Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
2023
**
Director: Peyton Reed
Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, David Dastmalchian, Katy O'Brian, William Jackson Harper, Bill Murray, Michelle Pfeiffer, Corey Stoll, Michael Douglas
During the Avengers hiatus, Scott Lang has become a complacent, semi-retired superhero, who has written a memoir. Things take a sudden turn when Scott, his daughter Cassie, his girlfriend Hope, and her parents Hank and Janet Van Dyne are sucked into the Quantum Realm. In Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp, the Quantum Realm was a weird, psychedelic, and dangerous dimension. This time it feels like the Langs and Van Dynes jump into the Star Wars franchise, as they discover a civilisation where an evil ruler (Kang the Conqueror) and his army fight a group of brave freedom fighters. Ever since Thanos was defeated in Avengers: Endgame, the MCU has noticeably dipped in quality, and this is one of the more disappointing releases. I was not really engaged or entertained at any point. It doesn't help that we spend almost the entire runtime in the CGI-created fantasy dimension. Why should I care about people and creatures I don't know, when I can't bring myself to care about Scott's stupid teenage daughter or his annoying mother-in-law. The whole purpose of the movie is to introduce Kang, the main villain of Phase 5, and he doesn't seem like much if Ant-Man without any superpowers can kick his ass.
