The Single Biggest Mistake Each MCU Film Has Made
8. Ant-Man And The Wasp: A Lack Of Plot
The Film:
The most recent MCU film was a bit disappointing, but only in comparison to the high standards of the recent Marvel films. It is devoid of any particular substance and the plot is very by-the-numbers, but the irresistible charm of Paul Rudd, fun jokes, some great action and Peyton Reed's considerably improved direction make this a solid, highly watchable sequel that'll definitely make you smile.
Ant-Man and the Wasp is a film that you'll enjoy watching, but you probably won't remember it very well afterwards. Looking at the way the narrative is structured, this is hardly surprising.
AMATW doesn't really feel like a complete story; rather, it feels more like an Ant Man-centric epilogue to Captain America: Civil War. Instead of being a developed narrative with a beginning, middle and end, the entire film seems like the middle of a story. Unfortunately, this lack of narrative weight does rob the film of potential stakes and suspense.
With the plot feeling so thin, it's hard to see this as anything more than just a bit of fun, which was a common criticism of earlier MCU movies. Perhaps we needed something lighter after Infinity War, but we certainly don't want a phoned-in screenplay, which is, to some extent, what we got here.
Fix:
Make it feel like a self-contained story rather than just a continuation and add a little more panache to the script.