'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' Ups the Stakes with MCU's Introduction to Kang the Conqueror in a Battle Against Time that Mostly Succeeds
Let me start by saying, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. More than I had thought, but one of my biggest gripes with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania from the jump was the marketing. The trailers gave away way too much information regarding the plot, stakes and visuals within this movie. However, you cannot judge the film based on that fact, but I would be remiss not to mention the impact it had on my viewing experience. One thing that I couldn't wait to see in this movie was the effect of Jonathan Majors taking on the role of Kang the Conqueror. As someone who is not an avid comics reader but does his research online regarding these characters, Kang is someone who can pose a bigger threat than Thanos posed throughout phases 1-3 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As terrific as Josh Brolin is in the role of the big bad across the beginning of Marvel, Kang is someone who has multiple personalities and egos throughout multiple time periods.
Kang is the big bad of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which deals heavily with Scott Lang's (Paul Rudd) life post-Avengers: Endgame. He has written a book titled Look Out for the Little Guy about how he helped save the world, he is recognized all around San Francisco and at the same time is doing his best to play catch up as dad to Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton). Cassie is now a teenager and due to the time Scott had missed being trapped in the Quantum Realm following the events of Ant-Man and the Wasp and the Blip, he is constantly seeking to form a better bond with his daughter. Cassie has formed a great bond with the Van Dyne's, both Hope (Evangeline Lily) and Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Grandpa Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) but Scott seems lost in translation learning that she's conducting experiments with Hank and Hope, especially one that seems to terrify Janet.
Cassie, Hank and Hope had worked on a Quantum subatomic telescope to gain information about the Quantum Realm, which Janet had been trapped in for decades. And amongst learning that they secure their info by sending a signal "down there," the movie thrusts into motion with all of them being sucked into the otherworldly sci-fi world that plays as a mix of Star Wars, Dune and Rick & Morty. The latter being probably the biggest influence due to the look of some of the creatures and environments of which the Ant-family interacts with due to Jeff Loveness writing the script coming off penning 6 episodes of the beloved animated series for Adult Swim. One of the creatures that personally steals the show for me is a "goo monster" named Veb, voiced by David Dastmalchian who returns from the previous two Ant-Man films in a different role, however, we also have an underutilized appearance from The Good Place star William Jackson Harper who plays Quaz, a telepath who runs a rebellion against Kang. As they all enter the QR, Lang's get split up from the Van Dyne's and Hank. It's at this point where I felt like the movie began to lose a bit of steam out of the gate. While Scott and Cassie have some great moments together, Hank and Hope become backseat players to Janet as she explores and scavenges her old region. It leads to some choppy editing back and forth between the groups, but you become fascinated with the nature of the Quantum Realm that it doesn't seem as convoluted until we see the entrance of Lord Krylar (played by Bill Murray). Krylar is an old "partner" of Janet's from her time in the realm and boy, does his character not work for me.
Amongst this back and forth between wacky character introductions, there's an enthralling story that Janet finally reveals after being questioned many times by both her husband and daughter, that Janet knew of the Kang the Conqueror that many inhabitants of the Quantum Realm speak of. Majors' character crash lands within the Quantum Realm before being saved by Van Dyne after being attacked by monsters within the world. Before she realizes the potential of his powers, she forms a friendly bond with him trying to rebuild his device that helps him jump through time. He tries to entice her by reuniting her with Hank and Hope, however, she elects to destroy the device instead, trapping Kang there for eternity. The dynamic between Janet and Kang is a huge turning point in the film, for me personally, as we then get the scope and scale of what Kang can accomplish if he has the proper materials and resources.
Kang now rules his own technologically advanced city within the Quantum Realm called Chronopolis and is looking to do anything in his power to escape into the world to exacting vengeance on those who banished him there in the first place. He has a ruthless nature to him which is evident when Cassie and Scott are later captured by him, threatening to kill Cassie if Scott doesn't steal what he needs for him. From here, it is a chaotic visual effects spectacle leading into battles between multiple characters trying to take back their world from chilling conqueror that rules over their every day.
I do not want to head towards spoiler territory but there is a portrayal of an iconic Marvel villain within this movie that many have seemed disappointed by but as someone who, again, is not an avid comic book reader, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed the character. Unfortunately, the movie has an underwhelming ending for my taste, but it wraps up nicely if you stick around for the post credit scenes. Majors and Newton stand out as the MVPs of the film, with additional applause for Rudd and Pfeiffer's efforts as well. Though I do think Douglas and Lily play in the background for far too long in this movie, it does often feel overstuffed in a two hour and five-minute runtime. Peyton Reed, the director of every Ant-Man installment thus far does his best to balance it all in what is surely a fun-filled adventure that has you laughing while also acknowledging the major threat put forth on screen by Marvel's newest major villain.
Overall Score: 7.9
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