“Ant-Man and The Wasp” Now on DVD,BRD, and 4K

 

 

Review by John Delia

One of Marvel’s smallest superhero’s Ant-Man teams up with a newcomer the Wasp in a wild and sometimes wacky adventure now on home media. Recovering from his ordeal in Captain America Civil War it’s time for another challenge in the film Ant-Man and the Wasp. The film was released earlier his year and on the average 100 million people saw the action film at local theaters worldwide. Now for home viewing, the movie is now being offered in DVD, Blu-ray, and in a combo pack of Ultra HD 4K and Blu-ray. Marvel keeps increasing the home libraries with new adventures and this one will fit nicely into your treasure trove.

After his return from “Civil War”, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) finds himself under house arrest since he sided with Captain America. He’s now caught up in daily life of being a father of an inquisitive daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson), but with an ankle device so the FBI knows where he is at all time. He was also told to not contact Dr. Pym (Michael Douglas) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) as they are under suspicion. Cassie loves that her dad is a superhero, but fears for his safety and suggests that he pair up with someone who could be a good partner. He has three days left to be freed of his home jail time and he surly doesn’t want to jeopardize that.

It’s not long after the father-daughter conversation that Scott gets a visit from the scientist and his daughter. In 1989 Hope’s mother went missing inside the quantum realm during a mission. Since Ant-Man had recently been in the quantum realm (see Captain America: Civil War) and saw Janet van Dyne, Dr. Pym wants Scott in their lab so they can check his memory as to her location. It’s the beginning of an adventure that will team Ant-Man with Wasp as they come face to face with the villain Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen).

Director Peyton Reed takes on the duties of creating Ant-Man a second time in this sequel that has as many action scenes as the first. It’s a thrill ride with most every character in the first reprising their roles. It’s good that writers insert a lot of comical dialogue and scenes during this fast paced film and Paul Rudd knows how to keep straight faced during the one-liners. Michael Pena, Walton Goggins and Bobby Cannavale up their game as the members of the witty X-Con Security Crew backing up Ant-Man in some very wacky ways.

Paul Rudd works his character into some daring situations, exciting action and very sticky sequences that make the film work. With the help of the comedy trio mentioned above, he provides some comic relief between all the continuous action. He has the character locked for Marvel and it suits his persona. Next time he pulls on his suit will be for the Untitled Avengers Movie to be released in 2019

I like Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne who creates the role of Wasp. She first appeared as Hope in Ant-Man and will be taking the Wasp character to the Untitled Avengers Movie in 2019 probably alongside Ant-Man as they help to conquer their next foe. It’s a cool look for her after a long stint on TV’s “Lost” that gave her 6 years of work that included 117 episodes.

BONUS FEATURES:

The following bonus features come with the Blu-ray disc.

“Making-of Featurettes” that include: “Back in the Ant suit: Scott Lang”, “A suit of her own: The Wasp”, “Subatromic Super Heroes: Hank & Janet”, “Quantum Perspective: The VFX and Production Design of Ant-Man and the Wasp”
“Gag Reel and Outakes” includes a funny gag reel, ‘Stan Lee outtakes’, and the comedy of ‘Tim Heidecker outtakes’.
“Deleted Scenes”
Audio Commentary” Director Peyton Reed
Checkout the Marvel Strike Force and other Marvel aps offered on the disc for free, but with your parents’ permission of course.

Ant-Man and Wasp has been rated PG-13 for some Sci-fi action violence. After watching the film on Blu-ray the production value is as sharp as when I saw in the theater. With my speakers blaring I could feel the high energy with the adventurous music and sound effects. Although the “descriptive audio” is meant for the visually impaired, it is rather unique watching the movie with it on. It actually points out things that I missed both in the theater and my first run through on Blu-ray.

FINAL ANALYSIS: A very good sequel and side story to the Avengers. (4 out of 5 Stars)

Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michael Pena, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Laurence Fishburne, Michelle Pfeiffer, Judy Greer, Tip. “T.I.” Harris, David Dastmalchian, Hannah John-Kamen, Abby Ryder Forston, Randall Park.
Directed by: Peyton Reed
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-fi
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some Sci-fi action violence
Running Time: 1 hr. 58 min.
Original Theatrical Release: July 6, 2018
Video Release Date: October 16, 2018
Language: English (changeable to English Descriptive Audio, French, Spanish and Portuguese)
Reviewed Format: Blu-ray
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
Video: 1080p Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 2.39:1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese
Number of Discs: 1 Disc plus Digital Download Code
Distributed by: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Released Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD