Ant-Man

The latest film about the minuscule superhero sets up Marvel's next big villain but other than that, it has nothing to offer beyond drab-looking action, ...

Marvel has created the vibrant, majestic worlds of [Thor](https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20220705-thor-love-and-thunder-review-a-romcom-with-epic-battles)'s Asgard and [Black Panther](https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20221115-wakanda-forever-and-the-black-panther-effect-on-hollywood)'s Wakanda. But the action is stiff and the characters and one-note plot are crushed beneath the overload of CGI and dull special effects. William Jackson Harper is wry as a sympathetic telepath, who unfortunately disappears for much of the film. The forces of good and evil go back and forth – Kang employs hordes of soldiers with glowing blue helmets, like an army with blue lightbulbs for faces. [une](https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20210903-four-stars-for-dune). She knows the Quantum Realm, is infamous there, and is being hunted by someone so terrifying that his name isn't even mentioned for half the film. Creating Quantumania to get there was a waste. Scott and his family need to stop Kang as well as save themselves, but there is no question about the villain's survival because he has his own film, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, scheduled for 2025. Scott and his daughter, Cassie (Kathryn Newton), have become part of Hope's family, which includes her genius parents, Hank Pym, (Michael Douglas) and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), who at the end of Ant-Man and The Wasp was rescued after 30 years in the Quantum Realm, the subatomic place where the rules of time and space don't apply. Cassie, who was eight in the last Ant-Man film five years ago (when she was played by Abby Ryder Fortson), is now 18, so she is obviously ageing in movie-sequel years, which like the Quantum Realm itself treats time as something optional. The heart of Ant-Man (2015) and Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) was Paul Rudd as everyman Scott Lang, who puts on his special suit and shrinks into the minuscule Ant-Man – or as I like to think of him, The Littlest Avenger. There you have Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the latest and possibly lamest instalment in the usually reliable Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Renee Zellweger dancing in a large apartment with city skyline in the bathroom and moon illuminated. Renée Zellweger stars in the director Peyton Reed's stylish ...

This high-toned style is further displayed in the trim and sharp-outlined fashions pressed and starched to the stiffness of armor, the hair sprayed and baked and pomaded to a helmet-like solidity. This glossily artificial stylization of personality most clearly embodies the substance of the movie’s style and brings to life Reed’s big idea—the power and the fragility of social masks, the painful effort of sustaining them, and the ordeal of their collapse. At the center of this dazzling dynamism of industrial design, the movie’s central quartet, of Barbara and Vikki and Catcher and Peter, stand out as exemplars of style and flair. Meanwhile, Vikki and the hyper-neurotic publisher of Know, Peter MacMannus (David Hyde Pierce, channelling Tony Randall, who also has a cameo—one of his last screen roles), fall for each other, but the insecure Peter, something of a forty-year-old virgin, turns to his best employee and best friend, Catcher, for advice on surefire seduction, with antic results. Reed presents this clattery, amped-up game of ruses and deceptions in the form of highly decorative and giddily stylized hyper-unrealism. When she publicly calls out the serial user Catcher, he decides to investigate Barbara, in the hope of proving her a hypocrite who would all too readily fall in love with a man—and he’s going to be that man. Harburg, from 1937) on “The Ed Sullivan Show”—which turns the book into a best-seller and makes Barbara a celebrity. Renée Zellweger plays an author named Barbara Novak, whose book—also titled “Down with Love”—offers a multi-step program for liberating women from the lopsided demands of romantic relationships with men. [Down With Love](https://www.newyorker.com/video/watch/down-with-love),” from 2003. Reed was already a young veteran of television and music videos when he made his first feature, “Bring It On,” released in 2000, an instant classic of high-school cheerleading. Instead, Vikki scores an even greater coup—getting Judy Garland to sing “Down with Love” (a real song, by Harold Arlen and E. As distinctive as that big-budget, studio-tailored franchise film is, it hardly holds a candle in inspiration or thematic depth to several of the movies that he made earlier in his career.

You have to work pretty hard to suck the life out of a movie starring Paul Rudd and Jonathan Majors, but the latest MCU sequel is evidence that it can be ...

The disconnect is particularly obvious watching Rudd — a brilliant comic actor and hugely appealing leading man — spending most of “Quantumania” running and yelling amid green-screen fakery and CGI filler. On-trend subjects like the multiverse and hegemonic tyranny come in for comment and critique; the production design grabs snippets from the “Star Wars” cantina scene and reaches back to Ray Harryhausen, Japanese kaiju and “King Kong” for inspo in the final showdowns. The endearing sweetness of the early “Ant-Man” movies, which tapped Rudd’s ineffable charm, has been bigfooted into a noisy, smash-and-grab extravaganza that, for all its self-conscious bigness, feels smaller and less ambitious than its predecessors. In “Quantumania,” sprightly pacing and lighthearted humor have succumbed to the turgid seriousness that plagues so much of the comic book canon. The plot — which is very plotty — is beside the point in “Quantumania,” which pulls from a variety of sources for both its themes and its visuals. [Avengers: Endgame](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/with-humor-and-heart-avengers-endgame-is-a-fitting-send-off-for-marvels-superheroes/2019/04/23/539f3890-6391-11e9-9412-daf3d2e67c6d_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_6),” the new installments have sought to introduce new storylines and characters to keep the vibe alive (also known as maintaining billion-dollar profits), with mixed success.

Disney's third standalone “Ant-Man” movie is expected to collect $95 million to $100 million in North America over the traditional weekend and $110 through ...

3,” “The Marvels,” “Captain America: New World Order,” “Thunderbolts” and “Blade.” Yet, the movie only kind of fulfills that responsibility, according to Fear isn’t the only critic who left “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” with mixed feelings; the film holds a 60% average on Rotten Tomatoes. “You hang on his every word; he makes vengeance and genocide sound like the most hypnotically casual of propositions.” Based on domestic box office estimates, the newest “Ant-Man” is buzzing below recent Marvel titles such as “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” ($185 million), “Thor: Love and Thunder” ($144 million) and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” ($181 million). Encouragingly, it’s getting a huge jump on its predecessors, 2015’s “Ant-Man” ($57 million) and 2018’s sequel “Ant-Man and the Wasp” ($76 million domestically and $161 million globally). China, where “Quantumania” is projected to bring in $35 million to $55 million, will be key in the final weekend tally.

Ant-Man and family return to the quantum realm to battle a new villain.

Sometimes the movie overdoes the self-awareness in that unfortunate MCU way—such as by having a character confirm that a weird thing just happened by saying, "That was weird," or announce that another character is cool, both of which happen here. One element that does intrigue: Kang seems deeply, furiously sad, in a way that echoes one of the most powerful lines from "The Sopranos," "Depression is anger turned inward." [Avengers: Infinity War](/reviews/avengers-infinity-war-2018)" or the middle hour of " [Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom](/reviews/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-doom-1984)." The filmmakers need him to be a fearsome and all-powerful villain (he's essentially Thanos in a new wrapper: a genocidal madman) and to be introduced in this movie so that he could quickly be positioned as the Big Bad for the next Avengers team-up. There's not much for a cinematographer (or director—even [Ryan Coogler](/cast-and-crew/ryan-coogler) has seemed tamped down by Marvel) to do to show individual personality on these projects when so much of the running time is pre-visualized by effects companies; and when Marvel studios boss [Kevin Feige](/cast-and-crew/kevin-feige), who seems determined to keep art to a minimum for fear of gumming up the content machine, wields an aesthetic veto pen. The result is simultaneously the biggest and smallest of the Ant-Man films, a neat trick.

High-stakes threequel "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" pumps up the chaos but loses quirky charm of Paul Rudd's previous Marvel superhero films.

