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

          Hey guys, Chuck here, and I just got back from seeing the new Marvel Studios film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. This is the first project in Marvel's Phase Five, and is the thirty-first overall film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This movie is directed by Peyton Reed, and stars Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, Corey Stoll, Bill Murray, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Michael Douglas. 

        So, it's been a few years since we last saw Scott Lang, and he's doing pretty well for himself. He's a big time celebrity due to his status as an Avenger, he's in a very healthy relationship with Hope van Dyne. Speaking of whom, she's doing really well for herself as well. But one day, after getting his daughter, Cassie, out of jail, Scott learns of a project Cassie has been working on to send signals into the Quantum Realm in the attempt to map it out and observe it. Unfortunately, when the device is activated, it opens a portal that sucks Scott, Cassie, Hope, Hank, and Janet into the Quantum Realm. 

        In the Quantum Realm are two main villains. The first, and easily the best, is Kang the Conqueror. Now, if you guys saw the first season of Loki on Disney+, then you've already seen one Kang variant in the form of He Who Remains. Kang in this movie, much like He Who Remains, is portrayed by Jonathan Majors, and I'm gonna say it. All the hype surrounding Jonathan Majors' Kang in this movie was spot on. He is easily one of the biggest threats to the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Thanos, and there's more to come with Kang's millions of variants in the future, but we'll get to that when we get to films like Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. As for this Kang , yeah, it's awesome, and Jonathan Majors is definitely one of the best Marvel Villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

       The other villain is M.O.D.O.K., which is a massive cyborg that is what's left of Darren Cross/Yellowjacket (the main villain of the original Ant-Man back in 2015). Corey Stoll does an okay job, but as a fan of M.O.D.O.K. from the comics, his backstory here was a bit of a letdown. The armored look was cool, but the giant Corey Stoll face was just creepy. Eeeww. 

       Bill Murray is in the movie as Lord Krylar, who is very much in line with guys like Benicio del Toro as Tanaleer Tivan/The Collector and Jeff Goldblum as The Grandmaster. Unfortunately, his role isn't a massive one, but it's still neat to see Bill Murray in the MCU. 

       Now, the four returning leads of Paul Rudd as Scott, Evangeline Lilly as Hope, Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet, and Michael Douglas as Hank are all fantastic. I especially love seeing Scott and Hope together, and I definitely want to see them more as a couple in future MCU projects. And, I will admit, Kathryn Newton was excellent as Cassie, and it was great to see her suit up alongside Scott and fight against the bad guys. 

         Now, the movie's core concept with the Quantum Realm, as cool as it looks, does borrow heavily from stories like Land of the Lost and Journey to the Center of the Earth. Now, the environment of the Quantum Realm, and the various beings that inhabit it, are all unique and have cool designs and abilities. But, aside from visual aesthetic, it doesn't add much into a pre-existing genre of "worlds within our own" stories. 

        Ultimately, this movie really goes hand-in-hand with last year's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, as both movies go to establish the Multiverse in the MCU. Multiverse of Madness set up that other variants of the Universe exist with multiple variants of heroes we've seen before (just look at how No Way Home had THREE variants of Peter Parker/Spider-Man, played respectively by Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield), while this movie sets up the main antagonist of the Multiverse: Kang. As a means of building the Multiverse, this movie is fantastic. In terms of telling its own story, the movie does a decent job. Not a game changer, but not a disappointment either. Just okay. Which, given the current track record of Marvel Studios right now, I think it's the first step in seeing the MCU get back to what it was during The Infinity Saga. 

           Now, I definitely had a good time watching this movie, and I do recommend it for Marvel fans. Outside of that, if you're not really a Marvel fan you might have an okay time with it, but that's all, I'm afraid. So, as far as a rating, I'm giving Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania a 4.15/5. 

        Anyway guys, that's gonna do it for me today. Be sure to check in tomorrow for my review of Mulan as we continue Disney Renaissance Month. As for Marvel, we'll get back into Marvel when Marvel May kicks off, along with the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.