Beware the Realm
'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' good, weird fun
Welcome back to “AntMan” and the Quantum Realm. The Quantum Realm is that “subatomic universe,” resembling an even more hallucinatory version of Alice’s Wonderland combined with the many strange worlds of “Star Wars,” where Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) was trapped for decades. In this new “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” the entire LangPym-Van Dyne clan — Janet Van Dyne, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), Hope Van Dyne aka The Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), Scott Lang aka sizeshifting Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and his daughter Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton) — are sucked back into the Realm.
The villain of this piece of the Marvel MCU (“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is the first film of “Phase Five” of the MCU output) is Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), a power-mad, human “traveler,” who was saved by Janet when he landed in the Quantum realm years earlier. Kang travels in a small, unimpressive, velvet-lined vessel with a built-in armchair. Cassie is now a budding scientist, who lands in jail for the “third time” for using her own AntMan powers to reduce a police cruiser in size at a protest.
The Quantum Realm is more like the Land of Deja Vu. Everything is vaguely familiar. Written by Jeff Loveness (TV’s “Rick and Morty”), “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” appears to be a spin-off of the original “Star Wars” cantina sequence with the Quantum inhabitants resembling cantina regulars and entertainers. These include a mighty woman warrior named Jentorra (Katy M. O’Brian) and an alien character who seems to be made of Jell-O, has “no holes” and whose “ooze” can be drunk and will render the drinker able to understand the language of the Quantum people. Yes, but ugh.
Like most superhero moves, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is repetitive. Super-herowith-an-inferiority-complex Scott Lang still likes to remind people that he is an Avenger and that he helped “save the world.” In the Quantum realm, we see floating faces, undersea imagery and meet a sentient broccoli. The canceled Bill Murray shows up as a powerful Quantumian (?), who claims to have known Janet in the biblical sense and whose exit scene is the best in the film. Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) of the earlier “Ant-Man” films returns in a new form. “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” (how I love to type that title) also owes a debt to that great lostin-a-magical-realm tale; “The Wizard of Oz.” It’s all about going home.
How many CGIheavy, special effects sequences inspired by the art of Jack Kirby can you take? Fans have no limits. The rest of the world does. Kang captures Ant-Man and Cassie and forces Ant-Man to retrieve a power source for him. He might as well be Emperor Ming. Director Peyton Reed (“Yes Man”), returning for a third “Ant-Man” film, gives newcomers Majors (TV’s “Lovecraft Country” and soon-to-come “Creed III”) and Newton (TV’s “Big Little Lies”) more close-ups than their elders. This new “Ant-Man” film is playfully in love with multiplication. Hank wonders if any of his “smart ants” have been transported with them. Hmm. We are reminded more than once that Scott was fired from his job at Baskin-Robbins (B-R HQ is in Canton). Rudd is fun, but not all the time, and he fights like a sissy. The talented, super-buff Majors could crack him like a nut. Lilly pumps her scenes full of energy, but doesn’t have enough of them. In scenes reminiscent of kaiju classics, a giant Scott is riddled with automatic weapons fire. I was glad that “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” was just over two hours. For a superhero film, that’s a short.
(“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” contains violence and profanity)