Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Review: Entertaining and At Times Spectacular Film
Ant-Man 3 marks the arrival of Kang and is an entertaining and at times spectacular film. But something is missing from the appeal.
Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Douglas, Kathryn Newton
Director: Peyton Reed
Where To Watch: In Theaters (From 17th February)
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3.5/5 (three and a half stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
As much as Marvel tries to convince us by ensuring that the choice of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Ant-Man 3) as the start of Phase 5 is a way of “confronting the smallest superhero with the biggest villain”, once the movie has been seen it becomes clear that this decision almost seems more like a miscalculation. The character of Paul Rudd in the UCM has never had a leading role in any of his interventions, although it is true that he was responsible for the idea that would save planet Earth in Avengers: Endgame, he has always been overcome by charisma or the strength of his other companions. Between 2021 and 2022 we experienced perhaps the most frayed and discontinuous phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Compared to that Infinity, which began in a much more linear and direct way, the Multiverse Saga had perhaps not started in the best way, with so many unanswered questions and titles – between films and TV series – that we struggled to fit into the general design which would take us to the fifth and sixth stages.
But the latest trailers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania have taken care of outlining the future developments of the MCU, and after seeing a preview of the third film starring Paul Rudd we can say that it’s finally getting serious: the new cinecomic of Payton Reed is probably not the best in the saga on the ant-man (the review of Ant-Man testifies that the first chapter still has, perhaps, an edge dictated by the novelty effect) but it turned out to be a solid film with an extremely intriguing plot given the highly anticipated Dynasty by Kang. Ant-Man has always functioned as a fundamental secondary and this is evident in each frame of Quantumania, which lacks the strength or importance that other titles such as Captain America: Civil War or the WandaVision series had, which in their day they were responsible for inaugurating Phase 3 and Phase 4 of the UCM.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Review: The Story Plot
A bit in the wake of several predecessors, from WandaVision to Thor: Love and Thunder, the story of Quantumania tries to pick up the ranks of the character after the epic events of Avengers Endgame. The good Scott (Paul Rudd) has now left behind his criminal past and tries to go straight, basking in his now well-established and famous state of full-fledged Avengers. What happened during the final battle with Thanos, however, has somewhat inflated the ego of the beloved Ant-Man, who has mostly turned into a dysfunctional superhero who spends much of his time basking in his success. His daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) takes care of bringing the protagonist back down to earth, reminding him what a hero’s duty should be.
However, the young Lang, in an attempt to follow in her father’s footsteps, risks slipping into illegality as happened in the past to her tormented parent, but despite everything, she is committed daily to carrying on the Ant-Man crusade almost replacing Scott. And here Cassie, together with her grandfather Hank (Michael Douglas), reveals that they have conducted further research on the Quantum Realm and the Pym Particles, and it is at this point that the girl inadvertently reopens the portal which leads to the dimension where poor Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) has been trapped for Thirty Years. The entire Lang-Pym family, including Hope (Evangeline Lilly), are sucked into the vortex of atoms and find themselves once again stranded in the quantum universe, on a journey that will reveal all the secrets and ghosts that Janet thought she had left behind.
As is known, the Kingdom is revealed to be ruled by an evil entity planning his revenge against the Multiverse: Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), a ruler of time bent on regaining his former powers. And therefore, for Ant-Man, Wasp and their allies begin a dangerous adventure to escape the clutches of the terrible Variant of the One who Remains (Loki Season 1 ending is essential to frame the events of Quantumania), in a story that will try to throw some concrete foundations for the Multiverse Saga.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Review and Analysis
The narrative premise of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – at least for the writer – is not exactly a manifesto of coherence. Of course, we are not at the somewhat absurd levels of the first act of No Way Home (in which, we recall, the same Strange who was the demiurge of the plan to defeat Thanos breaks the Multiverse by distraction), but in any case, the way triggered the trip to the Quantum Realm is not the most original. Furthermore, the film, while basing a large part of its message on the responsibility of being heroes, fails to fully resume this trend throughout the story, almost forgetting the events narrated in the first half hour, relegating the entire prologue to mere filler waiting to get into the action.
Apart from this note, however, Quantumania does what it has to do with good solidity, branching out its various storylines to more or less deepen each member of the cast of protagonists. Surely the evolution of Scott, his superhero journey, and the relationship with his daughter Cassie are pivots of the whole story, and the more central role granted to the characters of Hank and Janet is undoubtedly appreciable, the pace of a Hope who instead it doesn’t have much to say and is not very thorough. But it is Jonathan Majors’ Kang who steals the show, more than any other protagonist or supporting actor, who after his excellent performance in the sixth episode of Loki confirms his great acting polymorphism.
