Watch the trailer
Written by: Jeff Loveness (written by), Jack Kirby (created by)
Directed by: Peyton Reed
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, Bill Murray, William Jackson Harper, Randall Park
Rated: PG-13
Plot
Scott Lang, Hope Van Dyne, Hank Pym, and Janet Van Dyne explore the Quantum Realm, where they interact with strange creatures and embark on an adventure that goes beyond the limits of what they thought was possible.
Verdict
It's a lot of style and impressive visuals, but it lacks substance. This tries to make Scott and Cassie's relationship the point of development, but it's a shallow story line. This really needs to develop the villain. He could be an interesting character if only he had some backstory and some kind of goal. His goal is... he has an army to do... something. That's why he must be defeated. The movie fails at making the villain credible. Instead Kang falls flat, which is a shame with Majors playing this part. Kang is unbeatable until fifteen minutes left in the movie when this wants to wrap up the plot which is completely ridiculous. As intriguing as this world could be, the movie never pauses long enough to create a sense of wonder in the place.
Skip it.
Review
I didn't care for Ant-Man, and the sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp was even worse, but I was curious how Marvel would try to brand this Ant-Man movie. Marvel planted the latest Dr. Strange movie squarely in the horror genre, and I expect this movie will be a foundation for future Ant-Man movies.
This opens with a quick prologue in the Quantum Realm that introduces Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Kang (Jonathan Majors) while showing us how wild this place can be.
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| Paul Rudd, Kathryn Newton, Evangeline Lilly play Scott Lang, Cassie Lang, Hope Van Dyne |
The next scene introduces us to Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and his new book that will serve as joke fodder throughout the movie, Scott and his daughter Cassie's (Kathryn Newton) strained relationship, and the wildly successful Hope (Evangeline Lilly). Hope despite being Wasp serves little purpose in this movie. I'm not sure why her introduction emphasized how much she helps the world through her company. She's a hero used as the plot needs to fill in the gaps when Ant-Man isn't present. The movie doesn't wait long before we jump into the Quantum Realm. Janet was stuck there for years, but told everyone nothing was down there. It turns out there is a lot down there, and she never told anyone so the plot of this movie would be a surprise. Just as she's about to reveal the sordid secrets of the Realm, they're transported there.
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| Paul Rudd, Kathryn Newton play Scott Lang, Cassie Lang |
The group is split so we can see more of this world. It's visually impressive, though the movie never slows down enough for us to really appreciate it. It's pretty visuals lacking any substance. Janet is well known in the world, but we only get hints of what she actually did when she was stuck here. We don't know if she was morally good or bad, and the movie never answers that. It could certainly be a point of development for her as she confronts her past, but her past didn't even have any ramifications on this world. You really think Janet would have shared that the Quantum Realm contained humanoids.
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| Jonathan Majors plays Kang The Conqueror |
Janet knows she must find Scott and Cassie before Kang does. Of course Kang found Scott and has worked out a deal. As powerful as Kang seems to be, I don't know why he would need Scott other than the plot needs to give Scott something to do. Kang must be defeated because Janet says so. What is Kang's goal? He has an army, I suppose just to bolster the fact he must be defeated. Kang is unbeatable, that is until there's fifteen minutes left in the movie. Kang could be a great character, but he gets so little development. What are his goals? We don't know, and that's a point of failure for this movie. His defeat seems inevitable because this movie is devoid of any suspense or fear. Comic book villain Modok is in this movie, and those scenes should have been cut to develop Kang. Kang's goal was to make the world better in his opinion, and that's why he's here. There's just not much there. We get a mid and end credits scene to let us know that we certainly haven't seen the last of Kang. We first saw Kang (Jonathan Majors) in the Loki series, and we'll see him again in 2025 when Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is set to release.
The closest villain comparison is Thanos in Infinity War. Thanos was a great villain because his goals were clear and we could at least understand his argument. The Batman Joker relationship is intriguing because they are two sides of the same coin. Thee are many parallels we could draw between them. This movie could have created a link between Scott and Cassie and Kang and a family or friend to create a story around how a good and bad guy handle that kind of situation. Then we would clearly see why Kang is bad. Instead Kang's just a bad guy to give this movie something to do. As an actor, Majors could have done so much with this part if only the script allowed it.
This movie is a lot of style, but there are multiple characters that don't mean much. The main characters spark an uprising and the rebels of the Quantum Realm are nothing more than fodder. It doesn't matter what happens to them, because the movie has given them no meaning. It's ridiculous Janet never told anyone about what she had seen. It's also ridiculous that no one is bothered by the fact that it would have been incredibly useful information. Kang was built up as incredibly powerful, but all of a sudden he's weak when this movie is ready to roll the credits.
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