Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania is bold but lacks zip in a strange new colony

Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania lacks the excitement of earlier movies, but it’s still a solid tale of good versus evil. See review.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (M)

Director: Peyton Reed (Ant-Man)

Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathryn Newton, Michael Douglas, Jonathan Major.

Rating: ***

With the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) is unspooling a bold new blueprint for its future (referred to as Phase 5 by those in the know).

If the post-Avengers: Endgame era of Phase 4 is anything to go by, you can bet your bottom dollar Marvel will be doubling down on its ever-widening exploration of parallel universes, alternate realities, warped timelines and, of course, that anything-goes entity known as the multiverse.

So proves to be the case for Quantumania, a production that is both more thematically ambitious and less directly engaging than the two previous outings carrying the Ant-Man label.

Put simply, the new movie has a lot of heavy storytelling obligations to meet, many of which link up to other disparate points in the MCU. This time around, there just isn’t much space for the zippy, self-deprecating levity formerly associated with all things Ant-Man.

Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, Kathryn Newton as Cassandra “Cassie” Lang, Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne/Wasp in Marvel Studios' Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Picture: Marvel Studios

As Quantumania commences, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is living a free and easy life cashing in on his fame as the diminutive superhero Ant-Man, having penned the best-selling Avengers-Vs-Thanos tell-all memoir, Look Out for the Little Guy.

However, Scott’s cosy arrangement is scuttled when an innocent sub-particle experiment conducted by his rebellious daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) catapults everyone in their inner circle down into that dreaded mysterious microverse known as the Quantum Realm.

Reluctantly dragged along for what is destined to be a bumpy, brain-bending ride are Hope van Dyne (aka ‘The Wasp’, played by Evangeline Lilly) and her scientific-genius parents Hank (Michael Douglas) and Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer).

Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne, and Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne/The Wasp. Picture: Jay Maidment

While we have paid relatively fleeting cinematic visits to the Quantum Realm before — Scott was stuck down there for five years, and Janet did a 30-year stretch — it has never been long enough to have us on familiar terms.

As Quantumania is set almost entirely within this unusual, shape-shifting dimension, the movie is tasked with a level of all-new world-building that is above and beyond any Marvel production before it.

Though the filmmakers do a great job in depicting a sprawling, horizon-free environment that is both dazzlingly beautiful and ominously menacing, the movie’s visuals can often feel more clinical than credible.

In a few key sequences, the overall illusion of this strange hidden world goes dangerously close to cracking entirely. Those with gripes over the recent so-so standard of Marvel’s screen-effects work will undoubtedly find more to complain about here.

Without delving into too much of the plotting, Quantumania’s schematics are primarily concerned with how Scott, Hope, Cassie, Hank and Janet will forge a return back to regular-size normality on Earth.

Jonathan Majors as Kang The Conqueror. Picture: Jay Maidment

The major roadblock in their way is the notorious Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), a time-traversing mega-villain who is also trapped inside the Quantum Realm with no feasible means of escape.

The introduction of the serenely sinister Kang is an important one, as it has been openly hinted by Marvel that his peculiarly well-reasoned brand of anarchic evil will ultimately put him on a collision course with the Avengers in movies to come.

(Marvel buffs should also note that in spite of being played by the same actor, Kang is not the same character as the fearsome time variant He Who Remains from season one of the hit Marvel series Loki.)

Interestingly, Scott/Ant-Man and Hope/Wasp will not be standing up to Kang alone. A newly super-suited Cassie will have an important say in the metaphysical combat to come. So, too, will Janet, whose intimate knowledge of the Realm will prove invaluable on several occasions.

When the movie isn’t completely concerned with taking care of Marvel Phase 5 business, it does go down some fun and interesting side roads.

MIchelle Pfieffer plays Janet van Dyne, who spent 30 years in the Quantum Realm. Picture: Jay Maidment

In particular, the creature design work (and some clever screenwriting behind it) intended to ‘fill out’ the Quantum Realm population is appreciably Star Wars in both look and feel, and serves to sneak in some humour and vibrancy that is missing elsewhere in Quantumania.

In terms of standout players in Quantumania, the nominal stars of the show, Rudd and Lilly, are far outshone by the charismatic new recruit Majors as Kang, and a fiercely committed experienced hand in Pfeiffer as Janet.

Overall, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a solidly mounted, if slightly distant screen experience that lacks the high-stakes mythology and undeniable excitement generated by the best Marvel movies of the past.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania opens in cinemas nationwide from 6pm tonight (February 15)