Ever since Endgame, the Marvel machine has seen its meticulously-plotted designs start to come apart at the seams. The latest to grind its wheels forward in this shared universe is Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and let me tell you: it’s not good folks. It is very, very not good. Throughout 31 (!!!) films and a handful of other Disney+ tie-in shows and special presentation one-offs, the MCU has delivered its fair share of highs and lows but never before has it unleashed such an objectively terrible content clunker. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is Marvel’s worst yet, seriously putting into question this critic’s commitment to keeping up with this increasingly disjointed and time-consuming franchise.
The plot, as written by Rick and Morty staff-writer Jeff Loveness, is as barren as an MCU entry has ever dared to be. After being stuck in the quantum realm for much of his daughter’s coming-of-age, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) feels he needs to be a more active father. His daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) has followed in her old man’s footsteps, engaging in grassroots social justice issues that land her in the slammer. In her spare time, she’s also created her own ant-man suit. Because why not. When Cassie crafts a beacon to map out the quantum realm where Janet Dan Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) spent 30 solitary years, she accidentally opens a rift that sucks her, Scott, Janet, Hope (Evangeline Lilly), and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) in. This all happens in the first fifteen minutes or so.
Devoid of a traditional three act structure, Quantumania is a one-note riff that’s essentially Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves on extra tiny mode. Diminished to subatomic size, Scott and his family discover that there is a secret society in the quantum realm populated by strange creatures. A society that Janet had kept quiet for her own reasons. One thing becomes quickly clear: the entirety of this microscopic world lives in fear of Kang the Conquerer (Jonathan Majors), Marvel’s next big bad. The crux of Quantumania centers around introducing Major’s Kang, though it doesn’t really explore the character in greater depth than Loki’s final episode already did. This is basically a hat on a hat; a way to ensure that those not subscribed to Disney+ know that Kang is a big deal going forward. Even though they’ve already told us this before.
As such, Quantumania feels like a massive waste of time. It’s two hours of uncreative, bloodless, stake-free battles, unconvincing CGI, and incredibly lame dialogue. As in this is likely the worst script that’s ever been in an MCU movie. In his past iterations, the Ant-Man MCU entires got by on scrappiness, spunk, and a good sense of humor – but that’s all missing here. Ant-Man has worked by virtue of his relatively small role in the larger MCU and trying to make this entry a major pivot point for the entirety of the MCU doesn’t work at all. For whatever reason, the attempts at humor are less convincing than they’ve ever been. The jokes all land with a thud while the attempt to inject a more serious nature into this corner of the universe just doesn’t work. This is doubly true with Reed at the helm who seems to lack an understanding of tone and story momentum and can’t balance it all together into a cohesive whole.
Although Majors is a talented addition to the MCU, even his turn here feels like one-note grandstanding. He’s all doom and gloom and inevitability, bringing a sense of gravity to the role that just doesn’t fit in against the otherwise mushy lack of consequence that defines Reed’s world. As a purely visual venture, so too is Quantumania a bizarre failure. Despite some original creature designs and a color-blasted cinematography from Bill Pope, Reed’s basic sense for composition is thrown into serious doubt early on and can never recover. Every shot looks like an actor standing around on a sound stage because every shot is an actor standing around on a sound stage. There’s a sense of sameness to the action choreography and blocking that makes every frame look so drab and dull and repetitive. The set pieces are entirely CGI creations and fail to amaze or impress on a technical or emotional level. There’s nothing innovative or even inviting here making this truly the worst all around effort that Marvel has cranked out. Digital effect workhorses invest countless hours into creating the otherworldly sets and cosmic backdrops but they can’t bring formally frigid filmmaking to life.
The cast itself is a mixed bag. Pfeiffer deservingly gets the bulk of the dramatic heavy lifting while Douglas is minimized to ant-based comic relief. Rudd tries his best but ultimately fails to justify why Ant-Man was needed back for another solo venture. Newton is an okay addition though there’s so little for her to do other than act as a damsel in distress for Scott’s arc. The biggest shocker is Lilly, who despite getting second billing gets less screen time than any of the aforementioned characters. When it comes down to it though, this is for the best as the actress delivers an almost offensively phone-it-in performance whenever she is onscreen. The supporting cast, which includes Bill Murray, David Dastmalchian, Katy M. O’Brian, and William Jackson Harper, serve their purpose of occupying time though none makes much of an impression.
The biggest problem here is just that there are so many problems. And the problems are mostly Giant-Man-sized. The direction is uninspired and lifeless. The script is downright awful. The comedy is derelict, with the script resorting over and over again to poking fun of itself and just how lazy and dumb everything is as well as how ridiculous the larger MCU is. Major characters change their motivation because of throwaway one-liners. There’s no sense momentum or overall plot progression. The visual effects are just downright bad in way too many instances. Marvel has had mixed bags and failings throughout their oeuvre thus far but it’s hard to minimize just how terrible everything about Quantumania is. If this is what we can expect from the future of the MCU, you can find me in the timeline where I stop following along.
CONCLUSION: ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ is bereft of plot, humor, and meaning: a cloying journey into teeny tiny stakes that only amplifies how rudderless the MCU has become in its multiverse era. The worst MCU entry to date.
D
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