Ant-Man and the Wasp - Quantumania Review: Paul Rudd's Marvel Film Opens to Mixed Reviews From Critics, Call the Movie 'Underdeveloped' and 'Busy'

It looks like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania might have failed to meet the mark as the film has opened to mixed reviews from critics. Being the second film to receive a Rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes, with it having 53% positive reviews at the time of writing, many are criticising the film for being underdeveloped and busy. Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror, however, is receiving unanimous praise for being an intimidating villain. Here are some of the reviews below. Ant-Man and the Wasp - Quantumania: Review, Cast, Plot, Trailer, Release Date – All You Need to Know About Paul Rudd, Jonathan Majors' Marvel Film!

Watch the Trailer for Ant-Man and the Wasp - Quantumania: 

IGN: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has just enough entertaining moments and a heartfelt family story, plus knockout performances in Michelle Pfeiffer’s Janet van Dyne and Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror, to make up for its more underdeveloped aspects. The exploration of its central themes, new characters, and the Quantum Realm itself only goes skin deep, leaving it feeling high on spectacle but low on substance. Even so, Quantumania works as a culmination of the Ant-Man series, a way to start things in motion for Phase 5, and a promising roadmap of where the Multiverse Saga is going.

Variety: The script, by former “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “Rick and Morty” writer Jeff Loveness, is making up the rules as it goes along, which is why “Quantumania” whisks you through its visually zapping action without generating any real investment in it. In a way, the ultimate investment is offscreen: Will the film successfully launch Phase 5? To even wonder about the answer is to miss that the only real conqueror in “Quantumania” is the MCU.

The Hollywood Reporter: Although this film features some laughs — many of them revolving around the visually hilarious, homicidal organism MODOK (more on that later) — humor is generally in shorter supply. Which is probably appropriate for a film featuring one of Marvel’s scariest-ever villains in the form of Kang the Conqueror (a truly fearsome Jonathan Majors, instantly establishing a career annuity) and a potential cataclysm involving … actually, I don’t know what, to be honest. I just know that it’s really, really, bad, and that between the Multiverse and the Quantum Realm, you practically need an advanced physics degree to figure out what the hell is going on in Marvel films these days.

RogerEbert.com: Is it a must-see? No—the middle hour is fun in that patented easygoing "Ant-Man" way. Returning director Peyton Reed and screenwriter Jeff Loveness let the characters wander around the Quantum Realm, which is like a psychedelic sci-fi cartoon version of those jungles in 1930s serials where a clueless Western explorer would misinterpret a gesture and anger a local tribe, or get dunked in a river by an elephant, or be grossed out by the prospect of eating snake meat until they had a bite and realized it tastes kinda like chicken.

Slant: It’s clear that Quantumania is setting Kang up as the new Thanos, a uniquely powerful and evil villain who will require an expanded team of superheroes to defeat. Yet in saving his backstory and, well, endgame for future stories only serves to make this particular film ring that much more hollow—another prologue for Marvel films to come. In reimagining the quirkier, more grounded, and less narratively congested spirit of the first two Ant-Man films into another battle to save all of humanity—and in countless timelines no less—Quantumania feels less the start of a new phase of Marvel films than a tired retread of adventures we’ve already been on.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 15, 2023 10:35 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).