NEW YORK — There’s a lot unfolding on screen in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” and a lot of it is surprising. But one thing makes this picture stand out, at least to me: It’s the only superhero movie I can think of that hinges on two identical Jewish men being good fathers.
In the “Ant-Man” movies, the heroes are younger and the stakes are even smaller. These are the least essential movies in the vast Marvel Cinematic Universe, the culture-fierce juggernaut that debuted in 2008 and shows few signs of going away. A recurring gag here is that Paul Rudd – Ant-Man! — often has to remind people that he was instrumental in saving the world, but as part of the ensemble cast in the team-up “Avengers” movies. He still becomes obsessed with Spider-Man, which is totally understandable.
In the first two stand-along entries (2015’s “Ant-Man” and 2018’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp”) director Peyton Reed leaned into the visual absurdity of a subtle superhero, toy train sets and tossing around on skyscrapers. Revolved action sequences. stuff like. Unfortunately, that playful big-then-small-then-big point-of-view dynamism is mostly lost in its latest chapter, and traded for ineffective computer-generated sludge.
The creatures and costumes our gang finds in the “Quantum Realm” (which we’ll get to in a minute) look terrifying in an original “Star Wars” or “Tron” kind of way, and the story hints at a B-movie ( or, in the case of all these insects, “bee film”) the direction is like “journey to the center of the earth”. But the second half of “Quantumania” takes the disappointing decision to take it all in all seriousness. The film ends up being confusing (a sin) and dull (a major sin).
But let’s focus on the positive. Paul Rudd, Hollywood’s most lovable Midwestern Jew, is back as Scott Lang, a reformed cat burglar who, thanks to innovative technology and a desire to help people, often saves the day as Ant-Man. Is. He can shrink (down to the size of an ant!) which has been proven time and time again to be more useful than you might think. By his side is Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), his best girl, who also acts like The Wasp. (Only she can also fly, whereas Ant-Man must ride an ant!)
These marvels of science were created by Hope’s father, Dr. Hank Pym, a Jewish-American (and pro-Israel) Michael Douglas. As the films progressed, Douglas’s character gained goofiness, using his physics-defying science to enlarge a pizza pie to save a few shekels, and “I love ants!” As if he’s hanging out with George Costanza and Kramer.
By Hank’s side is his wife, Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer), who, if I may be so bold, still looks downright foxy as she moves well past an AARP-worthy age. She wins a lot of points for saying some of the goofiest tech things out there, and manages to do it with a straight face. Finally, there’s Kathryn Newton as Scott’s daughter Cassie.
A scene from ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’. (courtesy marvel)
These five (all scientists and adventurers) get sucked into the Quantum Realm. I guess the idea is that they’re within an atom, but once they’re there, we see that it’s the same place Janet was trapped for years. You would think that the idea is that if you could somehow be incredibly small enough to travel within an atom, and the fact that there are an almost infinite number of atoms around us at all times, it wouldn’t be the same tiny space. . But I think there are things we don’t know about higher dimensional fields (I’ve tried, oh, I’ve tried to understand Jewish-American physicist Brian Greene’s book “elegant universeand fail), so the film gives us the strange (and poorly lit) Rhode Island with its own set of creatures and villains.
Inevitably our team oozes out and meets the locals, most of whom are wildly creative funny looking creatures. “Hey, that guy looks like broccoli!” shouts Michael Douglas, in ultimate dad mode. And she’s right. There’s a guy who looks like broccoli, and later they all fly in a spaceship that looks like a paramecium, sticking their hands in juice to make the thing fly. This is awesome and the kids must love it.
Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Pym in a scene from ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’. (courtesy marvel)
It’s truly a delight to discover new worlds in Saturday morning cartoon splendor, especially with the wisecracking Paul Rudd at the center of it. His primary motivation is simple: he wants to protect his daughter. Of course, she’s now old enough to have her own identity, and has her own Pym-tech-enhanced suit. The emotional story that the two grow to see eye to eye is present; It’s cheesy and predictable, but Rudd is such a winning performer that it’s hard to condemn too much.
What you can (and should!) condemn is Marvel’s constant practice of putting the brakes on the movie you’re currently watching in order to shill for the next one. Zippy “How Will Our Heroes Get Home?” The story takes a murky turn while a new villain, Kang (Jonathan Major), turns around looking sullen. Imagine Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren from the recent “Star Wars” movies, then strip him of any personality or inspiration—he’s Kang.
Jonathan Majors as Kang in a scene from ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’. (courtesy marvel)
It’s a shame, because I’ve seen Majors in other movies (like the upcoming “Magazine Dreams”) and he’s a very talented guy. But he’s got nothing to do here except lull us all to sleep with his rote, confusing dialogues. I really don’t know what he wants to do besides kill. And I don’t know why. I don’t care either. The movie isn’t good enough for me to care.
But the movie is good enough for me to enjoy the cool creature effects and the charm of its lead actors. I don’t think you should spend your hard earned money and watch it in theaters, but streaming it over three months or so isn’t a bad bet. It would make even penny-counting Hank Pym proud.
