Life
Film review: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania: 'Silly and outrageous'
The insect superhero is back again
February 14, 2023 18:10
The insect superhero is back again
February 14, 2023 18:1012A
****
Jewish actor Paul Rudd reprises his role as Ant-Man in this new adventure of the embattled MCU offshoot. The Ant-Man and The Wasp franchise has often felt like a less essential component of the current re-imagining of Lee and Kirby's hugely popular output. But now on its third outing, the series finally seems like a fully fledged Avenger adventure.
After the events of Avengers: Endgame, Ant-Man/ Scott Lang (Rudd) is basking in the glory of his new found celebrity. With the whole of San Francisco wanting a piece of the man who fought side by side with Captain America, Spiderman and many more, Scott has also written a memoir to celebrate being part of the team who defeated the mighty Thanos.
Scott’s now teenage daughter Cassie - played by Little Women star Kathryn Newton - has been secretly learning all about the Quantum Realm thanks to scientist Hank Pym (legendary Jewish actor Michael Douglas), who also happens to be father of Scott's soulmate Hope/The Wasp (Evangeline Lilly). When an experiment goes haywire, Scott, Cassie, Hope, Hank and Hope’s mother Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) are lost in the Quantum Realm where they must fight a deadly adversary (Jonathan Majors) to be able to return home.
After a slew of disappointing Marvel adaptations over the last couple of years, it feels good to finally have a superhero adventure that does exactly what is expected from it. Returning director Peyton Reed and screenwriter Jeff Loveness seem to have gotten the tone just right this time around. Taking a leaf from Taika Waititi’s own comedic approach to the MCU in the popular Thor films, the duo have opted for silly and outrageous and it looks like it might have finally paid off.
Aided by a gag-heavy dialogue, Rudd is as breezy, likable and as hilariously funny as we’ve come to expect from Hollywood's most unlikely superhero. Meanwhile, the film seems to also be setting up Newton as a possible replacement for Rudd in upcoming adventures.
While the storyline often amounts to some barely cogent pseudoscience nonsense, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania seems to have finally captured the true essence of these offshoot adventures, and about time too. I had a whale of a time with this, and I suspect MCU fans will too.