Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) review

Marvel Studios’ 2015 release Ant-Man went through what is easily one of the most publicized productions of any film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For starters, the film had been in the works since 2006 before the MCU was even a thing… and yet ultimately ended up being released more than a decade later as the final installment of Phase Two of the franchise. But, of course, the biggest news story surrounding the film occurred in May of 2014, when it was announced that the film’s director was backing out of the project due to creative differences with the studio. And while the development of ‘directors leaving projects’ has always been commonplace in the film industry, the fact that the director in question was film fan favorite Edgar Wright, who had been working on it since the beginning, effectively cast a dark shadow over the film that sadly hasn’t left it even after its release. Thankfully, though, director Peyton Reed managed to fill in Wright’s spot with ease, delivering another fun entry in this legendary franchise that reveled in the endless possibilities that came from a plot about a superhero who could shrink in size. Cut to three years later and the titular superhero is back after his cameo appearance in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War with Ant-Man and the Wasp. As the title suggests, this film sees Ant-Man team up with his most famous superhero partner from the comics, the Wasp. And without the shadow of Edgar Wright’s ties to the project bearing down on him this time, Peyton Reed succeeds in crafting a superior sequel.  

During the events of Captain America: Civil War, ex-criminal turned superhero Scott Lang AKA Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) allied with Captain America in the feud that the Avengers had gotten into over the creation of the Sokovia Accords. Cut to two years later and Scott is now stuck under house arrest because of his participation in the incident. However, just a few days before his house arrest is over, Scott is approached once more by his colleagues Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), who has now taken on the superhero identity of ‘the Wasp’, and her father Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), the creator of the Ant-Man technology and its original user. Since Scott managed to escape from the microverse known as the Quantum Realm during the finale of the previous film, Hank and Hope are now optimistic about the possibility of finding Hank’s wife (and Hope’s mother) Janet Van Dyne AKA the original Wasp (Michelle Pfeiffer), who disappeared into it in 1987. This plan of theirs is furthered strengthened when it’s revealed that Scott is beginning to become ‘connected’ to Janet on a mental level, thus allowing them the opportunity to figure out where she is. Unfortunately for the trio, the process ends up getting complicated by a mysterious woman named Ava Starr AKA Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), who’s capable of phasing through objects due to an incident from her past where she was exposed to the Quantum Realm. After learning that Ava intends to use Janet to cure her condition, Scott, Hope, and Hank find themselves in a race against time to rescue Janet first when it becomes clear that Ava’s plan would result in her death.

So… seeing how we’re twenty films into the MCU at this point, I’m not going to bore you with the same points about this franchise that I’ve brought up in almost every single MCU film review that I’ve done. Thus, let’s just get it out of the way now… great action sequences, awesome visual effects, plenty of great humor while still finding enough time for some highly effective emotional moments for its characters, yadda yadda yadda, moving on. The main thing to note about this sequel is how it showcases a greater sense of confidence from Peyton Reed as a director. Obviously, in the case of the first film, he was brought on to fix the situation that Marvel Studios had gotten themselves into after the rather scandalous departure of Edgar Wright. And while Reed certainly managed to deliver an entertaining superhero film against all the pressure that he was clearly being put through by those who weren’t too happy about Wright’s departure, this film shows that he has improved on practically everything that he did with the first film. The action sequences are more kinetic, the humor and writing are both sharper, and the film in general benefits from stronger pacing whereas the first film admittedly took a while before it truly got going. But just like the first film, this film spends plenty of time having fun with all the various situations that Scott and Hope get into with their shrinking abilities, like whenever they blow up a tiny object to gigantic size (e.g. a PEZ dispenser). And, of course, we can’t forget about Ant-Man’s new ability to grow large himself (as previously witnessed during what is arguably the most iconic moment from the airport battle in Captain America: Civil War), which is also utilized perfectly here. Simply put, the Ant-Man films have boasted some of the MCU’s most creative action sequences which, given this franchise, is saying a lot.

Paul Rudd is phenomenal once again in the lead role of Scott Lang AKA Ant-Man, with arguably some of the best comedic timing of any lead in the MCU while also continuing to maintain Scott’s general likability as a well-meaning family man who tends to screw up a lot. But, of course, the most hyped member of this film’s cast is Evangeline Lilly, who finally gets the chance to get into all that great superhero action as the Wasp after it was built up in the first film’s mid-credits scene in which Hank gives Hope a new prototype of Janet’s old Wasp suit. And simply put, she kills it in the role; in fact, it could very well be argued that she even outshines Rudd. Still, the film does do a nice job of balancing out their roles in the story and the two do sport excellent chemistry, something that was only briefly covered in the first film. Speaking of the first film, all the major returning players who return for this film are great once again. As Hank Pym, Michael Douglas continues to be an absolute pro when it comes to delivering snarky quips, especially whenever he’s paired with Rudd. There’s also the returning trio of Scott Lang’s ex-thief pals (or as Hank calls them, ‘those three wombats’), who ironically now run their own security company. While T.I. and David Dastmalchian don’t get as much to do this time around, they still have their moments as Dave and Kurt, respectively. And, of course, we can’t forget about Michael Pena as the always-hilarious, happy-go-lucky Luis, the first film’s biggest scene-stealer. Sure enough, Pena once again gets a lot of this film’s best lines.  

