ShangLuda Admirable film.

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

MSB Reviews If you enjoy reading my Spoiler-Free reviews, please follow my blog :)When I look at sequels to superhero origin films, I always seek more. The characters have been introduced, the tone has been established, and the action has reached a certain level of quality. That said, a sequel should offer something more than just a generic story and a cliche villain, it should not feel like a "filler."Unfortunately, that is precisely what Ant-Man and the Wasp feels like. A significant portion of this movie's screenplay is lazy as hell. The main plot, as we know from the origin film and from the trailers, is to rescue Hope's mother, Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) from the quantum realm. If you think about it just for a minute, you know that this story requires something more because just this plot alone is not enough to make a superhero movie.There is got to be an antagonist of some sorts so we can receive that important genre's action, but this aspect is where the film fails. In the first installment, Corey Stoll portrayed Darren Cross / Yellowjacket as the "bad guy." He was just another shallow and cliche character who wanted to make money and "bla bla bla". You know the routine. However, the primary goal of an origin movie is to present and build new characters, so they become our heroes. They need to make the audience care for them so they can then make more films. Therefore, the fact that the villain was generic didn't really cause that big of a problem since it served the plot.The same excuse can't be used for a sequel, and Peyton Reed had some struggle with finding the right solution. Walton Goggins as Sonny Burch is so ridiculously expendable that he could have been entirely removed from the story and just by making some small adjustments, it would all flow better. Hannah John-Kamen is actually pretty good as Ghost, and her character has a particularly intriguing backstory. However, she is so horribly explored, and they run over her past like it means nothing to her personality. She had everything to be a great antagonist, but the team of writers did a poorly lazy job.The pacing is also affected by the second act's lack of action. Don't get me wrong, the action is one of the standouts of the movie, I'll get there in a second. Nevertheless, between a terrific action sequence at the beginning of the film and the start of the third act, there is barely any sort of entertainment. Like I wrote above, the main plot by itself does not work since it is based on something that can be easily done if there is no one to cause any problems. Honestly, I got bored for quite a while ...This is where I think this movie is getting some unfair praise. A lot of critics are saying that it is an excellent post-Infinity War film since it is quite light and easygoing. That is not how you approach a movie's analysis. The fact that it got released after or before a certain film has nothing to do with the movie itself. It should be a good film by its own reasons, period. Years from now, if someone wants to pop up Ant-Man and the Wasp because they read or heard it is good, they are not going to be thinking "oh, I should be depressed and sad since this is after Infinity War. Hey, everyone! You have to be sad to truly enjoy this movie!". How does this make any sense?!Finally, I only have one more issue (please, don't hit me, I'll get to my pros in an instant). Before the ending, I was pretty much at the limit of giving this film a positive or non-positive review. The reason why I am not going to give it a positive one is due to how they deal with Janet. I can't explain why since it contains massive spoilers, but I'll just say that they expect the audience to simply accept what it is given. They don't justify what happens, not even provide a clue. They just do it. Not only it becomes a plothole (that I'm sure they will fix in a future installment), but it is a bit frustrating that such a potentially exceptional movie can be ruined by such dreadful writing.Ok, time to change the tone of this review. The casting is awesome! Evangeline Lilly as The Wasp is so freaking badass! Honestly, this film should be called The Wasp and Ant-Man because she is definitely the one that commands the movie. Not only she has the best action scenes, but she also gets some well-deserved screentime outside of those. I love that they switched roles a bit and The Wasp became the protagonist, even if sometimes Scott is put aside just a tiny bit too much. I love her interactions with Michael Douglas, who also delivers an outstanding performance.Paul Rudd is fantastic as Ant-Man, and I love the subplot involving him and his daughter, Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson). Abby is super adorable and charming, and every scene that the two of them share is heartwarming. The comedy is on-point, and the big laughs come directly from Michael Peña (Luis) and his colleagues. Every word that comes out of this guy's mouth is pure gold. There is an entire interrogation scene involving him and Goggins' character, which left me laughing for minutes without end. It is truly mind-blowing how a team of writers can develop such funny character's scripts but so careless storytelling.The action is once again unique and exciting. Reed implements the shrinking and growing into the fight sequences, and it is incredible. The car chases are riveting, the initial fight involving The Wasp and some bad guys is astonishing and the third act is filled with fun set pieces. Reed had already proven his worth in directing action, and he does it better now. The editing is really great, and the CGI is top-notch, especially with the de-aging effect in Douglas and Pfeiffer's characters.I do praise the film for being bright and laid-back, the plot is simple to follow, and it is a fun movie overall. It's not better or worse because it was released after Infinity War, it's just an okay film. It was profoundly unexplored, and it had tremendous potential. From Ghost's past to Janet's narrative to Laurence Fishburne's character (Bill Foster) relationship with Hank ... There are a lot of aspects that the movie should have taken advantage of and instead, it just ignores or leaves them underdeveloped.All in all, Ant-Man and the Wasp is an okay MCU "standalone" film. It is a fun and relaxed "filler" that does not really improve on its origin installment. A terribly unexplored and lazily written screenplay does not help, and the misuse of Ghost is a wasted resource. The awesomeness of Evangeline Lilly as The Wasp is not enough to push back the script's flaws and the tedious second act. While it has a fabulous casting and some phenomenal action sequences, it ultimately fails in giving the audience a decent plot with suitable antagonists. Michael Peña and co. save this movie from a worse review with their hilarious lines.

