Ant-Man and the Wasp (Dir Peyton Read, 1 h 58m)

Placed as it is between Thanos' hemimation of existence (and half of the Marvel big guns) in Avengers: Infinity War, and the introduction of the character that will likely spell his downfall in next year's Captain Marvel, Antman and the Wasp is, much like the first Ant-Man film, a breather between heavyweight bouts, a smaller, more intimate story about (quite literally) the little guy, which, despite its smaller scale, feels every bit as important as its world(s)-spanning peers.

This is largely down to just how skillfully Paul Rudd balances the superheroic and everyman part of Scott Lang's life-on house arrest since the fallout of Civil War, he's balancing work with his partner, looking after his daughter, and trying to keep out of trouble. However, when a dream, partly caused by his trip into the quantum realm in Ant-Man, causes him to contact them, and begin a plot to rescue estranged mentor and friend, Hank Pym's wife from the quantum realm, with his daughter, Evangeline (the titular Wasp) in tow, whilst a nefarious black-market tech dealer and a ghostly figure with powers of her own seek to use Pym's tech for their own means

At multiple points, Lang's character seems torn between the normal humdrum world, and a life that involves shrinking to minute (or indeed at multiple points, massive) size-one of the best scenes is set up purely by Lang telling his colleague, Luis, where he is-unlike many of the other superheroes, where saving the world on a daily basis is the job, Lang has a rather dysfunctional work-life balance, and, although older and more jaded, (and with a criminal record to boot) there's an odd similarity between Lang and Peter Parker.

What Ant-Man and the Wasp is about, at core, is family-at multiple points, we see Lang and his daughter Cassie, spend time together, and increasingly bond as a family, with her even offering to help him in his super-hero work, whilst Pym and Evangeline's hope that their wife/mother is still alive, including a remarkably tender scene between the three of them, drives much of their work. Even the villain, Ghost, is driven by the loss of her family, and by the quantum damage that the accident that claimed their lives caused her.

Ghost/Ava is a rare thing in the Marvel films to boot, not only a likable and empathetic figure, even in scenes where she opposes them, with her abilities leading to not only her weaponisation by the now-defunct SHIELD, but also her premature depth-Hannah John-Kamen lends Ava a surprising depth, her emotions driving her at all costs towards saving herself, and gives the Marvel Cinematic Universe another strong female villain at last, whilst her character arc, and the film's narrative arc come to a satisfying conclusion together.

As with the first film, there is both a strong visual element, and a strong streak of comedy, albeit this time tinged with more of a romantic angle-Scott and Evangeline have clear chemistry, both professionally and romantically, with excellent setpieces placing this at the fore, working off each other in an action-packed set of chases and fights. The miniaturisation (and enlargement) of objects is equally played with to great comedic and action effect, with a car chase involving a shrinking car, a giant Hello Kitty Pez dispenser, and a shrinking office block which is stolen from and by multiple parties, cars are flipped by a van that regrows to its original size whilst underneath them, and our heroes launch themselves into and out of vehicles and fights.

The return of the Quantum Realm adds itself nicely to the film, and rivals Dr Strange for pure visual spectacle, including whale-sized tardigrades, and a sly nod to 2001: A Space Odyssey among its visual spendour, whilst Scott's final trip to the realm midway through the film's credits neatly places the penultimate part of the jigsaw down for the second Avengers film. Whilst it starts out small, Antman and the Wasp neatly becomes one of the biggest, at least in ideas and emotive quality, instalments yet. 14 films in, and even the smaller Marvel films have a resonance and importance that other franchises can only dream of

Rating: Highly Recommended.