“Ant-Man and the Wasp” stars the every affable Paul Rudd in the title role of Ant-Man aka Scott Lang, and Evangeline Lilly as the Wasp aka Hope Van Dyne, and picks up after the events of Captain America: Civil War. Lang is days away from completing a two-year house arrest sentence when he is contacted by Hank Pym, the creator of the Pym Particles that make it possible to shrink an object and is the original Ant-Man as per the comic book canon.
Pym and daughter Hope Van Dyne are still upset with Lang for agreeing to go to Germany and fight on the side of Captain America without telling them. Because he used their technology, and due to the restrictive nature of the Sokovia Accords on the movements of enhanced humans, Pym and Van Dyne are on the run from the federal government due to Lang’s actions.
In the first Ant-Man movie, Lang shrinks down to the Quantum Realm and becomes entangled with the physical form of Janet Van Dyne, the original Wasp who has been trapped in that state of existence for 30 years.
Eye on Film: Ant-Man
First debuting in Tales to Astonish #32 (January 1962), Ant-Man, as illustrated and written within the Marvel Comic Universe, has been a man full of pain and suffrage when portrayed by brilliant scientist Henry “Hank” Pym.
Pym believes he has discovered a way to retrieve his missing wife and builds a machine to accomplish the task. Due to Lang’s entanglement with the elder Van Dyne, Pym is able to track her to an approximate location in the Quantum Realm.
Once this portion of the story is established the fun begins in earnest.
Due to being wanted by the federal government, Hope Van Dyne employed the services of a hi-tech salesman Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins) who specializes as a middleman in the type of bleeding edge technology needed for Pym’s device. However, he’s not even the primary antagonist as Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) seeks to use Pym’s works to rid herself of a quantum-based ailment that leaves her physical form in a constant flux between the macroscopic and quantum realms, thus giving the ability to phase throw solid objects.
Comic Book Convo: Why Ant-Man’s Ghost Is So Dangerous
Within a matter of days, the highly-anticipated Marvel Studios film Antman and The Wasp will be hitting theaters nationwide. Starring Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly, Antman and The Wasp will feature actress Hannah John-Kamen in the role of The Ghost. And no, not the Ghost portrayed by Omari Hardwick in “Power”.
The threads to this story aren’t nearly as violent or potentially apocalyptic as those in any of the other Avengers-connected cinematic offerings and are much more family-friendly and heartfelt than we’re led to believe a modern superhero movie should be.
There are plenty of chase scenes, sight gags and mystery fill in the valleys that exists between those peaks in excitement.
Though there are two or three antagonists, there isn’t really a true villain in the sense we’re used to. There are no plans for world domination or universal oblivion, only a need to feel whole. The Hank Pym and Hope Van Dyne want their family to be whole again, Ghost wants to be free of the pain of her cells being torn apart on the quantum level and Scott Lang wants to be a part of something that is bigger than himself.
Returning to raucous applauds were Luis (Michael Pena), Dave (T.I.) and the rest of Lang’s ex-con pals. The entire cast is just to good to believe, actually. Michael Douglas, Michele Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, Judy Greer, Bobby Cannavale, Randall Park and T.I.? In the same movie? Yes!
“Ant-Man and the Wasp” is successful as a film because it doesn’t take itself too seriously and revels in the inherent silliness of the entire affair and is the most family-friendly, light-hearted, live-action superhero movie I’ve ever seen.