One day, though, we'll probably be talking about the multifaceted Kang in the same breath as [Heath Ledger's Joker](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/oscars/2020/02/05/oscars-best-joker-joaquin-phoenix-or-heath-ledger/4657717002/): Majors brings an innate and understandable humanity to a king in his own mind who's all about manipulation and winning but not without weakness. While rolling out the ubiquitous kitchen-sink finale, “Quantumania” lets Scott and Kang duke it out in a rousing slugfest that’s the highlight of this dizzying adventure. Bill Murray drops in as the eccentric Krylar, a shady character Janet knows well, while Scott and Cassie even meet a Guardians of the Galaxy-type misfit crew, including telepath Quaz (William Jackson Harper) and warrior Jentorra (Katy O’Brian). (In fact, let’s give out some homework: The Disney+ “Loki” series is an extremely helpful watch to understanding the Kang business.) Like “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” “Quantumania” crams a ton in so it can shape a piece of a larger story. Yet these interesting new players get limited screen time thanks to a busy narrative with endless Ant-Men, a guy with broccoli for a head and forced callbacks. But it does complicate matters for the more casual viewer (assuming those still exist). His 18-year-old daughter, Cassie (Kathryn Newton), who shares her ex-con father’s tendency to get in trouble with the law, thinks he should be less complacent with the heroing and still be looking out for the little guy. Exiled to the Quantum Realm, These days, nothing is safe from becoming an all-out Marvel epic, and so goes “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” (★★½ out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters Friday). Janet’s not too pleased, since she was stuck there for 30 years and has been keeping secrets since, and a mishap sends them all down there “Wizard of Oz” style. Meanwhile, Scott and Cassie meet an oddball group of freedom fighters and ultimately the scarred face that runs the place. Cassie has been getting a crash course in superhero science and experimenting with sending a signal to the subatomic Quantum Realm.

But the Quantum Realm, the dangerous realm from where the gang rescued Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), still poses a significant threat, especially after ...

Newton is a smart casting choice and we can only assume Cassie, who has her own superhero suit already, will be a huge part of the MCU in the future. At least Quantumania has one of the best casts in a Marvel film. Visually, the film is messy and flat; the CGI is shockingly poor and the action looks muddled. In Quantumania, by making it a place where laws of physics seem to apply and where several different tribes live, it just feels pretty safe. The Quantum Realm has always been presented to us as a hugely dangerous, abstract space that should be avoided at all costs and that no life could exist there. It officially kickstarts Marvel’s Phase V of films and gives us its next big bad: Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror.

PRESS RELEASE: The screening is set on Saturday, February 18, 5 pm, at Ayala Malls Vertis North Theater 2.

The Tibay Pisay project will also hold the PSHS grand alumni homecoming on September 2 at the school gymnasium, with the Pisay community returning to a face-to-face celebration. The screening is part of “Tibay Pisay,” the PSHS ’98 silver jubilee project that includes the planning and construction of a mental health wellness center for students at the main campus in Agham Road. The Philippine Science High School (PSHS) Main Campus Batch ’98 is holding a special block screening of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania as part of a project to support the mental wellness of students from the country’s premiere secondary science institution.

Peyton Reed's “Ant-Man” films have generally served as a kind of palate cleanser to the world-ending stakes of the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” a Walt Disney release in theaters Thursday, is now showing in Philippine cinemas. “Quantumania” also gives Pfeiffer a lot more to do as we, and Hank and Hope, learn a little bit more about Janet’s 30 years in the Quantum Realm and the various compromises and allegiances she made to stay alive. It’s both a nod to the fun of the ridiculousness in sci-fi and a reminder that Serious Superhero Films are sometimes just one crazy special effect away from being Silly Superhero Films. “Quantumania” shines when it is keeping things light and quippy. But Ant-Man is part of the larger chess board of the MCU, so naturally he’s doomed to be sucked into the multiverse mess, setting up pieces for more Avengers films to come with the introduction of a new villain, Kang (played with a maniacal sorrow by the great Jonathan Majors). Peyton Reed’s “Ant-Man” films have generally served as a kind of palate cleanser to the world-ending stakes of the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Uh oh. That was my first thought when I saw the review scores rolling in for Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, the third Ant-Man movie, but a seemingly ...