The picturesque and eccentric lord of the Sacred Timeline gives way, in Quantumania, to his more fearsome and ruthless Variant, a vengeful but staid tyrant, menacing and unnerving thanks to the talent and passive-aggressive inclination unsheathed by a super fit Major. A Kang who, due to his excessive power and destructive inclination, only partially recalls the Thanos of the early days, allowing us to glimpse – also thanks to the two amazing post-credit scenes – a kaleidoscope of shades that identify the villain of the Multiverse Saga as a creature of a thousand faces, changing in tone and approach to evil and despotic control.
It is a film, Quantumania, which also lives in a pleasant and intriguing visual frame. The Quantum Realm, while resulting somewhat derived from the cosmic imagery of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is a backdrop made up of suggestive scenarios and creatures and is cloaked in a subtle extravagance that accentuates the lighter and more comic counterpart of the film, which amalgamate with the dramatic moments. While not staging particular aesthetic flashes, Payton Reed’s film still shows off its own visual identity that flows into a couple of impactful and memorable sequences, punctuated by an enjoyable action mixture and in line with the “mythology” of the protagonist character.
The daring race to escape the quantum dimension and stop Kang’s plan for revenge then leads to an ending that triggers interesting plots for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and for the narrative arc that will lead us directly to Avengers: Kang Dynasty, although not affecting a lot on an exquisitely dramatic level. Indeed, it should be emphasized that the epilogue of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, while solving a large part of its storyline and projecting us towards the next incarnations of Kang, could have been more courageous, but Scott Lang’s new adventure chooses rather than igniting the Multiverse Saga by taking as few risks as possible. An understandable, albeit not very audacious, choice which in any case does not change the final result much: that is, with Phase 5, the Marvel Cinematic Universe begins to get serious again.
What is a tiny world like that cannot be seen even through a telescope? This is the question that the director and production managers of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania must have asked themselves before they began making the film. And while they might have been inspired by Marvel comics, it seems they’ve decided to look at a completely different product. Well, it is inevitable not to see the great influence that the entire Star Wars saga has on the creation of the Quantum Kingdom. From the great variety of characters, races, and bugs that move through the different landscapes of the Quantum Kingdom, the clothing worn by the protagonists, to scenes that seem almost copied from the saga created by George Lucas.
Of course, unlike this one, which tried to solve the lack of digital resources based on imagination and creativity, in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania bets everything on CGI. There are virtually no shots that have not been created digitally and this ends up tiring the viewer and can cause the tape to age worse than expected. On the other hand, there is the problem of cameos. From using them so much, Marvel has burned its own formula, and, whereas before any surprise appearance in its films caused an ovation in the cinema, now it only provokes a slight sigh. This is the case of the appearance of Bill Murray in the film, which without going into too much detail, seems to be shoehorned in.
The question remains if at some point the presence of the actor was more important and has been reduced by the latest controversies that have accompanied him, or if from the beginning it was intended to be able to say that Bill Murray was joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. What’s more, the constant need to introduce these cameos and to reach two hours of duration weighs heavily on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which goes from being a light and entertaining film with not many pretensions to becoming a product stretched on some occasions with scenes or moments that do not contribute to the plot.
Still, this latest adventure from Paul Rudd in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is more than enjoyable, even though Scott Lang’s typical humor has been surprisingly reduced. Is it the perfect movie to start Phase 5? Probably not, although the truth is that Kang’s character opens up an infinite world of possibilities. As in all Marvel movies, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania includes two post-credits scenes that also connect to upcoming Marvel projects. Theatrical release on February 17. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a light and entertaining movie that doesn’t add anything to the MCU beyond introducing its new great villain. Michelle Pfeiffer eats up the screen and goes over the rest of the protagonists, proving that she is one of the best action heroines that superhero movies have ever had.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Review: The Last Words
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a “comfort-zone” cinecomic, which instead of taking risks builds the foundations of a larger and more complex narrative arc. It does so start from a great face, Jonathan Majors’ Kang, who represents the main flash of a solid, funny, and at times spectacular film. We probably needed “that extra something” that Payton Reed and Marvel Studios weren’t able to pack while triggering a very intriguing plot for the continuation of the Multiverse Saga. Between Majors’ performance and interesting post-credit scenes, the third installment of the Ant-Man film saga opens Phase 5 of the MCU, and albeit with a few twists and turns, leaves us with a solemn promise: a new and dangerous “Dynasty ” has finally begun.
