“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” has become one of the most polarizing MCU movies in such a short amount of time. Here is our SPOILER FREE thoughts:
“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is an okay yet interesting film that has incredible highs and some noticeable lows. This film for the most part was enjoyable and did a good job of moving forward the story of “The Multiverse Saga” of the MCU.
Story
After the blip we have seen Scott Lang’s rise to fame but in a turn of events he, Cassie, Hope, Janet, and Hank are all thrust into the Quantum Realm. This new journey sees them trying to get out of the Quantum Realm while also preventing the escape of Kang the Conqueror.
The Kang Dynasty Begins
Jonathan Majors reigns as Kang the Conqueror. His portrayal was ecstatic and commanded every scene he was in. This Kang variant is the exact opposite of He Who Remains (seen in “Loki”) and shows his true evil in this film. His lines were delivered so well and sometimes gave chills due to the shocking yet stoic nature of them. This Kang shows absolutely no mercy and has proved that he will be an Avengers level threat in “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty”.
The Good
As always, Paul Rudd shines as Scott Lang and makes you remember why you fell in love with the Ant-Man franchise in the first place. This film really emphasized how far he has come in the MCU even if his core value of protecting Cassie stayed the same.
Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne was an absolute standout in this film. It was interesting to hear more about how she spent her 30 years in the Quantum Realm and how that time would come to impact the overall story.
MODOK was also handled very well in terms of design. Even though MODOK is a goofy looking character to begin with, his translation from page to screen was near perfect even if the VFX looked a little wonky at times.
The film was also paced quickly which worked very well for its story. Overall, it was an enjoyable time at the movie theaters.
The Bad
There were a few things that added up to hold this film back. For starters, the film felt kind of generic. There was almost nothing about this film that made it stand apart from the endless supply of both MCU and comic book movies in general. At times the plot was predictable and suffered from cliches which solidified the film’s mediocrity.
In terms of being a standalone film, it does not work and explains why critics were so harsh in initial reviews. However when looking at the film in terms of the larger MCU story, it can be characterized as a trailer for another movie being, “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty”. Yes, the whole point of the Avengers films is to bring everything together in a cohesive story, but making this film a setup film hurts Ant-Man’s trilogy as a whole.
Another major issue was the CGI. This film was basically entirely CGI which means that more time should’ve been spent making sure it looks good. Unfortunately due to Marvel’s tight schedule, it is evident that the CGI was rushed and resulted in subpar visuals at times.
Cassie Lang was arguably the rock of the Ant-Man franchise in the previous films but this film ruined her character. Unfortunately Kathryn Newton’s acting in a good portion of scenes were bland and inauthentic. Cassie had one or two good scenes in the film but for the most part she suffered from bad acting.
There were other side characters in the film that were either entirely wasted or were completely unnecessary and wasted screen time in what is already a comparatively short MCU movie.
Review
“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is an okay movie that serves as a fantastic introduction to Kang and continuation of Scott Lang’s story but suffers from overused tropes and blandness. “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is 6/10.