Director: Peyton Reed | Scenario: Jeff Loveness | Cast: Paul Rudd (Scott Lang), Kathryn Newton (Cassie Lang), Evangeline Lilly (Hope van Dyne), Michael Douglas (Hank Pym), Michelle Pfeiffer (Janet van Dyne), Jonathan Majors (Kang the Conqueror), e.a. | Playing time: 125 minutes | Year: 2023
The fourth phase of the MCU served to introduce new characters and worlds, laying the first building blocks of the current Multiverse Saga. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ended the stage with a bang, but overall the stage lacked direction and was somewhat disappointing. It’s now up to Ant-Man to kick off phase five and set the tone for what follows. An immense task for the smallest Avenger, who also finds himself confronted with the new Marvel villain on duty: Kang the Conqueror.
Quantum opens with a short intro that outlines us a few years after Endgame are, and what the Lang/Van Dyne family has been up to since then. Scott rests on his laurels and enjoys his fame as he tries to be a good father to his now eighteen-year-old rebellious daughter Cassie. Hope has blossomed into a philanthropist, Janet acclimatizes after thirty years of Quantum Realm, and Hank teaches Cassie the ropes of molecular science. Everything is going well until Cassie’s invention sucks the whole family into the Quantum Realm.
In the sci-fi adventure that follows, the family separated by the ‘journey’ tries to find their way to each other, and out of the subatomic realm. It soon turns out that Janet hasn’t exactly been idle during her time in the Quantum Realm. Her return catalyzes a series of events that brings the family face to face with Kang the Conqueror; the self-proclaimed ruler of the microworld and an old acquaintance of Janet’s, who we’ve already been briefly introduced to as “He Who Remains” in the series Loki.
The film is huge in its scope, but Kevin Feige overshoots his ambition for the project. All elements that the earlier Ant-Manfilms that gave their somewhat cheesy charm make way for CGI powerhouse of an unprecedented caliber. Instead of the entertaining gimmick in which Scott takes on all sorts of funny miniature settings against, by Marvel standards, house-garden-and-kitchen villains, he now takes on an opponent in a grand fantasy world that is so far out of his league that it is actually makes no sense.
Much of the original humor gives way to family troubles that fail to touch the sensitive chord. Where Paul Rudd previously excelled with his comic interpretation of the role as the silly, do-it-yourself superhero, he now mainly plays the overprotective father. The relationship with his daughter has always been an important theme in the Ant-Manmovies, but the ‘coming-of-age’ moments with Cassie are now very much predominant. However, the family get-togethers, including those between Hope and her parents, lack the necessary depth and this makes it very difficult to care about the characters.
The focus seems to be mainly on kicking off phase five as spectacularly as possible. The plot therefore feels secondary to the introduction of Kang and the new world. Director Peyton Reed clearly draws a lot of inspiration from the Star Warsfranchise for its world creation, but forgets to emphasize the all-important quantum element. He also fails to sufficiently introduce the civilization that lives in the Quantum Realm. As a result, the visually beautiful world unfortunately remains as two-dimensional as the flat characters.
Fortunately, Kang is really cool and Jonathan Majors’ excellent performance as the timeline-crossing super villain bodes well for the upcoming Avenger movies. However, the motivations of the multiversal character remain very abstract, and so does the threat he poses. As good as Majors does as Kang, Kathryn Newton is so irritating, who hops into all her scenes with a thick-set bumping pass and forced urgency. The way Cassie throws herself headlong into the adventure is reminiscent of the Kate Bishop character from the series Hawkeyeand this is indicative of the film’s high Disney content.
And this is exactly where it hurts. Quantum sometimes feels more like a Disney superhero themed family movie than a Marvel family themed superhero movie. The film certainly contains nice moments, such as the Schrödinger’s paradox scene in which every decision splits off a new reality, or the cameo of the legendary Bill Murray as Lord Krylar, but the sheer massiveness of the film deprives it of the lightness that made the earlier parts so enjoyable. made. Quantum isn’t a bad movie, but it’s certainly not the spectacular kick-off to Phase Five that Marvel fans had been hoping for either.
