Film Review: "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" (2023).

"Witness the beginning of a new dynasty" with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. This superhero film directed by Peyton Reed, written by Jeff Loveness, based on the Marvel Comics characters created by David Michelinie, Bob Layton, John Byrne, Stan Lee, Ernie Hart, and Jack Kirby, and produced by Marvel Studios. It is the sequel to Ant-Man (2015) and Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) and the 31st film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Super-Hero partners Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne return to continue their adventures as Ant-Man and the Wasp. Together, with Hope's parents Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, the family finds themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought was possible. Jonathan Majors joins the adventure as Kang.

In November 2019, plans for a third Ant-Man film were confirmed with Reed returning to the director's chair and Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Michael Douglas reprising their roles. By April 2020, Loveness was hired to pen the third installment, with development on the film beginning during the COVID-19 pandemic. In early December, on Disney Investor's Day, the film's title was announced as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. By late July 2021, David Dastmalchian, Randall Park, and Corey Stoll were confirmed to reprise their roles. Whilst Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, William Jackson Harper, and Bill Murray rounded out the film's cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in November. Filming took place throughout Turkey; Los Angeles and San Francisco, California; Atlanta, Georgia; and at Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England. Filming was previously set to begin in January 2021, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was previously set for a 2022 release date, before a February 17, 2023 release date was officially announced in May 2021. It was delayed to July 28, 2023, in October, and returned to the February 2023 date in April 2022, swapping places with The Marvels given the film was further along in production than that film.

The film stars Rudd, Lilly, Pfeiffer, Douglas, Majors, Newton, Harper, Murray, Dastmalchian, Park, and Stoll. Rudd is resourceful, self-deprecating and capable of making the most of the thinnest material. Though Rudd and Lily work like mad to get laughs and chemistry, they come up well short of optimal levels achieved in the previous films. Finally, the film has another problem: the existence of a formidable yet uncharismatic antagonistic character.

The film feels a bit like three underdeveloped stories playing all at the same time, none of them particularly tense or emotionally gripping I don't see the supposed entertainment, I am not excited by any scene, the characters are disposable, it is a childish one with a plot full of quantum gaps. The film isn't the worst Marvel movie ever, but it might be the most inconsequential... Eventually, repetition in action and tone neuter the film's creative energy.

Simon says Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania receives:

Also, see my review for Ant-Man and the Wasp and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.