Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Year: 2023
Director: Peyton Reed
Starring: Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton & Paul Rudd
Runtime: 124 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 21/02/23
Director: Peyton Reed
Starring: Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton & Paul Rudd
Runtime: 124 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 21/02/23
Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe struggled to ever find its feet. Unsure as to how to carry on from the cataclysmic events of Avengers: Endgame, it seemed like Disney and Marvel were just throwing everything at the wall to see what stuck, and worrying little of it worked.
But Phase Five brings with it new opportunities to get the franchise on the straight and narrow (because like it or not it’s going to stick around for a long time yet). So, what better way to kick off the phase than by introducing the MCU’s next big bad? It would seem that Disney should book Jonathan Majors in for a shoulder massage from him carrying this bore of a film on his shoulders.
Following the defeat of Thanos, Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) has been enjoying family time with his daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton), girlfriend Hope (Evangeline Lilly), and her parents Hank (Michael Douglas), and Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer). But when Cassie builds a communication device to the Quantum Realm they are all dragged down to a new world at sub-molecular level, a world ruled by Kang the Conquerer (Jonathan Majors), a multiversal traveller with unimaginably destructive powers.
But Phase Five brings with it new opportunities to get the franchise on the straight and narrow (because like it or not it’s going to stick around for a long time yet). So, what better way to kick off the phase than by introducing the MCU’s next big bad? It would seem that Disney should book Jonathan Majors in for a shoulder massage from him carrying this bore of a film on his shoulders.
Following the defeat of Thanos, Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) has been enjoying family time with his daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton), girlfriend Hope (Evangeline Lilly), and her parents Hank (Michael Douglas), and Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer). But when Cassie builds a communication device to the Quantum Realm they are all dragged down to a new world at sub-molecular level, a world ruled by Kang the Conquerer (Jonathan Majors), a multiversal traveller with unimaginably destructive powers.
The Ant-Man films have been consistently underwhelming, never truly realising the potential of a hero with the skill set he has. The original film played with scale in some brief but interesting ways and the second film has fleeting moments like it, but Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s greatest fault is placing its characters in an environment where scale means nothing. Whilst there are some visual indicators that our characters are shrinking or enlarging, we have no reference for scale because Quantumania takes place in a world so unlike our own.
But that is far from the only issue with Quantumania. The script is lifeless, devoid of anything meaningful beyond introducing Kang to the MCU. None of our heroes have anything interesting to bring to the table, no development happens, and although the stakes appear to be high at first glance, they couldn’t be lower if they tried.
It’s all over the place tonally. It wants to have its trademark MCU quippiness, but then the moment Majors is on screen everyone is deadly serious, only to revert back to the farcical antics the very moment Majors is out of frame.
Then there’s MODOK, and the less said about him the better because that portrayal was borderline insulting.
But that is far from the only issue with Quantumania. The script is lifeless, devoid of anything meaningful beyond introducing Kang to the MCU. None of our heroes have anything interesting to bring to the table, no development happens, and although the stakes appear to be high at first glance, they couldn’t be lower if they tried.
It’s all over the place tonally. It wants to have its trademark MCU quippiness, but then the moment Majors is on screen everyone is deadly serious, only to revert back to the farcical antics the very moment Majors is out of frame.
Then there’s MODOK, and the less said about him the better because that portrayal was borderline insulting.
Majors does absolutely nail the tone and intimidation level necessary for the MCU’s next Thanos level villain. He’s such a presence on screen, and initially I wondered how much of it was him appearing to be great because everything else was so underwhelming, but the more I think about Majors’ performance the more I realise how great he really is in that role.
Visually, Quantumania is a mash-up of the Star Wars prequel trilogy and Spy Kids 3. Credit where it’s due, this is the best visual effects work in the MCU in a very long time, but there’s so much of it that it’s totally overwhelming. You can see it in the performances too, nobody knows where to look or how to stand and everyone just looks a bit awkward. You’d think in this day and age that actors (particularly in action franchises like the MCU) would do better in such extreme CGI scenarios, but evidently Quantumania relied a little too much on digital effects at the cost of the actors being able to get into the scene.
Quantumania isn’t as bad as some of the more recent MCU projects, but then again that’s not saying much. It is proof, clear as day, that this franchise has run its course and has little anything of excitement and substance left to offer.
Whilst I’m looking forward to Majors’ return as Kang in future projects, Quantumania struggles to justify its own existence outside of simply introducing this new villain.
Visually, Quantumania is a mash-up of the Star Wars prequel trilogy and Spy Kids 3. Credit where it’s due, this is the best visual effects work in the MCU in a very long time, but there’s so much of it that it’s totally overwhelming. You can see it in the performances too, nobody knows where to look or how to stand and everyone just looks a bit awkward. You’d think in this day and age that actors (particularly in action franchises like the MCU) would do better in such extreme CGI scenarios, but evidently Quantumania relied a little too much on digital effects at the cost of the actors being able to get into the scene.
Quantumania isn’t as bad as some of the more recent MCU projects, but then again that’s not saying much. It is proof, clear as day, that this franchise has run its course and has little anything of excitement and substance left to offer.
Whilst I’m looking forward to Majors’ return as Kang in future projects, Quantumania struggles to justify its own existence outside of simply introducing this new villain.