Movie Review - Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

 

Phase 4 of the MCU may not have been the strongest with its films or even its TV shows (which I can now definitely say since Marvel Studios took over that department). But despite that, a few films and shows do stand out such as Spider-Man: No Way Home, Loki, WandaVision and while it's nothing compared to Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, I would also say Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and of course Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. So here we are with the very first film of Phase 5 which is shaping up to finally telling us who the big bad is for this Multiverse saga and to also put heroes, old and new, in their places for the upcoming fight against this new threat. So let's begin by going small with Ant-Man (reprised by Paul Rudd) and The Wasp (reprised by Evangeline Lilly) in their third film:

The film begins by showing us that Janet van Dyne (reprised by Michelle Pfeiffer) wasn't alone during her days in the Quantum Realm. Cut to the present day when, following the Battle for Earth, things have worked out well for both Scott and Hope. But when a device connected to the Quantum Realm goes haywire, Scott, Hope, Janet, Hank (reprised by Michael Douglas) and a now teenage Cassie (this time played by Kathryn Newton) alongside a farm of ants, get sucked in. There they find out a bit more about the realm that Janet was stuck in for so long and wind up being caught in the middle of a war against a being known as Kang the Conqueror (played by Jonathan Majors, who played a variant called He Who Remains in Loki). There they must decide whether to help in the war effort or just find a way home.

The weakest of the three Ant-Man films, but I would not go as far as to call it a bad Marvel film. Yes, it's far from perfect, but it's a mixed bag for me. Parts are good like the visuals, some of the jokes, some of the new characters and the climax at the end. But the parts that are not so good for me are how the formula is getting old and tired, how parts can be a bit predictable and Bill Murray was wasted. A superb actor in his own right, but completely wasted. Still, for the first film of Phase 5, it set up its foundations OK. But not sure if I even want to know what the rest of the films will be like, if this is the best it's going to get. 6/10