Directed By Peyton Reed

Starring – Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors

The Plot – When Scott Lang (Rudd) and Hope van Dyne (Lilly), along with Hope’s parents, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeifer), and Scott’s daughter, Cassie (Kathryn Newton), are accidentally sent to the Quantum Realm, they soon find themselves exploring the Realm, interacting with strange new creatures, and fighting off the advances of a powerful threat to their peaceful existence.

Rated PG-13 for violence/action, and adult language

Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania | Official Trailer – YouTube

POSITIVES

Despite this film feeling constantly at odds with itself, at least half of the returns prove its heart is in the right place, with even some aspects feeling like a refreshing change of pace for the constant perils of the MCU. I’m of course talking about Jonathan Majors’ gravitational turn as Kang the Conqueror, who not only solidifies a titanic antagonist with whom the Avengers will have their hands full with for the fifth phase of this franchise, but also conjures a hypnotic enveloping that casts the film’s tonal consistency in a stranglehold when necessary. Banks is quickly emerging as one of my favorite performers of the decade, but his work here as a powerfully superior bender of time helps to supplant a different side of Majors that is every bit menacing as it is methodical, delivering his lines of threat and confidence with the kind of meticulous timing that forces you to hang onto his every word, all without losing the emphasis and humanity of the actor that has stolen many of movies in the first act of his promising career. Paul Rudd and Michelle Pfeifer also hand in reputable work in their respective envelopings, with the former supplying a rich combination of charisma and heart that we’ve come to depend on, and the latter enhancing her worth to the franchise with a turn that essentially rests the importance of the plot and its conflict firmly on her shoulders. In addition to this, the world-building and corresponding science of the Quantum Realm is everything promised and then some, with fantastical creatures, imaginative weaponry and exotic visuals that conjure a surprise or two to keep your attention during the two hour run time. Because the script is so particular with what it chooses to flesh out about this secretive underworld, it feels unlike anything previously captured in this universe, even with a franchise that spans from the rainbow roads of Asgaard to the bright and colorful entrances of Xandar, providing another step in the expansion of this universe, but this time one within the perils of time that much of the future films and television properties will come to juggle. Beyond this, the technical merits are mostly remarkable, with expansive sound designs, impactful heft in devastation, and another rhythmically riveting score from Christophe Beck capably setting the stage for Ant-Man’s biggest and boldest chapter of the character’s trilogy of films to this point. Like the titular characters, Beck himself has remained a constant throughout the duration of this franchise, impacting sequences with thunderous roars of orchestral achievement, while sedating us during heartfelt sentiments with the accoustic strings of strumming that continuously let the actors convey the stirring sentiment. Finally, “Quantumania” serves as one of the only examples of post-credits sequences for the MCU in which both do a great job of illustrating the inevitible foreshadowing for the future of the Kang dynasty. One restores my faith in a certain character after this film pretty much walked all over them, and another pertains to a certain Disney Plus show, which has been tightly hushed on details up to this point.

NEGATIVES

Unfortunately, Marvel once again indulges in the aspects that have frequently gotten the better of them since “Endgame”, combining a comic consistency and convoluted screenplay to keep “Quantumania” from ever reaching its intended destination. On the former, this film is absolutely plagued by the weakest brand of comedy that this franchise has experienced thus far, even worse than “Thor: Love and Thunder”, which often felt like the Asgaardian was hosting an episode of Saturday Night Live, and decided to bring along his sketchbook. At least in that film I got a couple of laughs here and there, but in this movie they fail humiliatingly, with some even receiving audible groans from members of my audience. As previously mentioned, the film does tone it down and get serious when Kang appears on-screen, but it’s everything surrounding him that is the weaker sum of its parts in majority, trying to cement every character and situation with humorous emphasis that often underwhelm and underline the stakes and urgency of its conflict, especially in the case of MODOK, a legendary Marvel antagonist, who is nothing more than a punchline to this film that echoes twice as loud as The Mandarin did during “Iron Man 3”. On the latter, the film is simply attempting so many angles and long-winded backstory diatribes that it left me feeling exhausted by the film’s midway point, and like the aforementioned MODOK, overstepped the boundaries into making certain characters feel unnecessary. This is most heavily felt upon Hope Van Dyne or The Wasp as she’s known as. For someone who received title billing since the last movie, she’s nothing more than an afterthought here, and when combined with other familiar characters of the Quantum Realm, serve as nothing more than credible cameos to their involvement, and only popping up when the film absolutely requires them to. This scope and scale of the script easily makes this the biggest of the Ant-Man trilogy, but ironically the one where the least amount of impact happens post-film, feeling like an underwhelming afterthought once you’ve seen the big picture, and one whose build for previous installments of the MCU leaves this chapter a little barebones. In addition to this, the dependency on the C.G dominated backdrops and landscapes left plenty more to be desired in the tangible influence of their appearance. This sometimes leads to jarringly bad designs without a shred of believability, while other times remains frozen in vantage point, despite the camera moving the direction in a way that should reveal one way or the other, to the right or left of the capture. Most people will easily be blown away by the abundance of color, but even that I found inferior to the aforementioned Asgaard or Guardians of the Galaxy films, which are so beautifully constructed that they could hang like art in anyone’s apartment. Enhancing artificiality only suppresses creativity, and like my ages old sentiment to practicality being the best brand of special effects, the dominant dependency here on computer-illustrated, loses far too much humanity in the depths of devastation along the way.

OVERALL
“Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania” is a bit of an underwhelming final chapter to a mediocre trilogy of films, thanks to its dependency on artificial backdrops and lukewarm comedic material, but it does exude a monumental breakthrough for Jonathan Majors, whose Kang the Conqueror imbeds Marvel’s Cinematic Univers with a darkly foreboding forecast for the foreseeable future. There is enough action and adventure here to please hardcore Marvel enthusiasts, but nothing new that serves as the next big step in the progression through its fifth phase, leaving it more of the same for the franchise that hasn’t found its rhythm since Tony and Cap turned over the reins to the next generation of superheroes.

My Grade: 6/10 or C