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Feb
22nd
2023

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Review [OUTDATED] · 6:55am Feb 22nd, 2023

Hello everypony! It’s me again!! You know, I bet that you guys wonder why I haven’t reviewed more of the recent MCU movies on these blog posts. After all, I do seem to be the only one who holds the Phase 4 projects in high regard. To quote Scott Lang himself though, “that doesn’t make any sense” as I only like to do reviews of the MCU movies I really love. So after Avengers: Endgame, it’s no surprise that the MCU has kinda lost the fans since. With the oversaturation of content and Thor: Love and Thunder just being mediocre in my opinion, I completely understand why the Marvel projects no longer feel like an event, and now just feel generic. So after hearing that this movie wasn’t very liked by critics and the fact that fans are even apologizing to Love and Thunder, now thinking that this is the worst MCU film of all time, I knew to keep my expectations at a minimum. After the extraordinary brilliance of Avatar: The Way of Water, I had to remind myself that Marvel was now in a lower class than James Cameron’s films.

With all that said though…I actually love this movie. Like, a lot! This is one of those movies where I honestly don’t get the hate for it and I can only chalk up the backlash to Marvel fatigue. This is honestly the best recent MCU film since Spider-Man: No Way Home. It’s not as great as that movie, but it just edges out Dr. Strange In The Multiverse of Madness into being my third favorite of the MCU films. So what’s the story for this one?

SPOILER WARNING!!!!! TURN BACK NOW AND WATCH THE MOVIE FIRST OR YOU WILL DIE OF A SEVERE CASE OF SPOILERITIS!!!!!!!




Now with that being said (I am not responsible for any deaths caused by spoileritis, please talk to my lawyer), after a mysterious opening scene in which Janet van Dyne encounters a similarly lost traveler later revealed to be Kang the Conquerer, Scott Lang is breezing his way through life via opening narration and reading his new book Look Out For The Little Guy to an audience of schoolchildren, he then gets a call from the local jail regarding his daughter Cassie, who we learn was responsible for shrinking a police car. Turns out, she was trying to help some homeless people displaced by the Blip (they’re still calling it that? Smh), who were being relocated by police. Cassie has become an activist and was caught during the operation (this really is giving me a Sunny Starscout in A New Generation sort of a vibe), and has been experimenting with Pym particles. We later learn that she’s been building a satellite signal down to the Quantum Realm. Of course, this backfires in her face and she, Scott, Hope van Dyne, Janet, and Hank are transported down to the Quantum Realm.

Long story short, the group gets separated. Scott and Cassie are taken to a Resistance group against Kang and Janet and Hank meet a Bill Murray cameo. After drinking a sort of fluency potion that allows them to understand the language, Scott and Cassie are attacked by the Mechanized Organism Designed Only For Killing, or M.O.D.O.K, and Kang’s soldiers. Now I really love Cassie’s development in this. Similar to how I really related to America Chavez in Multiverse of Madness, I just really like Cassie. She wants to help the people of the Quantum Realm fight Kang, but Scott is reluctant due to wanting to keep her safe. Throughout this movie, we really see her come into her own and she gets more development here than America did in Multiverse of Madness, and I really appreciate that. I’ll admit that my initial review is now about 10% inaccurate now as I do see the valid complaint that America’s development was half-baked, but still, I couldn’t help but think that she was the highlight and that hasn’t changed. Just like America, I definitely came out of this movie remembering Cassie and she gets a lot more to do here, which I really appreciate. Scott and Cassie are then captured and taken to the holding cells where Scott is interrogated by Kang, who wants to escape the quantum realm, but can’t due to Janet’s actions. We learn via a really great emotional scene that Janet is partly to blame for Kang’s rise to power as she inadvertently helped rebuild his ship, but after seeing a vision of him destroying everything, turned her back on him and dedicated her life to escaping Kang as he built his empire until Hope saved her.