joeyford-55342 I loved the first one, this one measures up nicely. The same stars are back to shine. The story is funny and moves along nicely. The Marvel stuff is all in order. It has you smiling from the opening scene to the closing credits. SEE THIS MOVIE!

jakebirkel This being the nine billionth MCU installment, we knew we were going to get an upbeat and good blockbuster movie. But this was also well done and unlike the last several installments, was classic MCU. It was refreshing.The performances were good. Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lily ooze charisma and their chemistry is incomparable. Michael Douglas remains funny while serious as he is and Laurence Fishbourne plays off him quite well. I can't remember Ghost's actress' name, but she did manage to bring some humanity to a bad guy and made the character sympathetic, which I appreciated. The standout was the kid that played Ant-Man's daughter. Her giddiness was unmatchable and enjoyable.The writing was nothing special, which I would normally have a problem with, but it'll be understood why I don't this time around soon. It was a simple tale and does indeed have some of the best timed comedy in the MCU.Peyton Reed loves to play with size and maneuverability. It shows (and works!). The direction makes this film so much fun. 'Nuff said.What deserves praise in this film is the visual design. Not only the shrinking and the way that size is played with, but the way certain places are visually constructed.Classic MCU, Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) is bright and well done. 8/10

Jackson Booth-Millard The first movie in the continuing Marvel Universe was good fun and did reasonably well at the box office, a sequel was probably expected, and I hoped that it could be even better, directed by Peyton Reed (Bring It On, Down with Love, The Break-Up, Yes Man). Basically in 1987, Janet Van Dyne aka the Wasp (Michelle Pfeiffer) shrank between the molecules of a Soviet nuclear missile, it was disabled, but she became trapped in the sub-atomic quantum realm, her husband Dr. Hank Pym aka the original Ant-Man (Michael Douglas) raised their daughter Hope, believing that Janet is dead. Years later, former criminal Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) has taken the mantle to become Ant-Man, but since secretly helping Captain America during the skirmish between the Avengers, he is under house arrest, while Pym and Hope (Lost's Evangeline Lilly) are in hiding and have cut ties with Scott. Two years on, Scott has a realistic dream about the quantum realm, and he sees Janet, with whom he is quantumly entangled, he gives Pym a call to tell him about it. Hope kidnaps Scott, leaving a decoy, a giant ant, to mimic Scott's movements, so as not to arouse the suspicion of the FBI and agent Jimmy Woo (Randall Park). Seeing the dream as a message and a confirmation that Janet is alive, Pym and Hope work to create a tunnel stable enough to launch a vehicle into the quantum realm and rescue Janet. There is one part required to complete the tunnel, Hope arranges to meet black market dealer Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins) to buy it, but he knows the potential profit that could be earned from Pym and Hope's research. Burch double-crosses them, Hope, as the Wasp, fights him and his men off, until she is attacked by a quantumly unstable masked woman, Scott, as Ant-Man tries to help fight off this "ghost", but she escapes with Pym's portable lab. Pym reluctantly visits his estranged former partner Dr. Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne) who helps them locate the lab. The ghost restrains Scott, Hope, and Pym when they arrive, she reveals herself to be Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen), her father Elihas (Michael Cerveris), another former partner of Pym's, accidentally killed himself during a quantum experiment, which resulted in Ava's unstable state. Foster reveals that he has been helping Ava, they are planning to cure her, using Janet's quantum energy, Pym refuses to help them, believing that this will kill Janet, the trio manage to escape. With the needed part, the tunnel is now stable, Pym and Hope are able to contact Janet, who through Scott communicates her precise location, but warns that they only have two hours before the unstable nature of the realm separates them for a century. Burch learns their location from Scott's business partners Luis (Crash's Michael Peña), Dave (Tip "T.I." Harris), and Kurt (David Dastmalchian), and informs a contact at the FBI. Luis warns Scott, who rushes home before Woo can see him breaking his house arrest, leaving Pym and Hope to be arrested, and for their lab to be taken by Ava. Scott is soon able to help Pym and Hope escape custody, and they find the lab. Pym decides to take the risk to enter the quantum realm, Scott and Hope distract Ava while he does so, but the pair also have to fight Burch and his men. Luis, Dave, and Kurt help apprehend Burch, allowing Pym to successfully find Janet, and Scott and Hope manage to stop Ava before she can take Janet's energy. Pym and Janet safely return from the quantum realm, and Janet voluntarily gifts some of her energy to Ava to temporarily stabilise her. Scott returns home, in time for a now suspicious Woo to release him at the end of his house arrest, while Ava and Foster go into hiding. In the mid-credits sequence, Pym, Hope, and Janet send Scott into the quantum realm to harvest quantum energy to continue helping Ava, but before they can bring Scott back, Pym, Hope, and Janet all disintegrate (the ending of Avengers: Infinity War), leaving Scott drifting. Also starring Bobby Cannavale as Jim Paxton, Judy Greer as Maggie, Abby Ryder Fortson as Cassie and Stan Lee as Shrunken Car Man. Rudd is much more convincing this time as the leading hero with deadpan quips, Lilly gets more time on screen as the second hero of the piece, Douglas remains good as the wise scientist, Pfeiffer is good but limited for obvious reasons, and the supporting cast are all good too. The story is more though-out, much slicker and wittier than perhaps previously, and the special effects are even better, much more shrinking and growing this time, and fantastic fast-paced chase and fight sequences, and funny stuff as well, a really fun superhero action adventure. Very good!