Director: Peyton Reed
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, and Micheal Douglas
Duration: 125 minutes
Where to Watch: In cinemas
Rating: 2.5 stars
Marvel Cinematic Universe (also known as MCU) is a billion-dollar film franchise it introduced Marvel comics' famous superheroes to the big screen. Before MCU, filmgoers only knew Blade, Spider-Man and X-Men as the favourite Marvel characters on the big screen. Since 2008, MCU, under the guidance of producer Kevin Feige have rewritten the fate and genre of superhero dramas.
With over 30 released titles, Marvel movies have reportedly grossed over $28 billion worldwide. Such is the impact these Marvel guys have made. However, since the 2019 juggernaut, Avengers Endgame, MCU has seen a decline in critical and box office reception. Except Spider-Man No Way Home and Doctor Strange into the Multiverse of Madness, MCU fans have been disappointed. Sadly, even the latest addition of MCU, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, continues to disappoint, and it has been crushed under its giant legacy.
The third instalment of Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly-starrer, starts on an intriguing note but ends as a strictly okay film for MCU fans. My advice is, 'don't go with high expectations'. The film falls short of it.
After saving the planet and bringing back people from the blip, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) turns an author and tries to motivate people by narrating his experience of being an Avenger. His daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) has grown up into a rebellious, righteous girl who aims to fight against injustice. Hope Van Dyne (Lilly) becomes the new CEO of her father, Dr Hank Pym's (Micheal Douglas) company, and they all live quiet lives. Cassie invents an unusual radio telescope that helps her send and receive signals from the quantum realm. As Cassie demonstrates her invention, they all are sucked into the sub-atomic quantum universe. Here, Scott and his family confront Kang The Conqueror, who aims to destroy timelines, wiping out universes.
The storyline takes us deeper into the quantum universe. But it gives us a hangover of James Cameron's latest blockbuster Avatar. When you see otherworldly creatures with special powers flying around on their pet animals and speaking in another language, it reminds you of Pandora and the Na'vi. The screenplay is predictable, and you can guess what will happen before it takes place on the screen. Either I have watched too many of these films, or they are lacking in creative ideas.
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As far as performances are concerned, Paul continues to charm and maintains the balance of laughter and superheroism intact. His character shows weariness, and you feel that Ant-Man has run his course by now. The rest of the cast is strictly okay, except Micheal Douglas, Kathryn Newton and Jonathan Majors. Let's address the elephant in the house. Jonathan Majors was expected to take the mantle of the next big baddie of Marvel after Josh Brolin's highly-successful Thanos. However, he manages to merely secure passing marks here. Majors has a big shoes to fill, and this could be one of the reasons why he appears to fall short. But, in many scenes, Jonathan tries too hard and looks odd. It hampers his depiction of emotions. Even M.O.D.O.K makes his big screen appearance, but he is felt wasted here.
The film also lacks a central logical point. If a prisoner like Kang is exiled, how can he build an empire with hundreds of loyal soldiers and weapons with a high-tech mechanism? Even if you tend to let go of this point, it will nudge you till the end of the film. The stakes are high, and that is the reason behind the disappointment.
Talking about the VFX, the film does deserve a mention here. But it is still not an eye-popping visual spectacle like Avatar was. We have seen such scenes in previous Ant-Man and even in the Doctor Strange series.
The film is strictly for die-hard MCU fans, and Marvel needs better writers to match up with the engaging script of some of its previous successes like Endgame and Infinity War.
