Ant-Man and the Wasp

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Ant-Man and the Wasp
• a review of Ant-Man and the Wasp completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 12 July 2018.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

The events in Ant-Man and the Wasp occur after the events of Captain America: Civil War while paralleling the events of Avengers: Infinity War.  The film opens with Scott Lang/Ant-Man awaiting his freedom after serving a two-year home detention sentence for aiding Captain America. Unfortunately for Scott, his final few days of home detention are interrupted when his former partners-in-crime, Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and her father Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), kidnap Scott to assist them in rescuing Hank’s long lost wife Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) from the quantum void.

The rescue of Hank’s wife is not made easy when Ava/The Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), a woman physically altered by a quantum experiment that went wrong, also seeks Janet as a means of saving her life. A street hood named Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins) wants to steal Hank’s quantum technology and sell it to the highest bidder. Meanwhile, FBI agent Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) monitors Scott’s every move, requiring Scott to outsmart the both the ‘good guys’ and the ‘bad guys’ while trying to save Janet from the quantum void.     

Superheroes; quantum physics and technology; family relationships

There is some violence in this movie, although less intense than in other superhero films. Examples include:

• a superhero sacrifices her life by shrinking to sub-atomic size in order to disarm a missile and save thousands
• a fight between a female superhero and several men wielding handguns, large carving knives and meat mallets. She miniaturises herself to dodge bullets and knives as they whiz past her body. She then grows to normal size to attack the gangsters using stylised fighting moves with lots of kicks and punches to the body and face. She also blasts her attackers with a laser-like weapon attached to her wrist. She dodges a meat mallet smashing down on a counter top and a large carving knife thrown through the air. A man’s sleeve catches on fire and other men are hit in the face and knocked unconscious with large pots and pans.
• In several scenes superheroes are attacked by a rogue superhero called the Ghost, who has the ability to make her body transparent, walk through walls and have bullets and weapons pass through her body. In one scene she passes her fist and wrist through a man’s neck, forcing him to obey her instructions. Several scenes depict stylised fights between the Ghost and Ant-Man and the Wasp in which we see the Ghost moving in and out of visibility, dodging punches and kicks, while Ant-Man and the Wasp change size from miniature to normal in an attempt to dodge blows from the Ghost. 
• Two superheroes are knocked unconscious. When they wake up they are tied to chairs and we hear their attacker telling them “I’m not going to hurt you unless I have to”; the pair escape uninjured.An extended action scene depicts a car chase that involves both cars and motorbikes pursuing a van in a reckless and perilous manner. Men in car fire machine guns.  Pursuing motorbikes are miniaturised, causing riders to be thrown from their bikes. A Pez dispenser is enlarged to car size and flipped into the path of an oncoming motorbike, knocking the rider from the bike.
• Two men are shot with tasers and fall to the ground unconscious.   

Material that may scare or disturb children

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

• In several scenes there are shadowy, confusing images of a woman trapped in the quantum void. The quantum void contains giant worm-like creatures with mouths like round holes full of sharp teeth. 
• In several scenes we see miniaturised people in a miniaturised car. They are attacked by a pigeon and a moth which appear gigantic and scary.
• In a number of scenes, giant-sized ants run around performing tasks normally done by humans.
• The Ghost who has a ghost-like appearance, becomes transparent and can walk through walls, is scary.  
• A man opens a small tin out of which explode several giant ants.
• In one scene we see a miniaturised man waiting to be picked up by a flying ant. As the flying ant approaches the man a seagull swoops down, scoops up the ant and eats it.
• A woman with superpowers touches the face of a second woman and we see the fingers of the first woman glowing as they touch the woman’s face.

In addition to the above-mentioned scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

• A flashback scene depicts a large explosion that destroys a laboratory. In the aftermath of the explosion we see the bodies of a man and woman with scorched faces. As a result of the explosion, the dead couple’s young daughter fades in and out of reality, giving her a ghost-like appearance. In a present day scene we hear the daughter (The Ghost), now a grown adult, describe how her parents died and how she is in constant pain a result of her body’s molecules constantly being pulled apart and put back together.

Younger children in this age group may be disturbed by some of the above-mentioned scenes

Children in this age group are unlikely to be disturbed by anything in this film

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• A number of American based consumer products as well as Hot Wheels toys, Mercedes Benz and Dell computers.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• A man asks another man if he would like to have dinner, the scene having both sexual and comical intent.     
• A man tells another man to stop daydreaming about his daughter.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some partial nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• One scene depicts a man in a bubble bath - we see his bare shoulders and chest.
• Female superheroes wear skin-tight suits.
• In one scene a man describes a version of events and the viewer sees what he imagines. We see a brief image of a man and woman embracing and passionately kissing each other, the woman wrapping her leg around the man; the actions of both are exaggerated for comedy.
• One scene depicts a man touching another man’s face in an intimate manner and the same two men holding hands in a romantic manner for a short time- the scene has comical intent.  
• A man and woman hug and kiss briefly.  

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• One scene depicts a man drinking wine at a restaurant’
• A man is forcibly injected with a truth serum drug referred to as a “little concoction”.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• “O my god”; “damn it”; “bullshit”; “stuffing it up”, “shi…”; ‘what the hell’; “Christ sake”; “God damn it”; “screwed”;  “my arse”; “bad arse”; “freak”; “jerk”; “boogie man”; ‘pig”

In a nutshell

Ant-Man and the Wasp is a good sequel to Ant-Man, targeting younger adolescents as well as anyone who is a fan of Marvel films. It is is more light-hearted than many previous Marvel films, with clever humour and less realistic violence. There are, however, scenes and characters which could disturb younger viewers so it is not recommended for children under 10 and parental guidance is recommended for the 10 to 13 age group.

The main message from this movie is the importance of making amends for past misdeeds and mistakes. Selflessness and self-sacrifice are also seen as important.

Parents may wish to discuss the manner in which female superheroes were portrayed in this film. Were female superheroes depicted as equals to their male counterparts?