There are a handful of conventions that are common tread for stories. One such convention is Checkov’s gun–the premise that any item introduced must offer value later in the film. There is another, the MacGuffin, that argues that an item itself is not important but the desire to have it is. Both of these conventions create the expectations for Ant Man and the Wasp. In fact the movie relies on these two things in order to make the plot make any kind of sense. Even more interesting is the fact that it doesn’t even matter. The plot is as thin as waxpaper and that hardly impacts the film. I wasn’t even there for plot. I wanted to see Paul Rudd be, well, Paul Rudd. I wasn’t disappointed.
Ant Man and the Wasp unsurprisingly focuses on the rescue of the missing Mrs. Pym. She went into the quantum dimension and we know that people can actually come back from that because Lang (Rudd) did it. Thus sets the stage for part 2. What I found interesting about the film is that it was affected by the actions of the MCU. Lang is on house arrest because of his actions in Civil War. As the movie takes place between Civil War and Infinity War (Lots of wars out there in the world of supers) it remains largely unaffected by the events of Infinity War. It also makes no real effort to explain the world at large and how every day people deal with supers. It left me longing for a return of the Agents of Shield show in the way it could’ve been done–with all of the movies being linked to it.
As for the story itself, meh. I just loved watching Rudd be funny and having fun on screen as a hero. Ant Man, like Spiderman, is comic relief and the movie allows itself to be that while telling a fast paced story that is less about the pseudo science and the world at large than it is about chase scenes and poignant father-daughter moments.
Some Thoughts:
- Life is good. 5 days of good.