We then see the mission Scott has to go on. He has to grab the Power Core inside of the multiversal portal wormhole or Cassie will be killed. This is where the movie gets really creative. We see multiple versions of Scott pop out of his body, which is described as every possible choice he could ever make in one. A probability if you will. Due to Cassie’s encouragement, Scott is able to get his multiple versions to help him grab the Core and shrink it down to a smaller size. This does present a tiny quantum-sized plot hole as my only question is: Wasn’t it established that Janet blew up the Core? How does it still exist? I don’t know, maybe you guys can help me on that. If nothing else, I probably missed something and it’ll make more sense when I inevitably see the movie 5-6 more times. So he does that and Kang breaks the deal because of course he does. He’s the antagonist and antagonists don’t follow deals (bonus points if you accurately point out in the comments the MLP fan comic I just referenced with that line). He is then saved by Hope and also Hank and his hyper-intelligent ant farm. Cassie then rescues the leader of the rebellion Jentorra and she then makes a really awesome speech to the entirety of the Quantum Realm, urging them to fight back against Kang. Yes, it’s reminiscent to the Lego Movie. Yes, it’s cheesy. But Luna dang it, this scene is just EVERYTHING! It’s the culmination of Cassie’s whole arc and the way the citizens all join the battle is just so AWESOME!!!! We then get the wrap-ups to Janet and even MODOK’s arc. He is revealed to be Darren Cross from the first Ant-Man movie, and Cassie offers him a second chance at redemption in what is probably the most motivational ‘Stop being a bad guy’ line I have ever heard. “It’s never too late to stop being a dick.” So Darren gets redeemed and dies in a pretty touching moment after sacrificing himself. Janet gets the Pym particles for one last leap back home after talking with Kang earlier. Kang and Scott have a pretty kickass one-on-one fight scene, which even gets a bit bloody, wow! and Kang is defeated (for now) by the Pym particle jar, getting electrocuted and sucked into oblivion. This however, traps Scott and Hope in the Quantum Realm while Cassie and the others escape back home. But don’t worry, it’s okay! Cassie uses the satellite device from earlier in the film to open a second portal that allows Scott and Hope to return home.

Scott goes back to living life carefree, although he does question whether Kang was actually defeated. But then he’s like: “Nah, it’s fine!” Yeah, famous last words, dude. He then buys a birthday cake for Cassie to celebrate her “Fake Birthday” as he did miss quite a few of them. We get a couple of post-credits scenes teasing some more Kang variants and BAM!!! That’s the movie!!

So what did I think overall?

Well if I was to have one massive complaint with the whole thing, is that Scott should’ve stayed in the Quantum Realm. Rumor has it that the film was originally supposed to end with Hope and Scott trapped in the Quantum Realm and Cassie was going to work to find a way to get them out. That would’ve been a ballsy ending and quite fitting too, considering there don’t seem to be more Ant-Man projects on the Marvel calendar for quite a while now. But no, it looks like the last two happy scenes were tacked on in reshoots. I get the need for a happy ending, but Marvel really should’ve taken the risk here as it was practically gift-wrapped for them, plus it would’ve increased the stakes. But as for what we got, it was still awesome regardless. Yeah the green screen could use a bit of work, but it’s not as bad as people make it out to be and neither is the movie itself. This proves more than anything that Marvel still has that magic in them to deliver great movies, but with Phase 4 delivering such a bad taste in their mouths, people are unwilling to give it a chance. I really think the backlash ultimately comes down to the curse known as Marvel fatigue. The MCU really shot themselves in the foot during the pandemic with the sheer amount of Disney+ shows that came out. If nothing else, this provides a great lesson on how to not alienate your audience with oversaturation of content as the bad or mediocre stuff now has the potential to overshadow the really great stuff due to the brand that the movie is attached to. As for this movie, it was really great! It really was. People say that the only thing about the movie was Jonathan Majors as Kang and that’s just not true. Look, Jonathan Majors was awesome as Kang, but there’s more to the movie than that. Hate the modern MCU movies all you want, but you can’t deny that most of them are good at the very least. Yeah, the Ant-Man franchise has always been known for filler and this is more of a high-stakes Avengers-type movie that you have to see, but I think that’s what makes it at the very least bold. Franchises should be allowed to take risks and pivot away from what fans are used to. That’s what makes it exciting! You want fans to be on their toes and not know what to expect with their franchises. And Marvel definitely did that for me. The road to redemption is certainly here for the MCU. Let’s just hope they can win their disgruntled fans back as this movie proves that there is still great content to be expected from them.

