My Review of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania · 2:47pm Nov 20th, 2023
Rating Scale:
12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
Good morning, folks. This is Mr. J back with another movie review for today. This morning, I will be reviewing the first installment of the fifth phase of the MCU entitled: “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”. To be honest, I didn’t have high expectations for this film prior to watching it although I was kinda hoping it would be decent. Unfortunately, this was a big fat disappointment. It’s one of the worst movies of the MCU and the weakest film of 2023 so far.
This film stars Paul Rudd as he returns as Scott Lang/Ant-Man alongside Hope Van Dyne/Wasp, Hank Pym, Cassie Lang, and Janet Van Dyne. Here, they are accidentally transported to the Quantum Relm where they must face off against the mighty Kang the Conquerer.
Wow, talk about a massive shift in mediocrity after positively ending phase four with “Black Panther 2”. This is seriously how phase five begins?? Stuffing this storyline with bland-as-fuck CGI, piss-awful dialogue, cringe acting, and forced humor? It’s like the filmmakers wanted to return back to the same old formula that has sadly defined most of the MCU movies. Why can’t we have a film that balances both the comedic and serious tones of a story?
The character writing was, for the most part, inconsistent. It tries to make Scott realize that his biggest threat yet isn’t messing around, and it would seem like everything he is learning in the Quantum Realm might change his life forever. He starts to take the dire situation seriously as the life of his daughter depends on it….and the movie ends with him being the same old popular guy like he was at the start. It’s like another Tuesday for him at this point, and I find it to be incredibly frustrating that he doesn’t treat it as a life-changing experience.
The other characters are pretty much the same way, and there is no longer anything of interest to them anymore. I say this because I don’t think there’s much else to explore in their story. Janet is back in the real world, is reunited with her family, and they all helped saved the universe from Thanos during “Endgame”. Why the hell are we milking these characters to fuck till their money runs dry?
I especially didn’t like the concept of the Quantum Realm filled with people living therein. Is this supposed to be Star Wars or something? Because those are the vibes I’m getting from this movie. Everything looked so weird and generic, and the character designs are heavily reminiscent of Star Wars characters. Thanks for reminding us of the disgrace you brought upon that franchise, Disney.
Anyway, the MCU humor kept ruining the movie for me. It felt forced, cringeworthy, and unbearable to sit through; I know, I’ve often complained about this type of humor in these movies, but in this film, they increased it tenfold! It wasn’t funny the first time, so why would it be funny now?! I’m not saying there shouldn’t be any comedy at all, no, no, that would be far from the truth. I’m just saying that there needs to be subtlety, perfect timing, and a good balance so it doesn’t take away the seriousness of the story. Otherwise, I can’t take this seriously and not give any regard to these characters if they die or not.
Despite my hatred for this movie, I do want to point out the main highlight thereof: the villain. Kang the Conqueror was a pretty intimidating character from start to finish, and everything he said he would do or was gonna do, he would almost back it up with his actions. I really admire his calm personality and menacing demeanor, thanks to the solid acting of Jonathan Majors. However, I personally believe he should have been in an Avengers movie…considering the fact that he is apparently a multiversal threat. He looks so out-of-place in an Ant-Man movie, in my opinion.
I do admit I know nothing of his character outside of this movie, but the way his character was portrayed seems like his potential would’ve been fully utilized had he been in an Avengers movie where he can face off against all the heroes. Such a great villain wasted in a terribly-written movie.
Do NOT get me started with Darren Cross who is now M.O.D.O.K. Remember Darren Cross? The main villain from the first Ant-Man movie who eventually became the Yellow Jacket? First of all, aren’t M.O.D.O.K. and Yellow Jacket supposed to be separate characters in the Marvel Comics? Why are they one and the same here? Secondly, M.O.D.O.K. was a complete joke in this movie, and I am saying this as someone who has never been a fan of his character in general. I never liked his comic-accurate design neither have I liked his overall personality, judging from what I’ve seen of him in other media.
But in this movie, they turned him into an even bigger joke than ever! The CGI design looks so abysmally awful! It’s like they just green-screened Corey Stoll’s face into a frame and lazily cropped him into a floating head. He looks ridiculous! Plus, his ultimate reformation and sacrifice at the end was just downright stupid and outrageous. All Cassie had to do was tell him not to be a dick and that’s it?! That’s how he turned?! The MCU is a joke, folks.
There is just so much wrong with this movie, but I think I’ve said enough. To summarize everything I said, this film is trash because of the poor script, mediocre action, inconsistent character development, cringeworthy dialogue, and an unnecessary storyline. Kang was the only thing good about it as well as the decent choreography and soundtrack. Other than that, it’s one of the worst MCU movies I’ve ever seen.
This gets a 3/10, and I am being very, very generous here. This is a poor start to phase five honestly, and it is a shame the Ant-Man movies had to end it with this piece of garbage.
Peace out.
I haven’t seen this movie, but I had a feeling you weren’t gonna like it. Then again, I also have a feeling you won’t be a big fan of the 2nd Doctor Strange film either.
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I’m not watching that.
I sort of like what they were doing with Cassie...though hopefully she/her actress gets a better shot in the future...something Kang might no longer be part of.
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I know. Just saying.
There is a chance that if they decide to greenlight a second Ant-Man trilogy, it will be like the previous two movies (and have Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne kick the bucket) in terms of tone and writing.