Ant-Man was Marvel Comic’s surprise 2015 hit – a lighter, brisker, simpler comic book adventure that didn’t have the intricate plot twists and turns of some of the splashier superhero movies, and instead got by on its considerable charm, humour, slick special effects and a truly likeable cast.
Happily, this sequel carries on in the same vein as reluctant superhero Scott Lang (Rudd) languishes under a two year house arrest following his involvement in the events of Captain America: Civil War. Scott’s no longer shrinking to the size of an ant, and has in fact lost touch with scientist Hank Pym (Douglas) and his daughter Hope (Lilly), who has her own superhero persona, The Wasp.
However, there is a bad guy (Walton Goggins) who wants Hank’s technology – and who wouldn’t, since Hank can shrink his whole lab to the size of a suitcase – and a mysterious ‘ghost’ (Hannah John-Kamen) who is interested in it too. And it is particularly bad timing, as Hank and Hope think they have found a way to locate Hope’s mother from the weird quantum realm place that Scott survived in the first movie.
While it is pretty easy to guess what happens next, the movie dashes along at a joyous speed and you can’t help but get caught up in the fun car chases through the streets of San Francisco as vehicles are shrunk to toy size while Scott and pals get to be both ant-sized and – in a terrific scene in the bay – giant-sized too.
Best of all, however, is the chemistry between the leads as Douglas and Rudd lock horns, Rudd and Lilly (who gets more screen time in the sequel and subsequently steals the movie) spark off each other and Michelle Pfeiffer pops up to prove that no matter how scary it must be to live in the quantum realm for a few decades, at least they seem to have hair-stylers and mascara down there.
Yes, it is silly, but after the far more dramatic Avengers: Infinity War (Marvel enthusiasts should note this takes place just before the Thanos-led events of that film), it’s a welcome light relief.
Is Ant-Man And The Wasp suitable for kids? Here are our parents’ notes...
Like many of the Marvel comic book movies, this is aimed at older children, teens and adults and has a 12A certificate in the UK.
Younger children may find the quantum realm and its creatures a little scary and be upset by the idea of someone being lost there for decades.
There are some fight scenes, and younger viewers may find the character ‘Ghost’ a little disturbing.
There are minor sex and drug references that most younger children won’t pick up on.
Obviously, children who dislike insects will not like scenes in which the ants become the size of a dog and other sequences featuring insects.
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