I do wonder if a few more reviews may sink Quantumania below Eternals, though I will say in the middle to bottom ranking order of MCU movies by critic scores, I think they got a long wrong. That’s obviously something DC can’t say, as the DCEU boasts a number of films under that mark, and early on often split between high audience scores for Snyder-era films and low critic scores. Taking place almost entirely in the Quantum Zone, the film is in turn almost completely CGI, and even in the trailers it looked like that could be a problem. Second, since the movie is actually out now, user scores are in and they are not just higher than critics, which you might expect, but much higher, currently at an 84%. That’s a dismal score for an MCU feature, and marks only the second time that an MCU movie has had a “rotten” (below 60%) score on the site, the first time being Eternals in 2021. The thrill isn't just gone, it's been buried beneath a swarm of plot contrivances and truly hideous CGI.” [Whynow](https://whynow.co.uk/read/ant-man-and-the-wasp-quantumania-review): “Visually, the film is messy and flat; the CGI is shockingly poor and the action looks muddled. It says something that out of 30+ MCU features in a decade and a half, that there are literally only two with sub 60% scores. Of course, many MCU fans may wait and see what audience scores are like. But I would be surprised if this was a huge disparity as this always seemed like a pretty risky film. What’s wrong with the movie? We know there’s currently a visual effects shortage in Hollywood, in part because of the demands of places like Marvel, and perhaps this was too much work given not enough time and the end result is just…not very good. They were never really considered top-tier Marvel movies but this is a huge drop.

Returning Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lily in the titular roles, Marvel's 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' is the first event pic of 2023.

Three years later, the second film, [Ant-Man and the Wasp](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/ant-man-and-the-wasp/), started off with $75.8 million in North America before topping out at $622.7 million worldwide. Ant-Man 3 is making a huge 3D push following the success of Avatar: The Way of Water and, more recently, a 3D remastered edition of Titanic. [Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/ant-man-and-the-wasp-quantumania-review-paul-rudd-evangeline-lilly-jonathan-majors-1235319646/) is hoping to open to at least $110 million domestically over the four-day Presidents Day weekend, including $95 million for the three days. Overseas, Ant-Man 3 could start off with anywhere from $130 million to $190 million. The cast also includes Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, Bill Murray, Katy O’Brian, William Jackson Harper, James Cutler and David Dastmalchian. [Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/ant-man-and-the-wasp-quantumania/) reunites director Peyton Reed with actors [Paul Rudd](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/paul-rudd/) and [Evangeline Lilly](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/evangeline-lilly/). The upcharge for the format in North America could result in a bump in the mid- to high teens for Quantumania. The original Ant-Man earned a total of $105 million in China, followed by $122.2 million for the sequel. [box office](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/box-office/) opening of 2023 to date (granted, the year is only six weeks in) and top the holiday weekend chart. [Ant-Man](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/ant-man-2/) launched to $57.2 million domestically — the lowest start of any MCU offering — on its way to earning $519.3 million globally. More bullish estimate services show the movie coming in at $100 million to $105 million for the three days, and $115 million to $120 million for the four. Quantumania is the third title in the more low-key superhero franchise, and the 31st entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Domestically, the superhero threequel is expected to make between $95 million and $100 million in its first three days, according to Variety, with the number ...

