'Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania' Review: The MCU Well Is Running Dry

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to rank the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) — not only are they becoming ridiculously multitudinous, but they’re also becoming more and more splintered from one another. Now, that latter part isn’t always a bad thing — if anything, Marvel’s need to shoehorn the “big picture” into every film was what dragged some of the previous phases down. But this relentless churning out of new products is wearing thin, and as a result viewers (and reviewers) are becoming less and less forgiving of the missteps — sure, the films are still essentially printing money, but the aftertaste for some of the less inspiring efforts (I’m looking at you, Love & Thunder) is increasingly bitter.

That’s part of what makes Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (hereafter to be referred to as simply Quantumania because seriously with these titles, Marvel) such a pickle. It’s not a bad film. There are some truly fun pieces to it, some genuinely inventive and impressive visuals, and a mostly likable cast. But it doesn’t do enough to separate itself from the blurred, messy palette that the MCU has become to truly stand out. It’s … fine.

Let’s back up. The film stars the always amiable Paul Rudd, gamely continuing as the clever reformed criminal Scott Lang, now known as Ant-Man and his ever-expanding Ant-family (sure, let’s call them that) including Hope Van Dyne aka The Wasp, and Hope’s newly reunited parents Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Also along for the ride this time out is Cassie Lang, Scott’s daughter (Kathryn Newton). As is usually the case in these parts, their scientific inquisitiveness leads to mayhem as an experiment that Cassie is working on results in all five of them being sucked into the Quantum Realm, a weird, wild world-beneath/within-the-world where it seems like anything is possible and the natural laws don’t apply.

Trouble arises when they realize that an alien conqueror known as Kang (Jonathan Majors) now rules the Quantum Realm with an iron fist, and seeks to use Scott and family to escape it and rampage across both the universe and multiverse. Obviously, they must step up to stop him, and along the way learn each other’s secrets, stand up for what’s right, and generally do their heroic thing.

The film has a number of things working in its favor — the cast is mostly excellent. Majors is terrific as the mysterious, dangerous, yet almost seductively soft-spoken Kang. Rudd continues to cheerfully wander through the MCU in a seemingly carefree fashion, giving “I’m just happy to be here” vibes even when you know he isn’t really trying. Douglas and Pfeiffer could play these roles in their sleep, and while Douglas often appears to be, Pfeiffer is giving it her all and her character shines for it. Kathryn Newton is a pleasant surprise as the smart, hopeful Cassie, a character who is well fleshed-out as a somewhat naïve kid who just wants to stand up for the little guy. Evangeline Lilly is … well, she’s there. Truth be told, the writers don’t give her much to do, and she doesn’t do much with the little that she has.

The real star of the show is meant to be the Quantum Realm itself, and for the most part? It is. It’s a bright, imaginative world full of bizarre life forms and fun characters, particularly the rebel leader Jentorra (Katy O’Brian) and her translator/sidekick Veb, a goofy gelatinous blob voiced by David Dastmalchian (who interestingly also plays Kurt in the previous Ant-Man films). It’s a mostly fun, if not particularly memorable romp across this strange landscape, and director Peyton Reed (who helmed the first two films) handles it all capably enough. The jokes are good, the cast is good, and the scenery is pretty (and the 3-D works decently enough).

The question ultimately is, should we be expecting more? This is the 31st entry into the MCU and it is increasingly feeling like the well is running dry. It’s not helped by yet another CGI slugfest of a finale — listen, I get that it’s a superhero film and CGI is sort of required on a larger scale. But this continuing trend of the plucky heroes facing off against hordes of faceless, computer-generated creatures who are all identical save for a lieutenant or two is getting not just tiresome, but tedious. That tediousness is not helped by a two-hour runtime - there is a bevy of expository scenes that could have been trimmed easily enough.

In the end, I suppose the problem is that the MCU thinks we do want more, but they’re all too often conflating more with better. I want better. I want the sense of wonder that we got in the first few films back. Maybe that’s no longer reasonable, but then again, I look at Wakanda Forever and Shang Chi and the Ten Rings and I think that … maybe it’s possible. But Marvel needs product, and they refuse to let up on the gas for fear of losing ground, resulting in films like Quantumania — films that are fine, but that also feel like little more than filler. Films that despite being filler, are leaving us feeling increasingly empty.