Review: 'Ant Man 3' lives up to its title of 'Quantum-Mania' but not in a good way

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Marvel Oh Marvel! Why did you have prove the critics and even a huge set of viewers right that the MCU has seemingly lost its way in the past couple of years. There have been a few bright sparks but the big ones haven't quite delivered (Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder). There was hope that the sleeper franchise of Ant-Man which was turning out to be insane fun will deliver with a third film coming in after five years. So, does Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania restore the faith or becomes another case of MCU fatigue? Having had the chance to see it beforehand, here is what I thought about it-

Muddled Screenplay & Childish Sequences

Even in films like Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder, there were multiple plot points that served as a saving grace in the otherwise disjointed screenplay. It is a pity that in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, little to nothing works in its favour. After a delightful introduction and a good 10-odd mins, the moment the principal characters are pulled in to the Quantum Realm, it almost seems like hell broke loose - figuratively. The sequences, in an attempt to explain the complexities of quantum realm, just keep getting sillier and sillier. Be it the scene of Rudd's Scott Lang's 'possibility storm' or Michelle Pfeiffer's character of Janet explaining her reason of being stuck in the realm and potentially hurting trillions of people; it becomes very difficult to take these scenes seriously. The screenplay keeps getting more and more muddled with every scene passing by and even the forgiving runtime of 2 hours and 4 minutes isn't enough to keep you hooked.

The Need For BIG

For some reason, Marvel continues to fall into its own pit of trying to make things bigger and bigger. One of the reasons that Ant-Man worked on multiple levels earlier is the tongue-in-cheek humor he is associated with and just being one of the most fun and relatable characters in general. His goofiness along with a certain charm is what drove you to like him even more. But apart from a couple of flickering moments of chuckles, Ant-Man seems to be adulting and losing his charm. For some reason, there is a need to put in an unrelated and unnecessary celebrity cameo, a need to have viewers resort to earlier films for deeper understanding, a need to introduce newer characters just for the sake of it - all of this leads to an unfunny mismash of a rather boring film.

The Moments of Spark

There are moments of spark but those are instances of just trying to find them - Michelle Pfeiffer's Janet was just a recurring character in earlier films but having to witness her in the forefront in this third installment. And the fine actor she is, she tries her best. The biggest positive of the film is undoubtedly Jonathan Majors as Kang. Even though his character gets extreme treatment (from having a fantastic build-up and presence in the earlier half to an outlandish end for his role in the climax), it is Majors who lends gravitas, power and emotion to this character who is touted to be as powerful as Thanos but just in flesh and blood.

Suprisingly Bad CGI & Less Evangeline Lilly

The title is Ant-Man and the WASP: Quantumania. So why wasn't Evangeline Lilly's Hope Van Dyne aka Wasp given more to do? Inspite of being there throughout the film and apart from a moment in the end, Lilly gets barely anything to do, which is such a pity. Also, Marvel, who is known for pathbreaking CGI in an array of films so far has surprisingly hideous CGI and unfortunately lots of it. There was way too much visual effects and barely any pound emotional angle to hold on in the film.

The Verdict

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania should have had everything going for it - big scale, bigger ambition, celebrity cameos, new starry entries and exhilarating action pieces - but all this doesn't work in the scheme of things where the film becomes another case of fatigue setting in instead of the fun adventure ride that MCU is known for. Needed a way better beginning to the Phase 5 of MCU.

Rating - ** (2/5)