Ant-Man and the Wasp is a fun continuation of what returning director Peyton Reed started with Ant-Man three years ago. I whined a bit about the decent original, a movie that I wanted to be more subversive, having known that Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) was supposed to direct it. I’m over it. Reed kicks some Marvel ass, and his sequel is actually better than the first. After the well done but admittedly gloomy Avengers: Infinity War earlier this year, Ant-Man and the Wasp joins the likes of Thor: Ragnarok as a fun, slightly eccentric diversion from the serious Marvel shit. This one, for the most part, just wants to have a good time, and it succeeds. As the title implies, this is no longer a one-man show for the always entertaining Paul Rudd as Ant-Man. Evangeline Lilly returns as Hope Van Dyne and gets a bigger part of the limelight as the Wasp, who has decidedly better martial arts skills than professional burglar Scott Lang. The Wasp lets the kicks fly in an early scene with a crooked businessman (Walton Goggins), and she owns every moment she’s onscreen. It simply looks like a kick from The Wasp hurts more than one from Ant-Man. Well, that would make sense. She trained him. While the stakes aren’t quite as high as the usual Marvel fare—the entire universe isn’t at risk in this one—Reed and his crew make it more than compelling. They also make it very funny, thanks mostly to Rudd, ninja master of comic timing.
Ant Man and the Wasp
