ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA: Plucky Little Hero In Overstuffed Movie

There’s a battle within Quantumania, the third Ant-Man movie that feels the least like the previous two. One part of the film wants to expand on the family dynamic of the Pym and Lang collectives. The other part wants to be a fantastical foundation for the future of other Marvel movies. The two clash and ultimately craft a sometimes-entertaining, sometimes-slogging superhero film hindered by its adherence to a shared universe.

Scott’s Groove

The stakes feel much lower in this film for Scott Lang (Paul Rudd). Having survived the events of Thanos, someone as chipper as Scott has a sense of contentment to him. And why wouldn’t he? He has a decent level of admiration in public, a sunny outlook on life, and a solid group of family and friends.

With his days of heists behind him, Scott now takes the time to focus on his teenage daughter, Cassie (Kathryn Newton). The problem (or, rather, Scott’s problem) is that Cassie is too much like her father. She’s rebellious against the police, fascinated by quantum technology, and is even starting to get interested in becoming a superhero.

With Scott hoping his daughter will make more intelligent choices as she enters adulthood, there’s a more extensive conversation to be had about challenging authority. While that theme remains present, it’s softened by forcing Scott and his family into the quantum realm for a lost-world adventure.

Family Matters

Joining Scott and Cassie in their quantum realm adventure is the Pym family of Hank (Michael Douglas), his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly), and his wife Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer). Since Janet had spent decades in the quantum realm before her rescue in the last Ant-Man movie, there are certainly some stories she’s not telling.

Unfortunately, Janet’s revelations seem minor and predictable for this adventure. This is perhaps due to how much the quantum realm has changed. The past two Ant-Man movies have portrayed this trippy dimension as a realm that is dangerous to the senses and warps time. In this movie, it looks like just another alien world from Guardians of the Galaxy, complete with creatures who look like plants.

A Heavy World

There is simply too much going on in the quantum realm that clouds out Ant-Man’s personality. Despite how speedy the world-building is in this odd world, it feels so standard that there’s little surprise in the sight of telepaths, walking energy entities, and living buildings. After all, how much more in awe can you get when you’ve met a talking raccoon from space?

The quantum realm is less interesting for its VFX and more enticing for leaning into the theme of revolution over unjust systems. It’s more fascinating to observe the realm’s chaotic government of rebels and tyrants than its muddy drug-trip backgrounds. That being said, this aspect of social change still stumbles around to make its point, where Hank will give a brief rant about how socialism is such a charged word when describing the collectivism of his ants.

Here Comes Kang

The central villain present is Kang The Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), and there’s little surprise in him being a prime antagonist going forward since an upcoming Avengers movie is called The Kang Dynasty. Majors is great in this role, even if all he’s given to work with is a deadly-serious villain who craves ultimate power. He’s intimidating when calmly making threats and terrifying when he loses his cool. He’s chilling when making calculated threats and frightening when he goes off on a murderous rampage.

To make him more connected to this Ant-Man movie, he’s given some history with central characters. While he has a vendetta within the Ant-Man saga, his feud is underwhelming in terms of his drive and fighting. Here’s a guy who can obliterate entire populations with energy in his hands and has a fistfight with Ant-Man.

Desperately needing more comic relief, the film dusts off a previous character for the supporting villain MODOK. The concept of MODOK is decently funny with his big head, small limbs, and thirst for bloody revenge. Yet the character’s absurdness feels far too tame, and the film even has to flashback to the first Ant-Man movie to remind you who this guy previously was.

A Clash of Tones

When I think of Ant-Man movies, a brisk nature comes to mind, where critical information is pushed out in playful and exciting ways. In this film, the exposition comes out in lukewarm chunks. Part of this is due to how much is going on within this story, and there’s little time to explore more of the family dynamic.

The enigma of Janet and her legendary status within the quantum realm seems like it’d lead to talk of trust between her and Hank. Sadly, they get over this too quickly amid flying abnormal vessels and shooting at evil armies. Even the presence of Bill Murray as an old flame adds little to the conflict. With so much going on, many exciting elements need to be watered. This makes even the better parts of the picture fall flat, where the fragile ego of MODOK is only mildly amusing, and Hank’s address of socialism feels far too passive in reducing the topic to a common phrase.

By the end of the picture, there’s an attempt to put a heartfelt bow on it all but also address the possibility that something darker is on the way. It feels like Scott has to remind us this is an Ant-Man movie and that there’s still some chipperness left in the character and his nook of the MCU.

Conclusion: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Despite an uneven tone, Quantumania mostly works as an enticing superhero adventure, despite how hard it veers away from Ant-Man’s previously zippy nature. This film may get too serious in trying to stress the importance of the multiverse that it doesn’t feel as engaging as more energetic Ant-Man films. Of course, I’m not made of stone and watching a skyscraper-sized Ant-Man leading a revolution while taking on energy weapons is giddy enough to make up for the laborious first act.

A movie with giant ant armies and a floating head with guns could use some more silliness if only to bring humanity to a picture all about togetherness and revolutions. It’s not exactly a good sign when the biggest laugh I got out of the movie came from the brief cameo of Ruben Rabasa mistaking Ant-Man for Spider-Man. There’s still some excitement in this entry with its many stylish fight scenes and otherworldly elements of surreality. Still, director Peyton Reed can only pump so much fun into a picture that feels mandated to acknowledge future Marvel movies and maintain a rigid track for a hero who always felt to be off in his world of size shifting.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is playing in theaters everywhere on February 17th, 2023.

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