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| Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and the Wasp (Evangeline Lily) |
“The
Good, the Bad, and the Brilliant”
A Review of Ant-Man and the Wasp by Nick Olszyk
MPAA Rating, PG-13
USCCB Rating, Not Rated at the time of this review
Reel Rating, Five Reels
It’s
a near miracle that ten years after its inception, the Marvel Cinematic
Universe is not only going strong but getting better every year. Just in the
first half of 2018, it has already produce two stellar hits: Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War. Ant-Man
and the Wasp is less sophisticated than both but, in the opinion of this
author, not only better a film but perhaps the best of the series. For a story
of little proportions and even less aspirations, that’s quite a big deal.
Scott
Lang (Paul Rudd) is under house arrest after helping the rogue team in Captain America: Civil War, which is a
good way to explain his absence from Infinity
War. Of course, he breaks his parole when Dr. Pym and his daughter Hope
need his help finding their long-lost mother, who disappeared into the “quantum
realm” when she shrunk too small. As Ant-Man, he is the only person who had
journeyed to that realm and survived. Their plans, however, are constantly
being interrupted by three separate villains: the FBI who wants them behind
bars, a crime lord who wants their technology, and a mysterious yet insanely
cool figure called the Ghost who can phase through objects and whose intentions
are as murky as its state of being.
The
story is a simple one, but the plot is crazy, taking weird twists and turns,
and not even five minutes goes by without a car chase or fight involving
constant shrinking and growing. None of this matters because Ant-Man and the Wasp is pure
entertainment in a way rarely seen since the adventure serials of the 30s.
There are no political overtones, no real-world problems. The goal is not to
save the world but reunite a family. There is romance but no sex, almost no
foul language, plenty of action but precious little violence, and (spoiler
alert) no one dies in the end. Two of the villains even get redeemed to point
where they could potentially be working besides our heroes in Ant-Man 3. The lack of such mature
content always the viewer to relax and go along for the ride, which is wild,
wacky, and wonderful.
At
the center is a cast of characters who could making watching paint dry
riveting. Paul Rudd in another stellar performance as a superhero understands
how silly superhero mythology can be. During a long monologue where Dr. Pym
tries to explain how his machine works, he quips, “do you just add ‘quantum’ in
front of everything.” Hope (Evangeline Lilly), who joins Scott as the flying
insect sized Wasp, is a classic no nonsense female warrior who kicks butt and
looks great doing it. Lastly, Pym is a mad scientist but has the best of
intentions. These three have some of the best chemistry in the franchise, not
even counting the many rich supporting characters.
The
news, Catholic and secular, is often filled with Hollywood’s problems. More
than a film about Trump, what “we need now” is movie that reminds ourselves why
cinema exists in the first place – to show something wonderful. Entertainment
and leisure, done morally, is a good deed, written in stone by the Father and
attested in the first miracle by the Son. Going to the movie like Ant-Man and
the Wasp where good always prevails and evil is always undone is a refreshing
break from a difficult and complicated world…and maybe a reminder that the
world may not be all that difficult or complicated.
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