Ant Man and The Wasp: Quantumania review

I am so very bored of the agenda driven backlash against the MCU the last couple years. And yeah, a whole lot of it is fake, agenda driven bullshit. After all, saying that Marvel product is almost always on the solid to excellent spectrum isn't juicy enough to get the requisite clicks or views. Gotta treat each new movie or show as if it a travesty of epic proportions. I mean, jesus, Thor: Love and Thunder was a fucking blast, but if you go anywhere online people act like it was Batman and Robin.

The latest MCU entry, Ant Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, is also getting absolutely savaged by people who I am fully convinced either did not watch the movie or are lying to push an agenda. Maybe there are too many women in the movie. Or too many POC (do aliens count?). You know how woke things get in the quantum realm. 

Fuck these people. Quantumania is a lot of fun. The official Phase 5 kickoff, the movie takes place what appears to be a short time after Endgame. Scott has written a book about his life as a superhero. Hope is running Hank's old business. Cassie is getting into some trouble, albeit for a good cause. There isn't actually much movie before circumstances drag all the Langs and Pyms into the quantum realm. 

Soon they learn that there is a whole civilization down there. All sorts of creatures, some human, most not, and all seemingly terrified of someone. I mean, we know the someone is Kang (Jonathan Majors) but he doesn't actually appear on screen aside from a quick that opens the film, until deep into the 2nd act.

We learn that Michelle Pfeiffer's Janet has a whole history with Kang from her decades in the QR. Viewers of the Loki series already have some of the 411 on Kang, although this is a different variant of the character. 

Anyway, Kang wants out of the QR and the Pym shrinking tech can be his means to that end. So Kang eventually nabs Scott and forces him to do the thing he needs to get out.

Quantumania has a lot of genuine suspense over how the film will resolve itself. I mean, we know Kang is going to be the big bad of the multiverse saga, so he can't necessarily be defeated here (or CAN he, given the variants?). And Scott's fate is a little up in the air too. Not that I thought he could die, but there is a moment towards the end where I thought he was going to be stuck in the QR. 

This is definitely a more serious installment in this series, after the 2 breezy and silly movies before it. It does have humor, and a lot of it hits, but at times the tone feels a little off.

Disproving another of these flash narratives about the MCU, the visual fx work in this film is tremendous. Most of the film is obviously in a fully CGI environment, but it looks great. It is packed with interesting and weird locations and characters. 

One character I sure didn't like was M.O.D.O.K., a character I had some awareness of prior. This movie decides to make him a repurposed version of the Corey Stoll villain from Ant Man 1. I have no idea why. I doubt anyone was dying to see a return from arguably the least interesting MCU villain. The movie stops dead in act 2 to explain how he is back, and then there are a few sequences with him that don't work. It really sticks out as the film's biggest misstep.

Majors is just awesome. I am 100% on board with all things Kang going forward. Pfeiffer is the surprise standout here, as she gets a lot to do and gets a lot of backstory. Paul Rudd is typically great, and while underused this time, Michael Douglas has some fun moments.

I still wish that the Cassie actress from Endgame had got her shot here, but Kathryn Newton is effectively plucky in the role. Bill Murray pops up for an extended cameo. I really liked William Jackson Harper from The Good Place as a QR dweller who can read thoughts. 

I don't think Quantumania ranks with the best of the MCU. It's not even one of the best of the post-Endgame run. The Ant Man films have always been lower on my rankings, even though I do like them. I would say this is my favorite of the three though.

It's a fun Ant Man adventure, with a lot of crazy weird visuals, some cool action, some laughs, solid performances, and it sets up Kang as an Avengers level threat very well. The hate is totally unfounded.