Review: Ant-Man and the Wasp on Blu-ray and Digital

 Ant-Man and the Wasp rekindles the spirit of Marvel’s Ant-Man while punching up the action. The story picks up with Scott dealing with the consequences of his participation in the Captain America: Civil War battle.

Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang charms during his house arrest as the writing team builds out the relationship between Lange and his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson).

True to its origins, Ant-Man and the Wasp balances action with humor, but it also injects a modicum of pain through the character of Ghost/Ava (Hannah John-Kamen). Ghost isn’t so much a villain as a victim of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s aggressive early experimentation in all things otherworldly.  Her plight creates the obstacle between mission success and failure.

And that mission. Bring Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) back from the Quantum Realm. The film quickly reintroduces  Ant-man’s creator, Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) in flashback, along with Janet just before the heroic accident that forces her to confront shrinking beyond the size from which Pym’s suits are designed to work. Lang gets caught in the middle of their quest and needs to make some hard choices between multiple futures.

The film offers plenty of thrills, from car chases that leverage all of the shrinking and growing potentiality of the van Dyne suits (and other objects). Giant-man also returns with a splash. And van Dyne makes moving look easy as long as you don’t mind misplacing your home or office or having it stolen.

Michael Peña and the team at X-Con security offer up tech support, moral support and a strong measure of comic relief, as do the “bad guys” and the FBI.

The post-credit scene is heart-wrenching as it continues the onslaught of the Infinity War saga.

The special effects team brings the goods with outstanding renderings of the quantum realm. They also do a great job of visually representing Ghost’s state and agony. The “youngification” of the older cast is also well-done.

Ant-man and the Wasp delivers a solid chapter in Marvel’s interconnected MCU that further sets up the finale set for the next Avengers film.

Bonus Material

Depending on how and where you purchased a copy of Ant-man and the Wasp on Blu-ray or digital, it will come with all or most of the following bonus material.

Blu-ray & Digital: 

• Director’s Intro by Peyton Reed – The talented creator behind some of Marvel Studios’ funniest and most charming films will invite home audiences deeper into the world of “Ant-Man and The Wasp.”
• Pyton Reed commentary on the film
• Making-of Featurettes:
  • Back in the Ant Suit: Scott Lang – Hero and all-star dad Scott Lang keeps the laughs coming for the audience, cast and crew.
  • A Suit of Her Own: The Wasp – Highly trained Hope Van Dyne is now the Wasp. See how some of her craziest stunts and action-packed scenes were brought to life.
  • Subatomic Super Heroes: Hank & Janet – Hank Pym’s wife Janet was lost in the quantum realm. Trace the legacy of these characters and the iconic actors who portray them.
  • Quantum Perspective: The VFX and Production Design of “Ant-Man and The Wasp” – Explore the movie’s visual effects and production design from a whole new viewpoint, in which every micro and macro detail counts.
• Gag Reel and Outtakes – Audiences are treated to the hilarious quips that did not make the film as well as exclusive outtakes from Stan Lee and Tim Heidecker.
  • Gag Reel – Join in the fun with these outtakes from the set.
  • Stan Lee Outtakes – Stan Lee tries out a series of hilarious one-liners for the scene in which his car shrinks.
  • Tim Heidecker Outtakes – Check out Whale Boat Captain Daniel Goobler and his improvised whale-watching riffs.
• Deleted Scenes (with commentary by Director Peyton Reed)
  • Worlds Upon Worlds – As Janet leads Hank through the surreal landscape of the quantum realm, they encounter an intelligent life form.
  • Sonny’s on the Trail – On the hunt for Hank Pym and his lab, Sonny Burch and his henchmen check the security camera of a neighborhood bookstore.

Digital Exclusives

• 10 Years of Marvel Studios: The Art of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – See what it takes to bring the MCU to life, and the role concept artists play in bringing Super Heroes from comic book to screen.
• Online Close-Up Magic University – This commercial will inspire you to expand your mind and maximize your full potential!

Review of Bonus Features

As with most bonus material, the collection Marvel delivers here offers uneven value. The director commentary and making-of featurettes bring solid behind the scenes information to burgeoning filmmakers and hardcore fans. We find these the most insightful and authentic offerings on this film or any other.

