Ant-Man and the Wasp Movie Review

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Watch the trailer
Written by: Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers and Paul Rudd & Andrew Barrer & Gabriel Ferrari (written by)
Directed by: Peyton Reed
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Tip 'TI' Harris, Randall park, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Douglas
Rated: PG-13

Plot
As Scott Lang balances being both a super hero and a father, Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym present an urgent new mission that finds Ant-Man fighting with the Wasp to uncover secrets from the past.

Verdict
The most interesting part of this movie is the after credits scene, and that's just a teaser for another movie. This is a lazy sequel with a bland plot and non-existent character development. I didn't like the first movie, but it had potential. This movie is a void.
Skip it.

Review
The first Ant-Man failed to deliver (read my review), and the sequel follows suit. I thought I liked Ant-Man, but according to my review I didn't. I did like it more than the sequel, but that's not a high benchmark.

Nothing more exciting than using a truck as a skateboard.

It's just bland. The first movie had fights at the micro-level which provided unique set pieces as characters fought in a toy room. That doesn't happen in the sequel. We get to see a fifty foot tall Ant-Man, but it's not that interesting. The characters throw a small object and just enlarge it in seemingly every fight. The Wasp provides the plot, at least part of it, as she and her father Hank search for her mother.

The other part of the plot is Ghost. Hank wronged her father and she is a consequence. She's not really a villain, just opposition. While the movie presents Hank's flaws, it doesn't explore them. It's just a crutch for the plot. Hank doesn't care, nor do his allies. Unfortunately the plot isn't that great. Everyone is after Hank's office that can shrink to the size of a suitcase.
Walton Goggins plays a sub-villain but his talents are under utilized. He's great at chewing scenery, but doesn't get the chance here.

This isn't the type of movie to portray physics realistically, but I have to mention it. Small objects traveling through the air begin traveling faster as they get larger. That completely defies physics and it happens frequently. The objects should slow down.

There are a couple scenes where the movie shows off CGI that makes characters look twenty years younger and that is truly impressive. I first remember seeing this in one of the Iron Man's, but it's been perfected here. Other than that, the most interesting part of this movie is the after credits scene that links this to Avengers: Infinity War. It's not good due to what we see but for the implications. How will future movies resolve it?

This is just an easy sequel. One of the better scenes from the first movie was Michael Pena's character relating a story in voice over and lip syncing to the characters on screen. That sequence was copied verbatim. While it was fun in the first movie, it just felt lazy seeing it again.
Relationships don't really develop, the movie just tells us, now we're here. These people don't like each other. There are no consequences.