HOLLYWOOD—I don’t care what other critics say, but “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” entertained me thoroughly. I saw the first “Ant-Man” starring Paul Rudd and I loved it. It was a different take on a superhero who was not always the golden boy. We got someone who made mistakes and was given a second chance. I loved this notion of someone who could go from normal size to super tiny to mega large. I have to admit I do need to see the film “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” however, all that talk about needing to see that film before watching “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is not true. Some critics are just full of it.
You can watch this sequel without really even seeing the first film and still understand what is going on. Now, will a particular face pose questions if you haven’t seen the first flick? Yes, but not to the point where it completely takes you out of the narrative. Rudd is great as Scott Lang, our hero who is living on a high in San Francisco where it is apparent everyone knows his name and he is in the big league’s people. He fought with The Avengers and it seems everyone in town knows all about it giving Scott plenty of perks along the way people.
Scott’s life could not be better as his relationship with girlfriend and ally, Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) is in a great place, he has a burgeoning relationship with Hope’s parents, Hank (Michael Douglas) and Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer), but is facing issues with his daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton), who is a bit of rebel. She recently found herself arrested by police and she has been utilizing a suit similar to her dad that is getting her in more trouble than Scott would like.
That brings us to the major narrative plot point of Cassie secretly working with Hank and Hope with a device to contact with the Quantum Realm. Janet who was trapped in the Quantum Realm for decades and found her release in the second flick is in uproar. That device Cassie has been working on gets Scott, Hope, Janet, Hank and Cassie trapped in the Quantum Realm and then the fun begins.
Look, the absolute visuals in this movie amazed me. Did I feel like I was slightly in this actual realm with the characters? To a degree, but you will not always buy all these kooky characters in this realm. We don’t know why these people are here, how they got here and why some of them don’t want to escape. It’s a world that if you live in you’re supposed to be there, but for others you find yourself there under certain circumstances not always good. The film does a great job at peeling back the layers in particular from Janet van Dyne and her time in the realm.
The audience can immediately pick up on the fact that Janet is hiding secrets and we learn that Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) is one of them. Those two share a past, one that Janet would rather not revisit and rightfully so. Majors is fantastic in the role of this villain who comes across gentle and kind at first, but our protagonists soon discover if you cross him he’s a formidable foe that you don’t want to toy with. He’s brutal, unforgiving and down-right scary to go toe-to-toe with people. There is also an entertaining return of a character that delivers the laughter in the film.
“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” works so well because of its villain. Kang is a threat to our heroes and he is a formidable foe that is not just going away with a snap of the finger. That is a testament to the acting delivered by Majors who I cannot wait to see in future flicks because fans of Marvel are well aware Kang plays a vital role in the Avengers reuniting to battle the villain of villains. If you thought, Thanos was a threat, our superheroes haven’t seen anything yet people.
Pfeiffer and Douglas have wonderful chemistry in the flick and it is nice to see older characters have that focus; the audience is not fully focused on Scott aka Ant-Man, Hope aka Wasp and Cassie, there is a smart balance between them all where the audience gets a slice of everything. The action sequences amazing, the dialogue is witty, the fight battles, epic, the climax a ton of fun and excitement and the mid-credits and final credits just a tease of greatness to come.
Not only was I thoroughly entertained by “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” it got me doing research on a villain that I’ve never done for a superhero film. I cannot wait for the next Marvel movie to see what unfolds with what is just the beginning of absolute pandemonium for fans.
