Featured Blu-ray and DVD Review: Ant-Man and the Wasp
October 15, 2018
Ant-Man and the Wasp - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, or 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Ant-Man and the Wasp is the second film in the Ant-Man franchise and the 20th film in the MCU. I liked the first film more than the average critic, because I’m a huge fan of heist movies. This film won’t have the same heist angle, so will it not work with me as much?
This movie follows the events of Ant-man, obviously, but it is more a direct sequel to Civil War, at least Scott Lang’s involvement in Civil War. He was arrested for siding with Captain America, but given house arrest as part of a plea agreement. However, since he used Hank Pym’s technology, Hank and Hope are technically in breach of the Sokovia Accords and were forced to go on the run. However, they are not just running, they are working on a way to bring back Janet, if she’s still alive after so many years in the Quantum Realm.
Scott has been handling the house arrest as well as one could expect. At least he gets to play with his daughter, Cassie, in elaborate ways. When you are under house arrest, you have enough free time to build an elaborate box fort in your living room. He’s also helping Luis with a business proposal. The pair started a security company with Dave and Kurt and they need to land this big customer. Play-time ends with Scott and Cassie crashing into their fence and Scott accidentally triggering the perimeter alarm, which in turn causes the FBI to show up to search the place. As Agent Woo explains, in great detail, its the rules. The FBI are still there when Maggie and Paxton show up to pick up Cassie and Maggie becomes quite protective of Scott.
Without Cassie around, Scott has more trouble keeping himself busy. After learning more magic tricks, singing some karaoke, and making origami swans, Scott takes a bath falling asleep in the process. While asleep, he has a very vivid dream of being in the quantum realm, only to switch to a view from Janet’s point of view. It felt so real that he tries to contact Hank Pym, but just describing what happened to Hank’s voice mail makes him embarrassed enough to apologize for the call. However, that night, while watching TV, Scott is stung and kidnapped, waking up in a car with Hope. They believe it wasn’t a dream, because of the timing. Scott’s dream happened at the same time as the first test run of their new quantum tunnel. Details of the dream convince Hank and Hope that Janet is alive. However, in order to create a stable tunnel, they need a part. So the three of them shrink down the lab and off they go.
Hope goes to buy this last piece from Sonny Burch, a local black market seller. Unfortunately, Sonny figures out who she is and realizes Pym technology is worth billions, if Hank was willing to sell it. Furthermore, he is unwilling to take no for an answer. So Hope gets into her Wasp gear and does it the hard way. ... Or easy way, as she makes quick work of Sonny’s men. She isn’t challenged, until the appearance of a mysterious Ghostly woman who can phase through matter. At this point, Scott joins the fight in a new prototype Ant-man suit. Sadly, this isn’t enough, as the Ghost is able to evade them and steal the shrunken lab. Without the lab, there’s no way to get Janet back, but they have no way of tracking the lab. There is one person who might be able to help, Hank’s old partner, Dr. Bill Foster. The pair’s partnership didn’t end on good terms, so he might not be willing to help.
This is a good point to end the plot summary, as we are getting close to spoilers.
If you just want a very short review: Ant-Man and the Wasp does everything that Ant-Man did right and does it better, for the most part.
There is so much about this movie that I love. Some of these elements are quite small, but important. For example, there’s the family dynamic we see with Scott and the rest. Of course he and Cassie have a great relationship, but he also is on very good terms with his ex-wife, Maggie, and her new husband, Paxton. A lazier screenwriter would have made Maggie shrew-like and given Scott and Paxton a rivalry. This kind of writing extends to the villain... more specifically, why there isn’t one. I know Ava / Ghost is the antagonist of the movie, but she’s not a villain. She is, to paraphrase Styx, just a woman whose circumstances went beyond her control. She’s doing bad things, because she’s desperate to fix a problem that she had no part in creating. Having complicated people as antagonists makes for a more compelling story than just have cartoon villains doing evil things. Ava Starr is a much more interesting “bad guy” than Darren Cross / Yellowjacket was of in the first film.
Additionally, the action scenes are just as much of a blast this time around, especially the car chase scene. The use of shrinking in new ways was key to this film’s success. Granted, it doesn’t feel as fresh as it did the first time around, but that’s to be expected with a sequel. However, there was a real chance that the film would be nothing more than a retread of the original in that way. Fortunately, the addition of Wasp’s fighting style and Ghost’s new powers allows for some fantastic action scenes.
On the down side, Luis, Dave, and Kurt don’t have nearly enough screen time this time around.
Extras begin with an optional introduction to the movie by the director, Peyton Reed, who also does an audio commentary track for the film. Up next is a four-part, 22-minute long making of featurette. There are four minutes of outtakes, as well as two deleted scenes, with optional audio commentary.
That’s not a lot for a movie that made $600 million worldwide. It’s not terrible, just very average for a wide release.
Ant-Man and the Wasp is marginally better than the first Ant-Man and I loved the first film. There are not many extras on the DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, etc., but enough to be worth picking up.
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Filed under: Video Review, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ant-Man, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Douglas, Chris Evans, Laurence Fishburne, Judy Greer, T.I. Tip Harris, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña, Michelle Pfeiffer, Peyton Reed, Paul Rudd, Corey Stoll, Randall Park, David Dastmalchian, Walton Goggins, Abby Ryder Fortson, Hannah John-Kamen