The Gag Reel and Outtake section prove again that well-written and well-executed humor, in context, is usually funnier than anything that hit the cutting room floor. It is, however, good to see Stan Lee running multiple lines in his last Marvel cameo before his passing (though we are sure to see him in Captain Marvel and the next Avengers movies as those have wrapped shooting).

The Deleted Scenes, like the Gag Reels, do more to reinforce why those scenes didn’t get put in the film than offering any insights beyond the on-screen narrative.

The 10 Years of Marvel Studios: The Art of the Marvel Cinematic Universe does a great job of talking about character design. It connects the dots between the comic books and the films, as well as how the films connect.

The Wasp’s Suit bonus features teaser. Video courtesy of Disney/Marvel.

And then there is a weird commercial for a fake Online Close-up Magic University that is likely some marketing person’s social media pitch that made it to the digital release of the film. Of course, the reason this idea exists at all is that while Scott Lange languishes in house arrest, he learns close-up magic. Close-up magic issued much to the bemusement of FBI handler Jimmy Woo (Randall Park). Cute idea this fake ad, but I’d be curious how well the click-thrus justified the investment.

Overall, there isn’t anything more special about the Ant-man and the Wasp Blu-ray and digital extras than on any other release. For fans, the extras provide new touch points for characters, and for students of film, they offer some insight into the process you might not get in your local film studies program.

About Ant-man and the Wasp

In “Ant-Man and The Wasp,” Scott Lang is grappling with the consequences of his choices, as both the Super Hero Ant-Man and a father, in the aftermath of “Captain America: Civil War.” As he struggles to rebalance his home life with his responsibilities as Ant-Man, he’s confronted by Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym with an urgent new mission to rescue Janet van Dyne from the Quantum Realm. Scott must once again put on the suit and learn to fight alongside The Wasp, all while attempting to serve house arrest, assist fast talking-Luis (Michael Peña) and the X-con Security crew, and thwart the efforts of a new adversary called Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) and her ally Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne). 

“Ant-Man and The Wasp” returns director Peyton Reed to the franchise and stars Paul Rudd (“Captain America: Civil War,” “Knocked Up”), Evangeline Lilly (“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” “Lost”), Michael Peña (“The Martian,” “Fury”), Walton Goggins (“Vice Principals,” “Six”), Bobby Cannavale (“Vinyl,” “Chef”), Judy Greer (“War for the Planet of the Apes,” “Wilson”), Tip “T.I.” Harris (“Sleepless,” “Get Hard”), David Dastmalchian (“Twin Peaks,” “The Belko Experiment”), Hannah John-Kamen (“Black Mirror,” “Ready Player One”), Abby Ryder Fortson (“Togetherness,” “Transparent”), Randall Park (“Veep,” “Fresh Off the Boat”), with Academy Award® nominee Michelle Pfeiffer (1993 best actress in a leading role nominee for “Love Field”), Academy Award nominee Laurence Fishburne (1994 best actor in a leading role nominee for “What’s Love Got to Do with It”) and Academy Award winner Michael Douglas (1988 best actor in a leading role winner for “Wall Street”).

Kevin Feige and Stephen Broussard produced the film with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Charles Newirth and Stan Lee serving as executive producers. Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers and Paul Rudd & Andrew Barrer & Gabriel Ferrari wrote the screenplay.

Peyton Reed’s creative team includes Academy Award®–nominated director of photography Dante Spinotti (2000 best cinematography nominee for “The Insider”); production designer Shepherd Frankel (“Ant-Man,” “Bad Words”); editors Dan Lebental (“Ant-Man,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming”) and Craig Wood (“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” “The Great Wall”); costume designer Louise Frogley (“Spider-Man: Homecoming,” “The Finest Hours”); two-time Academy Award nominee, visuals effects supervisor Stephane Ceretti (2017 best achievement in visual effects nominee for “Doctor Strange”); and eight-time Academy Award nominee, special effects supervisor Dan Sudick (2018 best achievement in visual effects nominee for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”).