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Marvel’s Phase Five has just kicked off with a solo movie featuring the Avenger: Ant-Man. 

In Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Lang and Van Dyne are transported to the Quantum Realm alongside their family and meet Kang the Conqueror.  For one particular character, it is an ominous reunion.  In this Quantum Realm, the group interacts with strange creatures and embarks on an adventure that goes beyond the limits of what they thought was possible. Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania is the typical Marvel superhero film inspired by the renowned Marvel Comics and is the sequel to Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp.

 It featured the returning characters Scott Lang (Ant-Man),  played by Paul Rudd, and Hope Pym (Wasp), played by Hope van Dyne. The film also featured some “newer” actors to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, such as Jonathan Majors (Kang) and Kathryn Newton (Cassie Lang), who became Cassie’s recast following Avengers Endgame. Michelle Pfeiffer (Janet Van Dyne) and Micheal Douglas (Dr. Hank Pym) were also familiar faces in the film. 

With such mixed reviews left by critics, I was skeptical about this film. 

However, as a long-term Marvel fan, I was full of optimism. Specifically, after I watched the trailer. Marvel does an extraordinary job at choosing the perfect song to encapsulate the first look fans witness with their movies. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s trailer featured Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John, which fit immaculately with the vibe of this movie. The trailer convinced me that Marvel had stopped releasing quantity > quality films/shows after Phase Four. Unfortunately, I was proven wrong almost immediately.

For starters, this film started horribly. The pacing was underwhelming for such a lengthy run-time. I expected way more out of the character development. With such a key and powerful villain introduced, it sucked to see the lack of character development given to Kang. The character development of Kang was horrid. For such a talented and incredible actor like Jonathan Majors, I was HIGHLY disappointed at Marvel’s lack of interest in building on his character. It was upsetting. Considering Phase Five and bits of Phase Six are supposed to build up to Avengers: Kang Dynasty, I seriously hope they give Kang more development as the phases continue. However, the motives and brief backstory of Kang’s revenge we got through this film was PHENOMENAL, and Jonathan Majors easily carried this movie. Majors’ performance in this film was the only memorable part I took from this film. 

Kathryn Newton, who played Cassie Lang gave a mediocre performance. Although I believe Newton is a very talented actor, who featured in many well-known films, portrayed Cassie inaccurately. This could be a lack of development by the writers, or just Newton’s inability to portray the daughter scared to lose her father again after being apart for five years. The majority of Cassie’s lines included “Dad,” or she was running around aimlessly. Her character development was easily the worst in this movie, and it was not how I saw it in the comics. Essentially, the father/daughter relationship in this movie was horrid, and there was no emotional connection whatsoever. 

All the other characters like Scott Lang, and Hope gave the same typical performances, and neither of the actors gave any show-stopping or memorable performances. It genuinely did not feel like an Ant-Man movie, but more of a: “Look, ignore Ant-Man, here’s the scary new villain.”

I think it was an okay movie to start Phase Five, but there were so many things Marvel could have done to knock this movie out of the water.

Going on to the more positive aspects of this movie, I did not think it was as disappointing as some of the past projects released by Marvel. 

 I chose to watch this film in 3D since the action scenes in the trailers looked promising. I will not lie when I say the visuals were beautiful. The Quantum Realm was portrayed visually the same way I envisioned it. The use of 3D was a plus, in my opinion, since I felt a lot more immersed in the film, compared to if I watched it normally. This film felt inspired by well-known sagas like Star Wars or Star Trek. Although some scenes seemed questionable and left me wondering why it was even included, to begin with, I liked the aspect they took here visually. It was certainly interesting to see, but I am open to what Marvel might do with this inspiration.

Even though some things were quite questionable, I liked the comedic relief provided throughout the film, however; it seemed TOO much at some points. One, in particular, was: M.O.D.O.K. Every time I saw this character hit the screen, I could not help but laugh. For one character portrayed in the comics as this “scary killing monster,” M.O.D.O.K was anything but that. His character felt like the comedic relief of this movie, which I can say was a plus. His most famous line, “At least I died an Avenger,” left the audience laughing.

I also wanted to mention the chemistry between Janet Van Dyne (Michele Pfeiffer) and Kang (Jonathan Majors). These two seemed to be the only characters with a connection, and the backstory of these characters was intriguing. Without spoiling anything between the two, I liked the backstory given about how Janet spent years in the Quantum Realm and how the two eventually met when Kang crashed into the Quantum Realm. Their chemistry and side plot was the most interesting to me compared to everything else. 

Wrapping up, I want to briefly mention the post-credit scenes, which were by far the coolest ones I have seen. The first post-credit scene confirmed what I was thinking, and I think it was a bonus in the setup for the upcoming movies. Finally, the second post-credit scene is what made me jump out of my seat. If you have seen Loki, you will know the reason for this reaction. This post-credit scene ridiculously hyped me up and brightened my mood after watching such an average movie. 

Summing up this entire movie, I would give it a 5/10. I would not watch it again, but it was worth the watch, especially with the upcoming future projects.