Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) Review

We have made it to the 31st film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the start of Phase 5 Ant-Man & The Wasp Quantumania, I have watched it now and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees Ant-Man, The Wasp & their family sent into The Quantum Realm, where they come face to face with Kang The Conqueror. 

Main Character

Paul Rudd is back as Scott Lang and I think once again he does a great job. He has plenty to do this time and his character has truly progressed since his first film. He is more confident as an Avenger and this shows in how he acts. His character has a clear progression and it is great to see Rudd deliver this really fun performance. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for The Wasp played by Evangeline Lily. The only reason I am putting her as a main character is because her name is in the title but she is given nothing to do in the film. Lily has shown that she can give development to Hope Van Dyne but she is really pushed to the side for other characters as that is a shame. 

Supporting Characters

The real star of the film for me though was Jonathan Majors as Kang The Conqueror, Majors knocks it out of the park and provides a chilling and charismatic performance as this new antagonist. He has huge shoes to fill from Thanos and I was worried he would be saved for his future appearances but he is in this film a lot and he is given a chance to thrive and give a glimpse of what could be to come. Michael Pfeiffer plays Janet Van Dyne and she is given so much screen time here, we learn more about her time in the Quantum Realm and Pfeiffer does a great job in fleshing out this character that we have barely seen on screen. Kathryn Newton is the recast for Cassie Lang and she is a fun character here, the dynamic between her and Rudd is well realised and she is given plenty to do here which I mostly like. Michael Douglas is back as Hank Pym and despite having less to do, he is still enjoyable and still seems to have his passion for the character and the role. 

Story 

The story was okay, my favourite parts were learning more about the backstory of Kang and what exactly Janet was up to during her time in The Quantum Realm. It was nice seeing some progression and development in Ant-Man from his actions in Endgame. But as I mentioned before, the film completely underuses Wasp and as a major character that is a big shame. Also, the final act makes some decisions that I am not sure works for what the audience are told in the film with way too much taking place. 

Script 

The script was good. With it being an Ant-Man film there was plenty of humour here and the majority worked for me. It also had good drama and for the most part the two tones are separate and work well together. 

Style 

The film is mostly set in The Quantum Realm and that means there is plenty of CGI here and for the most part it looks great. The visuals are very striking and colourful which makes it interesting and dynamic. The film is also paced pretty well, with the runtime feeling appropriate. But I felt like the action scenes could have been filmed better, there was a lot of shaky cam going on especially early on that made it hard to focus. 

Overall

Overall, Ant-Man and The Wasp is a good film that does an effective job of delivering an interesting film that sets up the future of The MCU. It probably fits in the middle in terms of quality of Ant-Man films but if you enjoy these films then it is worth a watch. 

Rating - 7/10