I think the first Ant-Man is an underrated movie in the MCU. I thoroughly enjoyed it as a non-bombastic, fun origin story of Scott Lang trying to come back to reality in order to be re-acquainted with his daughter. Obviously, the character grew into popularity not because of the character or the movie but because of Paul Rudd. He has such a charismatic presence on-screen that you realize that you want to hang out with him and have a beer next to him and Robert Downey Jr.. Not their characters, obviously, they are not going to get along after what happened in Civil War. But because it made money, it warranted for a sequel and the result is that the main characters displayed enough humor and fun in order to balance out the weak villains and some of the storyline that did not seem too fleshed out.
The movie opens after the climax of Ant-Man in which Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), while in the Quantum Realm in the final fight, tells Hope (Evangeline Lilly) that there may be a way that Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), Hank Pym's (Michael Douglas) wife, to be rescued. Unfortunately, Scott is on house arrest after violating the Sokovia Accords after working with Captain America. He gets temporary visits from his daughter, Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson), which Luis (Michael Peña) has set up. With only three days left out of house arrest, Scott keeps himself occupied and after an idea, he attempts to call Hank, however they and Hope have not communicated after his arrest. Hour later, Scott is tranquilized by something flying in the room.
Scott wakes up in a shrunken van where he finds Hope driving as she tells him that she took off his ankle bracelet to put on a giant ant. They arrive at her and Hank's lab where they made a tunnel to the Quantum Realm where they hope to bring Janet back. But, they are missing a component to get the tunnel to work. The three arrive at a restaurant where Hope meets with Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins), a tech dealer, Burch suspects and he and his goons leave. But, they are knocked around by Hope in her Wasp suit in the restaurant kitchen as they throws knives at her. As Hope grabs the component, she is attacked by Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) as she is able to phase through everything. But, Ghost escapes and steals the lab from Hank.
This is a tough movie to review because I had a good time but I was disappointed. Let me clarify, I had a good time with the characters, the humor and some of the visuals but I was disappointed by the villains and some of the sub-plot. I get people will think that this Ant-Man sequel is sort of a filler movie or a breather after the events of Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, which were huge in different degrees. This is another light adventure that is a bit of a larger-scale film than the first movie. But, I like that this movie did not have as much stake in like providing the "saving-the-world" story. It is a personal, familial story but witch some elements that feel a bit irrelevant, interfering with the experience of the film.
Paul Rudd is still gold as his humorous and likable self as Scott Lang and is balanced with the committed performance from Evangeline Lilly as the Wasp, who actually was better here than in the first movie. They make such a fantastic duo and that is why the movie mostly works to see a dynamic chemistry on-screen. I wished that the plot was told better and services the chemistry better. The performances from the good guys are solid all around from Michael Douglas, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Peña (again, the scene-stealer). Michelle Pfeiffer was great but I wished that there was more of her in the real world than in the Quantum Realm. Walton Goggins and Hannah John-Kamen are fine in weak villain characters, debatably, the weakest villains in the MCU.
Peyton Reed did a better job directing an nearly decent story but has some colorful and unique action sequences that made the first movie so fun. Obviously, none of the action sequences here topped the climactic action sequence on the toy train in the first movie. But, it is good enough. That is what I think, it is a good enough movie that you will have fun in the theaters. However, I was a bit disappointed that there was not as much investment in the villains and a bit in the main story to make another special movie in the MCU, in which we had two this year. But, the movie is still refreshing to watch as it not as bombastic again, just a fun adventure with Ant-Man, the Wasp and the gang.
***
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