Warning: this review contains spoilers. You have been warned.
Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania is a continuation of the Antman series, but this time exploring the mystery of the Quantum Realm. Starring Antman (Paul Rudd) and his daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) alongside him, viewers are taken into the mystical land of the Quantum Realm, learning of an atom-sized world they never knew existed.
I don’t usually check critic scores before seeing a movie. Though lately when it comes to Marvel, sites like Rotten Tomatoes are fairly accurate. Checking the score, I wasn’t surprised that critics hated it and the audience enjoyed it. Just from seeing the trailer, I had a bad feeling that this movie would be like Thor: Love and Thunder. A film where they tried too hard to make their comedy stock and couldn’t live up to the expectations from Thor Ragnarok. Though the critic score was low, I gave Quantumania the benefit of the doubt due to the audience score and hoped Marvel redeemed itself from Thor: Love and Thunder. But I think I was wrong to have hoped. Unfortunately, we were given another mediocre and predictable Marvel movie.
There were a lot of things I didn’t like about this movie. With all the events in it, the plot was all over the place, and the film’s goal seemed to change from beginning to end. It felt like 2 hours and five minutes was not enough time to fit this insane story. My first issue with this movie has to be the timeline. When Scott Lang gets stuck in the Quantum Realm at the end of Ant-man and the Wasp, his daughter Cassie was supposedly around 9-10 years old. It took Scott five years to get out, so Cassie would have been 15 or 16. In this movie, she is supposed to be 18 years old, but things don’t add up. The family seems to be lacking some knowledge, like the stories of the Quantam Realm Janet (Hope’s mom/the original Wasp) neglected to share.
Realism isn’t the goal of the film, but some things made me question the physics of this world. For example, when going into any environment that someone is not used to, we expect to see people wear breathing masks or suits like in James Cameron’s Avatar. However, only Scott and Hope entered the Quantum Realm with a suit on. Now it would make sense for Janet to go into the realm without needing a suit or breathing assist as she was stuck there for 30+ years, but someone like Cassie, who was brand new to the realm, fell in with no problems. I realize it is a sci-fi movie and isn’t realistic in many ways. Still, I can’t imagine that shrinking to the size of an atom and breathing in most likely foreign air wouldn’t affect a human being.
Even though Janet didn’t tell her family the stories of her time in the Quantum Realm, they discovered her history when she returned with them. We met her partner and supposed lover, Lord Krylar, played by actor Bill Murray. Throughout the minimal scenes he was in, Janet and Krylar shared some memories and gave the audience the impression that she was sleeping with him in the Realm. You could tell they were trying to be funny, but the sexual innuendos made for an uncomfortable viewing experience. I felt for Hope. She clearly did not want to hear this from her mother, let alone someone she had just met.
As I said before, there were many things I didn’t love about this movie. But what upset me the most was that it was essentially Marvel’s version of Star Wars. I know the Marvel movies are based on the comics. And sometimes, depending on the director, they are edited story-wise. But this upset me because it’s all been done. It had the same plot as a Star Wars movie, with the “space” type environment, the all-powerful villain, and its rebellion. It felt all too familiar and not in a good way. It was just like Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
With the amount of hate I have given this movie, I would be lying if I didn’t say I enjoyed some parts of it. The characters introduced in the film were quite remarkable, like the Quantum Realm’s freedom fighters. I also enjoyed their pal Veb, a gelatinous creature who often asks the question, “How many holes do you have?” and forces newcomers to drink his goo. He’s a bizarre character but quite entertaining. I also enjoyed the movie’s ending. It left you with a cliffhanger and an almost unsettling feeling about the future of the MCU, the true powers of the villain Kang and a well-needed cameo by Loki and Mobius.
Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania was overall another mediocre Marvel movie. Don’t get me wrong, it was fun to watch with the fighting and weird new creatures, but it was very predictable (as to be expected) and just disappointing. I was hoping Marvel was getting better, especially with the success of Wakanda Forever. Still, they continue making mediocre comedy movies, where quality is not their primary focus. Therefore, I would have to rate Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania 5/10 Frozen Nuggets.
