at Scott’s house, the ant sent to cover for Scott during his absence continues Scott’s daily routine amidst the chaos that erupted after Thanos’ snap.

While this scene was dark, it correctly aligns the movie to the events of “Avengers: Infinity War.” My strongest guess is that Captain Marvel would somehow find and rescue Scott from the Phantom Zone and they would find a way to bring things back to what they used to be. Maybe they would use time travel, or they would travel to the universe that housed all the others who disappeared.