Director Peyton Reed stuffs the Quantum Realm with so much razzle-dazzle special effects, super powers, and bells and whistles that some of the characters and the story get lost. Paul Rudd is back as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, but this is not a giant of an MCU production.
The outrageous denizens of the Quantum Realm seem reminiscent of the Star Wars cantina on steroids. There are manta-ray moths, suns with tentacles, giant walking stalks of broccoli, and a jello-esque creature, which is actually a cute character. Everything is lit up to become a dark world of constant glowing neon. There is so much going on all at once, it’s confusing stylistically, visually and, consequently, the plot suffers.
Once again, Rudd plays the likable Ant-Man with power to change size at will. In the original Ant-Man, it took 30 years to get into the Quantum Realm to save scientist Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer). In this script, it takes less time than getting into a Starbucks at 8am.
When Scott’s daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) whips up a device with Grandfather/scientist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), the whole family are surprisingly sucked there in seconds without warning. Being brought back provides background on what Janet was up to during those three decades including encountering a ludicrous Lord Krylar (Bill Murray). Murray plays his role so casually and with such disdain, it looks like he was just there for one scene and a paycheck.
They also get greeted by Darren (Corey Stoll) who brings evil humor to the film. A corporate baddie from the first film, they thought he was dead. He was reconstructed as M.O.D.O.K., a Mechanized Organism Designed for Killing. Stoll looks so very strange. He’s a face in little gold skull with teeny arms and legs. The aspect ratio and the distortion of his face looks like a bad VHS playback. He’s always gleefully evil. Now Darren is working for the ultimate baddie, Kang. They all know each other from the past.
These films rise and fall with the villains. Thanos was a great one because he really stirred the pot and had a mission for his killing. Kang (Jonathan Majors) is a conqueror who wants to control every timeline in the multiverse. He’s wants to be all powerful. Kang was exiled into the Quantum Realm and took it over as an ultimate despot using a menacing stare and a quiet voice threatening complete extinction. You’ll be seeing more of him in upcoming MCU movies, but we hope grows to fully develop this character.
Even though the Wasp is part of the title, Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) is totally underused. We barely see her except for a few cutaways during action sequences. Same for Michael Douglas who gets some funny scenes controlling a ship with his arms in strange sleeves, and playing with his favorite insect.
Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet is really the second lead. She comes up with the major solutions to every situation. She looks fabulous which may be the result of liberal use of de-aging special effects software. Spunky young science wizard Cassie (Newton) emerges as a smart character always ready to spring into action. She’s cute, perky and engaging showing Scott she’s more than Daddy’s little girl.
Where we think this film misses the mark is that the story is hard to follow, muddled, and feels like it’s simply a promo for the Marvel movies to follow. The effects are so overblown that there’s nothing that feels authentic in the Quantum Realm. And we miss the smart, sassy humor that should be the hallmark of the movies in this franchise. We had to work too hard to get through the mania of this realm.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 2 hours 5 minutes. PG-13
