Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Review
Marvel’s Phase 5 arrives with a mewling whimper; solidifying a spate of recent failures from the powerhouse studio. The question is: where did Marvel go so wrong?
In Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Scott Lang AKA Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) is dealing with the perks of his newfound fame post-Avengers; namely, a book deal and free coffee. His daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) is dabbling in activism, and also in science with Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Hope Van Dyne (noted anti-vaxxer Evangeline Lilly). Scott and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) are shocked when Cassie reveals a new scientific device; one she has developed with Hope and Hank, which allows her to send a signal to the Quantum Realm. Before Janet can stop them however, they’ve turned it on, and the group are sucked down into the Quantum Realm. Lost and separated, they have to find their way together and then back home, while avoiding those that seek revenge on Janet, and the help of Scott. Most of all, they have to avoid the long reach of the mysterious Kang (Jonathan Majors).
The first Ant-Man, released way back in 2015, was written by no less than four writers. Usually, that’s a sign of problems, and there was certainly drama surrounding the film and the ousting of the original director, but those writers included Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, Adam McKay and Paul Rudd himself. Four powerhouse writers, and the film benefitted from the humour, pacing and the incredible change of pace to turn a superhero movie into more of a heist movie. Like the titular hero himself, the small movie punched above its weight.
Quantumania, by comparison, written by Jeff Loveness and directed once again by Peyton Reed, dances on the grave of its predecessor. It’s a bloated, boring, CGI-fest that delivers bland, Chat-GPT style plot points and dialogue drivel that feels not only ill-thought out, but unfunny and insulting.
Rudd is largely, and most unfortunately, sidelined for much of the film to make way for the big bad setup, his daughter, and the bevvy of other characters. That said, when he is given even a split second to shine, his humor and charisma beam through, making us long for the Ant-Man of old. Modok (Corey Stoll) is a joke, and an unfunny one at that. Newton does what she can with a daughter character that is horrifically written, Lilly once again plays Hope as a one-note, bland and completely disinteresting character. Pfeiffer is a standout, but both her and Douglas deserve better. Bill Murray pops up for a moment, and is a wasted afterthought.
Mix in among this a crew of side characters that all feel like cardboard cutouts, and you’ve got a pretty dismal showing across the board.
Majors stands out as Kang, his performance bringing a level of energy and vitality to the film that it otherwise lacks. That being said, the wasted Kang on display here is puzzling. This is meant to be the MCU’s big bad? He’s certainly got the acting chops and portentous dialogue for it, but he is fighting one of the lesser Avengers here, and getting his ass handed to him. How can this possibly be the man the revamped Avengers will have to take down in 7-10 movies time?
The Quantum Realm we’re shown here is vibrant and energetic, which is great. Certainly, this is no Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness - there are some actual entertaining and innovative visuals on display here. It also throws off a big Star Wars vibe, with a sort of Mos Eisley Cantina, plenty of buildings that look like they belong on Tatooine, and an array of blob like, broccoli style, and generally alien looking creatures.
Ultimately, the two things that really made Quantumania flop for us were the story, and the humour. From a plot perspective, this is very much just a ‘signpost what to do next, get it done immediately’ job. The machine might send them to the Quantum Realm? Does. They get separated and need to find one another? No worries, they do that with ease. They need to steal a little orb thing? Sure that’s done, what next? There’s no real through line, and it feels like journeyman filmmaking.
Then from a humour perspective, there’s just nothing here. In the theatre we were in, there wasn’t a single laugh, nor a single cheer. For the hero who is meant to be the funny one in this crowd, the hero who is meant to be subversive, that’s perhaps the most telling sign of all.
