The 493rd film I have seen in theaters…
Together at last! This geek is happy.
2 years have passed since Scott Lang donned the Ant-Man/Giant-Man costume and fought the Avengers with Captain America. He has been under house arrest and is about to be released. He suddenly has a dream about Janet Van Dyne, mother to Hope. She was lost 30 years prior in the Quantum Realm (Microverse). Hearing of this dream, Hank Pym and Hope drag Scott back into action as they try to rescue Janet from the Quantum Realm. A new villain named “Ghost” is also trying to get Janet, but for more nefarious purposes.
First up is Paul Rudd as Scott Lang. He continues his good work from the first film and lands most of his jokes. He starts off a little rough.
Evangeline Lilly jumps into action as “The Wasp”! She is excellent here. She was essentially retired from acting a few years ago. I am glad to see that her return paid off.
Michael Peña is back as Luis, now running a private security firm utilizing the crew’s expertise as criminals. He is here for comedy relief and he delivers it.
I am torn here. Walton Goggins is an excellent actor. His work here is fine. The problem is that he really did not need to be in it at all. The film-makers seem to have wanted a third party interested in the “Mcguffin” of Hank Pym’s technology so they had this black market dealer try to steal Pym’s lab for its tech. He was good, but this could have been handled by faceless goons hired by Ghost.
Hannah John-Kamen plays “Ghost”. She definitely made me believe in the tortured character with a good performance. I wish the role had a little more depth though. Michael B Jordan and Josh Brolin have spoiled me .
Michelle Pfeiffer returns to super-hero films as Janet Van Dyne. F’n awesome. One thing that I love about Marvel is their desire to embrace veteran actors for many of their films. Robert Redford, Kurt Russel, Jeff Goldblum, Now Pfeiffer and …
Perry White jumps ship! lol. Lawrence Fishburne, who I have rarely seen turn in a bad performance, is Bill Foster. In the comics, and here, Foster took on the mantle of “Giant-Man”, with a nod to the other alter-ego in this family: Goliath. A good role.
Rounding out the cast is Michael Douglas returning as Pym. It was so cool to see him don a super suit and dive into the “Microverse” to save his love, Janet. This film also touches upon the fact that Pym was kind of an asshole back in the day, a good part of his character in the comics.
A fun, sometimes silly, escapade in the Marvel Universe. This character has his own niche carved out and he fills it well. The reunion of Hank and Janet felt earned, although I am not sure how much of that is my familiarity with the characters. Having two of my favorite actors play the roles also gives me bias. The mid-credits scene leaves Lang stranded in the Quantum Realm after Thanos’ “snap” kills Janet, Hope, and Hank. I love that the shadow of Infinity War is present here.
As far as Marvel film ranking? I would put this somewhere in the middle. It was a fun time at the movies, which is what these films should be.
The Skinny from the Fatty 