Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

When it comes to their Marvel properties, there’s this slightly morbid insistence by Disney to tie every teeny tiny detail of previous movies, television shows, and character arcs together in obsessive fashion. It’s becoming such an uncontrollable urge by the studio to engage in this behavior that the cause-and-effect is resulting in disasters like “Eternals,” “Thor: Love and Thunder,” and now, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” Trying too hard to force a non-story into the already lame Ant-Man mythology, the film reunites superhero partners Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) as Ant-Man and the Wasp. The pair find themselves thrust into the dangerous Quantum Realm along with Hope’s parents Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), along with Scott’s teenage daughter, Cassie (Kathryn Newton). As they explore the unusual terrain and alien society filled with strange creatures, Janet reveals that she didn’t quite tell the group everything about the three decades she spent trapped in the realm. Facing new dangers from supervillan Kang the Conquerer (Jonathan Majors), the family must unite to stop a worldwide disaster. Very little about this project feels like a satisfying superhero movie and instead, it’s more like an assemblage of other (and far better) science fiction films. If not for the titanic budget and big-name stars, it could almost be mistaken for a Redbox “mockbuster” of “Star Wars,” “Mad Max,” “Avatar,” and “Godzilla” combined. The film takes place extensively in the Quantum Realm, which provides an unsightly setting of muted, dark brown, washed-out visuals. It’s an ugly place, so who why would audiences want to spend time there? The Realm is a melting pot of exotic creatures and peculiar inhabitants that appear to have waltzed right out of the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine. They’re cool to look at I guess, but was the point to make the film more appealing to children, or was it Disney’s way of appeasing the animators by letting them have some fun? The first third of the film seems like it’s Janet’s show, as she keeps bringing up the fact that she has all these secrets that she won’t spill to Hope and Hank (even though they’re all stuck in the Realm together). There’s no compelling mystery nor reveal. Screenwriter Jeff Loveness is grasping at straws to craft a somewhat cohesive story while also struggling to make it fit into the MCU mythology. At some point, I wish someone would just make a damn standalone Marvel superhero movie and quit worrying about who and what goes where and how. The story is frequently erratic. There’s plenty of energetic CGI action, but there also some moments that play like a touching family drama, some that create an anti-climatic post-apocalyptic narrative, and lots of failed attempts at comic relief. The film also has recurring (and awkward) socially conscious messaging that doesn’t entirely feel out of place, but it is aggressive (there’s even a direct mention of socialism by one of the characters, which will really aggravate already-angry conservatives). The screenplay is peppered with dreadful one-liners like “it’s never too late to stop being a dick!” and “ants don’t give up!” I really, really wish I was joking about this. The remainder of the movie features a lot of talk about time, the desire to get home, and — Marvel fans, you know what’s coming — the multiverse! It’s that one little word that means endless movies, endless stories, and endless money. It’s also the easy way to guarantee that all of these films in the canon always have a cop-out to lazily excuse away any inconsistencies (not that many of us could keep up or remember anyway). Another major problem with the film is that it can only chug along on Rudd’s likeability (and the cast’s talent) for so long. It’s barely tolerable until Kang shows up, but he’s a wickedly delicious character portrayed by a terrific actor (it’s a real shame that this had to be the film for Majors’ MCU debut). In fact, the entire cast deserves better. Despite all of them turning in strong performances, they still feel mostly wasted here. “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” lacks the memorable spectacle that most superhero films need in order to succeed. There’s no massively rousing, crowd-pleasing moment, and it’s one of the more unremarkable entries in the MCU. **By: Louisa Moore / SCREEN ZEALOTS**

Life for Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is good. He is basking in the recognition and fame that has come with his work with the Avengers and saving half the universe from Thanos and has even become a best-selling author. He has a successful relationship with Hope (Evangeline Lilly) who has taken her father’s company to new heights and they have managed to blend their personal and professional lives and enjoy a very happy life. Scott does worry about his daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) as he lost several years with her during the Blip and she is an activist who has been arrested for her efforts including a hysterical prank on the police with Pym technology. Cassie is constantly on her father for not doing more as she feels that he is more focused on the past battles with the Avengers and not the day to day struggles people are facing. Over dinner, she tells Hope and her dad as well as Hank (Michael Douglas), and Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer), whom she studied Hank’s journals while they were in the Blip and has developed a Quantum beacon which can map the Quantum Realm without having to venture to the sub-atomic relay where until recently nobody had been able to return from. This news sends Janet into a panic during a demonstration and the four are soon sucked into the realm and discover a diverse and thriving ecosystem as well as an abundance of strange and dangerous creatures. Janet is clearly hiding something and is frantic that they must leave but their party has been scattered and they soon learn that she fears and individual known as Kang (Jonathan Majors). While she was trapped in the realm for thirty years, Janet encountered King and helped him regain his power source but in doing so, learned he was a banished conquerer who can manipulate time, space, and the multiverse. Her actions to trap Kang and lead a resistance to the vast empire he created has set the stage as Janet has now returned to see what has developed and Kang will stop at nothing to regain his power source to escape and wreck his wrath on trillions. Naturally, it is up to Scott, Hope, and the team to find a way to fight the evil and powerful Kang to save the day. The film is a darker tale than people might expect from an Ant-man movie but in kicking off Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the movie is a visual splendor filled with amazing visuals, landscapes, and characters. The film takes a bit of time to get to the action but when it arrives it delivers and the performance of Majors as Kang is captivating it will be interesting to see where the storyline evolves over the next series of films leading up to “The Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” and beyond. “Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania may not break loads of new ground in terms of a Marvel film but Director Peyton Reed knows the characters well and delivers a story that should resonate with the fans and the strong cast and addition of Majors along with the great visuals make this another winner for Marvel. 4 stars out of 5

"Oh, Daddy - It's all my fault!". Well no "Cassie" (Kathryn Newton), not quite. You certainly developed the piece of communications kit that lands everyone in the quantum soup, but the blame really must go to Peyton Reed and Jeff Loveness for directing and writing this latest emanation from Marvel's increasingly un-special film factory. It starts off with a great little device that could quickly put Papa John's out of business before we are sucked into the cantina from "Star Wars" (1977) where our recently arrived travellers find themselves pursued by the ridiculously un-menacing "M.O.D.O.K" - a sort of robotic killing version of the golden statue from the top of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) after it had had a good time with "V.I.N.C.E.N.T" from "The Black Hole" (1979) - before Michelle Pfeiffer "Janet" explains to her family (and to us) just what has led them to a predicament where they must avoid the evil clutches of "Kang the Conqueror" (Jonathan Majors). Now this gift that keeps on giving for this studio never struggles to impress visually, and the imagination of those who create these magical effects and alien shapes and sizes must be commended. However, this latest offering featuring, in my view, the weakest of their arsenal of characters is just entirely derivative and unremarkable. Aside from a very few bon-mots from Paul Rudd the dialogue is dry and the action scenes are all concentrated in one or two sequences whilst the rest of this serves as little better than colourful padding for the thinnest of storylines. Rudd is quite an unassuming kind of actor. Engaging, yes - but somehow just too lightweight for the grandness of the surrounding imagery. Michael Douglas ("Pym") features sparingly and the cameo from Bill Murray might have worked better in "Guardians of the Galaxy" - here it is almost laughable. If these are to keep coming off the production line as thickly and quickly as seems likely, then somebody somewhere is going to have to spend much more effort on developing stronger and more compelling stories because the audiences are surely immune to the vibrancy of the special effects by now. This is really forgettable fayre.