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Plot Summary: Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne, along with Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, explore the Quantum Realm, where they interact with strange creatures and embark on an adventure that goes beyond the limits of what they thought was possible.

Director: Peyton Reed

Writer: Jeff Loveness

Runtime: 2 hours 5 mins

Main Cast:

• Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man
• Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne / The Wasp
• Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym
• Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne
• Jonathan Majors as Kang The Conqueror
• Kathryn Newson as Cassie Lang

Review by: Samuel

With the exception of ‘Spiderman: No Way Home’ and 2/3 of ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,’ this writer was pretty much thumbs down on Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Now with Phase 5 starting, hope is renewed as we are introduced to our new big bad in the form of Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror. He had some big shoes to fill and based on his feature film debut for the MCU, he’s more than up for the task.

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What I Liked

This film relies heavily on visuals to bring us into the universe that is the Quantum Realm. It had to look unique and wondrous so we’d believe that (most of) our heroes were on foreign ground with new terrain and species to explore. For the most part, the visuals work. Whenever one of our protagonists is interacting with the world around them, the visuals are at their best. The VFX team did their job so well that I actually believed that Hank was speaking to what looked like walking broccoli or that Scott was interacting with a gelatinous creature. However, you see cracks when the characters are amongst themselves engaged in dialogue because it’s quite clear they are standing on a sound stage with a green screen behind them. It is nothing egregious (e.g., the final fight in ‘Black Panther’), but it is noticeable.

What I really liked comes down to the reason this movie exists- Kang. Jonathan Majors’ portrayal of the time-traveling comic book villain brought me chills. By now the audience knows that the character of Ant-Man, in particular, is full of quips and jokes and while that trend continues here, it is NEVER when Kang is around. The film does a good job of showing that this is a very serious man and he deserves your attention. He isn’t eccentric like the Joker, he isn’t insane like Homelander, and he is honestly the most Thanos-like villain we have had since Thanos himself. That is to say, his power emanates from how calm his demeanor is. He is very mild-mannered as he threatens to destroy men, armies, and worlds. He doesn’t need to show off his strength for you to be aware that he has it. You can tell he has an intellect far beyond what our heroes can comprehend, and an understanding of what he believes to be his calling- a calling he will stop at nothing to achieve. He already belongs in the category of the best Marvel villain based on this film alone. He is not another throwaway evil for the sake of evil villain; he has understandable motivations (VERY understandable by the end of the film), and Majors plays him with such gravitas that you can’t help but be interested in what exactly caused him to become what he is.

What I didn’t like

I don’t like bashing films that aren’t outright terrible so I will try to be quick here. The film has characters like Wasp and Hank who are under-utilized and basically unnecessary, which is disappointing. It is pretty predictable after the second act concludes. It picks up and never really fleshes out storylines- such as that with Scott and Cassie debating whether she should be using her own suit to fight crime. It doesn’t really have a clear goal for most of its runtime- 30 minutes in you’ll be wondering what exactly each of the characters actually wants to accomplish in this film.