Since what was arguably the best film in the Marvel universe, Avengers
Endgame, the quality in terms of entertainment value has been on a downward
spiral. Sadly Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania doesn’t buck that trend.
The previous two Ant-Man films with their humour and fun characters were
some of the most enjoyable films in the franchise sadly the same can’t be
said of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. An overblown CGI fest where the
main title characters are almost side-lined Quantumania is just another
piece of evidence that Marvel has lost its way at the moment.
The story, which virtually ditches all the secondary characters from the
first two films, sees Ant-Man - Scott Lang’s (Paul Rudd) daughter Cassie
(Kathryn Newton) now as technically savvy has her father. In her basement
along with Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) she invents a machine that can
transport them to the Quantum Realm. Just as Hank’s wife Janet Van Dyne
(Michelle Pfeiffer) is about to tell them to turn it off the machine whisks
Scott, Hope Van Dyne - Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) Cassie, Hank and Janet into
the Quantum Realm.
The Quantum Realm, which is filled with strange creatures that feel that
they have been pulled from a Star Wars film, turns out to be the place
where Kang (Jonathan Majors) has been banished. It’s then left to Ant-Man
and his party to try and stop Kang, who likes to destroy whole planets,
from escaping and wreaking havoc across the universe.
For an Ant-Man and The Wasp film both Ant-Man and The Wasp are in it for a
very limited time, Evangeline Lilly comes out of it the worst with very
little to do and even less to say. Director Peyton Reed seems for some
strange reason to want to focus on Kathryn Newton and Michelle Pfeiffer who
between them seem to take up most of the screen time.
Over reliant on CGI and with a story that really doesn’t make you care for
any of the characters, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a poor third
outing for the smallest Marvel super-hero. Hopefully with Bob Iger back as
Disney Chief Executive things might pick up in the Marvel world and we can
get back to the standards of Avengers Endgame.
