Paul Rudd is Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man, alongside Johnathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror in “Ant-Man and the Wasp in Quantumania.”
Disney
Are the pint-sized heroes of Disney’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp in Quantumania” enough to take on the newest — and baddest — villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Not quite.
Peyton Reed’s previous Ant-Man installments offered the MCU a smaller-than-life look at what it means to be a hero. The small-stakes romps were welcome excursions away from the apocalyptic stakes of the wider franchise and offered a lighthearted counterbalance to the greater threats of the universe.
However, the demands of Disney‘s Marvel machine came calling for Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and his partner the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly).
Enter Kang the Conqueror.
Played by “Lovecraft Country” star Jonathan Majors, Kang is the next overarching villain of the MCU and is expected to remain a looming threat throughout the Multiverse Saga, which includes the planned phases four, five and six of the franchise. He was introduced in the Disney+ show “Loki.”
Critics praised Majors’ performance in the film, as the actor was able to bring gravitas to the the role and exude the kind of menace that made previous big bad Thanos (Josh Brolin) such a compelling, and threatening, villain. However, Kang’s larger-than-life presence overshadowed the quirky and charming narrative that fans have come to expect from Ant-Man side quests, critics say. (Majors will also appear as the antagonist in next month’s “Creed III.”)
“Majors is certainly chilling and captivating, but Kang seems like a mismatched foe for a standalone Ant-Man film and the result is a ‘Quantumania’ that is trying to be too many things,” wrote Lindsey Bahr in her review of the film for Associated Press.
“Quantumania” is at its best when it keeps things “light and quippy,” Bahr said.
Marvel Studios’ “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”
Disney
This sentiment was shared with numerous other reviewers, as the latest Marvel film became one of only two in the 31 movies that have been released as part of the MCU to receive a “Rotten” score from Rotten Tomatoes.
“Ant-Man and the Wasp in Quantumania” held a 53% “rotten” rating from 148 reviews, as of Wednesday afternoon. The only other film from the MCU to slip below the 60% “fresh” threshold was 2021’s “Eternals,” which ultimately earned a 47% rating.
“Quantumania” centers on Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man, and Hope Van Dyne, aka the Wasp, after their family is sucked into the subatomic Quantum Realm. There, they face off against Kang, a dimension-hopping tyrant who is trying to escape from the realm after being exiled there for his rampages across time and space.
Here are what critics thought of the film ahead of its release Friday:
Kristy Puchko, Mashable
Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton) and Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) in “Ant-Man and the Wasp in Quantumania.”
Disney
Kate Erbland, IndieWire
Majors as Kang “doesn’t disappoint,” said Kate Erbland in her review of “Quantumania” for IndieWire.
Charlotte O’Sullivan, Evening Standard
Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) in “Ant-Man and The Wasp in Quantumania.”
Disney
Hoai-Tran Bui, Inverse
Read the full review from Inverse.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal owns Rotten Tomatoes.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/15/ant-man-and-the-wasp-in-quantumania-bad-reviews.html