- Location: Cinemark Century Point Ruston
- With less than half the budget and more than a hundred times the fun of Avengers: Infinity War, Payton Reed's Ant-Man and the Wasp is a welcome tonic against superhero movies that take themselves much too seriously. The story opens with Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) under house arrest as a consequence of his giant-sized brawl with the Avengers three years ago. But don't worry, Scott and his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson) are having plenty of fun these days zipping around homemade tunnels that look like a talented middle schooler's recreation of an Indiana Jones setpiece. The Feds, led by the whimsical Agent Woo (Randall Park), check on Scott regularly, while Scott's ex-wife (Judy Greer) and her husband (Bobby Cannavale) pop in with words of polite encouragement. Scott's life could be more exciting, sure, but at least it isn't long before he'll earn parole.
- One day, Scott has a strange dream in which he accesses memories of the long-lost Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), an early casualty in the adventures of her adoring husband, Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Although Scott hasn't been in contact with Dr. Pym or his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly), both of whom are understandably upset with him for very publicly revealing the existence of Pym's size-changing technology, he informs them of his experience. Naturally, Hope whisks Scott away in a Hot Wheels-sized car, replaces him with a giant trained ant, and enlists his help in exploring the indescribably tiny Quantum Realm, where Janet is presumed trapped. If it sounds goofy, that's because it is! More than any other superhero series, the two Ant-Man films have gleefully embraced the wackiness of the Silver Age of comics, and they're all the better for it.
- Standing in the way of Scott and the family Pym is Ava Starr (aka Ghost), who quickly proves to be one of the more nuanced Marvel adversaries ever to appear onscreen. As the result of a Pym-sponsored quantum accident that claimed the lives of her parents (one of whom is Egghead!), Ava can phase through matter. To be more precise, she has trouble not phasing through matter and needs Dr. Pym's miniaturized science lab to synthesize a cure for her unstable condition. Unlike most supervillains, however, Ava isn't necessarily an evil person. In fact, her plight earns sympathy from Pym's onetime partner, Dr. Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne), who tries to temper Ava's desperation while simultaneously arguing against Pym's single-mindedness. Personally, I would have loved to see Laurence Fishburne grow to goliath proportions, as is discussed in a very humorous side conversation, but hopefully they're just saving that visual for a future installment.
- In case its main characters are too subtle, Ant-Man and the Wasp also features a stereotypical "greedy industrialist" villain (Walton Goggins) and some returning practitioners of broad humor (Michael Peña, Tip "T.I." Harris, David Dastmalchian), but one can hardly fault a comic book movie for hitting a few cartoonish notes. Fortunately, that same silliness also suffuses the film's many entertaining car chases and fight scenes, all of which prove to be much more fun and creative than the usual superhero action fare. If you don't enjoy seeing Hope kick butt as the costumed flying Wasp, crack up when Scott is reduced to the size of a gradeschooler, or stand in awe of some looming water bears, then I'm not sure what to tell you. Of course, the shadow of Infinity War eventually falls over this film, too, but at least the filmmakers had the courtesy to defer it to a post-credits scene. People who want to leave the film smiling should probably depart once the credits begin to roll.
