Ant-Man and the Wasp

Ant-Man and the Wasp – Under house arrest for his participation in the events of Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man must find a way to sneak out and join Hank Pym and Hope Van Dyne in their attempts to rescue Janet Van Dyne, lost for over 30 years in the Quantum Realm. Meanwhile, a black market technology dealer and a mysterious figure called Ghost are both keen to acquire Pym’s technology for their own ends…

Ant-Man and The Wasp (2018) – Director: Peyton Reed

Rating: 12

Running Length: 118 mins

Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lily, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer

Genre: Superhero, Action, Comedy

REVIEW: ‘ANT-MAN AND THE WASP’

Following the epic sturm und drang of Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and The Wasp’s lower stakes and quirkier tone come as a welcome relief. Arguably better than the first film, this is a perfect balance of action and comedy which also finds time to round out its characters and doesn’t get bogged down in making elaborate connections to other Marvel movies.

Scott’s (Rudd) relationship with his young daughter, and his attempts to be a caring and present father, in spite of his occasional brushes with the law, continues to be not only charming but also helps ground the more outlandish aspects of the story and give it a solid emotional core. Ghost’s back story is also surprisingly affecting, and it’ll be interesting to see if they pop up again in a future movie.

The action scenes are as inventive and enjoyable as before, and Wasp’s additional powers and fighting skills add some variety and mean that she isn’t just “Ant-Man, but female”. The car chase climax is also a riot of gags and thrills, and additional comic relief is provided by Michael Peña as Scott’s motormouth buddy.

It’s gorgeous to look at, thanks to Dante Spinotti’s cinematography, state of the art effects and the trippy designs of the Quantum Realm. It’s also funny, fast-paced and full of heart.

Incidentally, the extra scene halfway through the credits is essential viewing, but the short one at the end of all the credits is pretty pointless, and just replays a visual gag we’ve already seen during the film.

CONTENT: IS ‘ANT-MAN AND THE WASP’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

Ant-Man is relatively innocuous as superhero action movies go. With a couple of exceptions the action scenes are played mostly for innocent thrills or even comedy and feature little in the way of explicit violence.

Scott Lang is fitted with an ankle bracelet to make sure that he stays under house arrest, and a few times FBI agents come to search his home. One agent gently explains to the daughter that he has to wear the bracelet because he broke some rules. Lang accepts his punishment and patiently waits for the end of his parole period, although a few times he manages to sneak out of his house undetected in order to help his friends.

One fight scene in a kitchen involves a fair amount of kicking and punching but is cut fairly quickly so no blood or pain are shown. The shrunken hero is chased by characters attempting to crush them with knives or hammers.

Super-powered characters throw each other across rooms, smashing into furniture or through windows.

Ghost is able to “phase” through solid objects. At one point they “phase” their arm through another character’s neck as a threat, but finally no harm is done.

One character has a limited amount of time to live and is seen expressing distress at their impending demise.

The car chase scene is full of peril and destruction, and may be intense for some younger viewers, but no characters or bystanders come to any serious harm.

One character blacks out and falls into water, and has to be rescued quickly before their air supply runs out.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘ANT-MAN AND THE WASP’ FOR KIDS?

An entertaining superhero caper with some intense fight and chase scenes but little in the way of unsuitable content. Recommended for anyone over the age of seven.

• Violence: 2/5 (a few hand-to-hand combat scenes, no blood or injuries shown)
• Emotional Distress: 1/5 (a few teary-eyed scenes relating to the lost mother)
• Fear Factor: 1/5 (tense climax with beloved characters in peril)
• Sexual Content: 1/5 (two brief kissing scenes)
• Bad Language: 1/5 (infrequent mild profanity (shit, damn, son of a b….))
• Dialogue: 0/5
• Other notes: (deals with crime, convicts, and evading the authorities)

Words by Simon Litton

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