ViewGuide

Created Feb 25, 2023 09:54AM PST • Edited Dec 06, 2023 04:32PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   OK 2.5

   Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a competent Marvel movie. Yet it’s also chock-full of agitprop for woke sophisticates, making it hard to swallow. Worse, it’s hard to follow and its Quantum Realm setting turns into a hall-pass for cinematic hokum. What kind of hokum? Michelle Pfeiffer, age 64 and a mere 119 lbs, as an action star. That kind of hokum. Worse yet, the sublime Evangeline Lilly is largely wasted. Boo!

   That Ant-Man 3 is competent Marvel is more than can be said about many Biden-era Marvel movies. This one features several classic elements that make Marvel movies marvelous, including major family issues, humor that’s actually funny, big stars with big scenes in a big movie, and plenty of engaging backstory. So, buying a ticket isn’t a waste of money, notwithstanding the movie being an offensive mess.

4. Acting

   Very Good 3.5

   Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man is a master of self-deprecation.
   Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne / The Wasp is curiously wan and not given nearly enough screen time.
   Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym still got it.
   Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne isn’t a credible action star.
   Jonathan Majors as Kang The Conqueror is a deeply centered villain. Bravo!
   Kathryn Newton as Cassie Lang: A star is born? Not sure.
   Bill Murray as Lord Krylar is a master of mugging.

5. Male Stars Great 4.0

6. Female Stars OK 2.5

   Evangeline Lilly and Michelle Pfeiffer are great stars. However, Lilly is curiously wan and not given nearly enough screen time, while Pfeiffer simply isn’t a credible action star, cinematic hokum notwithstanding.

7. Female Costars Great 4.0

8. Male Costars Great 4.0

10. Film

    OK 2.5

    Most of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania takes place in the “quantum realm”, giving the filmmakers a hall-pass from reality. They didn’t use it to best effects, distinctly worse than did those behind Thor – The Dark World, to pick a Marvel movie that made its off-Earth setting work consistently well.

11. Direction Very Good 3.5

12. Play Bad 1.0

13. Music Very Good 3.5

14. Visuals Great 4.0
15. Content

16. Edge

    Risqué 2.0

17. Sex Innocent 1.5

18. Violence Brutal 2.7

19. Rudeness Salty 1.8

21. Reality

    Fantasy 4.4

    Marvel cinematic fantasy aside, Ant-Man 3 is distinguished by its casual woke-ism. Police are the bad guys because disallowing homeless camps is now woke verboten. Plus, Ant-Man Sr. says “Socialism gets a bad rap and all, but look at ants.” That’s it then, we should all just be ants. It’s how the Left sees us anyway.

22. Circumstantial Supernatural 3.1

23. Biological Fantasy 5.0

24. Physical Fantasy 5.0