Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

When it comes to franchises, I don't know what Marvel Studios would do if they didn't exist. Suffice it to say, their film library would be a fraction the size, so when "Ant-Man" was wrapped up, it was a forgone conclusion that there would be another, and here we have "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania", which actually is the third installment after "Ant-Man and the Wasp"--too many films to keep track of.

Super-Hero partners Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) return to continue their adventures as Ant-Man and the Wasp. Together, with Hope's parents Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), and Scott's daughter Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), the family finds themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought possible. Within the realm, they must attempt to combat the evil Kang the Conquerer (Jonathan Majors) in order to save many other worlds. 

Others to round out the cast are Corey Stoll as M.O.D.O.K., William Jackson Harper as Quaz, Katy O'Brian as Jentorra, Bill Murray as Lord Krylar, David Dastmalchian as Veb, James Cutler as Xolum and Randall Park as Jimmy Woo.

This was directed with intensity and humor by veteran Peyton Reed ("Bring It On" 2000, "Down with Love" '03, "The Break-Up" '06, "Yes Man" '08, "Ant-Man" '15) plus TV movies, TV, TV shorts and music videos. With a production the size of this, it would be extremely easy for the pacing and staging to get off track and become disjointed at best, but this filmmaker was able to keep this massive production from becoming confusing. Of course, helming the original "Ant-Man" didn't hurt to keep continuity afloat. There will be another installment (I know, what a shock), but it would behoove Hollywood to bring this director back. It was written by a relative newcomer to feature films, Jeff Loveness (TV and shorts). Unfortunately, this is where the film starts having issues. What starts out as a promising premise, slowly ends up becoming a story with simply too many subplots and with this, starts to get bogged down with confusion and choppiness. certainly for this writer's first feature film, the attempt was admirable, but writing a script with this many scenes, characters, and angle shots, perhaps a smaller project would've been better for him to hone his obvious talent. The script did pick up somewhere around the last quarter of the film, but a little too much, a little too late. The characters were developed well, and the actors made each character come alive, but putting it all together just needed more polish. And, of course, the visual effects predominantly designed by SPI Sony Pictures Imageworks), ILM (Industrial, Light & Magic), Luma Pictures and Digital Domain were incredibly seamless, but the audience has to know this before entering the theater. 

Certainly if you're a Marvel and/or Ant-Man fan, you'll revel with this. It has all the 'stuff' a good action film has: adventure, humor, high-adrenaline, action and incredible visual effects. And, if you plan to see this, because of its grandiose basis, you must see this on the large screen which is being presented in IMAX and 3D as well. See you at the next Ant-Man!

Out of 4 Stars: 2.5                                            Rated: PG-13                                       124mins.