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Review: 'Ant-Man and the Wasp' has small stakes, big emotion

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Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) in “Ant-Man and the Wasp.” Courtesy of Marvel Studios.

By Bryan Perez 
@TheEtCetera

If you’re looking to escape the whole world-saving type of overwhelming feel you
get with other Marvel movies like “Avengers: Infinity War,” then “Ant-Man and the Wasp” is a great choice. 
After being put under house arrest for siding with the illegal actions of Captain America (Chris Evans) in “Civil War,” Ant–Man (Paul Rudd) is left trying to balance the responsibilities of being both a father and a hero. 
And when Ant-Man, real name Scott Lang, has a vivid dream about being in someone else’s body and playing with a younger child, he contacts Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) about what he saw. 
Hope Van Dyne, also known as The Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), and Pym then present what is possibly a new mission. The plan is to build a device that helps Ant-Man go subatomic enough to reach the Quantum Realm.  
But obviously, it leads to complications. 
[READ MORE: ‘Infinity War’ review: Marvel’s greek tragedy you’ll tearfully watch a thousand times]
Ava, who is known as Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), shows up to delay their mission and steal a part of the new quantum machine that Hope and Hank are making.   
Ghost has a mournful backstory and is willing to do whatever it takes to triumph.  
She is in need of help because of the consequences caused by the explosion of the Quantum Machine. It was built by her father and gave her phasing abilities. 
Because of her abilities, she is in constant pain and is in dire need of getting help, which makes her the perfect antagonist.  
The relationship between Ant-Man and the Wasp did have its short, heartfelt, bittersweet moments with its comedic tone, but it was just not enough. 

The Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) in “Ant-Man and the Wasp.” Courtesy of Marvel Studios.

The complicated relationship between the two was caused by the “Civil War” debacle and created tension, but it was later happily resolved. 
Lang’s relationship with his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson) had short father-daughter moments but made me feel closer to understanding Lang and his love for his daughter. 
The emotions in the film were limited to keep a lighthearted mood, which actually ended up playing with my emotions. It needed just a bit more to express that the characters have some range of emotion to them. 
Everything about the movie was fine. However, there isn’t a big standout scene that makes the movie as climatic as other Marvel movies.  
[READ MORE: Review: ‘Deadpool 2’ hard on the outside, soft on the inside]
If director Peyton Reed goes back to what made the first “Ant-Man” stand out with its epic battle with Yellowjacket (Corey Stoll), more and more Ant-Man movies can come out strong. 
The Wasp’s character is also interesting enough for a stand-alone movie because of how independent she can be.  
Releasing this film after Infinity War can raise questions about when the setting was and if there is any relation to Infinity War itself. 
What I can tell you is to definitely stick around for the end-credits scene, for it shall clear up any misconceptions. 
Overall, “Ant-Man and the Wasp” was pretty impressive with its CGI and super-sizing suits.  
It represented Marvel well, letting the new heroes move into the larger part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  

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