Director: Peyton Reed

Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, David Dastmalchian, Katy O'Brian, William Jackson Harper, Bill Murray, Michelle Pfeiffer, Corey Stoll, Michael Douglas

Available On: Disney+ Hotstar

Duration: 2 Hours 4 Minutes

‘Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania’: Story

Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) are dragged into the Quantum Realm, along with Hope's parents and Scott's daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton). Together they must find a way to escape, but what secrets is Hope's mother (Michelle Pfeiffer) hiding? And who is the mysterious Kang (Jonathan Majors)? Well, to know all that you’ll have to watch the movie.

‘Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania’: Performances

Paul Rudd isn’t as fun as he usually is in his avatar as Ant-Man. In the last two films and the numerous other Avengers films that he has been a part of, Rudd was the fun comic element that audiences used to be looking forward to. His character used to be having the funniest of lines, the quirkiest of?one-liners and the coolest of sarcastic dialogues. Sadly, this was just a pale reflection of his earlier films.

Besides a new haircut, there is nothing that’s new for Evangeline Lilly. Her character is so inconsequential that it seems she was there just for the sake of continuity and nothing else.

Jonathan Majors is a worthy addition to the MCU, and he justifies his casting as Kang, the Conqueror. The baritone he achieved for his performance along with his body language made sure that audiences feel the chills of a proper Thanos-type villain. Majors played the character in a very calm and quiet manner but when Kang starts playing his mind games and starts flaunting his powers, Majors too lets himself loose and showcases an intensity worthy of an MCU villain. Kang’s back story with just Jonathan Rogers playing all the different aberrations of him in the Multiverse would be a fantastic watch in itself. A sneak peek of the same at the end made it worth the wait.

Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas have been completely wasted. They barely have characters in the film, and are just feeling like cling on’s. Even though Pfeiffer’s character is central to the plot of the story, there is hardly enough depth or intensity to her backstory. Douglas is barely even there. The kind of charisma he brought to the character in the first Ant-Man movie is nowhere to be seen, and now he just feels like an old cocker who is just living on bits and pieces of his former glory.

Kathryn Newton doesn’t have enough to do but it definitely feels like we shall be seeing more of her in the future Ant-Man movies. Sadly, in this one, her character has grown in arc in comparison to the previous two movies, but there’s not too much on her plate. Excepting the initial scene where she gets everyone into the Quantum Realm, there’s hardly any spark in her character for the rest of the movie. Newton made the character come out like she’s just riding on her father’s glory.

The rest of the supporting cast has?too small a role to even warrant a mention. There’s barely any stand-out performance which you want to see more of in future movies.

‘Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania’: Script, Direction & Technical Aspects

Jeff Loveness’s writing has ruined pretty much the entire fun of watching a Paul Rudd movie. The previous Ant-Man films are so much fun and here it lacks all the fun punches. Had the writers focussed more on the characters, their individual personalities and their equation with each other, then this could have also matched the intensity of the previous two films. Sadly, this script is just not worthy of the wait that audiences had to go through over the years.

Director Peyton Reed has lost his way. The fun element that Ant-Man is associated with is subdued too much, and now the film just rides entirely on VFX. Baring the opening and the ending scene, there’s nothing in the real world, which of course means that the entire shoot must have happened in green rooms, under the chroma screens. It kind of sucks out the fun from an action movie where you’re hoping to see the actors do some of the death-defying stunts or action sequences themselves.

‘Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania’: Can Kids Watch It?

Yes

Outlook’s Verdict

‘Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania’ is a pale reflection of the previous two movies. However, just for the character of Kang, The Conquerer, one should try and watch it. Overall, this movie is definitely not up to the audience’s expectations, and Way Below Average. I am going with 2 stars.