In the film, which officially kicks off phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Super-Hero partners Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) return to continue their adventures as Ant-Man and the Wasp. Together, with Hope’s parents Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), the family finds themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought was possible. Jonathan Majors joins the adventure as Kang. Director Peyton Reed returns to direct the film; Kevin Feige and Stephen Broussard produce.
What We Thought:
Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania is a perfectly fine film. It’s entertaining enough and it’s something I’d consider watching again which hasn’t necessarily been something I could say about recent Marvel films. It’s not the slam dunk others I know are making it out to be as it has its pros and cons.
Its biggest pro is Paul Rudd. The guy is simply entertaining and I’ve enjoyed him as Scott Lang/Ant-Man in previous films. He doesn’t look like a superhero like Chris Hemsworth or Chris Evans, but that’s the point of the character. Somehow a character that can shrink down or get really big is one of the more grounded characters in the MCU. He’s a regular guy, not a super genius or giant rage monster. He worked at Baskin-Robbins after all.
This time around we get more from Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer as well. You see Scott and Hope (Evangeline Lilly) together, hanging out with her parents (Douglas and Pfeiffer) and Scott’s daughter Cassie (now played by Kathryn Newton who I enjoyed a lot). Then, if you’ve seen the trailers, they all get sucked down into the Quantum Realm and must band together to fight the new bad guy, deal with new creatures and try to get back to their home.
This brings me to the film’s biggest con, it spends way too much time in the Quantum Realm that their actions feel inconsequential. The stakes don’t feel that high to me because it’s an area that I as the viewer don’t care about. You just introduced me to all these creatures, characters and environment so why do I care if it all gets destroyed or saved? We want to root for the heroes to survive and be heroes, but they aren’t on Earth. When The Avengers fought Thanos a lot happened in space with alien creatures, but the battle was to get all the snapped Earth people back. To me there are no real stakes other than Ant-Man and his loved ones to get home.
I also thought using Kang here seemed wasted. Kang is going to be the Big Bad of Phase 5 of the MCU and honestly it should have been a one-off villain in this film with how the movie plays out. Thanos was always lurking in the shadows, Kang here is 100% in your face and ready to tackle whatever the MCU throws at him. I honestly thought this film would have been a better standalone film than start of Phase 5.
Regardless of what I think, Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania is going to make some good money at the box office. It should definitely do better than the previous 2 Ant-Man films because there isn’t much else to compete against it and people want to see how Phase 5 will go especially with Kang in it. Maybe I’m just tired of the MCU after all this time or maybe the disappointing Phase 4 and numerous Disney+ shows lowered my excitement for these movies because I haven’t walked out of the theater thinking the movie was awesome in a long time.
The Nerds Templar 