Ant Man 3
Ant Man And Wasp: Quntumania Movie Review - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever concluded Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A particular chapter of the shared universe of Marvel Studios, because without a precise direction in terms of horizontal plot and which from a technical point of view has at least tried to experiment by bringing products that some innovations, at least on a conceptual level, have managed to exhibit it. Having archived, therefore, this part of the mosaic, it is time to move forward.
In fact, it's up to Ant-Man 3 to open Phase Five of the MCU, going to introduce – or re-introduce, actually – also the next great villain of the Multiverse Saga, namely Kang the Conqueror. As many already know, the character made his debut in the first season of Loki (here is the review), but in his variant of the One Who Remains.
The one presented in Peyton Reed's film is the best-known variant of the comics, precisely that of the Conqueror. The path is long, but the task of this Quantumania is to basically lead the way for what will then lead the public to the next films dedicated to the Avengers.
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Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) saved the world. Or rather, so he says. The Avenger now lives a quiet life in the company of Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), and Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer), whom the trio rescued from the Quantum Realm.
Meanwhile, he also tries to make up for the time lost due to the Blip with his daughter Cassie (Kathryne Newton), a girl in search of his place in the world. In this research, Cassie will end up being fascinated by the Quantum Realm: due to an accident, however, she and her whole family will end up in that sub-atomic world, in which Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) reigns, who immediately goes on the trail of Ant-Man because he is an indispensable part of his plan.
Many expectations for this Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Partly because in terms of horizontal plot, the latest Marvel Studios products have left the public dry-mouthed, partly because obviously there was a lot of curiosity about Kang's first official actions - in a certain sense -.
After seeing the variant in Loki and having appreciated it, especially thanks to the performance of Jonathan Majors, there was to be expected a lot of interest from the spectators for what in fact is the next great villain that the Avengers will have to face – for the precisely – in The Kang Dynasty and in Secret Wars.
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After its 125-minute duration, it can be said that Quantumania meets expectations but inevitably also ends up failing them. He respects them because everything about Kang is well done, well staged, and even well written if you give the MCU the benefit of the doubt for the future spin that will follow from the film's events.
If you widen the magnifying glass, however, and analyze everything around Kang the Conqueror, the film begins to creak slightly. Not so much because there are big gaps, mistakes, or negative factors, but because this third chapter dedicated to Ant-Man doesn't propose anything really new, unlike what the first chapter of the trilogy had done, which with its humor, lightness, and the topics of the heist-movie had brought a breath of fresh air into a cinematic genre which – moreover – was not as saturated as it probably is now.
Here, perhaps it is precisely this desire to take oneself seriously that does not make Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania work perfectly. Even if, it must be emphasized, somehow compromises had to be made, because an atmosphere that was too light-hearted would have gone badly with the gravitas necessary to tell the first steps of Kang in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
It is no coincidence, in fact, that he is the center of the film and everything else becomes a mere side dish. Indeed, the actions of the protagonists that precede the villain's entry into the film almost seem like a pretext for the heroes to arrive in front of him.
In reality, such a situation was quite predictable: the Marvel Cinematic Universe is now proceeding at full speed, and taking your foot off the accelerator can be risky, as demonstrated by the comments on Phase Four; it was necessary to start accustoming the public to Kang's presence, and actually, an Ant-Man film seemed to be the best opportunity.
It, therefore, becomes a pity when it turns out that the film's task is limited to introducing the character and that's it, without trying to do something original at the same time that could also enhance all the other parties involved.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, unfortunately, takes on the appearance of minestrone, a melting pot, of things already seen: a bit Star Wars, a bit Guardians of the Galaxy, the film fails to have its own true identity and indeed, several times it also takes elements from other MCU films, to combine them with each other and try to carry on the narrative up to a new Kang scene.
The system, in itself, works, because, in the end, Peyton Reed's latest work manages to entertain the public and amuse, them without ever having slowdowns and boring moments. Indeed, it can be said to be in front of perhaps one of the most rhythmic and dense titles of the whole MCU, but what makes one turn up one's nose is precisely the strong - very strong - a sensation of being in front of something already seen.
And it's a real shame, because even from the point of view of writing, however simple, in the vertical economy of the film, the narrative returns and seems to be coherent. Of course, we will have to wait for the next pieces to understand how consistent this will be in the more giant mosaic, but the impression is that it will all be very important indeed.
The technical work carried out on Quantumania is also important. The film, despite being set in a sub-atomic realm, is truly great. The settings are many and all different: natural locations with different biomes, indoor scenes with designs with a very strong sci-fi mold, and visual gimmicks that would have all the credentials to remain impressive.
Except that the cards are not played in the right way, because also, in this case, the film is a great "I wish but I can't": it's all very beautiful and probably also refined, but there is nothing that really has the power to stay indelible in the mind. The design of the film, on balance, is strange, and peculiar, but not all that inspired.
Except for MODOK. Yes, because MODOK is truly one of the film's winning choices. Over the top, mean, and just perfect design. When the public learned of MODOK's presence in the film, many went into hype to find out how the Marvel Cinematic Universe would introduce a character with a personality strongly linked to the comic medium, with his being so much over-the-top.
Quantumania in this sense does a great job and although its narrative background is slightly forced, the scenes with the character are all really fun and work great. Just like his aesthetic side of him, which already makes him one of the most iconic characters in the entire MCU from this point of view.
Moving on to the performances, it has already been said that Jonathan Majors essentially steals the show and leaves everyone else very little to the others, even in terms of important scenes in the film. Majors' Kang is profoundly different from the nuance given to the variant of He Who Remains: this version is characterized by the actor's great physical presence, which combines the grandeur of the figure with a great expressiveness,
which paradoxically manages to shine through even in moments in which the villain shows himself to be glacial and decidedly static. An excellent test, therefore, by Jonathan Majors, who leaves the audience curious to find out how the actor will "play" in his next appearances. We are far, at the moment, from the charm that Thanos had, but the road is long.
On the part of the rest of the cast, there are generally average performances, but a note of merit goes to Paul Rudd, the titular protagonist of the film: the actor is now perfectly at ease with the character both in the lighter and more comedic moments more serious and dramatic and seeing him as Scott Lang is truly a pleasure.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, therefore, is a film that actually works and lets you watch it. The public will also be really amused, also because there are practically never voltage drops and you won't be bored for an instant. Unfortunately, however, almost nothing of what is shown on the screen is actually something new, on the contrary:
we are faced with a sort of melting pot that takes elements peculiar to other films, such as Star Wars - so much Star Wars - and Guardians of the Galaxy. These elements are well combined with each other and in the end, the minestrone works, but the feeling remains, during the vision, of being in front of something already seen.
Beyond this Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a good forerunner for Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even if some concerns regarding the horizontal plot and what will be the actual role of Kang – and of which variant – there is, even if as mentioned several times, the path is long and Marvel Studios has plenty of time to get the rabbit out of the hat.