“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” (now streaming), the third film in the series and 31st Marvel Cinematic Universe film overall, starts the 2023 calendar strong after a mediocre 2022 of “Dr. Strange,” “Thor” and “Black Panther” sequels.
It has the visual world-building I enjoy, as the quantum realm’s architecture, denizens and comic-book colors call to mind the vibrant Golden Age-inspired sci-fi worlds of “Jupiter Ascending” and “Valerian.” But this would amount to mere pretty pictures if not for the Pym-Lang family bond that has served these films well.
Although comedy veteran Petyon Reed has directed all three “Ant-Mans” and another comedy vet, Jeff Loveness, makes his MCU screenwriting debut here, “Quantumania” stays reasonably grounded. It’s relatively light and humorous, but not at the expense of emotions or stakes.
“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” (2023)
Director: Peyton Reed
Writer: Jeff Loveness
Stars: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas
Hope (Evangeline Lilly), Hank (Michael Douglas) and Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) are all involved, but there’s only so much time to work with – 2 hours, 4 minutes, as the MCU films are perhaps trying to be less bloated. As such, the most heartfelt relationship is that of father Scott/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton), and that’s the right approach by Loveness.
Cassie casting
For a moment I was put off by Newton playing Cassie, both because the time-jump from her last little-kid appearance seems too extreme and because it seems unfair to the previous actress to be recast. But I looked it up and Newton is the third Cassie Lang (following Abby Ryder Fortson and Emma Fuhrmann), and she’s decent at playing younger than her age. (Newton is 26 playing 18; the other actresses are currently 15 and 21, respectively.)
Rudd is so likeable as the loving father trying to make up for missed birthdays that it’s easy to accept all of these actresses as Scott’s daughter. But let’s hope they stick with Newton for future appearances. It’s a blast to see Cassie following her grandparents’ footsteps as a science genius (albeit a reckless one, natch) and learn the powers of her superhero father’s suits (of which she has made her own version).
Like the first two entries, “Quantumania” portrays the shrinking and enlarging effects within fights smoothly and clearly. And not for a moment do these suited heroes (also including Hope, a.k.a. The Wasp) seem like digital effects rather than people. Even amid battles, they often turn down their masks – which only requires a head-nod — and have conversations.
Big stakes in a tiny world
Which isn’t to say the quantum realm isn’t a crazy place. One particularly impressive sequence finds Scott teaming up with 100 other Scotts. There’s a touch of James Gunnian wackiness to some creature designs, notably a wild-card character who is all face, with tiny limbs coming out its sides.
It may be a small world, but the stakes are big thanks to monster-god Kang the Conqueror. (Don’t blame me, I voted for Kodos.) I wouldn’t be surprised if Jonathan Majors patterned his performance after Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Operative in “Serenity” (2005).
Both villains have a resigned quality where they are untroubled with being pure evil but also are saddened by the predictability of heroes who won’t roll over. Kang might take pleasure in the grandness of his plans, but not in specific tasks like killing individual foes; it’s a refreshing change from the norm.
Thanks to Kang’s schemes, “Quantumania” introduces good comic-book conundrums like “Would you sacrifice the universe in order to save a loved one?” And if you don’t know anything about other universes in the multiverse, should it matter to you if they are destroyed? Should you only care about your own?
The MCU’s wider conflict emerges
The film is a little slow to establish the conflict. We’re an hour into it before Janet – who was trapped in this realm for 30 years – finally reveals her experiences and mistakes during that time, which point to the danger Kang poses. This delay creates some suspense, but mostly irritation.
I wonder if “Quantumania” saw it had an opportunity to use Bill Murray and couldn’t say no. His character serves little purpose (not even for Murray-esque dry laughs), and that time could’ve spent establishing the anti-Kang revolutionaries as individuals a bit more.
Although it goes unexplained why some of them look like humans, there are neat concepts among the freedom fighters, including a mind-reader (William Jackson Harper’s Quaz) whose forehead lights up. And Jentorra (Katy M. O’Brian) is a cool warrior woman in design, like Valkyrie from “Thor.” O’Brian joins the limited ranks of multi-role MCU players, as she also appeared in TV’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”
Reed’s film slots in nicely as a standalone “Ant-Man” adventure while not losing sight of the (pun kind of intended) bigger picture. Similar to how Thanos made film-by-film advances in the previous decade’s MCU films, Kang steps up as an evil visionary. In this regard, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is homework for the wider MCU narrative, but it’s about as fun as homework gets.