'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' film review: Wild ride, chilling debut for an evil conqueror
The literal smallest Avenger finds himself thrown into a strange world ruled by a terrifying conqueror in the sci-fi adventure 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' (opening in theaters nationwide Feb. 17).
In short: Scott Lang, Hope Van Dyne, Hank Pym, Janet Van Dyne and Cassie Lang are pulled into the Quantum Realm - as they search for a way back home, they encounter a dangerous new enemy. Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Kathryn Newton, Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Douglas and Jonathan Majors star.
Just to mention this upfront: yes, 'Quantumania' includes two extra scenes after the credits start to roll - a mid-credits sequence related to this film's resolution and a post-credits scene teasing a future story.
Now more than 30 films into the ongoing series, the new 'Ant-Man' adventure finds exciting new corners of the MCU to explore and enemies laying in wait. For a franchise founded in the grounded reality of 'Iron Man,' this new 'Ant-Man' flick pushes the MCU into new levels of super weird. And because the story takes places in the truly bizarre Quantum Realm, 'Quantumania' has fun exploring a dimension where the conventional laws of physics just don't apply.
‘Quantumania’ goes all in on the Quantum Realm - only briefly explored in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp.’ While the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ flicks have fun with deep space, ‘Quantumania’ has all the vibes of the Mos Eisley cantina, but extrapolated into a fantastically unreal new universe. It’s kinda great that the audience’s guide through the Quantum Realm is the relatable and unheralded Avenger. Lang has always been one of the most “everyman” Avengers, which makes this journey through this trippy world so much more engaging - it’s essentially a family lost in a new world and just trying to find their way home.
One of the main criticisms of the MCU flicks has been some fairly shallow antagonists - but 'Quantumania' flips this with a truly unnerving force of nature that is Kang the Conqueror. Jonathan Majors, sort of reprising his role from 'Loki,' has the pure gravitas worthy of becoming an Avengers-level threat: a villain who one hero alone cannot defeat. Majors exudes a wariness of worlds conquered ... and a complete willingness to destroy without hesitation.
That said, 'Quantumania' admittedly leans a bit too much into "who is the mysterious bad guy who scares everyone in the Quantum Realm" mystique. The script throws its heroes into the Quantum Realm as fast as possible, ostensibly just to formally introduce Kang the Conqueror into the MCU. A pretty standard formula within the comic book format is the "prelude" preceding most major comic book storyline "events." And 'Quantumania' very much feels like a one-off prelude pointing the Marvel flicks toward the forthcoming 'Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.'
Were it not for Majors and his coiled evil take on Kang, perhaps the most surprising aspect here is ... the unexpected return of an MCU villain who has mutated into something much more sinister. And honestly, this villain's character arch is probably the most humane, tragic and oddly endearing surprise of 'Quantumania.' This spoiler-free review will not identify this character's name - except to mention that this is a character assumed to be killed in a previous MCU flick, and makes the most out of their second chance. And because the Quantum Realm is totally bizarre, this character's return ... sorta makes sense.
It's worth noting this review doesn't mention the protagonists very much - and that's because 'Quantumania' is a plot-driven adventure through a crazy new world ruled by a despot ... which almost entirely throws out any character arch for either Ant-Man or the Wasp. They're reduced to their superpowers, with this third 'Ant-Man' flick coasting on the characterization laid out in previous films. Janet Van Dyne (Pfeiffer) is sort of a guide through the weird Quantum world and Hank Pym (Douglas) is along for the ride ... because ants. The story attempts some throughline between Scott Lang and his now adult daughter Cassie (Newton), but 'Quantumania' simply moves too quickly through its plot points to really make this the father-daughter story it tries to embrace.
Final verdict: 'Quantumania' is a wild ride as the MCU continues expanding its universe, while introducing a captivating threat. A little too lean on character arch for its heroes, but more than makes it up with two great villains.
Score: 3/5
'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' opens in theaters on Feb. 17. This sci-fi adventure has a runtime of 124 minutes and is rated PG-13 for violence/action, and language.
