We’re living in a time where history is being redefined. The sins of our collective past are being brought to light and we’re not just able to hide the fact that what we know as success was actually built on the failure and oppression of others. And this issue shows up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) has to come face to face with his past. On the surface Ant-Man and the Wasp is a simple movie, but when you dive deeper you find that the movie is all about owning your mistakes and learning for them.
While they never suit up in the present, Ant-Man and the Wasp is just as much about Hank and his wife Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer), the original heroes behind those names, as it is about Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly). And while the younger duo are fighting with dangers in the present, the elder pair are still overcoming the effects of their past sins and mistakes. Hank’s journey with this movie is about forgiving himself for what happened before, allowing him to admit his failures and wrongdoings and repenting to those who were affected by them, specifically Janet who he lost to the Quantum Realm 30 years earlier.
Honestly the first major person who is affected by Hank’s work is Hope. She loses her mother when she is very young and it takes years for her to forgive him. And just when she is accepting the reality of her mother’s “death” Hank shows her that Janet may still be alive. And she takes the time to relearn reality, that the past she’s known was not accurate. And Hank uses this moment to come closer with Hope so they can both go after Janet and attempt to rescue her. And because he admitted he was wrong Hope comes to his side and works with him rather than fighting him as she had in the past. The truth brings them closer together.
Then as they enlist Scott and his crew to go after the parts they need for their Quantum Tunnel we meet the closest thing this movie has to a villain in Ava Starr, a.k.a. Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen). The character seems purely built on something evil at first and only after learning the truth of her story do we know the impact that Hank Pym had on her in the past. His work led to not only the death of her father but the constant pain she has felt as a result of her condition, a remnant of the accident. Pym has to come face to face with someone else who lost nearly everything from the sins of his past. And because he works against the threat of change, and the chance to sacrifice his work and his family to help Ghost survive and thrive, he continues to add to the already hostile tension between Ghost and our heroes
Much like Ghost we also have to watch as Hank comes face to face with old collegue Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne). And we see how the work that Hank had done with Bill was trashed as Hank became more covetous of his work and protective of his precious legacy. And they have a tense confrontation as Hank and Bill have to hash out how Hank took away Bill’s chance to make his own name under Hank. And Hank has to accept that in his efforts to protect his legacy, which in a sense he failed to do, he stepped over Bill’s career. And he has to accept that he did wrong to someone who use to see him as a mentor and friend.
And then we have Janet. As Hank finds her, after believing so long that she is lost, she doesn’t hold any anger or resentment. She looks at him for what he is. He’s broken by the weight of expectations he put on himself to uphold a legacy that has been crumbling down around him. Pym lost everything he once built for himself and only here as he finally finds the only part of his life that ever mattered to him does he see it’s ok to let it go and let the truth come out. He takes his family and works to build a new legacy, one where he rights the wrongs beginning with healing the damage he did to Ghost. And without Janet’s forgiveness it’s hard to know if he would have taken that road. Janet helps Hank atone for his “sins”.
Hank Pym is a complex character who shows the danger of guarding a legacy and how our actions can have vast consequences. We make mistakes, we do things that hurt those around us, sometimes without even realizing that. And much like Hank, the longer we try to bury those sins of the past, the more they haunt us. It’s only after we learn to accept our failings, admit our faults, and work to mend the damage we’ve done that we move forward and create healing in both ourselves and those around us. Hank has to learn this the hard way, and if we can take one thing away from Ant-Man and the Wasp it’s that we don’t want to go so far down that road that we end up like Hank. Let’s start the healing today.
Just a quick refresher of my MCU ranking criteria.
Cast and Performances
Story and Plot
Best Fight/Action Scene
Rewatchability
Cleverness of the Stan Lee cameo
Each film will be judged solely by me and then placed against all the other films. And rated on a scale of 10 with a total possible score of 50.
So, here is the quick breakdown of Ant-Man and the Wasp:
Cast and Performances: The cast is good but the focus stays far too much on Scott, Hope, and Hank. We have great actors in this movie who do not get the amount of time we would have liked to see them have. Randall Park, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, and even John-Kamen and Fishburne get little time to really show the talent we’ve seen from them in other things. This cast is strong but under-utilized. (6/10)
Story and Plot: The plot of this movie is confusing. The main plot is Hank and Hope searching for Janet and needing Scott to help them. But then you add Scott’s house arrest, Goggins’ secondary antagonist who is mostly unnecessary. Scott’s home and work lives, and the strained relationship of Pym’s past and they all collide in a clunky and overly stuffed plot that doesn’t flow nearly as well as its predecessor. (6/10)
Best Fight/Action Scene: The street chase is really fun. The action of Ant-Man’s malfunctioning suit, the visuals, such as the giant Pez dispenser and the matchbox sized cars all make the scene a highlight. (7/10)
Rewatchability: The movie is fun and full of humor. But the confusing plot is harder to follow and leads the movie to fall into a somewhat forgettable territory that unfortunately makes rewatches hard to look forward too. But the comedy and visuals are well worth the revists every time. (6/10)
Cleverness of the Stan Lee Cameo: Stan the Man is a bystander who reflects on his past drug use and how it’s messing with his mind as he witnesses the visual insanity of the street chase. It’s funny but not the strongest moment for the True Believer. This would also be Stan’s last cameo while alive. And next week we’ll talk a bit more about that. (4/10)
Total: 29/50
Current Ranking:
The Avengers
Black Panther
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Spider-man: Homecoming
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Avengers: Infinity War
Guardians of the Galaxy
Captain America: The First Avenger
Iron Man
Thor: Ragnarok
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Captain America: Civil War
Ant-Man
Thor
Iron Man 3
The Incredible Hulk
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Doctor Strange
Thor: The Dark World
Iron Man 2
And then there were 3. Next week we’re going back in time to talk about the most divisive movie in the MCU. I’m going upset some people with my take on that one but you’ll have to come back to see what I think.
Until next time thanks for taking the time to get Ploominated.
Ploominate 
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