Lisadoeslife’s Spoiler review of Ant-Man and Ant-Man & The Wasp
See also Nathan‘s review of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Plot: Ant-Man
In 1989, scientist Hank Pym resigns from S.H.I.E.L.D. after discovering they are attempting to replicate his Ant-Man technology. Pym vows to hide it as he feels it is too dangerous. In the present day, Pym’s estranged daughter, Hope, and former protégé, Darren Cross, have forced him out of his company. Cross is close to perfecting a shrinking suit of his own, which horrifies Pym.
After being released from prison, Scott Lang moves in with his old cellmate Luis, who tries to convince him to get involved in his schemes. Scott tries to become an honest member of society so that he can provide for his daughter Cassie, however, he soon ends up agreeing to commit a burglary that he thinks will be an ‘easy win’. The consequences of his actions are not what he expected!
Review of Ant-Man
This was a re-watch for me but it felt like I was watching it for the first time. I forgot how funny Paul Rudd is and he play the character of Scott so well. Scott clearly loves his daughter very much and tries to live his life honestly so that he can have more access to her, but things just don’t go his way. Luis and his crew convince Scott to get involved in one last job and this is where the fun begins. After finding out that the burglary was a set up Scott gets involved in a whole new scheme involving Hank Pym.
The chemistry between the characters on screen was great. My favourite character, apart from Scott has to be Luis, he had me laugh out loud. He genuinely cares about Scott and that is clear to see from the way he tries to help. The rest of Luis’s crew are great additions to the cast and they add the extra bit of comic relief and a found family vibe that I feel Marvel does so well. Since Hank lost his wife to the Quantum Realm he has been distant with his daughter and lied to her about what happened to her mum. Over the course of the film we see the relationship developing between Hank and Hope, he finally opens up to Hope about what really happened and we get to see a sweet father, daughter moment.
As always, Marvel did a great job with the special effects. As much as I love the actors, I have so much respect for the talent that they have behind the scenes. Everything works so well together. The battle scene between Falcon and Ant-Man is definitely one I won’t forget.
The only negative for me was the battle with the ‘big bad’ at the end. It was over bit too quickly for me. I felt that there was a big build up, we saw this brand new suit that Darren had created with these extra features and we only got to see a glimpse of it’s potential.
DOUBLE END CREDITS!! I love when Marvel does this! The teaser with Hope and the wasp suit, then Falcon and Captain America. Everytime they do the end scenes it gets me even more excited for what is to come and upon re-watch it just gave me that push to go straight on to the next films (in chronological order) so that I could get to Ant-Man and The Wasp.
Review of Ant-Man and The Wasp
I suggest watching this after Captain America: Civil War first otherwise you may be slightly confused about what is going on. We start with Scott on house arrest for something that he did in Civil War (hence the requirement to watch it before this). He is coming to the end of a 2 year sentence when he, once again, starts getting in to trouble. To be fair to him he did go looking for trouble this time. He is enjoying time with Cassie, waiting for his time to be served when he ends up dreaming of being in the Quantum Realm where he thinks he saw Hank’s wife. This prompts Scott to call Hank to tell him about the dream. This then leads to Hope and Hank kidnapping Scott so he can help them bring Hank’s wife back from the Quantum Realm.
Although there were some funny parts in this one, Ant-Man and The Wasp was a bit more serious and emotional for me. We meet a new character called Ghost, who has been through a traumatic event where she lost her parents and she blames Hank for it. Ghost aka Ava Starr has been turned in to a weapon because of the abilities she gained. Even though she is fighting against our good guys I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her because all she wants is to no longer be in pain. We also meet Pym’s former Partner Bill foster ( Played by Laurence Fishburne) which was a nice surprise.Bill is a kind of father figure to Ava, he is conflicted by some of the things she is doing but also seems to fear her, which makes for an interesting dynamic.
Once again the Luis and the Crew were back to bring the comic relief and I loved it! The best part for me was the scene with the Hello Kitty pez dispenser. Luis reminds me of an over excited Golden Retriever and that kind of character is just so endearing to me.
Michelle Pfeiffer plays Janet, Hope’s mother who has spent the last 30 years lost in the Quantum Realm and we spend most of the film following Scott, Hank and Lang as they try to to bring her back. Once again I found that the ending was a bit rushed and i never felt at any point that anybody’s life was really in danger.
Overall I did enjoy both films. I would rate them a 4 out of 5. The final battle scenes were a bit rushed in both films and i would have preferred higher stakes. The end credits are always great. They draw the viewer in again and get you excited for films to follow. I am looking forward to watching Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania next.
