'Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania' Promises A Lot, But Delivers Very Little
The Marvel engine is running low on gas. Battling against the titan that's Marvel's own structure, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania hurls itself toward the next baddy post-Thanos. But is it enough for Ant-Man 3 to fly? After Thanos, many stages are set per film (or Disney Plus show) for some thrilling future mayhem. Kang, in particular, is a villain whose charisma is enough to fool the characters on screen and the viewing audience. Jonathon Majors is an acting force to be reckoned with. He elevated the otherwise dull Devotion and does so again with a film with enough life in its supporting cast to deliver an entertaining two hours that lacks thrills.
Years have gone by post Thanos' snap (the blip). With his daughter back in his life Scott Lange (Paul Rudd) is on a book tour telling his life story as an Avenger. Now that things are moving slower in Scott's life, the film needs an inciting incident to spice things up. Within the first few minutes, Scott's daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) invents a device that opens the doors to the quantum realm unleashing all sorts of madness. Unaware that she opened the doors to pandora's box, Scott and his family get sucked into the quantum realm with a need to get out. It's like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids if everyone was downsized into a colorful sci-fi world.
Scott's ultimate desire is to regain the time he lost with his daughter since the blip. There's a man who can give Scott what he wants, but at what price? Kang the Conqueror (Jonathon Banks) is an alluring man who talks a good game. Thanks to Jonathon Major's magnetic presence, we hang on to Kang's words of temptation, fully aware of the consequences.
The world of Quantumania is a sight to behold. One that doesn't contain the ugly last-minute look of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Wonderful things can happen when the visual effects department isn't badgered with unrealistic deadlines and last-minute changes. Seemingly nobody got "pixel f****d" in the VFX house, and it shows.
Despite its beautiful visuals and spectacular performance by Jonathon Majors, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is too familiar to stand out amongst the typical Marvel catalog. The movie feels like someone is offering a prize, but you never see what that prize is. The multiverse is a world of possibility, one that has cameos from John Krasinski as Reed Richards or other variations of our favorite characters. When the nostalgia wears off from seeing multiple Spider-Men, what more is there? Fighting against Kang alone isn't enough to have me leaping from my seat in excitement. Understandably, Marvel doesn't want to pop their multiverse balloon too soon, but what's presented in this film is underwhelming.
Quantumania is banking heavily on Jonathon Majors. For his performance alone, Majors is a dynamic villain. One who isn't a CGI creation like Thanos. Kang is a flesh-and-blood actor whose human presence can generate more emotion than a computer-generated creation ever can. In simple terms, Ant-Man and the -Wasp: Qunatumania is a perfectly enjoyable film that feels more like an extended episode of Loki. If you haven't seen Loki, much of Quantumania can be confusing. What is the multiverse? Why is it important? How does it affect time and reality? Most of these burning questions can be found in the final episode of the first season of Loki.
What's present in the film is enough to garner an entertaining time at the movies. Almost running exactly at the two-hour mark, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania doesn't overstay its welcome as opposed to other Marvel pictures that run their length far past two-hours. The cast blends well together. Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne, hits her emotional beats when intended providing a performance that gives the film some heart. Michael Douglas' Hank Pym plays like a classically trained actor warped in a multimillion-budget film marketed toward a younger audience he doesn’t understand. Seeing a man from another generation react to something that will be added in post intends a laugh you couldn't get with an actor who's more comic book-inclined. I could imagine Douglas thinking, "what the hell is half this stuff I'm reading?" when going through the script.
Evangeline Lilly is just okay in her role as Hope (the Wasp), who has more of the same humorous Marvel beats to play with. Despite the Wasp placed in the movie's title and advertising Lilly is given little screen time. Much of the film's emphasis is placed on Kang and Ant-Man. The casting department couldn't have asked for a better Ant-Man than Paul Rudd. The ageless actor injects much of his delightful levity into his character, who can be serious when he needs to be.
When the film reaches its conclusion, there's a ton of setup for future films to come. Call me greedy, but I want more. Most of the audience has presumably already seen Kang's monologue in Loki, so why do we see more of the same? This is a problem Marvel had with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, a movie that plays more like an extended episode of Wandavision than being a legitimate film that can stand on its own two feet. With so much preparation for the next Thanos-level baddie, it would be interesting to know more about Kang's back story. Why does he want to conquer every realm? What drove him toward evil? What's his motivation other than power?
Thanos believed half the universe had to go to ensure peace. Although his methods are morally corrupt, we can see where Thanos' quest for harmony stems from. Quantumania asks its audience to stay tuned for future films to come. Instead of waiting until next week, why don't we get something to latch onto now? Quantumania is too episodic for its own good. Although Kang is an engaging villain, he needs to do more to fully invest the audience in him. In the meantime we'll stay tuned, although much of the audience could be tuned out from all the teasing at this point.
