Ant-Man and the Wasp **1/2 (2018)

The post vanishing Avengers outing Ant-Man and Wasp is here to lighten the mood after the epic defeat that played out in Infinity War. The first AntMan was pleasant enough thanks to Paul Rudd's going against the grain of the traditional Marvel hero, basically a kid friendly Deadpool. The second outing obviously takes place before the events of Infinity War, pitting Ant-Man against some low level villains who are after the technology of his benefactor Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Joining him is Wasp (Evangeline Lily) in a series of heists and chases. There's much to like here, the actors have excellent chemistry and they appear to be having a good time. Michael Pena gets the best laughs as Scott Lang's best friend Luis. There's some pleasant humor, especially in the first half, but the characters start to wear thin (everything wears thin) as the movie unwinds to a predictable conclusion. The packed theater ate it up, but I will credit Marvel with the occasional subversive reference-The Naked Lunch!