I didn't review the first Ant-Man, partly because I'd watched with jet lag and partly because I didn't think there was much to say. It has a few entertaining action sequences, but the inane premise of giving a power suit to a recidivist criminal for the sake of a "second chance" makes it possibly my least favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe movie (and I've seen all to date). I wouldn't mind so much if it were more comedic, as the casting of Paul Rudd suggested it would be. Nevertheless, critics have liked the latest entry better, so I wasted little time in going out to see it.
In the wake of his rebellious aid to Captain America, Scott Lang (Rudd) has been under house arrest for nearly two years -- presumably much better than prison, especially when bonding with his young daughter during her joint-custody visits, but he has to get creative to fight boredom. Then he has a suspiciously realistic "dream" involving Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), wife of inventor Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Janet had not been heard from since she used Pym nanotech to shrink down into "the Quantum Realm" decades ago. Scott leaves a message for Hank, whose adult daughter Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) then arranges for his surreptitious break from house arrest, against his wishes, so that they can puzzle out a way to bring Janet back, hopefully before the feds come to check on Scott. The solution will, of course, involve Scott donning the Ant-Man suit again, this time joined by Hope in the Wasp suit.
Adding to the complications are two conflicting parties who want to steal Pym tech for themselves -- the whole lab, in fact, since it too can shrink. One is led by mundane trader Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins), who wants to make a fortune. The other involves a woman known chiefly as the Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), who can pass through solid objects, often involuntarily. She makes for a sympathetic antagonist, because she merely wants to end the pain caused by her condition. Alas, she thinks the best way to do that involves sapping vital energy from Janet.
Confused? This has to be the most bizarre pseudoscience in the MCU yet. It's one thing to invoke straight-up magic, mythology, or curiously humanoid aliens, but I rarely expect to hear such unsound technobabble outside The Flash. Even Scott occasionally questions whether they know what they're talking about.
Thankfully, despite the lack of a comedy label on IMDb and other sites, AMatW really doesn't invite the audience to take it very seriously. It includes a few clips of old films, including Them!, for interesting parallels. I don't think it even bothers to clarify the locations of events, though I suspect Marvel go-to New York City for much of it. In fact, I personally deem it the funniest MCU entry ever, between dialog and awkward antics (e.g., size-shifting tech malfunctions). This may change after further reflection on my part, but I don't remember chuckling this much at Spider-Man: Homecoming or other reputedly humorous hits.
Like everybody else, I must credit the timing of this release: Between the lightheartedness and, eheh, small focus, it contrasts pleasantly with the previous bummer. Only the mid- and post-credit sequences make the slightest acknowledgment of what else has been going on. (Also, I had wrongly assumed that Hawkeye would have a role this time around.)
It may help my enjoyment a little that Hank had come to regret giving Scott the suit -- well, letting him swipe it -- albeit not for the same reason that I always thought it was stupid. Hank did not support Scott's decision to defy the government publicly in defense of a violent fugitive. And because the government is apparently still tyrannical, Hank and Hope are now fugitives themselves just by association, years after their last contact with Scott. Of course, working together can help heal old wounds. Scott and Hope, who knew each other as far back as elementary school, might even fall in love, with or without Hank's blessing.
If the humor and human relations aren't your thing, you may still enjoy the action without irony. There's a lot more variety than the mere shrink-and-return-to-normal dynamics and occasional use of actual ants from the first AM. The Wasp gets a superior suit, not just flying but firing projectiles that change the sizes of outside objects. Sometimes Ant-Man or something else gets gigantic rather than tiny. And for all this, the Ghost is still tough to combat.
Just serves to reaffirm that a movie doesn't have to be intelligent to win my approval. I look forward to hearing from these heroes again in, well, a bigger way.
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