'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' A Review

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a superhero movie, the third in the Ant-Man series and part of the greater MCU sprawling saga. Scott Lang(Paul Rudd) is settling into his life after saving the world with his family in San Francisco, promoting a book and generally being a low key good guy. But his daughter Cassie(Kathryn Newton) thinks he's given up being a hero and has ambitions of her own. One of those sucks the fam(including Evangeline Lilly as Hope, Michael Douglas as Hank, and Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet) into the quantum realm which Janet has kept secrets about. QUANTUMANIA!

The returning cast are still fun and effective, aside from Lilly who doesn't get much to do and is a bit stiff, Pfeiffer thankfully is given more to do in this installment and it's wonderful to see her do more. There is a hole that Lang's old crew filled but it's taken up with some nice cameos from some talented actors(as well as one bonkers surprise return that it's best not to spoil). There's an interesting tension in the movie which the cast all navigates relatively well, it can't quite decide if it wants to be an Ant-Man comedy or the dark brooding launching point for Jonathan Majors new big time heavy Kang The Conqueror(given recent news it wouldn't surprise if this was completely abandoned), and the result is surprisingly entertaining.

The visual are the movies biggest problem, as almost all of it takes place in the quantum realm it is all shot with green screen on a sound stage there is extensive CG and its uneven. There a couple well rendered and kinetic sequences but in and around them the only thing you can think is "that is Paul Rudd in front of a back drop". Again, given recent news about the visual effects departments for the MCU being underpaid and overworked it is now surprise in this CG heavy installment that this stands out as a problem. But the movie clips along(the shortest MCU runtime in quite awhile), has enough laughs and heart to keep you mostly engaged and only suffers from attempting to split it's narrative difference to introduce Kang.

Goofy, a bit uneven, but entertaining enough.

Currently streaming on Disney+.

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