Ah, the kind folks at Marvel saw it in their hearts to give us some respite from the intense Avengers movies to deliver the sequel to Marvel's family film franchise: Antman and now the Wasp!
The Wasp is here!
Evangeline Lilly's character, Hope Van Dyne, finally takes on the mantel of the Wasp. The first Wasp scene is full of ass-kickery and spectacular effects. Hope's on a noble mission to save her mother, and these two-bit eastern Europe variety pack henchmen are not going to stand in her way. Her first scene shows off the major differences between her and Scott's suits (wings and blasters) and personalities (badass and puppy). The character gets a lot more to do in this film and we should all look forward to the future of the character. Her confidence, intelligence, and moral certainty give the audience a great hero to go alongside Scott Lang's Paul Rudiness really well. They really do make good partners.
Partners
Scott and Hope are partners striving to find each other just like Hank and Janet. Hope saves Scott and Scott saves Hope. I love the symmetry of their relationship. Scott is fighting to have a relationship with his daughter and make up for lost years, and Hope is fighting to reunite with her mother and make up for lost years. Their missions are so closely related. Together, they help one another achieve their goals. The emphasis on partnership is paramount to the story. They have each other's backs even when they screw up, not that Hope screws up, perfectionists rarely do. Hope, however, must accept that people make mistakes. A lasting partnership must feature forgiveness and understanding. Perfectionists hold the people around them to the same accountability that they hold themselves. This trait makes forgiveness a difficult one. Hope forgives her father and then must forgive Scott. Scott is there when she needs him and risks losing something important to him to help her save her mother from the quantum realm. Scott attempts to make up for his mistakes. Partnerships require sacrifice for one another. A successful partnership requires effort from both ends that include forgiveness, understanding, and sacrifice.
Family!
Once again the Antman franchise is all about family! Scott and Cassie; Hank, Janet, and Hope; Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne) and Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen); even Scott and his ex-wife's family. Each of these families possesses the binding quality of love. Furthermore, they all have to "find" their family. I know it doesn't seem that important in comparison to the stakes of other Marvel movies, but it is more closely related to our everyday lives. Again, families, too, require forgiveness, understanding, and sacrifice. Families are made with diligent, sustained effort. We see that from every family in the movie. They never give up on one another.
Ensemble Cast
Antman and the Wasp (2018) has an amazing ensemble cast. Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurance Fishburne, Michael Pena, Walter Goggins, Randall Park, T.I., and David Dastmalchian join together to create an amazing ensemble. Furthermore, they all have unique characters that balance the story and comedy really well.
Comedy
This film is hilarious. From "BABA YAGA!" to Scott's seemingly prophetic days in quarantine boredom, we are given joke after joke. The comedy is more the family-friendly style though. Luis's storytelling scenes may in fact be the most notable contribution from these films. The "truth-serum" gag is very funny. The ensemble comedy is great. Rudd, Lilly, and Douglas balance the comedy out perfectly. Hank and Hope dish out the insults and Scott keeps giving them things to ding him on. The combination of friendly and biting humor helps create an atmosphere of friends that are upset with one another. See, folks who love broody super-hero movies, there is a storytelling function to comedy. People use comedy as a method of deflection or as an attempt to provide some levity to the situations heroes find themselves in. Furthermore, the comedy is most realistic when characters acknowledge how absurd their lives are. Scott rips on the superhero disguises of baseball hats and sunglasses and then jokes about how Hank and Hope just throw quantum in front of everything. Comedy has really cemented itself in the genre of Marvel comic book movies. Antman and the Wasp holds up the legacy.
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