Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania kickstarts phase five of Marvel movies but even the ever-dependable Paul Rudd can’t save the film.
Directed by Peyton Reed, the film begins after the blip, which wiped out Scott Lang/ Ant-Man from Earth for five years. Later, Scott along with his teenage daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton), the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), and her parents Janet and Hank (Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas)— all are sucked into the quantum realm.
Janet, who was stuck in the realm for 30 years before returning home, introduces the audience to the villain, Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). He is powerful and evil and almost a Voldemort or Thanos-like figure. The reluctance by everyone to name him is a narrative strategy deployed to create an environment of menace that subsequent films will have to deal with.
Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Douglas and Kang
Rudd is as good as ever as he reprises his role, but he is now a father struggling to match steps with his daughter. The father-daughter chemistry between Rudd and Newton might not remind you of the bond between X-Men’s Logan-Laura, but it comes close to the Clint Barton-Kate Bishop team of Hawkeye (2021).
Rudd, however, is not given enough dialogues or moments to shine. He gets fewer laughs this time and the emotional moments are not powerful enough.
Meanwhile, Michelle Pfeiffer holds the audience’s attention. She shows spectacular strength in the quantum realm and plays the narrator for Kang’s story. Michael Douglas’ presence evokes nostalgia for the earlier two films, which made the Ant-Man series a Marvel gem. He gets to have the glory walk in Quantumania, but only at the very end. Lilly has a supporting role that is not written to be anything but that.
Kang, the new addition to the supervillain brigade of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), gains from Majors’ quiet demeanour. Much like Thanos, Kang possesses boundless power and creates unease. He becomes the centre of conflict and all the chaos.
The Quantum realm is filled with creatures of all kinds and the world looks eerily similar to what was part of Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). It lacks original visualisation or creative VFX, and has truly terrible CGI. It is not anything you have not seen before in MCU. The best scenes remain the iconic shrinking and enlarging of the superhero family while fighting enemies.
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Grim replaces fun in Quantumania
Endless and often long-drawn fighting scenes, and a plot that seems to be going nowhere is what the 125-minute runtime of the movie is all about.
The Ant-Man franchise has always been driven by Scott Lang’s personality and his sense of humour. His understated romance with Hope is one of the perks of the storyline. Sadly, Reed has sacrificed it all for a grim storyline, which is disappointing. Quantumania lacks the spark and consistent fun of an Ant-Man film.
The final battle, which comes too late, fails to make up for the slow pace of the first half of the film. However, the truly spectacular is saved for the end and it tries its best to make up for the movie.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)