WHAT’S IT ABOUT: A couple of years after the Avengers got in a little tiff at that airport in Germany, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is at home under house arrest, he having violated the Sokovia Accords. Coming up close to release, he spends his time innocently enough, playing with his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson), learning magic tricks, playing the drums, and working on a start-up securities company with his pal Luis (Michael Peña). All is good…
Then he gets a weird dream, or so he thinks, of being back in the Quantum Realm where he shrunk himself before, seeing a vision of a little girl and a woman in a mirror. He thinks it might be Janet van Dyne, (Michelle Pfeiffer) the wife of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), the inventor of the Ant-Man technology. She sacrificed herself to the realm in the late 80s, unable to return, presumed lost forever. But actually …
Hank and his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly), aka The Wasp, have been trying to find a way to reach her, and think their work is connected to Scott’s vision. Now all they need to do is figure out how to get to her. But there’s a problem, of course. They soon encounter a woman named Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen), she made quantumly unstable in an accident as a kid, forcing her to steal the last part Hank needs in completing a tunnel to his wife. However, there is more to all of this and soon it’s a fight to stop a madman on a mission, save a trapped woman, and rebuild a romance, all on different scales. Literally.
QUICKIE REVIEW: Any movie with Paul Rudd as a star is almost one hundred percent guaranteed to be better simply because he’s in the cast. It’s a scientific certainty. Such is the case with the Ant-Man movies, clever already but made much more entertaining because Rudd is the lead.
Thing is, as with most of these superhero movies, the limitations are pretty concrete, with nearly everything funneled into a conflict that requires some sort of over-the-top fighting sequence that while creative in execution lacks creativity in making something more weighty. Alas, why would a superhero movie need to be? Director Peyton Reed sticks to the Marvel formula and for those that have spent more than ten years invested in the Universe, will surely get their money’s worth. Girl-powered with The Wasp getting a majority of the action, Ant-Man and The Wasp is a predictable but a very satisfying entry in the very crowded field.
THAT MOMENT IN: Let’s talk about Luis. First introduced in the original Ant-Man, having shared a jail cell with Scott and then entangled in his adventures later when the two steal the Ant-Man suit, Luis became a fan favorite, mostly because Peña is so darned funny. And that’s working opposite Rudd, who we’ve established is the best thing going. Period.
Luis is now going legit, partnering with Lang in a security company called X-Con Security, with Luis doing the selling and meet greets with clients while Scott handles most of the designs, you know … being stuck in house arrest and all. Either way, Luis is an upbeat guy, a fast-talker, and hiding a secret that the company is about to fold unless they can close this big deal, something that is falling right at the most inopportune time as Scott’s just a little busy doing Ant-Man-y things.
This, however, draws Luis into the mess, because that’s how things works in stories like this, and soon enough, he’s face-to-face with a thug named Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins), a criminal-type with some respectable power, who is hoping to steal tech from Pym in order to make a profit on the Black Market. Thing is, he can’t find Scott, who knows where the part he’s after is, so instead goes to Luis to get some information. And he’s bringing along a few friends as well.
TRUTH SERUM: At the X-Com Security office, Burch arrives to find Luis and his two co-worker Kurt (David Dastmalchian) and Dave (Tip ‘T.I.’ Harris), they not seemingly so impressed with Burch’s presence (they’re arguing about oatmeal). Burch explains that he’s after Scott and demands to know where he is, threatening to use his henchman to extract the information. It’s here where we see a needle and some filled vials. Looks like truth serum time.
Despite Burch and his men denying that it is in fact truth serum, they soon get Luis tied to a chair and inject him with the concoction, which does as dictated, making him susceptible to suggestion. He’s asked the most pressing question: where is Scott?, but Luis is not your typical subject and even under the influence of wacky drugs, takes ‘where’ to a whole new metaphysical plane that is about as far from what Burch wants or needs as possible.
RETREADING SUCCESS: In the first Ant-Man, there was a clever scene where Luis tells a story while the action cuts to his version with the people in the story mouthing exactly the words he’s saying. It’s not as good on paper as it is on screen, but it’s a funny bit that is a clever and surprisingly original way to get the audience caught up. It’s exposition made smart.
So, in this film, naturally, the filmmakers wanted to work a bit of that Luis magic back into the script but do it less like an obvious ‘see, we’re doing it again’ sort of thing and instead lend it some innovation. This is where the serum comes in, allowing Luis to not so much retell part of the story but reinvent how it is unveiled.
We cut back to scenes we’ve already seen but played out differently with the characters again mouthing the words that Luis is saying, giving their exaggerated pitch and cadence all kinds of well, Peña emphasis. Like the first film, it’s genuinely funny, but what it doesn’t do is feel like a callback. Instead of being a trick that could have felt like a crutch becomes something kind of special. This is Luis and this is his thing.
WHY IT MATTERS: Peña is a very funny guy, and while he’s sort of relegated to sidekick, he embraces it with the perfect combination of timing and self-awareness. He’s not the superhero and doesn’t want or need to be one (though he would love to wear a cool suit). What he is however, is reliable and trustworthy. We know that he’s never going to let Scott down, and by extension, us. So even when he’s bound to a chair and forced to take truth serum and give away Lang’s position, it isn’t going to go without chance for redemption.
What makes his talking style and the film’s ingenious way of showing his storytelling work is how it instantly invests us in him as a character. Luis makes you want to spend more time with him. We trust him. And his passion for words and commentary help balance the hyper physical actions everywhere else around him. Think what an achievement that is in a film with Rudd as its superhero star. Peña walks away with the movie, easily, and this moment under interrogation is one heckuva cool bit for him to do so. It’s a great movie moment.