By Sarah Sherman
In his new film, the American director Peyton Reed tells a complicated science fiction story that serves as the backstory of a new Marvel villain, Kang.
Every day, people depend on quantum-based technology, like the GPS, to get to new places or find shortcuts to older ones. This film is set in the Quantum Realm, which is a fictional subatomic dimension that only exists in the Marvel Universe. I would give this movie a 9/10 rating because I loved the characterization of most of the characters, the fighting sequences/blocking of the fighting scenes, costumes, the representation of strong female characters, and the redemption arc for M. O. D. O. K. Overall, I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys science fiction and action/adventure films.
‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ (2023) is an action/adventure/comedy that depicts the underdog superhero Ant-Man who, with the help of his friends and some ants, travels the Quantum Realm and successfully saves timelines in the multiverse from destruction and defeats a variant of Kang. This film is directed by Peyton Reed, and the characters are Ant-Man/Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), Wasp/Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), and Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). The film was released in theaters on February 17, 2023, and is rated PG-13 for violence, action, and language, and is 2 hours and 4 minutes long.
The characterization of Ant-Man and Wasp was fantastic. Ant-Man was portrayed as his usual silly and goofy self, and Paul Rudd did an excellent job as always bringing Ant-Man to life. Wasp was still the same amazing, tough, and skilled warrior we knew from the original films. The chemistry between Ant-Man and Wasp was spot on as they seemed more like an old married couple from the way they would hug and interact with each other in a scene; especially in the scene where Wasp goes back to the Quantum Realm to save Ant-Man and help him destroy Kang.
I do wish there had been more inclusion of Wasp and her father, Pym, in the film. In the first two films, they were major characters heavily involved in the plot, and in this film, they were more on the sidelines to make way for Janet, Kang, and Cassie. I also felt that there could have been more of a focus on having scenes with both Ant-Man and Wasp together as they are literally in the title of the film, yet the plot focused more on Janet and Kang and his backstory. Wasp was hardly in the film, and Ant-Man and Wasp barely interacted with each other for most of the film. Ant-Man was mostly with Cassie and Kang, while Wasp was either with her parents or in the background. As the title characters, it would have been better to have the film’s overall plot focus more on them and not so much on Janet and Kang.
The characterization of the new Cassie (Kathryn Newton) was not the same as the characterization of the original Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson) in the first two films. The new Cassie was sweet, but she was more serious and reserved than the goofy and outgoing Cassie we all fell in love with in the first two films. The original Cassie seemed more like a real person with her witty and sarcastic dialogue, and her father/daughter chemistry with Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) felt more authentic and genuine. When Ant-Man would hug Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson) and call her his “Peanut” in the original films, it seemed like how you would imagine a father hugging his daughter, with Cassie shouting “Daddy” before throwing her arms around him and him responding with “Hi Peanut” before offering the audience a genuine smile as he hugged her. When Paul Rudd hugged Kathryn Newton and called her his “Peanut,” it felt awkward, and it seemed forced from Rudd’s expression as his smile did not seem as genuine. It seemed more like he was hugging a distant cousin instead of his daughter. Though I thought Kathryn Newton did a great job acting, I wish that the original actress had been kept and that Kathryn Newton’s version of Cassie had been made into a new character. The father/daughter chemistry between Paul Rudd and Abby Ryder Fortson was more real and felt more genuine.
The costume designs were excellent and fit the style of the movie. I especially liked Wasp’s costume, with the black, yellow, and blue color scheme, and her wings really looked, well, like a wasp’s wings. I also liked Kang’s black costume with the cape; it gave me Kylo-Ren vibes from Star Wars. The cinematography, CGI, and visual effects were excellent! I noticed the colors used throughout the film were more desaturated and muted, with flashes of bright colors during the fight scenes, which created a stark contrast between light and dark. The darker saturation and cooler colors used to portray the Quantum Realm gave it and the film a more mysterious and dark tone.
The music chosen for the film fit the vibe perfectly, with quieter to no music during scenes with more dialogue and techno and more fast-paced music for the intense fighting scenes.I thought the fighting scenes were blocked very well, especially in the finale at the end with the revolution and the ants. The punches were well coordinated, and the reactions to the strikes were believable. The final fight between Ant-Man, Kang, and Wasp was my favorite as it showed Ant-Man as the underdog who, despite getting overpowered by Kang, kept fighting Kang, even as he was bleeding and could barely move. I was pleasantly surprised when Wasp came out of nowhere and helped Ant-Man destroy Kang while simultaneously saving Ant-Man and the world.
I do like how women are portrayed in the film as being strong characters, with Cassie becoming her own superhero, rescuing Jentorra (Katy M. O’Brian), and starting a revolution against Kang. I also like the portrayal of Jentorra as a strong warrior who protected her people and fought in the revolution against Kang. Lastly, I liked how Janet was portrayed as both kind and strong. She was kind in helping Kang when he was dying, yet when she realized he was evil, she betrayed him and ensured that he could not escape the Quantum Realm and destroy the multiverse. She gave up her own desire to be with her family to save the multiverse and chose to help with the underground revolution to revolt against Kang’s empire while she was trapped in the Quantum Realm.
My favorite part of the movie was the inclusion of M. O. D. O. K. (Corey Stoll). One of my favorite Marvel villains, I was surprised to learn of his new backstory of being Darren Cross, the main antagonist of the first Ant-Man film, who was sent to the Quantum Realm and assembled into M. O. D. O. K. by Kang to become one of his minions. Corey Stoll did an excellent job playing the character M. O. D. O. K., and I loved the redemptive scene where he decides not to be a jerk anymore. The redemption arc in the film was a pleasant surprise and added depth to his character and the film overall, with an antagonist becoming a hero and sacrificing his life to stop Kang.
The movie primarily served as a backdrop to introduce the new Marvel villain Kang, played by Jonathan Majors. While I thought Jonathan Majors did a great job portraying the character, I felt like the character was not developed enough. The movie plot covered a lot of his backstory, how he was banished to the Quantum Realm by variants of himself, how Janet saved him, then betrayed him when she learned that he planned on destroying many timelines in the multiverse to erase what he saw as conflict, and his ultimate demise. Yet, there was not much character development expressed in the film, and his personality seemed more static. I personally thought the character he played in the Loki series “He Who Remains,” a variant of Kang who was killed in the show, was more interesting as he was portrayed as a comedic all-knowing being who could control time. I thought Majors’ acting in this role was excellent and that “He Who Remains” would have been a more interesting villain than Kang because he seemed more powerful and intelligent with his intentional attention to his timelines in the multiverse and less angry and bent on world domination than Kang.
Overall, I would recommend giving this movie a try, for though it is not perfect, it is still a fun film that I would watch again. If you are looking for an exciting science-fiction adventure, this is the film for you.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Rated PG-13 for violence/action and language. Running time: 2 hours 4 minutes. In theaters.
