Film Review: Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania

Up until this point, the Ant-Man movies have for the most part been in their own little corner in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, getting into hijinks around San Francisco while the titular hero would occasionally get dragged into some universe breaking scheme in the Avengers movies. However, with the latest in the series, Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, things go bigger than ever before, by ironically going smaller than ever. But it’s not just major in terms of the expansive scope of the story, the film is ultimately providing a groundwork for the rest of Phase Five, especially with the introduction of the big bad.

Since we last saw Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), he has been living an easy going life, he’s a bestselling author, and things seem great. However, his relationship with his daughter, Cassie (Kathryn Newton), is starting to get rocky as she gets into trouble with the law due to her activism. However, she proves to be very scientifically inclined as well, having created a device that can be used to reach the Quantum Realm, which eventually malfunctions, resulting in Scott, Cassie, Hope (Evangeline Lilly), Hank (Michael Douglass), and Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) getting sucked into a portal that leads them down deep into the Quantum Realm, with Scott and Cassie getting separated from the rest of the crew.

Scott and Cassie are taken in by natives of the realm who are rebelling against their evil ruler while Janet leads the rest of the family to find her old contacts from her time in the realm, friends who can hopefully help them find Scott and Cassie and leave the realm. Unfortunately, things are different from what it was before, and soon, the whole family gets captured by the mysterious ruler, who turns out to be Kang (Jonathan Majors), an exiled entity who – thanks to the Langs being present – has exactly what he needs to escape the Quantum Realm and wreak havoc on the universe.

Peyton Reed returns as the director, helming a script from Jeff Loveness (his first with Marvel Studios, having made his name with his TV work on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Rick And Morty). It definitely has its own vibe. If the first Ant-Man was Reed’s take on the “one last job” heist movie, and Ant-Man And The Wasp was his riff on What’s Up, Doc? then Quantumania is the MCU version of one of those pulpy “hidden world” sci-fi stories, think stuff like Journey to the Center of the Earth, Fantastic Voyage, At The Earth’s Core, with a dash of old school Star Trek thrown in there. Interestingly enough, Disney Animation recently riffed on the genre with the recent Strange World.

And when it comes to everything in the Quantum Realm, it’s really cool. While the visual presentation still suffers from some of the usual issues with the Marvel production process, it’s hard not to admire all the work put in by the VFX and design teams. The creatures are compelling, the makeup and costumes when utilized are fantastic, the details of the world are always a feast for the eyes and truly imaginative. I wish the same could be said of the story itself, which doesn’t really have the energy to keep up with all the story and character beats it needs to include.

What keeps the film together are the performances, which have typically been one of the strong suits of any MCU film. Rudd is a delight as always, and this film does give him some more dramatic material to work with that he does a great job with. I especially enjoyed his dynamic with Newton. Though, Pfeiffer practically steals every scene she is in, bringing a heft and a light touch to the character. Ultimately, who makes the biggest impression is Majors, who is almost comically good for what is essentially very silly material. Speaking of silly, it’s just amazing that we manage to get M.O.D.O.K. in live-action. He’s somehow the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen, but I couldn’t stop smiling every time he showed up, the less I say, the better.

Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania is by no means one of the best Marvel films, but I also wouldn’t label it as one of the worst either. Like most of them, I think the overall film is mostly just fine, with occasional sparks of true joy and inspiration and captivating superheroics, while also having its fair share of frustrations with its storytelling, both in the context of this film, and that of future films in the franchise. I did have fun in the moment, but if I’m being honest, I haven’t had much thoughts about the film after seeing it. Not much lingered with me, and while there are plenty of elements that I can point to, and say I enjoyed that, I admire that, that action beat was neat, the overall film does feel like it was being crushed under the weight of everything it was trying to do. At the very least, we get a potentially compelling villain, portrayed by an actor who knows how to commit, for better (the movie) and for worse (the mid-credits scene). People already invested in this franchise will surely have a good time, and I think there is a possibility that, if future installments don’t have a lot of the issues of this film, it could age better as a stepping stone to get this series where it needs to go. I won’t go as far as to say the MCU’s appeal is wearing thin, but only time will tell.

 

Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania is now out in theaters.