As for this film’s newcomers, quite arguably the most prominent is the official debut of the original Wasp, Janet Van Dyne (not counting her cameo appearance in the first Ant-Man during a flashback). And without spoiling anything, the term ‘cameo’ applies to her role here as well as she’s only in it for about ten minutes. Still, for what it’s worth, Michelle Pfeiffer makes the most out of her limited screen-time and I’m confident that we’ll be seeing more of her in future films. DC Extended Universe transplant Laurence Fishburne also makes the most out of a rather small supporting role as Hank’s old partner Bill Foster, who fans of the comics will recognize as one of several who took on the superhero mantle of ‘Goliath’. Finally, when it comes to this film’s villains, there are two major threats who clash with Scott and Hope. While this does mean that they don’t necessarily stand out as much as other recent MCU villains, they’re still both solid enough in the context of this film’s story. First, there’s Walton Goggins as Sonny Burch, a black-market criminal who tries to steal Hank’s technology. It’s a minor role, for sure, but Goggins’ Southern charm helps a lot in the long run. And then there’s Hannah John-Kamen as Ava/Ghost, one of the MCU’s more ‘sympathetic’ villains given her tragic backstory. Thus, instead of just being a typical villain trying to take over the world, she’s just trying to find a cure for her condition, unaware that her plan to fix it would negatively affect several people. John-Kamen (who’s been having a breakout year after appearing in other blockbuster projects like Tomb Raider and Ready Player One) handles the role excellently and the effects used to create her phasing ability pave the way for some awesome visuals and action sequences.   

While some felt that the first Ant-Man didn’t add much to the larger world of the MCU, I’d argue that it had a different goal in mind; to serve as a much-needed change of pace after the large-scaled (no pun intended) affairs of Avengers: Age of Ultron, which came out just a few months prior. Sure enough, Ant-Man and the Wasp fulfills that same purpose in arguably an even greater fashion. I mean, let’s face it, after all the craziness that we went through with Avengers: Infinity War, it’s great that this film scales things back for a much more light-hearted adventure that once again highlights how solo films are still vital to the growth of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (though, for the record, without spoiling anything… this does address Infinity War). At the same time, the film also manages to be a superior sequel to what was already a solid entry in this franchise. No longer undermined by the question of ‘What would Edgar Wright have done?’, this film gives Peyton Reed the chance to make an Ant-Man film all his own, resulting in a sequel that boasts a sharper screenplay and more elaborate visuals and action sequences that don’t lose sight of the best parts of the first film. Plus, there’s also the immense satisfaction of getting to see Evangeline Lilly’s Hope Van Dyne finally get the chance to shine as one of the MCU’s greatest female heroines yet, something that Lilly undeniably revels in. Because of all this, Ant-Man and the Wasp is yet another success for Marvel Studios, who have now reached the unparalleled milestone of having 20 feature films that have all been positively reviewed by most critics and audiences. Admittedly, I wouldn’t call this the best MCU film to date (or even the best MCU film that came out this year, for that matter), but it’s still loads of fun to watch.

Rating: 4.5/5

Tomb Raider (2018) review

Since its inception on the Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and MS-DOS in 1996, Tomb Raider has become one of the most enduring franchises in the world of video games. The adventures of archaeologist Lara Croft have sold over 63 million copies worldwide, while Lara herself has become an iconic video game heroine along with becoming rather notorious for her initially curvaceous figure that became the subject of much publicity. This overt sexuality, however, eventually ended up being underplayed in future installments of the franchise, including the source material behind today’s review, its 2013 reboot. Reimaging Lara as a college student who ends up trapped on a mysterious island, this gritty take on the Tomb Raider franchise was a major critical and commercial success. This, of course, brings us to the latest installment of the often-maligned genre of films based on popular video games, Tomb Raider. While directly inspired by the 2013 reboot, this is also the second major incarnation of Lara Croft on the big screen. Previously, Lara was portrayed by Angelina Jolie in the 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and its 2003 sequel, The Cradle of Life. And while both films ended up receiving the usual critical derision that usually strikes a video game film adaptation, they are often regarded by audiences as some of the better entries of the genre thanks in large part to Jolie’s excellent performance in the role of Lara. As you might have guessed, this puts quite a bit of pressure on this new take on Tomb Raider to work just as well with audiences, with Alicia Vikander taking on the role of Miss Croft this time around under the direction of Norwegian filmmaker Roar Uthaug. So, does this film manage to buck the long-running curse of films based on video games? Well, not exactly, but that doesn’t mean that it didn’t at least try.

