Rating of
2.5/4
Safe but totally serviceable entry into the MCU
Indyfreak - wrote on 08/13/23
'Quantumania' is on the lower end of the MCU but it doesn't mean it's a bad movie. It's more of a standalone adventure that happens to feature not one but two generations of Ant-Man and the Wasp. The CGI effects for the Quantum Realm and the various action scenes look pretty; and lead to some rather original designs for the settings and creatures.
Paul Rudd is great in this along with Jonathan Majors as the new villain Kang the Conqueror. For all this movie's faults, Kang is not one of them. He's menacing in a subtle way but can be bombastic when the moment calls for it. With Rudd as Scott Lang, he's likable as usual and his motivations are immediately sympathetic. Returning cast members Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Evangeline Lilly are not bad in this but it seems like they have less to do. Kathryn Newton takes over as Scott Lang's daughter Cassie and though not badly acted, her character is kind of annoying.
The movie just kind of feels overblown with the stunning visuals and scope. Yet also underwritten. A lot of key information is told via flashback or exposition dumps. As if it was a re-shoot or a scene was just cut. I will say it didn't feel long since it's about two hours and that feels like enough. It really doesn't waste time .Without going into spoilers too much, you do think the movie is setting up high stakes and for some characters to make the ultimate sacrifice. And that does happen but not the way you think it might.
