The third installment of the Ant-Man saga promised many things, and surprisingly, it mostly delivered them. The second most popular bug of the MCU brings trouble into the Quantum Realm, paired with his usual gags, some clever elements and mostly working dramatic turning points. It also could be a decent Star Wars film at this point.
Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), having had a little break from all the Avengers stuff after saving the world, finds himself uninterested in fights that aren’t his, disappointing his daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton), who’s been secretly studying the Quantum Realm with Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Due to a reckless experiment, they find themselves back outside time and space on a subatomic level, which holds many secrets that Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer), Hank’s wife and Hope’s (Evangeline Lilly) mother refused to talk about since returning to the family in the previous film.
From the moment our characters shrink, it’s like we get on this ride into a miniature world, full of unknown life, unexplored landscapes, thriving cities and the menacing regime of Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). While the art direction is certainly ambitious for the entirety of the film, the visuals feel unconvincing in certain scenes. On the other hand, the various creatures, spaceships and weapons deliver a certain atmosphere that’s been missing from many sci-fi titles, even from Star Wars to some extent. Not sure if this is something we wanted from Quantumania, but it will surely be a welcome surprise to most.
Paul Rudd once again brings stellar performance to the table, as well as Jonathan Majors as Kang, who really shines in the role of the MCU’s next number one bad guy. Corey Stoll’s return as M.O.D.O.K. is a somewhat interesting, somewhat half-baked addition to the movie, but we have Michelle Pfeiffer, who finally gets the opportunity to introduce herself properly. The same is true for Kathryn Newton playing Cassie, who really tries to make the best out of the spotlight she gets, but overall, she falls into the line of the less memorable “new” Avengers. Michael Douglas doesn’t have to do anything special to look cool, although sometimes he seems to not really care about whether he is in the movie or not, and Evangeline Lilly – although bringing her A… or at least B-game – doesn’t really get enough time on the screen to really matter.
Ant-Man promised to have a major effect on the future of the MCU, and after a concerning amount of dull and disappointing entries in the franchise, Quantumania finally made an impact. After the end of Phase 3, Marvel lost something important, which they just might have found in Quantumania. It’s a genuinely entertaining superhero flick, with interesting new elements, a wonderful atmosphere and great promises for the future, that gave me enough hope to look forward to the upcoming movies of the genre this year.
