Much has happened since we first encountered Scott Lang and the Pyms with Ant-Man being the final film of Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We’ve had Doctor Strange take on Dormammu, Star-Lord commits patricide, Spider-Man gets a crush, Thor loses his eye with Asgard being blown to smithereens and we get a closer look at Wakanda’s culture. And now we get to find out what happened to the smallest, or biggest Avenger after Civil War.

It’s first MCU film after Avengers: Infinity War, which is a movie that’s going to be undoubtedly hard to follow, especially as we’re all trying to theorise how this film is going to relate. It’s no giveaway, but this is set just before Infinity War so don’t be looking for any clues and just enjoy the movie. However it does elaborate on Lang and Co.’s absence during Infinity War which is brilliantly put by Randall Park.

This time round Ant-Man goes big, most of the time, but the focus is more on Pym’s family trying to get Janet Van Dyne back from the quantum realm after Lang proving it to be a possibility in the first movie. And of course, there’s Hope’s introduction as The Wasp which is a welcome change. Evangeline Lilly has been one of my favourites ever since Real Steel and I’ve been enchanted by her ever since, whatever outfit she’s wearing, be it Elven tunics and pointy ears, the fringed business look or the fit, gym gear girl.

I’m not sure if it’s the fact we’re both pretty much the same age but her presence is always stunning yet powerful. She stole the show having the best moves leaving Rudd with the more comical theatrics.

Then we are introduced to a new foe, or so the trailer suggests. Someone who can phase in and out and through solid matter. I’m not entirely sure if this Ghost is suppose the original Ghost from the comic books but either way, I like what they’ve done and happy to see Hannah John-Kamen again so soon after Ready Player One. But I was expecting more from her and maybe the unbalanced story is mostly to blame. She doesn’t appear to pose that much of a threat and the other characters do nothing else than just prop up or fill in the storyline.

The special effect are on point as expected, but majority of the time the film is spent in full ratio with things getting larger. Ants included. As a direct comparison, it’s really only props that go miniature but with some creative flair. Beck returns to do the score and whilst it’s sounds very familiar to the first, there’s again nothing really outstanding. But he has added a few modern elements to the already retro music just to jazz it up a bit.

The Wasp and Ant-Man, *cough* I mean Ant-Man and The Wasp is okay as a stand alone film, a good follow on from Civil War but part of me thinks this might have been received better if released before Infinity War. And it’s sadly not as good as his first shrinking. I’ve just go watch it again for The Wasp.

Running Time: 8

The Cast: 9

Performance: 8

Direction: 8

Story: 6

Script: 7

Creativity: 8

Soundtrack: 7

Job Description: 6

The Extra Bonus Point: 5 for Evangeline Lilly.

72% 7/10