The ever-expanding world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe kicks off phase five with “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”, the third of this particular superhero franchise. And given that phase four ended with the tearful goodbye to Chadwick Boseman’s character in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”, it stands to say that fans have high expectations.
So, how does it fare? Well, the answer is… a little disappointing.
The film begins with Scott Lang (a seemingly unageing Paul Rudd) enjoying a semblance of peace after the events of “Avengers: Endgame”. He’s even writing a book telling of how he went from being a divorced ex-convict to fighting alongside Captain America and saving the world.
All Scott wants at this point in life is to be a good father to his teenage daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton). But, unbeknownst to him, Cassie – alongside Scott’s girlfriend Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and her father Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) – have been doing research on the quantum realm, that pesky connector between time and space.
And as you can guess, all hell breaks loose when they are accidentally sucked into it.
Along for the ride, unwillingly, is Hank’s wife, Janet Van Dyne (a terrific Michelle Pfeiffer), who previously spent 30 years stuck in the realm and has been hiding some secrets from her family after she was rescued in the second “Ant-Man” film.
Among these skeletons in her closet? That she spent time with the villainous Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), and might have even unknowingly aided him during this time.
The tone of this movie is drastically more serious than the previous ones; and understandably so, considering it is setting up Kang, and his other versions from the multiverse, as the big bad of phase five – a Thanos-level threat.
A majority of the runtime is set in the quantum realm and, given this, the visual-effects department has come out with guns blazing to create a hidden world beneath this normal one.
Alas, the colourful multifaceted setting, imaginative creatures, and eye-catching costumes are nice to look at, but one can’t help but be tired of the CGI-laden scenes by the time the second act ends.
It’s not all tedious, though: one particular scene offers a nice respite during the early world-building stage. The characters go to a bar filled with outrageous creatures in a sequence reminiscent of the cantina on Mos Eisley in the first “Star Wars” film, possibly a cheeky reference since both franchises are owned by Disney.
Another standout comes near the end when Scott is engaged in a “probability storm”, in which countless versions of himself have to learn to work together to achieve a common goal – a callback to the previous movies where the ants had to do the same.
The emotional core of the film is undoubtedly Scott’s relationship with Cassie, as he desperately wants to make up for the five years he lost between the second “Ant-Man” film and “Avengers: Endgame”.
Cassie has since grown into a young adult, and her dad now needs to balance between being a parent and letting her make her own decisions. The nuanced and layered performances by both Rudd and Newton work well here.
Pfeiffer’s Janet, too, gets her time to shine as a reluctant guide for the other characters, and her extended presence onscreen is welcome.
But this is really Kang’s movie, as most would agree. Majors succeeds in portraying a menacing and terrifying villain in his second appearance after playing He Who Remains in the Loki series.
When the character first shows up, you feel his commanding presence and aren’t able to look away; try as you might, you will likely fail to guess this big bad’s next move. Plus, his scenes with Pfeiffer are absolutely riveting, leaving you wanting more.
The same, sadly, can’t be said for Hank and Hope: Lilly and Douglas don’t have very much to do here, which is a shame given their calibre – not forgetting the fact that Hope’s Wasp is literally part of the title, yet she’s pushed to the sidelines for most of the action.
Add to that the film’s tendency to gloss over issues raised early on – such as Cassies’ concern for those who lost their homes in the “blip”, when Thanos snapped away half the population – and the end result is a so-so effort that feels rushed and underdeveloped.
Overall, the performances by the A-grade actors in “Quantumania” carry a film that may leave you feeling rather dissatisfied. It’s subjectively not the worst Marvel movie, but it’s definitely not among the top 10, either.
As of press time, ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ is screening in cinemas nationwide.