On Feb. 17, Marvel released its new movie, Ant-Man and The Wasp, to an excited yet nervous audience. Leading up to the movie, fans of the characters had only one question in mind: “will this movie end Marvel’s bad phase 4 streak?”  

The movie stars the beloved Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) with his love interest, Hope Van-Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), Scott’s daughter, Cassandra (Kathryn Newton), and a whole cast of other characters after the events of Avengers: End Game. It starts with Scott and his family getting adjusted back to their normal lives and coming back together as a family. Until, through a twist of events, they get stuck in the Quantum Realm and must defeat the realm’s ruler, Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) so the family can find their way home.  

This movie gave me a lot of mixed emotions. I feel like it’s a good movie that goes well with the characters, although it’s not what many are used to seeing from Marvel from phase three of the franchise. Even though it wasn’t the massive cinematic masterpieces we’re used to seeing, it’s a good direction for the franchise after the unsuccessful series and some movies they’ve put out since.  

One part of the film that really stuck out to me was how well the character relations seem to be. The relationship between Scott and Cassandra pulls at the heartstrings and shows a nice change from the usual status quo of Marvel films. I also enjoyed the connection between Hank (Michael Douglas) and Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) throughout the movie. It’s easy to feel the close connection they have with each other and it’s very enjoyable to watch. 

I also enjoyed the world building of the Quantum realm and especially Kang. The world building of the Quantum realm puts in just enough information to include new fans (like me) while not overwhelming older fans with information they likely already know. I also enjoyed the addition of Kang, who has not been seen in the Marvel movies up to this point, into the MCU. Kang’s actor, Jonathan Majors, played the character very well and made Kang an interesting villain to watch throughout the film.  

Even though this movie was nice to watch, it wasn’t perfect. The main issue I found with this movie though was its pacing. The movie felt a bit choppy, moving from part to part without much connecting the two until the end. This movie felt like it needed more time to tell the story it wanted to tell. Also, I felt like the ending was too clean cut and boring. Nearing the end, it felt more bittersweet and left more on the table. Although, the actual ending felt very boring and wrapped up everything to perfectly.  

All in all, I feel like this movie is moving in the right direction. Even with the movie faults, this movie starts a more positive future for the MCU we all grew up with and love.