Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Review: Scott’s Big Movie Feels a Little Small

The start of Phase 5 is a little shaky, but Kang the Conqueror makes a grand entrance.

I’ve always been known as the Marvel fan in every friend circle and workplace I’ve been in since I was 14. An avid re-watcher of the movies (including the X-Men trilogy!), deep-diving into cast interviews, and getting tickets to any advance screening or first showing I can of the next installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The MCU has come a long way – Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is its 31^st movie (sheesh) and marks the beginning of Phase 5.

Now I don’t know if I was going into this movie with high expectations – especially with a title as big as ‘Quantumania’ - or if there’s a twinge of Marvel burnout settling in, but I left the cinema wanting more… but I’m unsure if it’s in a good way or not.

This review will be spoiler-free, but I definitely recommend watching Ant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and the Loki series to get up to speed going into Quantumania. If you want to catch-up, don’t forget to watch it all on Disney+.

After the events of the last Avenger movies, I think it can be easy to forget how ‘normal’ Scott Lang is, and the movie sets this up well. Scott’s adjustment to life after the Blip as somewhat of a celebrity looks pretty cosy (he even wrote a book you can buy IRL) – but we learn that its out of ignorance more than anything.

This is where his daughter Cassie comes in – determined to make a difference in the world around her, even if it gets her into trouble. The dynamic between them really works well.

Cassie really pushes her dad and wants him to realise that even though he helped save the world, the world still needs saving – someone still needs to look out for the little guy.

While the movie is called Ant-Man and the Wasp, there’s very little Wasp. Unfortunately, Hope Van Dyne gets pushed to the sidelines for most of this movie but does have her occasional kick-ass moments.

However, maybe the ‘Wasp’ the movie is referring to in the title is the OG Wasp – Hope’s mother, Janet Van Dyne, who definitely has the bigger role in this film with after being stuck in the Quantum Realm for 30 years.

Hank Pym also makes up part of the ensemble, but doesn’t really have too much to offer for most of the movie rather than just be a bit of comic relief. While this adventure is focused on this family, it does feel slightly disjointed at times, flicking between Janet’s shady past and Scott’s attempts to connect with his daughter.

The Quantum Realm itself is a real feast for the eyes – somewhat trippy in the way Doctor Strange’s Mirror Dimension is, but less mind-bending and more straight-up weird. The characters you meet in the Quantum Realm are really interesting, reminding me of the wonderfully odd and bizarre characters we first met in Thor: Ragnarök. 

I’m also going to take a quick moment for M.O.D.O.K., who actually fits in this movie so well. This isn’t a spoiler btw so don’t come for me – he was featured in one of the trailers!

The absolute bizarreness of the Quantum Realm doesn’t make M.O.D.O.K. and his big head seem all that weird (but still pretty goofy) so if there was a movie to introduce him in, this one was a good choice.

I haven't seen a single image of him but I assume MODOK in Ant Man looks almost exactly like this pic.twitter.com/GbMQuqkgc9

— Grintz 🛸 (@alphonshine_) February 15, 2023

But we need to talk about Kang. I cannot describe how terrifyingly brilliant Jonathan Majors is as Kang the Conqueror – his performance as an all-knowing, powerful being is portrayed so well, and he definitely makes his mark as the new big-bad.

But we all know this isn’t Jonathan Majors’ first appearance in the MCU. He made his first appearance as He Who Remains in the Loki series – a Variant of Kang – who oozed mysteriousness and knowledge that left audiences hungry to know more.

It’s hard to talk about the film’s highest and lowest points without going into spoiler-territory, but in a big-scale movie like this set in the Quantum Realm, I was expecting Scott to have more ‘big’ moments (no pun intended).

The movie’s plot can get serious but sometimes it gets overshadowed by a quip or cheesy moment, which kind of reminded me of how I felt with Thor: Love and Thunder – times where things can get serious weren’t given the attention it deserved.

Really concerned for the MCU. Reading that Antman is another film trying to be overly funny just like Thor Love and Thunder did. And we all know how bad that was.

— Kolbe Payne (@kolbepayne) February 15, 2023

I definitely need to state – there are two post-credits scenes that you simply cannot miss. I hate to admit it, but I felt like these post-credit scenes had me more excited for what’s to come than the main movie did. I said what I said.

By no means do I think this is a bad movie – its fun, at times over-the-top, and feels like more of a set-up to Phase 5 than it is a standalone movie.

Not only does it showcase the MCU’s Phase 5 big villain, but I’m hopeful this is paving the way for the Young Avengers with Cassie Lang.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania does have me looking forward to what the rest of Phase 5 has to offer, especially with all the new heroes we’ve been introduced to through the Disney+ series. Only time will tell.

Heading to watch the movie soon? Don't forget to score cheap tix with our Hoyts deal!

This article contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through them (at no additional cost to you).

Header image: Marvel Studios