Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) - Movie Review
- Red
- Apr 13, 2023
- 3 min read
Directed by Peyton Reed
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is better than some of Marvel's past movies, but proves that the MCU is in dire need of something fresh, instead of reusing the same formula time after time.
Ant-Man 3 follows our heroes exploring the mysterious quantum realm, discovering the wrath of Kang the Conqueror in the process.
In recent times, many of Marvel's projects have been underwhelming. I didn't enjoy Thor: Love and Thunder at all, and She-Hulk was cringe-worthy to say the least. Quantumania kicks off Marvel's phase 5 with a stale film that feels nearly identical to a lot of the MCU's past projects. The humour falls flat, the colour grading is dull and the VFX are overdone.
If somebody wanted to be entertained for 2 hours and switch-off whilst watching a film, Ant-Man 3 does an okay job, however there are films that are far better. Its 125 minute runtime is short but still manages to feel slightly bloated. At times, I found myself looking forward to the finale for some action to take place and for the movie to end. The pacing is inconsistent.
Returning to the Ant-Man trilogy are stars Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly (whose character gets demoted to having barely anything to do even though her name is in the title of the film!), Michael Douglas and Michelle Pheiffer. They all do the best they can with the material (which includes large portions of exposition), but I can't help but feel that actors of Douglas & Pheiffer's calibre deserve better. Rising star Jonathan Majors plays Kang, who is being set up to become the MCU's next big villain, just like Thanos. Majors is good enough, but some of his lines come across as laughable. He doesn't stand-out the way Thanos did, and his threat doesn't feel as serious.
Of course, Marvel felt the need to include a young female hero who is superior than the heroes we're familiar with. Kathryn Newton plays Cassie Lang, who somehow succeeds in building a quantum realm travel machine in her basement on her own, using only notes from Hank Pym. Pym is a character whose entire life's work has been attempting to create a machine like this, but now, a young person with no resources manages to create something he couldn't without barely any research. In my opinion, this undermines Pym's character massively and simply doesn't make sense. Furthermore, she learns how to fight like a superhero in no time. Her lack of flaws makes for a very boring character, thus making her a "Mary-Sue."
I like the look of the costumes, and the VFX are better than films like Thor 4. However, they are overused which often makes the frame look messy. Many VFX artists have claimed that they are overworked and underpaid by Marvel, who are a "horrible client." Only time will tell if the situation improves.
For me, the tones of the movie clashed a lot. MODOK is supposed to be a very comedic character, but when he's put side-by-side with the menacing Kang, the stakes are ruined. Considering that Kang will be the MCU's biggest villain yet, it's strange that he's temporarily defeated at the end of the movie by ants. It seems as though the film is constantly contradicting itself.
All in all, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a very problematic film. Its tone and pacing are inconsistent and for some reason, it feels the need to contradict itself regularly. Having said this, some may find it enjoyable nonetheless, as long as they don't look into it too deeply.
Watch Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania on Disney Plus
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