Ant-Man and the Wasp find themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that pushes them beyond the limits of what they thought was possible.
Director: Peyton Reed
Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Douglas, Kathryn Newton, David Dastmalchian, William Jackson Harper, Katy O'Brian, Bill Murray
Release Date: February 17, 2023
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Rated PG-13 for violence/action, and language
Runtime: 2h 5m
Review:
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania gets credit for delivering one of the tripper entries into the Marvel monolith. Peyton Reed waste little time throwing the audience into the Quantum Realm and peppering the screen with all variety of sci-fi weirdness and oddities. It’s a visual cornucopia that just assaults the senses from all sides as the cast ventures through the worlds. There's nearly enough there to make you ignore the fact that the event which kicks off the entire plot is even more contrived than Spider-Man: No Way Home starting point. It shouldn't come as that much of a surprise since this is the film that kicks off the newest phase of Marvel's ongoing opus. Specifically, this film serves as an introduction to the new big bad that will be the serve as the primary villain over the next few years. In that regard, they have been blessed with Jonathan Majors and his impressive acting talents. Once Majors appears onscreen, he dominates the film with an impressively nuanced turn that bodes well for future appearances. Up to that point the cast had delivered a surprisingly choppy collection of performances which is disappointing considering the assembled talent. Rudd is his usual dependable self, giving the impression that he could play this role in his sleep by this point. Rudd and Evangeline Lilly still don't have much onscreen chemistry which keeps their story line from really carrying the sort of weight you'd expect by the third film. Kathryn Newton joins the cast as their now grown daughter and brings a spark of youthful energy even if her character veers close to annoying is spots. Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas sadly seem to be going through the motions even though Pfeiffer gets a decent size of the plot. Both are never outright bad but you get the sense they aren't giving it their all. There's a tonal imbalance throughout the whole film which shifts from quippy goofiness to drop dead serious sometime in the occurring in the same scene. There are points were you start to feel that Majors deserved to be in a better more serious film which would have taken advantage of performance. As is, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania does its job in setting up the future, especially with two rather important post credit scenes, and doing it in an enjoyable but ultimately forgettable film.
B-
