2 out of 5

Directed by: Peyton Reed

I don’t think I’m difficult to please.  A well-timed fart joke can make me giggle; I rewatch Fred Wolf-era TMNT cartoons for pleasure; soulDecision’s Faded brings me much joy to this day.  And yet, the Marvel flicks – the MCU already admittedly stocked with blockbusters of which every moment is designed by committee – that were geared toward being goofier and thus, I guess, more enjoyable – Ragnarok, GOTG 2, and now Ant-Man and The Wasp – have been the ones I’ve liked the least, verging on active dislike.

I liked the first Ant-Man.  The low stakes nature of it fulfilled that enjoyable quality perfectly, and Paul Rudd was a smart everyman casting addition to the team, with director Peyton Reed’s comedic film skills proving to be a good match for the tone.  These pieces are both in place again, but Ant-Man and The Wasp is one of the most personality-less, senseless flicks I’ve seen in a while.  An opening sequence of Scott Lang (Rudd) and his daughter traversing an epic cardboard fort built inside Lang’s house 100% set my expectations from the get-go: this is one of those completely ridiculous film concepts that’s thoroughly implausible, and fulfills a ‘use once and never again’ mentality that’s only in the film because it’s a ‘clever’ way to introduce Scott’s house arrest status, and force in a summary of his suit-shrunken super-heroing antics.  Again: not difficult to please: plausability is not my first requirement for big budget flicks, but I can’t stand ‘casual’ inclusions of this nature that are anything but, and cause me to write in a whole bunch of air quotes to imply my sarcasm.  A one line tossaway about the effort it took to build the thing, or why / if said effort was for a special occasion would’ve worked, but naw, cardboard forts are a silly kid thing and we can laugh at it ’cause Scott’s an adult!

Meh.

This sensation continues, both in dialogue – every line of which seems written around the most obvious and plainly delivered puns – and the rest of the plot, which continues to tack on “just because” style inclusions, and ups the ante with ‘villains’ who don’t listen, and/or or who exposit without being encouraged to do so.  Some of the effects feel a bit dodgy, either overdoing the bad guy’s phasing ability, or, in another wasted sequence wherein Scott is half-shrunk to kid size in his daughter’s school, the ratio of his height to his environment desperately needed a comparison point – i.e. another kid – to make it work.

I write about this in fits, and consider lowering to one star, but I’m grousing about a lot of the inbetween moments.  You know, plot, story, characters; unimportant stuff.  Thankfully, being an action flick, these moments play out as filler for admittedly fun and really well choreographed and exciting stuff, with Scott / Hope’s The Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) flitting in and out of shrunken and giant size.  Michael Pena’s Luis, Scott’s associate, is also a highlight in his scenes, playing off against a mostly wasted Walton Goggins, who’s expressiveness is a joy, even when given boring dialogue.  And I will give credit to the final exchange between Rudd and Randall Park’s character, as it was, I think, the only point at which I laughed out loud.  (Bear in mind this is literally the final dialogue exchange in the movie…)

So the film isn’t unwatchable by any means, and perks up when it shuts up.  I recognize that all of the MCU is aiming to please, but there’s been something about these more comedically-geared variants that seem to take a step too far in that direction, only working their way back into my grudging graces when some action antics distract me.