Ant Man and the Wasp. Photo: Marvel Studios
Camera IconAnt Man and the Wasp. Photo: Marvel Studios Credit: Supplied/null

REVIEW: Small Ant Man brings big fun

Julian WrightEastern Reporter

IT seems fitting that the Ant-Man stories feel smaller than those of his Avengers counterparts.

While Thor, Captain America and Hulk’s backgrounds and abilities see them fighting hordes of intergalactic critters around the galaxy, Ant-Man is still just a man relying on science.

It serves as a nice antidote to the increasingly loud, intertwining and overbearing Avengers movies that see entire cities levelled within one action sequence.

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Paul Rudd’s unwavering cheekiness and cute factor are also big pluses.

Taking place between the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) has been under house arrest for two years after his involvement in Germany.

Just days away from his punishment being lifted, he is approached by Hope van Dyne/Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) and Dr Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) for help to find Hope’s mum and Hank’s wife Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer).

Janet has been lost in the quantum realm – a place Scott once escaped – for 30 years and there is a chance they can get her back.

But they are not the only ones keen for her return – with someone else with an affliction who wants to exploit Janet for their own gain and they will fight for it.

With less action and more heart than other films in the Marvel universe, Ant-Man and the Wasp acts as a much-welcome breather – something that is less hectic with a smaller, narrower scale and yet still as enjoyable.

What action there is, is delightfully inventive with the shrinking and enlarging of numerous items from a Pez dispenser to a salt shaker, for use against the enemy.

Director Peyton Reed gets a chance to think outside the box a bit with the car chase sequences – adding a bit of pizzazz as they careen through the streets of San Francisco.

If you can make it through the chatty, science gobbledygook-filled scenes of exposition, there are some nice character and relationship moments and Rudd’s charm, which takes this a long way.

Ant-Man and the Wasp (PG)

Directed by: Peyton Reed

Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña

Three and a half stars

Review by: Julian Wright

In cinemas July 5