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Marvel’s minuscule hero returns in the follow up to 2015’s Ant-Man, but this time there’s a sting in the tail as he’s paired up with Evangeline Lilly’s Wasp, subsequently making this Ant-Man and the Wasp. 

Set before the disintegrating events of Avengers: Infinity War with Thanos and his giant purple naughtiness, the threat here is personal and not so much Universal. 

Paul Rudd is the eponymous hero flouting his house arrest in attempting to rescue Janet, Dr Pym’s (Michael Douglas) wife and Wasp’s mother, from the Quantum Realm, where she’s been for the last 30 years, before the window of opportunity closes. 

Using technology attained from the black market they aren’t the only ones seeking solutions from this mysterious dimension. Sonny, a suitably smarmy Walton Goggins, is in it for the money, whilst Hannah John-Kamen’s wraith like Ghost is in her own race against time and one that warrants sympathy. 

What follows is a very funny action film that doesn’t reach the heights of recent Marvel movies, but has a frivolousness about it that provides a welcome relief after the seriousness of it’s more sinister cousins. 

Very much an ensemble piece, there are some superb additions to the excellent supporting cast in the form of Laurence Fishburne and Michelle Pfeiffer. Once again, Michael Peña’s Luis is given the lion’s share of funnies, ably backed up by his security consultancy crew. 

Paul Rudd’s effortless charm mixed with Evangeline Lilly’s action skills and Michael Douglas’s grumpy old man routine help the story to flow along nicely and whilst a lot of the film repeats what the previous Ant-Man brought us, the stunts are grander and the ideas wilder. You’ll never look at a Hot Wheels car the same way again. 

Ant-Man and the Wasp is not as hard-hitting as we’ve come to expect from this particular superhero world, but it’s a lot of fun and buzzes into the MCU at just the right time. 

Stick around for two extra scenes. One, mid-credits, you will NOT want to miss and one at the very end just for fun.