Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Released in theaters on Feb 17, 2023
Released on Disney+ on May 17, 2023
Runtime: 2 Hours 4 Minutes
Rated PG
Ant-Man, his daughter, Wasp, Hank Pym, and Janet Pym are back, but this time around the stakes are higher and their adventure takes them to the Quantum realm! Instead of a heist, or saving dangerous technology from falling into the wrong hands the Ant-Man crew is up against a Thanos level threat, whom we have met before (I suggest watching Loki season one before watching this movie). After being sucked into the Quantum realm the team discovers that Janet has kept a lot about the thirty years she was gone a secret.
Themes:
Themes in the show include family, secrets, parenting, jail, being arrested, making mistakes, listening to your parents, keeping people safe by hiding things from them, exile, greed, rebellion, conquering, death, love, loss, time travel, time lines, multiverses, being a hero, revenge, killing innocent people, mass genocide, ants, and selling out.
Language:
I mentioned in my last Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) review that they are using the sh-t word a lot. It crops up multiple times in this movie along with hell, the Lord’s name in vain, d-mn, and d-ck. The MCU movies have more cursing now, I guess they know they can get away with it.
Stuff to be aware of:
A couple implies that while they were apart for numerous years they had affairs and we meet a person one character had an affair with. A blob like creature is fascinated with how man “holes” humans have in their body. One female character wears what kind of looks like a bikini top the entire movie. There is a human-like form that is seen from behind and his buttocks is exposed. As with any Marvel movie there is lots of fighting and people die. In this movie when someone dies they disintegrate into what looks like a floating liquid substance.
Overall:
This is the weirdest MCU adventure yet. The quantum realm doesn’t make a lot of sense, yeah that guy has broccoli for a head, and there are going to be several things that make you go, “huh” and don’t expect them to be explained. Just enjoy the crazy ride for what it is. It is a fun movie, but there are some parts that didn’t work. Scott and Cassie’s squabbling is a bit silly with all that is going on around them. Janet holds on to her secrets far too long and no one really presses her on it. The villain threat levels are very over powered compared to the power of Ant-Man, Wasp, and Cassie. However, our heroes find some neat ways to combat the huge threat that is Kang the Conqueror. (Spoiler alert, unless you have watched the trailers then this isn’t a spoiler). I think they did great with M.O.D.O.K. He is a little different (especially his origin) than the comics, but I think he works in this crazy movie. The story itself really feels more like it is Janet and Kang story rather than an Ant-Man and Wasp story.
This movie is having to set up a huge MCU threat so sometimes it feels like it is doing just that, when it should be doing other things. Overall, I enjoyed it. It’s not as good as Spider-Man No Way Home, but it’s better than Thor: Love and Thunder. Stay all the way to the end of the credits for a fun teaser scene.