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

Movie #3 of 2023:

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

It looks like I’m out of step with the critical consensus on this one, based on the early reviews, but whatever: I really liked the latest piece in Marvel’s increasingly complex cinematic universe! Maybe I’m just riding the high of being back in a movie theater for the first time in three-and-a-half-years, but I do think this was something special. I’d even say it’s the strongest of the three Ant-Man movies so far, although it sheds a lot of what previously defined that series: corporate espionage, Scott Lang’s criminal history / talents, and a variety of imaginative uses for the signature shrinking and growing technologies. That last element is still present to some extent, as is the wry banter that marks most MCU features, but it no longer feels as focal, which I suppose may have disappointed audience expectations. Instead, the tech mostly just powers the sequel’s premise: a return to the sub-microscopic “Quantum Realm” that Janet van Dyne was rescued from in 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp.

As it turns out, there are entire civilizations down there, and Janet was intimately involved with them during her decades away. Specifically, she has a past with the franchise’s new supervillain Kang, whom she inadvertently helped rise to power and then rallied against as a freedom fighter. It’s a bit of a retcon, but a fair one, and a device that drives the remainder of the plot. In fact, Janet is such a major player in events that I have to assume she’s the titular Wasp this time around; her daughter Hope by contrast is tied with original Ant-Man Hank Pym for least essential cast member by far. And the narrative is structured such that the three of them are together for most of the runtime, while leading man Scott is separated from them with his daughter Cassie (now aged up enough to be a trainee hero herself, and played by newcomer Kathryn Newton with charmingly earnest aplomb).

While the setting is infinitesimal, it feels pretty cosmic, with vibrant colors and weird lifeforms evoking its franchise sibling Guardians of the Galaxy and especially Star Wars. The story parallels aren’t exact, but you’ve got your evil empire and your landspeeders and your imposing creatures who turn out to be stalwart allies, all amid an overall space opera vibe. There’s even a Lando Calrissian figure, played in a delightful turn of obvious stunt-casting. Perhaps it’s not what the majority of movie-going critics wanted from a superhero flick, but it all worked well for me! And the movie definitely goes its own way within that genre framework too, with the alternately hilarious and creepy MODOK (and his surprising connection to a previous film) proving a particularly Marvel-esque addition.

Ultimately, not much about this film probably matters to the future of the series. It doesn’t largely affect the status quo for the main characters, and by virtue of its tiny scope, its adventure is a bizarre side outing that none of the other Avengers or their ensemble sidekicks are likely to ever hear about. We know Kang will return — the subtitle for the next Avengers movie has already been announced as The Kang Dynasty — but his whole deal is that there’s a multiverse of his variants out there causing havoc, one of which had already been introduced and explained all that on the Disney+ show Loki. So I don’t know that meeting the one in this film is strictly necessary for viewers.

But personally, I enjoy the sense that the Marvel heroes are all dealing with smaller crises on their own time, only crossing over to team up on the major occasions that really call for it. And it doesn’t get much smaller than this.

[Content warning for gun violence and gore.]

★★★★☆

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