In the city of London, Lara Croft (Alicia Vikander), daughter of businessman Richard Croft (Dominic West), struggles to cope with his disappearance several years prior. Because of this, Lara lives a generally carefree life where she often struggles to get by financially while also distancing herself from her family’s legacy. However, when Richard’s old business partner Ana Miller (Kristin Scott Thomas) encourages her to claim her inheritance before her father’s estate is sold off, Lara begins to learn more about what her father was doing when he disappeared when she comes across some of his old research. Specifically, Richard was investigating into a mythical queen known as Himiko, who allegedly possessed the ability to kill anyone she touches and was buried on the remote island of Yamatai. Despite her father’s request to burn his research for fear of his enemies getting ahold of it, Lara embarks on an adventure to Yamatai with the aid of Lu Ren (Daniel Wu), a ship captain whose father aided Richard in his own journey there back in the day. However, their ship ends up getting capsized during a violent storm and the two of them end up stranded on the island. Almost immediately, they are taken captive by a mysterious organization known as Trinity led by their zealot leader, Matthias Vogel (Walton Goggins), who claims that he knew her father. And as soon as Lara learns of Vogel and Trinity’s plan to find Himiko’s tomb and acquire her power for their sinister intent, she immediately begins fighting back so that Himiko’s devastating powers won’t be unleashed upon the world.

Unlike the previous Tomb Raider films, which launched audiences straight into the action (i.e. the opening of the 2001 film in which Lara battled a big robot), this film is more about building up Lara’s reputation like its direct video game counterpart did. However, in the case of the film, this means that it starts off on an extremely slow note. And it also doesn’t help that the plot is a very basic origin story about a young woman who learns major secrets about her father’s past; in other words, you can quite often tell where it’s going to go from a narrative perspective. Thankfully, though, the film does manage to somewhat pick up the pace as it goes on. Once Lara ends up on Yamatai, that’s when the film starts to really improve in terms of its action set-pieces which, like the game, see Lara overcoming various death-defying odds. And while some of these action sequences do suffer from a bit of frenetic editing here and there, the film surprisingly manages to have some teeth to it despite being rated PG-13 in contrast to the M-rated video games that it’s directly inspired by. Ultimately, though, I think that many will agree that one of the key things that should define a ‘successful’ video game film adaptation is its ability to properly capture the spirit of their source material. Regarding this new take on Tomb Raider, I am aware that there is some controversy over the film’s decision to have Lara’s overall characterization be directedly tied to her connection to her father to the point where it influences several of her actions, resulting in some ‘questionable’ bits of decision-making. Overall, though, I’d say that the film does succeed at matching the gritty tone of the most recent games.  

Just like her predecessor in the role, Alicia Vikander’s casting as Lara Croft initially drew some skepticism from those who weren’t sure if she was a good choice for the role. And in Vikander’s case, the highly positive feelings that many fans still have of Angelina Jolie’s turn in the role no doubt put some additional pressure on her as well. But overall, Vikander ends up being just as good as Jolie was as Lara. To put it simply, these two actresses succeeded at portraying Lara in the ways that she was being portrayed in the video games at the time of their films’ respective releases. The Lara of the Jolie era was defined heavily by her confidence and seductive nature, whereas the franchise’s current iteration of Lara is defined more by her tenacity, vulnerability, and ability to persevere when going through the challenges that she regularly goes through. And despite the previously mentioned controversy surrounding the script’s overt focus on Lara’s relationship with her father, Vikander does do an excellent job with the material that she’s been given. Meanwhile, Walton Goggins is the other big headliner in this film’s cast as the main villain, Vogel, who, like the film’s pacing, falls victim to not really getting a lot to do at first. This also manages to improve somewhat as the film goes on, but not quite enough to make Vogel that much of an intimidating threat, especially after the film begins to build up the mystery surrounding his superiors. At the very least, though, Goggins proves that he can be a great villain when given the right material due to his strong screen presence.

In conclusion, I can’t really say that this new take on Tomb Raider ended up being the film to break the dreaded curse of films based on video games. While it does boast a higher RT rating than other video game adaptations (which usually end up with an RT score in the mid-20’s), that rating is still technically in the ‘rotten’ category. However, at the very least, and even though it’s clearly not saying much, it is marginally better than its competition. Oh sure, it’s not perfect by any means, namely because of its initially sluggish pacing. But once it does get going, things manage to improve in terms of both the action sequences and the plot even though it’s not exactly enough to keep the film from being your run-of-the-mill action-adventure flick. It is worth noting, though, that Alicia Vikander does give it her all as Lara Croft. Simply put, she excellently personifies the Lara of this current era the same way that Angelina Jolie did as the Lara of the early 2000’s. And while I’d still consider Jolie’s first Tomb Raider film to be better than this one, as a fan of the Tomb Raider franchise (having played almost all the main games), I will say that I was decently satisfied with this new film. I mean, at the end of the day, considering some of the other major film adaptations of popular video games that have been made over the years, it’s safe to say that this could’ve turned out a heck of a lot worse.   

Rating: 3/5