If you’re a “casual” Marvel fan, like moi, who doesn’t take the Marvel films too seriously, then chances are you probably weren’t even excited to see “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” for its plot in the first place! While the “Ant-Man” films are some of my faves, because ants doing things I never thought they could do, thoroughly entertains me, I wasn’t DYING to see the latest “Ant-Man” film because Paul Rudd is now an “Avenger”. (Can we really even call him that? Ugh. He feels more like one of the Avenger’s silly little sidekicks, who hangs around for the snacks and accidentally gets caught up in all the drama.)
Honestly, I was just down for the ride because we stan a Black king … I mean Kang … I’m here to see Kang, aka Jonathan Majors!
After watching him in the final episodes of the Loki series, I knew I wanted more Kang in my life! The villain portrayed by Mr. Majors, is just too intriguing for me to ignore. And even though I entered the IMAX theater, for Jonathan Majors … I left pleasantly surprised at how much more there was to love about the “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” movie!
That doesn’t mean the movie is perfect.
With a runtime of 2 hours and 3 minutes, that feels quite short compared to a few recent releases, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” has its pros and its cons. Like most Marvel films, if not all. But I definitely enjoyed watching it. Which I can’t say the same for the last few films I’ve seen *cough* Spider-Man *cough*.
Anywho, here’s everything this casual Marvel fan loved (and hated) about the latest installment of the “Ant-Man” franchise.
An “Ant-Man And The Wasp Quantumania” Review For Casual Marvel Fans
Spoiler Alert – If you haven’t seen “Ant-Man And The Wasp Quantumania”, this review will spoil a few things, so I can explain what was loved and hated. But it won’t spoil or include major plot lines! So you can totally read this. Unless you loathe all kinds of spoilers. In that case, bookmark this joint and wait until you’ve seen the movie.
There’s a lot to love about “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”.
Like it’s humor, and the silly moments (and characters), that we’ll find throughout the Quantum realm.
Fom the moment “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” begins, it’s apparent that this one isn’t for the “Marvel bros” who like their films to start off kicking ass. No this one’s for us little guys, the ones who recently enjoyed “Thor: Love and Thunder”, and thought “Spider-Man: No Way Home” was a snooze fest. Sorry, not sorry.
“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is for those of us who like it when cute characters talk. Seriously! And if the name William Jackson Harper means anything to you … yes you my fellow “The Good Place” fans … then having him in this film immediately alerts you to what’s to come. (Now I don’t always think his humor is great, but it works in this.)
Plus Scott’s arc as a character is kind of amusing.
On one end we have this guy who’s finally learning to get his shit together so he can be there for his daughter. But then on the other end — everyone just sees him as a thief still. Like no matter how much he tries to “get out” he’s somehow always sucked back in. And that’s sort of the reality of ex-cons right? Redemption is hard AF when you’re in and out of prison.
I also really loved the world building and the visual effects.
Although, some of it isn’t that great, and you can pretty much tell it’s fake. But it’s still a pretty freaking cool world to be in — the Quantum Realm, that is.
And the costumes are everything!
But I guess, that’s just the standard we’ve come to expect in a Marvel film, right?
Hell, even M.O.D.O.K was cute to me.
Although I’ve seen folks say they hated it. I didn’t. And that really just boils down to the fact that, this film is supposed to be wacky, its what we’ve come to expect from Ant-Man and Thor. It’s what us “casual fans” have grown to love.
Yet, there’s one thing in particular about the “Ant-Man” franchise that continues to amaze me.
And that’s the way they continuously weave the ants in. It’s impressive to me. And if that just makes me easy to please, then so be it. However, by movie 2 I figured they’d drop the whole ant “act” and move on to something a little less ridiculous, but they didn’t.
Throughout every movie, they stick to their core message — that these ants can do just about anything — and I really love that.
I mean have y’all seen the “Fantastic Beasts” movies? Must I remind you that the magical creatures are literally in every title, yet are practically non existent in the films themselves? It’s insane. So I love that Marvel doesn’t lose sight of what makes Ant-Man … ant man.
Of course “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” isn’t perfect.
It’s giving … “where have I seen this before” …
Because the film does unfortunately feel like it borrows it’s greatness from a few other films that I love — including “Dune”, “Star Wars”, “Alice Through The Looking Glass”, “The Mitchells Vs The Machines”, and even Disney’s latest film “Strange World”. Which dulls its creativity a notch, since it feels like we’re just mushing multiple movies together at this point.
But that doesn’t mean it’s still not entertaining, because it is.
Also, what’s up with this villain? And the freaking ending!?
Am I supposed to hate him? Root for him? Because even after watching two hours of The Conquerer … I’m still not convinced I should hate Kang. Part of me is still like “ehhhh there’s gotta be something they’re not telling us about this guy, yes we know he destroyed worlds, but why did he do that? Can someone tell me WHY I’m supposed to hate him?”
Then the Black nerd in me kicks in and I just refuse to keep overlooking how Marvel movies continue to portray Black super-humans as less than. Like great … yes Kang’s played by Jonathan Majors, but now we get to see the big Black guy destroy things. Perfect. (They don’t already have us in enough of those roles huh mate.)
And then the ending which I won’t even mention because it’s so trash … is another blatant slap in the face for a Black character of this multitude. I know it’s supposed to be goofy and what not, but I’m a tad disappointed in that outcome.
I also really hate how Marvel portrays mothers.
Why do we keep creating this narrative that mothers are bad for wanting to be with their kids? Yet when men do whatever they want … it’s because he’s doing it for his kids!? WTF! Did we not already go through this in “WandaVision” and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness“? Can we please stop. It’s so harmful! But ya know … when men write stories, I guess they write what they know or whatever.
Also, ya think we could have gotten a little bit more action, and a little less close up shots of Jonathan?
I’m not saying having sir in the movie is a bad thing, but I mean, come on, it’s an Ant-Man film! Focus here! They could have definitely given us a few more action scenes with my good friend Paul. I did not need to be distracted by Jonathan Majors full lips on the big screen! It’s almost as if they wanted us to be fully invested in this Kang character so we can forget all about the little guy. Even though they literally said to “look out for the little guy”!
Either way Peyton Reed did a great job directing this and I’d definitely be down to see Ant-Man 4.
But maybe they’ll just dive into Kang instead?
That’s where we’re headed so it’ll be nice if he gets his own film. Especially since, like others are saying, that this definitely feels like a Kang story more than an Ant-Man story. Similar to how the “Doctor Strange” sequel was all about the Scarlet Witch. So maybe since they can’t seem to write films for the actual main characters and let the supporting actors … support, maybe Doctor Strange 3 can be all about Kang again.
Who knows. Either way, I’m down! Where Jonathan goes, we follow.
I mean … Ant-Man, follow the ants!
4.5/5
