6 best moments from Ant-Man and the Wasp
Number 1 is the funniest.
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I really dug Ant-Man and the Wasp. It's a funny fitting follow-up to the first movie, with great characters, incredibly inventive action scenes and at least one awesome post-credits scene. The movie also ties into Avengers: Infinity War in some unexpected ways and its events could be a key component in the Avengers 4 resolution.
With that said, there were a few standout moments from the film, so let's get to my favorites. Huge spoiler warning throughout if you have not seen the film.
6. Cassie and Scott escape the mysterious cave
This scene is heartwarming 80s movie cheese in the best possible way. Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and his daughter Cassie find their way through a cardboard maze of Scott's making with a little support from Luis (Micheal Peña).
I think my favorite aspect is the sheer ridiculousness of the structure he's built, especially the awesome ending slide. Like Ricky Schroder's toys in Silver Spoons or the secret passages in Webster's house, it's one of those things I always wished I'd had access to as a kid, but later realized the work involved would be a lot of time and money.
Cassie and Scott looking at something...
So now I can't wait to see the first awesome YouTube recreations of this cave from talented moms and dads. And now that I think about it, Disney should definitely include a souped-up version of this as a ride at its Marvel-themed amusement park!
5. Yoink! Yoink!! Yoink!!! Or Ant-Man can't fly and this is why that's a problem (for him)
The series of seagulls thwarting Ant-Man's attempts to catch Walton Goggins' Sonny Burch by gobbling up his every attempt to summon transportation, is one reason this movie worked so well for me.
For one, this was filmed at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, which made it immediately special to me having spent much of my early 20s at an arcade in the Wharf trying my best learn the in and outs of Virtua Fighter 2 and 3.
However, there are two aspects here that are especially inspired:
A. The lowkey viciousness of the scene's premise: seagulls are repeatedly murdering Ant-Man's friends as he enlists one after the other to help him.
B. It quite obviously lifts from one of my favorite (and best) Simpsons moments. At least I hope it does: when Homer keeps trying to eat a bag of chips, only to have every piece snatched from his hands by one of Santa's Little Helper's puppies jumping by, just as it was about to enter his mouth.
It's kind of a ballsy move to put a scene like this in the movie that essentially slows the pace down close to the finale, but the fact that they took the chance to gamble on a good joke (that also increases Scott's struggle to get what he wants) is what enhances it.
4. Hope confronts Sonny Burch in the restaurant
Evangeline Lilly is fantastic in this scene as Hope Van Dyne. Even before she throws a kick or punch. The way she plays it, you really get the sense that she is not to be messed with. She's quiet, to the point and strong. When Sonny Burch tells her he won't be handing over the money, the look on her face is more seething annoyance than anything else. With one look she says "You're all wasting my time and now I'm going to have to whoop all your asses for it."
When in her Wasp suit, Hope van Dyne can dodge a knife and then run on it.
3. Hank finds Janet, or vice-versa?
I've been imagining how the movie would handle the reveal of the original Wasp since the end of the first Ant-Man movie. And the way Janet leads Hank to her location was unexpected and quite beautiful. And the look on her face when she finally takes the mask off makes it worth the wait. A complex mixture of determination, relief and love.
We definitely didn't get enough of Michelle Pfeiffer in the movie, so I'm really hoping Marvel greenlights "The Adventures of Janet Van Dyne aka The Wasp" that chronicles her 30-year life in the Quantum Zone, detailing what exactly she had to do to survive for so long.
2. Bill Foster meets Hope and Scott
This must have been an incredibly difficult scene to write. Foster is laying out a ton of exposition here, but it's done in a way that allows Hank to interject every few seconds to "correct" him on their history (a sly reference to Hank's and Bill's relationship in the comics).
This happens while Foster banters back and forth with Hope and Scott and picks at a deep wound of Hank's. This is probably the best-written scene in the film.
If it didn't impress you the first time, watch it again and pay attention to the details. Great layered stuff.
Goliath on-camera.
1. Luis tells Burch where Scott is
Absolutely the funniest bit in the movie and for sure my favorite moment. It's so good that Marvel has already put a slightly edited version of it on the internet.
Everything about it works: the fact that it's a call-back to two of the best scenes from the first movie, without being a complete retread; Luis' amazing hair; Lilly and Rudd's performances as their characters as played by Luis; the reveal of the question Luis actually thinks he's answering.
Like the first movie, Michael Peña is one of the brightest spots in a movie full of bright spots. He's given a bigger, more meaningful role here and doesn't squander it. Kind of like the movie as a whole. The filmmakers are given more plates to spin and make near-perfect use of every resource at their disposal.
Ant-Man and the Wasp post-credits scenes: Want to know what happens during the post-credits scenes? Of course you do!
Everything we know about Avengers 4: The next Avengers movie doesn't come out until May, 2019. So it's the perfect time to delve into and decipher everything that's been revealed so far.
