Film: Ant-Man & the Wasp - Quantumania

 

GENRE: Action
RATING: PG-13 for action violence and language
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 5 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatre
STARRING: Paul Rudd (Ant-Man; Anchorman; Ghostbusters: Afterlife)
Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country); Kathryn Newton (Big Little Lies)
DIRECTOR: Peyton Reed (Ant-Man; Yes Man; The Break-Up)
WRITER: Jeff Loveness (Rick and Morty episodes)
PLOT: Scott Lang and the gang end up in the Quantum Realm where they run into Kang who is determined to escape to the real world.   

FULL DISCLOSURE: Just watching Marvel because I feel I have to now.           

STORY STUFF: This film is apparently the start of Phase 5. Too bad I found it to be meh. The action part of the story is pretty simple with the characters just trying to meet up and escape the Quantum Realm with a couple complications thrown in. Not a fan of Kang or his tiring exposition. I did like that they went the traditional trilogy route of bringing back things from the first film. The film opens with narration that is cheekily justified. The ending narration makes no lick of sense. Why is Ant-Man talking to us? This isn’t She-Hulk.   

ACTING STUFF: Luckily, Rudd is always a treat to watch. He makes the film bearable. I also enjoyed Newton as an older Cassie. Loved seeing Chidi (William Jackson Harper) is a fun role. Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer do their thing but it didn’t wow me. You probably know by now that I strongly dislike Evangeline Lilly (her short hair isn’t working either). Of the cameos, Bill Murray is just okay and I won’t spoil the other one (not counting the second end credit sequence) but he was a lot of fun though he looked awful. I do not like Majors as Kang. I just don’t find him dynamic at all. I know it is just scars but it looks like he’s forever crying. He’s a downer and makes me wish for Thanos to return.

ARTISTIC STUFF: A lot of the Quantum Realm visuals reminded me of a mix between Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Wars. There’s a part that looks completely lifted out of Attack of the Clones. Some of the creature designs are interesting. I enjoyed the seventies TV theme song used in the film. I wonder how much Baskin Robbins paid to be back in the thick of it; they get quite the promotion.    

VERDICT: Two stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You need to keep watching Marvel like I do.
UPCOMING REVIEW:  Creed III, Scream VI