Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

This weekend, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the newest film in the MCU, was released in theaters. This movie follows Scott Lang as he and his family accidentally get pulled into the Quantum Realm. They discover a new world with amazing creatures and technology. However, they soon uncover a new threat that if unleashed could change the course of the universe. I was really looking forward to this film. Not only is it the first product in Phase 5, but it was also set to introduce Kang the Conqueror as the next big bad of the MCU.

I really enjoyed this movie. It is definitely one of the weirdest in the MCU but also one of the most important films post Avengers: Endgame. It was really cool to see the Quantum Realm in its full glory. There was so much world-building that went on in this film as we get to see a whole other civilization. I like how the movie really allows us to spend time exploring the Quantum realm as well as getting to meet all these new characters. This feels a lot like the MCU combined with Star Wars just in terms of the style and action. Given that they are two of my favorite franchises, I was totally on board with that. Easily the best part of this movie is the introduction of Kang. Kang is set to be the next Thanos-level threat of the MCU and this movie allows us to see him in action. Jonathan Majors does a great job playing the role of Kang and I am very excited to see what he is going to bring to the films moving forward. I also really liked how this film gives Cassie some time in the spotlight and be able to work together with her dad. She is a great addition to the franchise and really fun to watch. Finally, this movie gets me really excited about what is coming next in the MCU. We get a new big villain and get to see the potential of the multiverse.

Unfortunately, there are a couple of issues that keep this from being a top-tier MCU film. The biggest issue is that some big tonal changes happen pretty suddenly. Some jokes just feel misplaced and undercut the tension at the wrong times, particularly when MODAK is around. There are points where the tone is just really serious and then someone will just randomly make a joke and the whole tone of the scene will just be messed up. The other issue is that this movie works better as an MCU film than it does as an Ant-Man film. The film does a great job of setting up what is to come next but I am not sure if Ant-Man was the best character to center the story around. The whole movie just feels so different than the last two Ant-Man films in that they were so much lighter and smaller scale. Overall, it is fun to watch but just feels weird as an Ant-Man film.

In the end, this was a fun MCU movie that gets me very excited for what is coming next in the story. However, with such high stakes and a darker tone, I am not sure if Ant-Man was the best choice to be the center of the story.

Score: 7.5/10 Grade: B Recommendation: Go see it if you are an MCU fan