Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Today my brother and I checked out “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” which came out in theaters in February but on Disney+ a week ago, and I will let you know what I thought of it.

Appropriately for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s smallest heroes, the likability of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” are small, but still satisfying.

Life is pretty good for Scott Lang, reprised by Paul Rudd, the ex-con and now hero because of his work helping to save the world as Ant-Man, part of The Avengers team who saved half of humanity and defeated Thanos. Now he’s settled down to a normal life with girlfriend, fellow superhero and philanthropist Hope van Dyne, reprised by Evangeline Lilly. Occasionally Scott has to bail his daughter Cassie, played by Kathryn Newton, out of jail for reasons against civil disobedience, and deal with Cassie’s criticism that her dad doesn’t care about helping people.

Cassie, helped by Hope and Hope’s inventor father Hank Pym, reprised by Michael Douglas, has been creating a device to see the subatomic universe called the “quantum realm.” When Hank’s wife, Janet, reprised by Michelle Pfeiffer, sees Cassie’s device is sending a signal into the quantum realm, she tells her to turn it off – but not before the device is activated and starts pulling all of the lab equipment, Hank’s ant farm, and eventually the five of them down into the subatomic.

Scott and Cassie get separated from everyone, and end up with a group of rebels trying to avoid the cruel leader of the quantum realm. Hope, Hank, and Janet are somewhere else, with Janet – who spent 30 years in the quantum realm (which was revealed in 2018’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp”) – keeping secrets about why she’s terrified of returning. Sean P. Means said in his review, “Janet leads Hope and Hank through the seedier elements of this place, which mostly involves a not-so-pleasant few minutes with a local scoundrel played by Bill Murray.”

In the end, we find out about who is making Janet petrified: Kang, the Conqueror, played by Jonathan Majors, a supervillain whose evil spreads the multiverse.

Means notes, “Director Peyton Reed, now on his third movie with “Ant-Man” in the title, knows not to take this bug-themed superhero stuff too seriously.” That’s why the rebels include a goo creature (David Dastmalchian), and another a telepath (William Jackson Harper) who’s clearly aggravated by what people always think about. And it’s why Kang has a secondary villain (Corey Stoll), right out of Marvel canon, whose reveal is really funny.

Means mentions, “The screenplay, the first produced feature script by “Rick & Morty” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” writer Jeff Loveness, has some funny bits, along with gaps in its credulity that aren’t papered over by saying “it’s the quantum realm — the rules are different here.” Still, the plot gives plenty of chances for Rudd’s easygoing charm to win us over, and to give the supporting players — especially Pfeiffer — room to shine.”

Means continues, “The most intriguing thing about “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania” is Majors as Kang — who, we already know from his appearance in Marvel’s series “Loki” and in promises from Marvel Uber-producer Kevin Feige, is going to be the big bad guy for several movies to come.” Based on the evidence here, he will be someone worth following through this new phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Spoiler alert: in the mid-credits scene, every variant of Kang, let by Immortus (Majors), sympathize Kang’s death and plan their Multiverse conquering. The post-credits scene shows Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Mobius (Owen Wilson) encountering another Kang variant, Victor Timely, on Earth in 1901.

I don’t get why critics were hating on this movie. My brother and I saw this and I found myself enjoying this a lot. There was a part where I felt as though I was going to nod off, but that was probably because of eating while watching this. However, I know that certain parts of this film seems like the scenery was like that in Star Wars, Bladerunner, Guardians of the Galaxy, or Dune, but I didn’t mind it. I still found parts of this funny, it was very humanizing, emotional, and I liked the look and action of this film. I would say this might be another one of my favorite comic book adaptations. Check it out on Disney+ if you didn’t see it in theaters. Don’t listen to the hate, judge it for yourself.

Thank you for joining in on another installment from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Stay tuned this Friday for the conclusion of “Chevy Chase Month.”