PG-13 | 2h 5m | MCU, Fantasy, Action | February 17, 2023

The “quantum realm” is the abiding, main feature of the “Ant-Man” films. How should we understand the quantum realm? The word “quantum” refers to the smallest amount of something that you can have.

I find the following concept helpful: What if the model of our solar system—the sun being orbited by nine planets—is the exact same model as that of an atom? The nucleus being the sun, and the planet-like electrons orbiting the tiny nucleus sun?

And now imagine, if you zoomed in on one of those teeny-tiny particles with a ridiculously powerful microscope, and as it emerges out of the distant blur … it’s blue? And as you manipulate the coarse and fine adjustors and come in closer … there’s green. Green vegetation! And that blue is rimmed with white. What’s that? Those are beaches. With sand.

And what if you shrunk yourself and landed on one of those beaches, picked up a random grain of sand, and put it over the aperture of your mega-microscope and zoomed in on it?

Let’s say that a piece of sand contains 3,000 particles, and you zoom in on one of them, and find another Earth-like planet, with beaches? And sand? And down and down it goes—just how far, nobody knows. Each one of those layers is a realm, or dimension. I’m pretty sure “Ant-Man” is only talking about going one level down. But since this threequel is clearly setting up a fourth installment, it’s safe to say that Ant-Man will soon be delving into the realms and dimensions of quarks and neutrinos.

That’s basically how I understand the quantum realm. It’s sort of related to the Multiverse of Madness. Hollywood screenwriters have been scouring metaphysical, cosmological, philosophical, ontological, and spiritual texts, and offering them up to the moviegoing public as comic book popcorn entertainment.

“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” features, of course, Ant-Man, aka Scott Lang (Paul Rudd). In this bloated threequel, Scott’s chilling from frontline superhero duty with the Avengers.

He’s kicked back, written a book; he’s at Barnes & Noble doing readings, getting celebrity freebies at the local coffee shop, and so on. He likes it. Except for the running gag of getting mistaken for Spider-Man.

Then, he’s gotta go bail his teen daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) out of jail for protesting some or other injustice.  She’s gone and used the forbidden family superpower to shrink a cop car into a Hot Wheels version of itself that she keeps in her pocket, still hilariously and minutely honking, siren-ing, and strobe flashing.

Cassie’s been doing some experimenting on her own but, of course, something goes kaflooey. Scott; her mom, Hope Van Dyne (aka The Wasp, played by Evangeline Lilly); Hope’s mom, Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer); and granddad Hank Pym (Michael Douglas)—all get sucked into the quantum realm.

You may remember, Janet was stranded in there a long time and knows the lay of the land. She also knows Kang (Jonathan Majors), a dimensional conqueror whom she left stranded before she escaped. Kang’s got his power back and is set to take over the entire multiverse, as villains do.

Heavy homage is paid to the original “Star Wars.” The whole movie is basically one prolonged shot of the Mos Eisley cantina from “Star Wars,” full of jabbering multilingual aliens. Except that, in this bar scene, if characters drink a red goo it gives them the superpower of understanding the quantum realm’s version of the Tower of Babel.

There’s plenty of “Avatar” stealing, and copious filching from “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.” Unfortunately, these steals don’t result in magical world-building like those originals, but merely result in a derivative hodgepodge.

Rudd’s goofball clowning is always enjoyable. Bill Murray’s cameo allows him to briefly pull the “Ant-Man” franchise into the orbit of his “Saturday Night Live” lounge-singer act, giving it a spritz of that louche, Murray kitschy-ness.

But the best performance goes to Jonathan Majors. His Kang is quiet, even sad, and his terrible drive to conquer is reminiscent of the hilarious social media clip of Jim Carrey hosting the Golden Globe Awards, and spoofing his own “terrible search” to not just be two-time-Golden-Globe-Award-winner Jim Carrey, but three-time-Golden-Globe-Award-winner Jim Carrey. Majors brings a much-needed dose of Shakespearean tragic menace that helps ground all the silliness a bit.

Ultimately, though, the quantum realm’s silly treatment bored me silly. Hopefully, the next one gets back to some believable drama, character interaction, and a less-is-more approach to the Marvel Universe’s crazy-for-Cocoa-Puffs overly liberal reliance on CGI.

‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania’
Director: Peyton Reed
Starring: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Evangeline Lilly, Kathryn Newton, Jonathan Majors, Bill Murray
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 5 minutes
Release Date: Feb. 17, 2023
Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5