Marvel At Crossover Level Doing Well Without The Actual Crossovers (Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania review)

Phase 5 has begun...through the perspectives of Scott Lang and the Ant Family. Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is the third in the trilogy, and the 31st movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it expands further away from the palette cleansers this sub-franchise was known for into a Marvel epic that ventures into psychedelic sci-fi/fantasy proportions. Of course, previous cast members return with some new faces but the real reason most fans will be swarming to watch this will be to witness the rise of Kang played by the chameleon that is Jonathan Majors. 

In this installment of the MCU, Scott is living his best life as a lauded hero and the author of his best-selling memoir while Hope is running PymVanDyne Foundation and of course, they are happily together. Cassie, now all grown up is an activist and like her father, keeps getting in trouble for doing the right thing. Hank and Janet are retired but Janet refuses to talk about her time in Quantum Realm after the attempt to rescue her in the predecessor. When it is revealed that Cassie had engineered a signal that reaches the mysterious realm, Janet spirals, and for good reason when minutes later, the cast is swept down into the secret world that thrives below ours. As the ensemble traverses the Quantum Realm, we are introduced to a weird society that is oppressively ruled by the notorious and mysterious Kang. 

Quantumania is definitely much different than the previous Ant-Man films. The main reason is the setting it focuses on which could cause a bit of whiplash to fans who were fond of Ant-Man's small-scale antics. (This is surprising since many fans weren't fond of the Ant-Man films for being not important enough). However, the film indeed feels like it finally puts the Quantum realm mystery to rest. It may not be everyone's cup of tea but the Quantum Realm is so silly and bonkers, it's bound to lose touch with some audience members. As someone that did appreciate it, the new world introduced here, the rules and wonder of the sentient beings and how they live down there was compelling and imaginative which improves the fact that all of it looked too good to look away. 

Despite having some wonky instances in the script and editing, Quantumania eventually smooths it all out with the intrigue and excitement of what it might bring to the future of the franchise. From epic Avengers-style events and post-credit scenes that will knock your socks off, Quantumania is Marvel at its cross-over level without the actual crossovers. In my opinion, critics have been too harsh with how they are perceiving this film for digging too deep but there are some things people could have problems with. 

With the film borrowing themes from Star Wars and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland via subplots involving rebellions and meeting weird characters, the film does feel a tad unoriginal to a certain degree but if audiences are willing to look past these similarities to those aforementioned properties, it is a blast to watch. Unlike the previous MCU films that slightly suffered from short runtimes (specifically Multiverse of Madness and Love and Thunder), Quantumania did not feel rushed or unsettled in order to reach the final act to keep audiences interested. The film took its time showing off the visuals, keeping fans invested, and introducing the looming threat of the Multiverse Saga. 

Majors as Kang The Conqueror rules this sequel. It may be far-fetched to consider that he may steal the show but whenever Majors is onscreen, he commands the scene with all eyes on him, paying attention to everything he says (as a matter of fact, we should be keeping ears perked when he is speaking). Kang is fearsome, hysterical, and angry and that should be enough for fans to be excited about Kang's involvement as the new big bad but also fear what he is (or his variants are) capable of. Not many may agree but the real scene stealer is the inclusion of MODOK in the narrative. Marvel Studios does do the classic villain no justice by tweaking the character origins to work for the overarching arc that is part of the Ant-Man films rather than be a true adaptation of the comic book counterpart;. 

This is Paul Rudd's most dramatic performance in the MCU as he was shoved into a pretty serious circumstance. But what bothered me the most was that a majority of his performance was focused on protecting Cassie rather than Hope or her parents. The same can be said for Evangeline Lilly's performance but at least she spent at least a quarter of her arc worried about Scott and Cassie. Amongst the main ensemble, Michelle Pfeiffer will surprise audiences more with her performance. As a character that has been subtly mentioned in the first film and then barely featured in the second, Pfeiffer makes her mark here as her mysterious past with the antagonist unravels, as it becomes one of the best parts of the film.

Since the announcement that they would recast Emma Fuhrmann as Cassie Lang in Endgame to  Kathryn Newton, I was a little disappointed but moved on like everyone else.  This a hot take on my regard but this was a questionable choice on Marvel's right. Newton is a great actress but there was something I couldn't fathom with her performance. It is surprising due to my recent knowledge of her performance in Blumhouse's Freaky but her portrayal as Cassie just doesn't stick the landing quite right. She needs to do a lot more to prove herself as a worthy successor to both Ant-Man and The Wasp they continue to introduce more Young Avengers but until then, I'm certainly not fond of this decision. 

To end, Quantumania is definitely worth watching in the cinema. It is fun, and enjoyable and has enough to keep you on your toes for what's about to come. Kevin Feige delivers on the promise that Quantumania will provide a clearer path and it does. Do we get more questions than answers? Yes. It is a Marvel movie. Nothing gets revealed until the end and I have a feeling nobody seems to be remembering how long we had to wait in order to get the payoffs we got during the Infinity Saga.