Review of Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) by Jeanette N — 18 Dec 2018

Ok, I have to talk about "Ant-Man and the Wasp" in it's full, so you've been warned, all the spoilers.

The first thing I want to talk about with "Ant-Man and the Wasp" is its theme. The Ant-Man movies have always been about redemption. Scott Lang was redeeming himself to his family and daughter, and Hank Pym was redeeming himself to his daughter Hope Pym. This is what occurred in the first movie.

In "Ant-Man and the Wasp," the theme of Redemption continues. But this time Scott is under house arrest after getting caught with the Captain America's team during Civil War. As a result, Hank and Hope also get negatively affected by this. The Pym's take a blow from this and Scott is not allowed to affiliate with them while he's in house arrest. Even without that fact, the Pym's still resent Scott from his actions.

Scott, as a result, must redeem himself to Hank and Hope (Scott dated Hope previously) when he's called back in to help them find their long-lost mother/wife, Janet Van Dyne.

Locating Janet is the major plot point in the movie. This mission Hank (and Hope) is on, is Hank's Redemption to his daughter, to his wife, and most importantly to himself. Though the incident that left Janet into oblivion wasn't his fault, he still feels guilty about the occurrence and that there was nothing he could do to stop it.

One good thing to also note is that Scott is also trying to redeem himself from the law while trying to redeem himself to the Pyms. This conflict is so heart-tugging because Scott is forced to make the impossible tasks to juggle both at the same time, and it is not easy.

In fact, a lot of characters have to undergo redemption. Scott's Old Team is trying to build a new business together and bring themselves back into society.

Even the main villain, learns that she needs to find a way to redeem herself at the end of the movie.

While we're on the subject, this movie has two "bad guys," one that is a classic villain and one that that is just a broken person. First - what I like to call - the villain, Sonny Burch, is basically a black market salesman. He wants Hank Pym's technology for his own profits. That's basically his motivation.

Ghost is the more significant character. It's hard to call her a villain because her backstory is tragic. When she's on screen, her pain is visual weather it is through her looks, the way she speaks, or the effects that are used for her powers. She definitely does have antagonists action because she is willing to do anything to heal herself.

The funny thing is that both characters have the same amount of screen time and importance to the movie. In the end, they are both well balanced for the story.

The comedy in this movie is mixed with the story and felt very natural. It was woven into the story and even often times helped the story, which is something I appreciate. Not to mention that the actors had great personalities to their characters. I loved all the actors' performances. They brought the characters to life again with their energy, passion, and investment.

And last but definitely not least. This was the best end credits scene in the MCU thus far. And that's all I'm going to say. Not even I will spoil that part.

This movie was filled with fun and passion. And just talking about the film makes me love it more and more. I don't know what everyone else will think of this movie, but this one is becoming one of my favorite MCU movies.

Stars 4.8/5.