Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) Movie Review

Synopsis:

Once again, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) joins yet another adventure to the Quantum Realm. Joining him is his love interest, Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), and his daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton). Also joining them is Hope's father, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), and her mother, Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer).

Review:

Peyton Reed’s first two Ant-Man entries were moderate successes. With them, he looked to expand Scott’s journey with a third installment.

Paul Rudd still has his charm in Quantumania. Despite this, the film’s scope is too expansive to accommodate his small-scale boots.

There’s also an attempt to cover a sizeable amount of plot points without ever expanding on them.

For context, Quantumania is the beginning of MCU’s Phase 5 (Where did Phase 4 go?).

With that in mind, Quantumania has difficulty establishing its place in the universe.

As a whole, some elements of the Quantum Realm are colorful and vibrant.

Despite some vibrant visuals, there’s far too much volume on screen at once. Take whenever there’s an action scene, for example.

Quantumania doesn't use its visual effects in moderation.

Instead, it bombards the viewer at once. This leaves the film with little room for them to breathe, also limiting the stakes.

As with this movie’s action sequences, they’re not as creative as the ones in Ant-Man (2015).

Whilst Rudd’s first entry was small-scale, this benefitted the action. This allowed the animators to plan for each scenario.

In this movie, though, there’s far too much CGI on-screen to get invested.

This includes a major emphasis on quick cuts and almost nonexistent choreography.

Still, Scott’s final fight with Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror does offer some decent action.

Jonathan Majors offers brief glimpses of menace and intrigue with Kang.

Due to a myriad of ideas introduced in a 2-hour runtime, though, Majors should’ve been a greater focus.

Despite his title of “The Conqueror” there’s very little time to showcase why this title should resonate.

There’s one scene that shows this, yet it lasts around 15 seconds.

Yet another addition to this film is Kathryn Newton. She portrays Scott’s now teenage daughter, Cassie Lang.

One aspect that is missing here between the two characters is their bond.

Rudd’s interactions with Abby Ryder Fortson’s Cassie were full of warmth and genuine care in the previous films.

For most of this film’s runtime, though, Cassie seems to resent her father to a degree; which is unnecessary.

Conclusion:

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a movie that has far too many ideas. As a result, it forgets how to balance them.

Its action sequences are also very standard. These are all accompanied by the movie's unfinished and often excessive visual effects.

Jonathan Majors as Kang shows occasional promise. Despite this, he isn’t given enough material to expand his character further.

Paul Rudd provides his usual charm as Scott Lang, though this may not be enough for some fans.

Sam’s Action Reaction score:

Characters - 5/10

Story - 5/10

Action - 5/10

CGI and visuals - 5.5/10

Soundtrack - 6/10

Overall score: 5.3 out of 10