Out now to own digitally, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a blast from start to finish. If you want to wait to add this to your physical collection, a few short weeks and it will be available on Blu-ray and 4k UHD on 5/16.
“Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) are Ant-Man and The Wasp. Together, with their families, they explore the Quantum Realm, interact with strange new creatures and embark on an adventure that pushes them beyond what they thought possible.”
Ant-Man was one of those comic book characters that I was in disbelief when I heard was going to be made into a film early on in the MCU. How would someone who shrinks and grows ever be as cool as Iron Man, Captain America, or Thor? While the powers themselves were kind of a joke on the surface, they couldn’t have found a better way to introduce the character or a better course for the films than to make Paul Rudd the star. I have had a blast with the character since its introduction, and probably consider him to be one of my favorites in the MCU.
That being said, I went in to the film hearing all the negative reviews, and with my personal disappointment with Thor: Love and Thunder and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, I kept my expectations very low, but couldn’t help but feel excited since one thing I enjoy above all in these types of films in world-building, and what better opportunity than to explore the quantum realm?
For me, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania exceeded my expectations. It had the same great humor of Ant-Man, which I guess is a problem for some people? There are some really hysterical moments with Scott, including the opening of him making the rounds in his neighborhood, basking in his success and reflecting on how far he’s come. Since we now have Cassie (Kathryn Newton), Hope (Evangeline Lilly), Hank (Michael Douglas) and Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) all part of the team now, the character doesn’t get the comedic limelight throughout, but they do a very good job at making this family seem organic, despite just being shrunk down to microscopic size.
Before I get into the villains of the film, the secondary characters I felt were very interesting and diverse. While some are taken from the comics, there are a lot of original characters in the quantum realm that have some degree of traits taken from source material. The looks of them are what I enjoyed the most, even from the first original trailer of the film, seeing these weird looking alien creatures walk over into frame, I immediately wanted to know more about them. While we don’t get to spend nearly enough time exploring the diverse cultures of these indigenous creatures, what we do get to experience creates wonder, excitement, and often times a bit of humor. Bill Murray steals the small scene he’s in as Lord Krylar.
Firstly, there’s MODOK. I’ll refrain from spoiling who is actually playing him in case there is anyone who hasn’t seen the film, but it’s an original origin for this character, one that I found to be one of the funniest parts of the film. Since the character is obviously one of the goofiest villains to exist, they had fun with it, and probably gave the character a better live-action debut than he ever would have gotten otherwise. While I’ve read a lot of criticism on this direction, as a fan of original ideas, especially in this day and age, I found it refreshing.
Now, on to Kang the Conqueror. While his debut in Loki was chilling, Jonathan Majors character was unlike any villain we’ve yet to see. Thanos successfully killed half of the population of the entire universe. Kang has destroyed countless entire universes. There is no comparison. The best example can be seen early on in one of the episodes of Loki when one of the coveted Infinity Stones is carelessly tossed in an office drawer with a bunch of others. If you are a character who has seen the end of time, and thinks they can change it for the better, wouldn’t you feel like that might be something you’d do? It’s an interesting motivation to think about. That being said, I don’t believe we’ve even seen a hint of the power that Kang has, and I hope we are still able to. With the recent legal troubles of Majors it’s looking less and less likely that Kang Will Return. Well, he still might, but in a different form.
While opinions of others should certainly not be the deciding factor to see a movie you are genuinely interested in, it’s interesting the diverse reactions from critics and audience scores, with the former rating this film much lower than the average movie-goer. I often think that people are beginning to get Marvel fatigue, I know at times I think I am. But if the reaction I had to this film is any indication, as long as they bring something interesting to the table, it’s possible that someone out there will enjoy it. I know I did, especially that epic ending that had me audibly cheering at some points.
We were given a digital code to review this film, which is currently available only for purchase digitally. The release on to Disney+ should be any time between now and the physical release date on Blu-ray and 4k which is May 16th which will be packed full of extras, with superior video and audio, something that cannot be accurately reviewed based on internet connections. I for one will be adding this one to my collection in 4k, and cannot wait to see the quantum realm in UHD. If you can wait a few short weeks, grab this one on physical.