[Peyton Reed](https://collider.com/the-mandalorian-volume-technology-peyton-reed-comments/), who also helmed Ant-Man 1 and 2, declared heading into this one that he no longer wanted his films to be perceived as counter-programming within the MCU, and made it a point to craft a more epic narrative. Reviews for Ant-Man 3 have been generally muted, otherwise; this is only the second MCU film ever, for instance, to get a “rotten” score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. The first Ant-Man tapped out with $519 million globally, while the second film finished with a little more than $620 million worldwide. Ant-Man 3 also happens to be only the second MCU film since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame to score a China release. [Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania](https://collider.com/tag/ant-man-and-the-wasp-quantumania/) have been lowered heading into its opening weekend. Domestically, the superhero threequel is expected to make between $95 million and $100 million in its first three days, according to [Variety](https://variety.com/2023/film/box-office/box-office-preview-ant-man-and-the-wasp-quantumania-opening-weekend-1235522559/), with the number increasing to $110 million across the four-day extended President’s Day weekend.

Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man, and his allies return to the big screen on Friday, years after the origin story in 2015's Ant-Man cameos in other Marvel films, ...

The third film in Marvel's Ant-Man trilogy sends the MCU's tinest titans into a subatomic universe, where they — and we the viewers — get stuck.

The characters of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, at least, are flat. Just look at the standard line item in the budget for, say, the Mysterious Glowing Object That's Terribly Terribly Important To Everyone In Whichever Marvel Movie This Happens To Be — in this case, that yellow orb thingy with all those metal rings flying around inside it that Kang wants, for reasons I can't remember now. ... Oh and also throw in a few bucks on coconut oil while you're at it. The voice actors record their tracks in separate sound booths at separate times. In previous Ant-Man films, we may all have looked past the thinness of his characterization, because the charming Ruddishness of the performance blinded us to it. She might as well be one of the CGI barstools.) But as I sat there watching Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, I started to wonder if perhaps, back when we as nerdy little kids wished for it, all those long years ago, someone snuck a monkey's paw into the whole affair. But in absolutely no way does it look like they did, and it sure as hell doesn't feel like they did. They could have made a film together at any time during that period and now, finally, here they are and here it is. When we eventually get a The Making Of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, we might well learn that those three actors actually filmed that scene together. Even more mind-boggling: This third Ant-Man film posits the purple, time-traveling despot Kang the Conqueror as a bad guy to take seriously. This time out, it's the entire Ant-Family that gets sucked down into the MCU's own microscopic Whoville, with its sunless, surreal, slimy Color Out of Space production design.

Before seeing "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," here's everything you should know from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

He is devastated to learn that Hank, Hope and Janet are gone, but he discovers that Cassie survived the snap — and has aged into a teenager (although her exact age is Hank and Hope create a way to safely travel into the Quantum Realm using an invention called the Quantum tunnel. Hank believes that once a person goes subatomic, they irrevocably enter the Quantum Realm, a dimension that exists outside of our concepts of space and time. Despite the assurances of [Marvel Studios](https://variety.com/t/marvel-studios/) chief Kevin Feige that every Marvel title can exist on its own terms, the third “Ant-Man” film is neck deep in series lore as it launches Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe — and the second act of the Multiverse Saga. [Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania](https://variety.com/t/ant-man-and-the-wasp-quantumania/)” is a different beast entirely. And yeah, the introduction of the Quantum Realm in the 2018 sequel lays the groundwork for the time travel shenanigans in “Avengers: Endgame.” But generally speaking, audiences could take in Scott’s size-shifting adventures alongside scientist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), his daughter Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and Hank’s wife and Hope’s mother Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), without needing to be steeped within the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Quantumania, the third Ant-Man movie, goes small, in a big way, and in doing so kicks off Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a bang.

The Ant-Man threequel is an excellent addition to the MCU, with mind-bending visuals, funny moments and plenty of action. Though even without that added wedge between father and daughter, the movie is already more serious than its predecessors, as it should be because of the danger Kang poses. The inhabitants of the Quantum realm are largely unremarkable, mostly expendable story-wise, with the exception of a very under-used Bill Murray. This creates some tension between Scott and his little “Peanut”, especially because after his time in jail and being stuck in the quantum realm, he has missed out on much of her growing up. Not exactly a household name right now, he soon will be as his Kang is going to be around for a while, certainly appearing or being mentioned throughout all of Phase 5 and 6. It features many returning favorites, and a brand new baddie that is poised to wreak havoc on not just our universe, but on a whole lot of others.

