{"id":215,"date":"2023-03-08T08:31:01","date_gmt":"2023-03-08T08:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tdi_45_918"},"modified":"2023-05-02T11:14:14","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T11:14:14","slug":"review-are-we-there-yet-quantumania-is-a-superhero-family-road-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krakenmae.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/08\/review-are-we-there-yet-quantumania-is-a-superhero-family-road-trip\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: \u201cAre we there yet?\u201d Quantumania is a superhero family road trip"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania<\/span><\/i> kickstarts Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) which finally explores the titular micro dimension after teasing its appearance in the previous films.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first movie had Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) go subatomic, which was a one-way ticket to the Quantum Realm (luckily, he escaped), the second was all about Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) searching for a way to bring back Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfieffer).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And now the whole Lang and Pym Ant-fam gets sucked into the quantum Realm thanks to Cassie Lang\u2019s (Kathryn Newton) Quantum Satellite. When Scott asked in the last film, \u201cDo you guys just put \u2018Quantum\u2019 in front of everything,\u201d guess it served as meta foreshadowing for <\/span>Quantumania<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the movie receiving mixed feedback and lacking the presence of the iconic X-Con trio, is it still worth the watch?<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2022 MARVEL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An awkward family vacation in the Quantum Realm<\/b><\/p>\n

The Quantum Realm looks like a half-psychedelic mind trip and half-sci-fi fantasy universe with a generous amount of slimy substances and gelatinous bugs. If you\u2019re freaked out by insects with fibrous appendages and anything with a suspicious squirm then you will need to mentally prepare for supersized versions of these creatures. Some of the scenes might also look a bit sus, with Lord Krylar (Bill Murray) entangling with giant tentacles and Hank Pym shoving his arms elbow-deep into thick goo\u2014all shown in great detail.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The cityscape gets less creepy-crawly with a set design that somebody just grabbed from the <\/span>Star Wars<\/span><\/i> props department. While it seems way too familiar with other fictional worlds, the dimension is still a visual treat. (Shout-out to the forest and the multi-eyed Broccoli alien!)<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of focus on a brewing rebellion (like <\/span>Star Wars<\/span><\/i>?) planned by the Freedom Fighters. Sadly, no mention of the <\/span>What If <\/span><\/i>series\u2019 fifth episode, where the zombie virus is traced back to the quantum realm. (Perhaps in another universe?)<\/span><\/p>\n

The supporting characters need more support!<\/b><\/p>\n

The absence of \u201cthose three wombats\u201d Luis (Michael Pe\u00f1a), Dave (Tip \u201cT.I.\u201d Harris), Kurt (David Dastmalchian) can be felt. Filling the void were Quantum Realm inhabitants such as Jentorra (Katy O\u2019 Brian), the leader of the Freedom Fighters, Quaz (William Jackson Harper), a humanoid who can read minds, Veb (David Dastmalchian, who previously played Kurt), a squishy creature obsessed with holes. Among the new crew, There\u2019s also <\/span>Ant-Man <\/span><\/i>villain Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) who went through an uncanny valley transformation as M.O.D.O.K. and reached new levels of cringe. Quaz and Veb were the standout favorites providing entertaining quips.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ant-Man<\/span><\/i> is known for its hilarious heist sequences, X-Con\u2019s bumbling antics, and Luis\u2019 overly complicated narration. So when Scott was tasked with a fetch quest, the mission hit differently without his hype men.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2022 MARVEL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Janet Van Dyne is <\/b>The <\/i><\/b>Wasp<\/b><\/p>\n

Janet is the real MVP of the movie because she was able to survive in a new dimension for 30 years and held her own against Kang (Jonathan Majors). She even guided everyone else across the realm and threw hands at Kang for the second time. Hank Pym did his thing with the ants, too. It goes to show that age ain\u2019t nothing but a number!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kang \u201cThis isn\u2019t even my final form\u201d The Conqueror means serious business<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not even clear at the beginning what Kang is really capable of but we\u2019re shown how intimidating the next <\/span>Avengers<\/span><\/i> villain is going to be through Janet\u2019s wartime flashbacks and other stories. And this is before he actually shows up. Kang is a multiversal conqueror with a genius-level intellect and access to 31st Century tech. He also has a terrifyingly calm manner of speech that will stress the eff out of anyone. His tone is very \u201cI\u2019m not mad, I\u2019m disappointed.\u201d In his weakened state<\/span>,<\/span><\/i> Kang is a tough boss fight so one could only imagine him at full power. (He even talked about defeating an Avenger.) Thanos, who?<\/span><\/p>\n

The post-movie credits might force you to do your Marvel homework. In <\/span>Loki<\/span><\/i>\u2019s season finale, Kang\u2019s variant called He Who Remains (HWR), whose hyperactive energy is the complete opposite of The Conqueror, gave a warning, \u201cAnd if you think I\u2019m evil, well. Just wait until you meet my variants.\u201d <\/span>Quantumania<\/span><\/i>\u2019s post-credits also hint at a multiversal war care of the Council of Kangs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2022 MARVEL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TL;DR THOUGHTS: IT’S SO MID IT’S OKAY<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s more serious than the previous <\/span>Ant-Man<\/span><\/i> films but Scott is still as goofy as ever especially when flexing his newfound Avengers fame, hanging out with Jimmy Woo (Randall Park), and the blatant Baskin Robbins product placement. One of the highlights include the Probability Storm where\u2014without spoiling anything\u2014Ant-Man serves peak Scott Lang humor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite some points for improvement, it\u2019s refreshing to see a superhero family kicking ass together. Nobody\u2019s a damsel or dude in distress with the Pyms and Langs each getting their own action sequence. After all the brooding \u201cI-need-to-stay-away-from-my-loved-ones\u201d series and movies, we need less drama and more awkward interactions. (With uncomfortable parental TMI moments like an actual family!)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So if you want an epic superhero movie then it might feel mid for you. <\/span>Quantumania<\/span><\/i> is more like a series of unfortunate events during a family trip with all roads leading to Kang. But it\u2019s a break that you didn\u2019t know you needed before the chaotic multiversal mayhem that will be MCU\u2019s Phase 5.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Images: Ant-Man and the Wasp – Quantumania \u00a9 Marvel 2022<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania kickstarts Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) which finally explores the titular micro dimension after teasing its appearance in the previous films.\u00a0 The first movie had Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) go subatomic, which was a one-way ticket to the Quantum Realm (luckily, he escaped), the second was all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,12],"tags":[22,24,29,31,30,28,26,27,32,25,33,23],"class_list":["post-215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","category-fangirling","tag-ant-man","tag-ant-man-and-the-wasp","tag-disney","tag-janet-van-dyne","tag-kang-the-conqueror","tag-marvel","tag-movie-review","tag-movie-reviewer","tag-paul-rudd","tag-quantumania","tag-scott-lang","tag-the-wasp"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/krakenmae.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/DBY-08940_R-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/krakenmae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/krakenmae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/krakenmae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krakenmae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krakenmae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/krakenmae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":433,"href":"https:\/\/krakenmae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215\/revisions\/433"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krakenmae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/krakenmae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krakenmae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krakenmae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}