With that being said, I would like to officially award Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania a very high 8.75/10! The only detracting factor in my opinion was that the cards were laid out for a ballsy ending that would’ve fit perfectly as I mentioned, but Marvel didn’t take it. I don’t know, maybe it’ll get a 10/10 when I watch it again, but I want to be fair. So a 8.75/10 it is!! Please go watch it and don’t be influenced by the people who say the movie is bad. Go see it and form your own judgment as I did. I look forward to hearing all your thoughts below and let me know if I should do more movie reviews on my blog posts. I would certainly love to read what you all think of the idea.

The Fall of Opaline will be coming very soon, so keep on a lookout and stay tuned. I will see you all soon. Byyyyyeeeee!! :twilightsmile:

Comments ( 14 )

Last time I saw a Marvel movie in theatres was Guardians 2. I loved the first one but second one was a bit of a letdown. I've been more into the comics themselves these days.

5714721
I personally don’t read Marvel or DC comics as I have no way of buying them at the moment, so I get all my info on these characters through the films, which makes them special for me and more like an experience as this is how I get to know the characters exclusively. Plus it allows for more unbiased judgement on my end as I don’t get all caught up like most people in the whole comic-accuracy debacle.

5714723
Fair enough.

I got into collecting comics digitally on Amazon's comixology service last year and I already have quite a collection.

5714724
Fascinating. I’d love to buy the comics too at some point. Maybe one day I’ll have the money to buy a whole collection like you. It’ll be best to have them in the wake of James Gunn’s ambitious plans for the DCU, that’s for sure, as I heard the films and shows will be heavily inspired from the comics.

5714725
Yeah. I already wishlisted a comic series about Creature Commandos and the Authority to get better acquainted with them. Authority sounds really fascinating to me.

5714727
Same here. Me being a superfan of Zack Snyder’s darker and gritty take on DC, the Authority is right up my alley. I’m looking forward to it.

5714728
Oh! A fellow fan of the MoS-BvS-ZSJL Trilogy! What a delight! It's rare to find one these days.

5714729
You love them too?! AWESOME!!!!! That’s wonderful to hear!! I thought I was the only one too!! Welcome to the club.

5714730
Indeed. Man of Steel was a large influence on the Mare of Steel Volume in my JLE story. Though one commenter agreed that I executed what that movie tried to do better.

And after seeing Zack Snyder's Justice League, the fact that someone at WB looked at it and said "Nah." makes me question the intelligence of the human race.

5714733
Same here. Zack Snyder’s Justice League is my favorite movie of all time and it’s just depressing that we’re not getting more of this amazing setup. James Gunn definitely has his work cut out for him if he wants to top this. It’s fascinating to hear that Man of Steel inspired your story. Funny enough, the Snyderverse will be a massive inspiration for my upcoming Lunar Literary Universe going forward, same tone and all. I really want it to be sort of a spiritual continuation of Zack’s DCEU while still being its own thing as well. We’ll just see how well that works out in the coming months.

5714734
Best of luck with it!

5714735
Thanks! Best of luck with your projects too. :raritywink:

Nice review. I saw it Sunday. Me personally I rate it a 5/10. Though I enjoyed the movie a lot more than Love and Thunder and would honestly watch this over that movie if presented the option. I do think the first Ant-Man movie was better, but if I get the chance to see Quantumania again I will, just to see if my feelings on it changes with a better mood.

To be honest, I don't understand the backlash this movie is getting. Sure, it isn't brilliant, and there is some spotty CGI, mostly on Modok, but the action was good, most of the jokes landed, and Jonathan Majors plays a really good Kang. I'd give it an 8/10.

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