Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania - A dog's dinner of fantastical themes

'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' will almost certainly make a lot of money at the global box office, primarily because it is a Marvel movie, and there isn't much else glittering at the cinemas right now. The film, however, was a spectacular reminder that not everything that glitters is gold. 

Quantumania is the third instalment in the 'Ant-Man' movies. Directed by Peyton Reed, who also directed the previous two movies in the series, this instalment released on 17 February. The film features returning cast members Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne/The Wasp, Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, and Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet van Dyne. Prior to its release, it was one of the most anticipated MCU films of the year. However, since its release, the movie has received quite the opposite reaction from the community.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a terrible film, but it's terrible in a way that Marvel films seldom are. Until recently, the MCU films have mostly managed to achieve a good balance of pathos, comedy, and heroic daring-do. When they succeed, it's because the majority of these factors are firing at full power. When they fail, it's typically because they tried too hard in one direction or another — the films are either too romantic, too comedic, or too crowded with lacklustre action scenes. 

It's not like the MCU did not have its fair share of disappointing releases. However, the new Ant-Man movie probably takes the cake in terms of how ridiculously convoluted it has become. 

The film isn't very fresh or dazzling. It's a mash-up of repeated ideas and shtick, borrowing from Frank Herbert's 'Dune', 'Star Wars', and Marvel's own archives. The film mostly acts as a springboard for a new villain, Kang (played by Jonathan Majors).

Quantumania barely has a story, it bobs along innocuously at first, carried by the warmth and skill of its cast. You hope that something will happen soon, and it does, after some jokey chatter and reintroductions. Ant-Man and company are dragged back into the quantum realm.

The movie falls short on a fundamental level. It doesn't even describe the magical McGuffin that our heroes must recover this time. More importantly, it fails to elicit any emotion, which is strange given that half of the plot revolves around Ant-desperate Man's efforts to save his daughter, which is as seemingly relevant and urgent a character motive as one can imagine. 

Yet it's all done with such little passion (by otherwise great performers) that the eventual outcome is numb estrangement, which is definitely not what you're looking for in a superhero film. 

The genuine stars of this movie are Pfeiffer, Majors, and Douglas. Each of them brings something unique to the table. 

Majors generally strikes significant plays while glowering imperiously. Yet he delivers a deep, wounded intensity to the character. If his sotto-voce delivery occasionally borders on near-parodic Shakespearean overreaction, he effortlessly holds your attention, as do Douglas and Pfeiffer. 

Douglas has considerably less to play with than Pfeiffer, who ends up being the movie's MVP, but they're both delightful to watch even when they're doing nothing, which is its own kind of strength.

The action, however, is stale, the world is implausible, and no one on screen appears to want to be there. They don't even appear to know where it is.

Quantumania helps you appreciate movies like Avatar even more where you also have elaborate CGI environments. But they've been carefully designed and fully thought through; there's a goal to them, a coherence and inner logic to go with the amazement, which aids immersion. 

The Quantum Realm, on the other hand, appears to be legions of artists and technologists tossing through whatever caught their fancy. This patchwork quality may have been deliberate, but as shown on screen, it's a dog's dinner of fantastical themes.