After watching Ant-Man and the Wasp after my initial review, my thoughts on it are more or less the same. Unfortunately, the film isn’t on the same dramatic levels as the past few Marvel Studios films. Then again, the film isn’t built in that way. The film is essentially a family-friendly action comedy. Maybe this was Marvel’s way of apologizing to families for traumatizing them after Avengers: Infinity War. Nevertheless, Ant-Man and the Wasp still is able to hit all of the right hilarious notes even after watching it once again. The way that Peyton Reed plays around with the concept of size is both fun and funny at the same time.
In addition, Reed is able to employ a visceral element to the film as well. The small-to-big ratio looks more polished than the previous film. Not to mention, the micro and macro elements to the action scenes are so fun to watch too. But the pièce de résistance is the visual effects for Ghost. The phasing effects add a completely different and visceral element to the movie.
As entertaining as the movie is, the various characters in the film are either hit or miss. First and foremost, Janet van Dyne is totally wasted in this film. Not only is she barely in the film but they introduce things that come from left field. At the same time, this characteristic seems to conveniently and quickly resolves the film’s main conflict. In a way, it’s a bit of lazy writing.
Janet isn’t the only character that’s a miss. Ghost is another character that is a total miss. With Marvel’s recent track record of sympathetic villains, Ghost isn’t as sympathetic. Sure, they give her a sad storyline but it doesn’t quite hit the right notes.
Overall, Ant-Man and the Wasp is an entertaining family-friendly entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Needless to say, it’s the worst Marvel movie to come out this year but the film is still able to bring a ton of laughs and smiles. It’s definitely a nice antithesis to the gut-punch that was Avengers: Infinity War.
Movie Rating: 3.5/5 atoms
Video
Ant-Man and the Wasp hits Ultra HD Blu-ray with an HDR transfer and a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. The video transfer for Ant-Man and the Wasp is as pristine as can be. Not bad for a movie that’s upscaled to 4K. Be that as it may, the contrast is spot on as you’re able to see some discernible depth on the picture. Not to mention, the black levels are a deep and inky black without any sort of crush in the shadow details. At the same time, the brightness levels are both vibrant and luminous. Thankfully, there isn’t any bloom in the video transfer at all.
With the color saturation, it has a natural look to them since they don’t pop or look desaturated. The same thing can be said about the skin tones as well. Since the film was upscaled to 4K, there is a slight softness on the edges. Nevertheless, you can still clearly see all of the smallest details. As for the film grain, you can barely see any grain in this transfer. Overall, this is a really good video presentation.
Video Rating: 5/5 atoms
Audio
Ant-Man and the Wasp hits Ultra HD with a Dolby Atmos and a core 7.1 Dolby TrueHD Master Audio track. Ant-Man and the Wasp’s audio mix is just as good as the video transfer. The audio immersion in this mix is simply amazing. Not only does the mix have some seamless dynamic sound effect panning but the sound object positioning is also spot-on. The combination of the two puts you right into the scene. Unfortunately, there’s you won’t hear that many atmospheric effects until you reach the Quantum Realm. The same thing can be said about the score as well. When other releases layer instruments throughout the soundstage, this audio mix mostly sounds static. These are very minor issues though.
Even with all of the crazy sound effects playing around in the soundstage, the dialogue can still be clearly heard from the center channel. The LFE does get some time to boom but it’s something that doesn’t happen very often. In addition, the LFE doesn’t provide the mix with any weight. But, once again, this is a very minor issue. Overall, this is an incredibly immersive mix by Marvel.
Audio Rating: 5/5 atoms
Special Features
The Ant-Man and the Wasp doesn’t have any special features on it. However, the following special features can be found on the regular 1080p Blu-ray disc:
- Making-of Featurettes
- Back in the Ant Suit: Scott Lang
- A Suit of Her Own: The Wasp
- Subatomic Super Heroes: Hank & Janet
- Quantum Perspective: The VFX and Production Design of Ant-Man and the Wasp
- Gag Reel and Outtakes
- Gag Reel
- Stan Lee Outtakes
- Tim Heidecker Outtakes
- Deleted Scenes
- Worlds Upon Worlds
- Sonny’s on the Trail
“Back in the Suit” is the perfect featurette for anyone who’s a fan of Paul Rudd. The various cast and crew talk about Rudd and his performance in Ant-Man and the Wasp. In addition, the featurette looks at a lot of the fun that the crew had on set. It’s really a fun and entertaining type of featurette. “A Suit of Her Own” primarily looks at the Hope van Dyne’s Wasp suit. It’s not as entertaining as “Back in the Suit” but it’s still an insightful look at a lot of the kick-ass stunts in the movie.
“Subatomic Super Heroes” takes a look at the role Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer’s has in this movie. Unfortunately, this featurette isn’t as entertaining or insightful as the previous featurettes. It’s simply a generic featurette where Douglas and Pfeiffer talk about their characters.
Now, “Quantum Perspective” is easily the best featurette of them all. The movie gives you an insightful behind-the-scenes look at the production design and the beautiful visual effects of the movie. You’ll definitely learn a thing or two about all of the hard work done to create the stellar look of Ant-Man and the Wasp.
With the gag reel, it’s always a hoot when Paul Rudd and Michael Peña are in it. They make anything look and sound funny. The Stan Lee and Tim Heidecker outtakes are also a laugh riot. Some of the things that come out of Stan Lee and Heidecker’s mouth are just hilarious. These two outtakes are new to Marvel Blu-ray releases but let’s hope that it’s not the last.
“Worlds Upon Worlds” isn’t necessarily what you might think it is. It’s not a deleted scene where we get to see other worlds or the possibility of seeing an Easter egg. Instead, this scene gives Janet some more screen time but it doesn’t really add anything significant to the overall storyline. “Sonny’s on the Trail” would’ve been a nice addition to the film since it does explain how Sonny is always showing up at the right time. However, the scene feels slow and would’ve slowed down the film.
Special Features Rating: 4/5 atoms
Overall, Ant-Man and the Wasp is a fun and entertaining superhero film that the whole family can enjoy. It’s debatable as to which Ant-Man film is better, but there’s no denying all of the fun had while watching this film. The Blu-ray’s video presentation and audio mix are both spectacular. The special features are primarily great watches despite the release’s low number of special features.
Overall Rating: /5 atoms
This Blu-ray was reviewed using a retail/advance copy/unit provided by Walt Disney Home Entertainment.
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