Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

As Scott Lang balances being both a Super Hero and a father, Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym present an urgent new mission that finds the Ant-Man fighting alongside The Wasp to uncover secrets from their past. (IMDb)

The plot leaves a few things to be desired (namely, less of the increasingly convenient and far-fetched tech and its accompanying untethered babble; also, resolving things with the Ghost could’ve been done a lot earlier), but everything around it is quite satisfying: the characters are likeable, the jokes are frequent and funny (see the truth serum bit), and the size-changing action is lots of fun (the visual effects here are excellent and quite clever-see the final reveal at the drive-in).

7/10 (Good)

Ant-Man (2015)

Armed with a super-suit with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, cat burglar Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, plan and pull off a heist that will save the world. (IMDb)

The estranged father-daughter duo is a little too brooding at times; thankfully, Rudd’s likeably lighthearted Scott and his buds (Pena’s excitable yet dim Luis steals every scene he’s in) provide enough ant-ics to break up the predictable melodrama, not to mention keep the standard superhero plot (cue the power-hungry villain) in check. The shrinking premise, meanwhile, adds a cool element to the action and even briefly probes questions of time and space (see Scott’s sub-nuclear fall).

7/10 (Good)

The Martian (2015)

An astronaut becomes stranded on Mars after his team assume him dead, and must rely on his ingenuity to find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. (IMDb)

A skimming over of emotions and the consequences of time (particularly with the crew’s decision to go back) are the only standout flaws in this exhilarating thriller featuring a fast-paced back-and-forth between satisfying survival science-ing on Mars (Damon’s Mark adds a wry wit to the proceedings) and tense rescue-planning on Earth (a refreshingly diverse cast shines here). Any lack of suspense in the quickly solved conflicts of the first half is made up for in the nail-biting climax.

8.5/10 (Amazing)