In my eyes, the first Ant-Man film is underrated in the MCU. It's humorous, on the wholesome side and serves as a solid origin story. The second film, whilst amusing, is utterly forgettable, possibly because it came out in the period between Infinity War and Endgame. The standout of Quantumania is easily Jonathan Major's portrayal of Kang, who previously knocked it out of the park with his one episode of Loki. With Majors set to appear in Loki season two (releasing this year) and be the 'big bad' of phases five and six, hopefully he continues to deliver.
the film has a lack of consequences for it's heroes
I first became acquainted with the character of Kang and city of Chronopolis through Lego Marvel Superheroes 2 as a 'child' (ssh... I was 15 when it came out). Rest assured, no matter that the previous Ant-Man films were on the lighter side, Kang is intimidating as hell in this one. Regardless of how intimidating Kang was, the film has a lack of consequences for it's heroes. On the topic of what the film lacks, there is no real character development throughout the film for anyone. Come to think of it, I could not name a single one of the supporting characters from the Quantum Realm (where they even named?).
At the heart of the Ant-Man films is the relationship between Scott and his daughter Cassie, who is now portrayed by Freaky (2020) actress Kathryn Newton. Newton's performance is not bad by any means but it didn't blow me away. Her casting as Cassie is of course overshadowed by Marvel's unceremonious sacking of Endgame actress Emma Fuhrmann through a Twitter announcement. It seems a shame that Fuhrmann was not given more screentime, but Marvel clearly wants someone with more experience particularly as it seems likely that Cassie will feature in a future Young Avengers slate. Considering the film is called "Ant-Man & The Wasp", the latter is consistently underused and rarely given a chance to shine, feeling more like a sidekick in the trilogy.
Visually, the film looks pretty great but when every all the multiverse and cosmic Marvel films looks like that, the awe wears off
With a setting such as the Quantum Realm, the visual effects, set design and costume design were working overtime. Visually, the film looks pretty great but when every all the multiverse and cosmic Marvel films looks like that, the awe wears off. M.O.D.O.K. makes his film debut in Quantumania, a character who is so wacky there is no way he wouldn't look as goofy as his comic counterpart. Using Darren Cross, the villain of the first Ant-Man film, gave us many humorous moments in the film but is definitely under-utilised.
Of course, the audience (mostly) waits patiently for the credits scenes which, like the rest of the film, serves as set-up for future projects. In this case most likely Avengers: Secret Wars and season two of Loki.
Disappointingly, Marvel has once again put out a relatively soulless two hours of mediocrity that seems to serve as groundwork for a future team-up film. If you want two hours to switch your brain off, maybe wait for it to drop on Disney Plus in three to four months.
2.5/5
