Marvel’s littlest hero is back on the big screen. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is the latest Ant-man film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe being released in theaters worldwide on Feb 17, 2023.
Quantumania is the third solo outing for Paul Rudd’s size-changing hero Scott Lang, following the 2015 Ant-Man and 2018 Ant-Man and the Wasp. It’s the 31st MCU film, but the first installment in the MCU’s Phase 5. Quantumania, however, has a score of 46% on Rotten Tomatoes and 49 on Metacritic.
An Antman film is by default a lighthearted goofy one. The unspoken motto of the “Ant-Man” movies is “think small,” which paradoxically makes it stand apart from other sectors of the MCU inclining towards the grandiose. “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” plays around with that idea by shrinking Ant-Man/Scott Lange (Paul Rudd) and the other major characters to a subatomic size ten minutes into the story and dispatching them to the Quantum Realm, to battle an exiled supervillain named Kang (Jonathan Majors). The outcome is simultaneously the biggest and smallest of the Ant-Man films, a neat trick.
THE CAST
Returning director Peyton Reed once again recruits Paul Rudd as Scott Lang and Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne, whose parents are played by Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas.
David Dastmalchian also returns as a different character. Lang’s daughter Cassie is played by Kathryn Newton, star of Big Little Lies.
The movie’s cast remains amazing. Hank Pym was somehow able to keep ants relevant to this plot line, with Michael Douglas having plenty of good bits. Meanwhile, Evangeline Lilly as the Wasp was given literally nothing to do . She is present, but has no active contribution.
However, they managed to compensate for the similar fate of Michelle Pfeiffer in the second film, giving her adequate scope to shine. The return of Corey Stoll as MODOK was also well received by the audience. Jonathan Majors’ entrance into MCU was applauded by the audience however domestic assault charges prompted him to be dropped by his management and publicity agencies. Therefore, the fate of the role remains a question.
THE PLOT
Having rescued Janet van Dyne from the quantum realm in the previous Ant-Man and the Wasp film, the Ant-gang ventures back into the itty-bitty teeny-tiny universe. This time Cassie joins them too, as Scott desperately tries to regain the time he lost with his troubled teenage daughter. The Quantum Realm gets a little bigger in every Ant-Man movie, going from a scary purgatory in the first, to an inhabitable land in the second, and finally a full-blown universe full of high-tech cities in the third.
THE BACKDROP
Ten minutes into the film, the entire cast of Quantumania is thrown into the Quantum Realm. As you may remember, Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) was rescued from that land in the previous Ant-Man film. Now, it’s revealed that she wasn’t alone in a vacuum, instead there’s an entire universe with its own creatures populating the Quantum Realm.
There are rebel tribes, smugglers, intricate new aliens, queasy alliances, new spaceships, and cantinas. These diverse alien tribes are seemingly at conflict, though very little of it makes sense to the viewers.
The only thing we explicitly learn is that Kang (Jonathan Majors), a cryptic traveler whom Janet initially befriended and helped thinking he had accidentally landed there, was in fact a dangerous, imperious, all-powerful being who had been exiled to the Quantum Realm from his own world.
Maybe director Peyton Reed and his collaborators thought they were making a Star Wars movie; the protagonists’ adventures in the Quantum Realm did give the impression more often than not that they were meant to be a knockoff version of George Lucas’s space operas, albeit in compressed form. The backdrop is loaded with alien biology and vistas that wouldn’t be out of place on distant planets, or say a Guardians of the Galaxy movie. But it does not seem to seamlessly flow for the audience walking into an Antman movie. And, unfortunately, the actors didn’t appear to buy the concept either.
The backgrounds looked like psychedelic screensavers, and there was an uncanny disconnect between the live humans and their mostly digital surroundings. To my utter annoyance, none of the characters emotes the bewilderment or absolute terror they should presumably be feeling. Everyone seems to casually stroll around and occasionally crack jokes.
Personally I found the aesthetic so viscerally ugly, I may not sit through another MCU movie in the theater if the setup looks like something a kid threw together for a science fair, most of it looking rubbery and cheap. Vulture’s Bilge Ebiri calls the film “a cry for help,” saying “The action is tired, the universe unconvincing, and nobody on screen looks like they want to be there. They don’t even look like they know where there is.”
Who’s the bad guy?
Jonathan Majors follows his appearance in the final episode of Disney Plus Marvel series Loki, playing the villainous Kang. The filmmakers characterize him as Thanos in a new wrapper. A genocidal madman, yet Kang is a ridiculously poorly written character. He’s an evil genius and he wants to escape the Quantum Realm- but that’s pretty much it. Most of his screen time involves walking around and softly muttering his dialogue.
The film also features a first MCU appearance for MODOK, a comic character who previously appeared in a Hulu comedy animated series, and in the 2020 Avengers game. Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), the villain of the first film, is reincarnated by Kang as MODOK – a giant, distorted, pathetic head inside a diving-bell-like contraption, with tiny, weak limbs. He looks like a Minion and Max Headroom had a baby.
What are the stakes?
Many people felt there were no stakes in the movie— yes, the stakes were objectively there: people and entire timelines will die. We have heard it all before. But, the film’s premise implied preventing the exiled Kang’s escape would also result in something catastrophic- doesn’t this make the whole runtime feel like a lose-lose situation?
Furthermore, in the end there really weren’t any consequences of this little family trip. Everyone makes it out unharmed. Even Scott and Hope get to casually come home after being dramatically left behind, which honestly felt underwhelming.
There’s a brief scene where Kang blackmails Scott to steal this movie’s equivalent of the Infinity Stone by threatening to murder Cassie in front of him, then make Scott re-experience her death for all eternity- but we subconsciously know this could never happen, nor will any major character suffer too greatly in an Antman film.
Therefore, it fails to make you feel anything, despite the story majorly highlighting Ant-Man’s desperate attempts to save his daughter. Add the aliens, psychedelic background and dumb jokes to the mix, the end result is numb alienation.
Eventually, the movie succumbs to the MCU formula and crams its last act with overly busy CGI battles, with things crashing and exploding while people yell about having to save the universe and timelines.
The Plot Holes
While the MCU prides itself for its meticulous detailing, someone needs to explain why the characters just didn’t talk to each other? The biggest point of frustration was Michelle Pfeiffer’s Janet. They never explain why she never mentioned Kang to anybody and was needlessly not telling her family important information when there was plenty of time and reason to do so.
Another point is that the Freedom Fighters parallel plot line didn’t really add much to the central plot. They could either be given a more intersecting narrative or the story could simply continue without them—utilizing the extra time on the core cast.
Does Quantumania have a post-credits scene?
Of course! There are two, and for once they actually set up the continuation of the MCU saga rather than introducing a slightly silly celebrity cameo.
Is it a must-see?
No. Quantumania feels more like a Disney+ special than a film. It’s messy, overindulgent on weak CGI, and humor falls flat. Jonathan Majors is great as Kang but Marvel seemed more focused on creating a 2-hour trailer for something better. Even for those who enjoyed it, such as myself, the world knows Marvel Studios can do better.
What’s next for the MCU?
We know Kang will be the next Thanos. Phase 5 is building to a movie called Avengers: The Kang Dynasty in 2025. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Marvels are running theaters this summer. Loki season 2 will stream on Disney plus.
As for Quantumania it is currently tied with Eternals as the MCU’s worst-reviewed movie, heavily criticized for its disorderly plot and relentless CGI onslaught.