Quantu(meh)nia: A review of Marvel Studio’s sub-par new release “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”

“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” — an answer to the question no one asked, “What would happen if the writers of Marvel, Star Wars and Disney Channel all smoked up?”’

The latest installment of the Marvel franchise and third “Ant-Man and Wasp” movie hit theaters last Friday, Feb. 17, and I can’t say I’m impressed. 

It goes without saying that Marvel has been on the decline with weak storylines and underdeveloped characters since “Avengers Endgame.” Aside from a few notable exceptions like “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Spiderman: No Way Home,” Marvel’s Phase Four has nothing on the originals. 

Nevertheless, I gave “Quantumania” a chance. 

The moment Paul Rudd came on screen, bouncing around San Francisco to the instrumental tune of Sir Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” I knew this differed from Marvel’s other films. It lacked the usual edge. The comedy didn’t push any limits and the action hardly packed a punch, like when Cassie told Derrick — the villain from the first “Ant-Man” — “it’s never too late to stop being a dick.” I guess this was intended to be a pivotal, funny moment, but instead of being met with laughs there was only awkward silence.   

The movie is by no means dull, it just became a tangle of overcomplicated storylines and confusing mathematical theories that distract from the core plot — a satellite sent to the quantum realm is picked up by a psychopath known as Khan “The Destroyer,” who needs to repair his energy core to travel through space and time to destroy realms all while fighting the resistance, led by Bill Murray. Excuse me, what?

However, the cinematography was incredible. The imaginative quantum realm looked like it came out of Star Wars with its other-worldly landscape and characters.That’s part of the reason “Quantumania” didn’t feel as genuine as other Marvel movies — almost none of it took place on Earth. 

My biggest issue with this film is that it felt like the characters’ personalities were nothing like they were in the previous two “Ant-Man”s. Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym was completely devoid of his usual passion and spirit. Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne was on an entirely different level of intensity than everyone else for no reason. Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne/Wasp honestly hasn’t had a personality since the first movie and Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man has been diluted into a cheesy Disney dad since he feels so guilty for being stuck in the quantum realm for five years during “the blip.”

And where were Scott’s friends from the first two movies?! I wanted Louis’s hilariously fast-paced story telling and Kurt’s dry, Russian humor that shaped the beginning of the trilogy. 

Overall, this just felt like a set up for a string of films with Kahn as the main villain instead of the great Marvel saga that I expected.