Ant-Man and the Wasp review: A two-hour Marvel distraction

Marvel Studios presents an entertaining but entirely forgettable Ant-Man and the Wasp. At 125 minutes, Ant-Man and the Wasp is not at all a long slog but a nice distraction from the daily rigours of office. Coming just a few months after Thanos wiped the floor off the Avengers, this one feels a little bit strange. Fighting fit superheroes once again coming to save the day with little to no resistance.

Ant-Man and the Wasp is the sequel to the quirky, funny and lightweight heist comedy Ant-Man from 2015. This one deviates from the current crop of Marvel movies and once you’re home and back to work, this movie will be reduced to dust. That isn’t to say it is a bad movie. Marvel employs the highest levels of production and that shows, especially in the fight scenes.

This is the 20th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it holds no expectations and pulls no punches. While some fans may have bemoaned the lack of Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) in the all-encompassing Marvel Cinematic Universe Avengers movies, they can now sleep peacefully at night, for now they know exactly what the two of them, along with scientist Henry Pym (Michael Douglas) were up to in the interim period.

This movie, just like the main characters themselves is about trivial matters - nothing concerning any of the Avengers. It’s about family matters and individual survival.

There is Scott/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), who has been condemned to two years of house arrest after he went to Germany to fight in Civil War. All he does is hone his drumming and magic skills and has a loving daughter to attend to. Couped up in the house, he gets together a security firm and enlists some old friends to run it.

On the other hand, there is Hope/Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) and Hank (Michael Douglas), who develop a Quantum Tunnel to bring back the original Wasp and Hope’s mother Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer).

As far as this plot goes, there is hardly much to think about. Just sit back, relax and leave your brain outside the movie hall. The characters run around the streets of San Francisco, from point A to point B, almost entirely pedestrian like. There are just a couple of small-time villains offering obstruction and destruction that Ant-Man and Wasp have to deal with. The entire plot could have been done-and-dusted in just half an hours time.

Ant-Man may have been a crucial cog in the wheel of that airport battle in Captain America: Civil War. In Ant-Man and the Wasp, he hasn’t broken free. That’s the movie’s greatest tragedy. Ant-Man and the Wasp could have been a ten-minute deviation in the latest Avengers movies but Marvel decided to release an independent sequel and milk the superheroes to their best abilities (which albeit fade away many a time in the movie).

Director Peyton Reed gets jumbled up in so much science jargon that it takes away from the fun of being a kid-friendly movie. Even adults won’t appreciate the deadpan tone in which Douglas and Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne) speak of these head-scratching science-y terms.

What works best for the film is Rudd’s offbeat humour and the goofiness of the rest of the characters. While Ant-Man’s costume malfunctions provide for an extra laugh or two, there isn’t much to remember this movie by.

Should you watch this superhero movie?

Watch it once and on the big screen. If you miss it, then don’t bother watching it on the small screen. The big screen is the only way this flick is enjoyable. The 3D is annoying but nothing that will ruin the experience. It’s a good action sequel for kids with a little too much jargon thrown in.

There is zero emotional investment needed while watching this movie and for the two hours plus running time, you’ll be happily zigzagging the streets of San Francisco along with the cast of Ant-Man and the Wasp.

Rating: 2.5/5