This is only the second Marvel Cinematic Universe film to earn a Rotten rating. Jonathan Majors shines as Kang the Conqueror, but the film is an overstuffed ...

"Michael Pena's absence should have been a warning," wrote Kristy Puchko in her review of "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" for Mashable. "Ant-Man and the Wasp in Quantumania" held a 53% "rotten" rating from 148 reviews, as of Wednesday afternoon. "The result is an undercooked, overstuffed action movie that feels like a shadow of better pulpy adventure sendups before it." to buckle at the knees," O'Sullivan wrote. "Ultimately, 'Quantumania' does a middling job of both. The film itself is anything but light. 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. (Majors will also appear as the antagonist in next month's "Creed III." 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. He was introduced in the Disney+ show "Loki." 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. Peyton Reed's previous Ant-Man installments offered the MCU a smaller-than-life look at what it means to be a hero.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a sci-fi adventure in the mold of Thor: Ragnarok.

The bigger, more general theme is the strength of the little guy, even in the face of overwhelming power. Cassie (Newton) is the heart of the film, Hank (Douglas) does the science and Janet (Pfeiffer) is the plot powerhouse whose worst nightmare catches up to her. Quantumania sets up the future of the MCU, and also manages to pack in some other bigger themes. Still, the number of times characters refuse to divulge crucial information to string out the supposed suspense ("No time to explain!" If Quantumania doesn't quite know what to do with Ant-Man, it really doesn't know what to do with the other title character. Fans have been prepped for the arrival of Kang, who was first seen in the Disney Plus series Loki, and the movie does a fine job introducing the villainous characters to fresh viewers. It's a breezy, bizarro sci-fi adventure in the mold of Thor: Ragnarok, as familiar faces from the Marvel roster drop into an alien realm for fun and fighting before inspiring the locals to rise up and overthrow a hateful dictator. The weirdness of the micro-Mad Max setting gives rise to some entertaining jokes, arresting visuals and one or two mind-bending set pieces. Old enemies come looking for her and her fam, forcing her to face up to what she did during exile. Having rescued Janet van Dyne from the quantum realm in the previous Ant-Man and the Wasp film (and you'd be forgiven for remembering basically nothing about that movie), the Ant-gang is sucked back into the itty-bitty universe layered below the atoms of our full-size world. Kathryn Newton plays the now-teenaged Cassie Lang, Scott's daughter, and in the quantum realm they encounter William Jackson Harper, Katy O'Brian and Bill Murray (yes, that Bill Murray). [Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania](https://www.cnet.com/culture/entertainment/ant-man-and-the-wasp-quantumania-trailer-plot-cast-release-date/) is in theaters Friday, Feb.

The loopy humor and style of the first two “Ant-Man” movies have been flattened by the M.C.U.'s franchise formatting.

The feeling of giddy wonder is what distinguishes the first two “Ant-Man” films; they help to restore the brand name of Marvel to a common noun and to a verb, and they do so starting from the top, with a sense of the filmmaker’s own experience—his ardent curiosity, free-ranging inventiveness, and imaginative sympathy. What’s absent is a sense of experience—conveying to viewers the extraordinary and quasi-miraculous aspects of what the characters are undergoing, observing, and doing. The best thing about “Quantumania” is, surprisingly, its script (by Jeff Loveness), which is like saying that the best thing about a building is its blueprint. The occasional spectacular idea—such as the weirdness unleashed when Scott is caught in a “probability storm”—gets submerged in a sludge of imagery that offers little but the concept itself, unmoored from its surroundings, its implications, and, above all, the perspective of the characters. It’s sadly appropriate for the degree zero of superhero-franchise synthetics to have been reached, or asymptotically approximated, in the infinitesimal realm in which “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is set. The scant grounding and bare inner life of the characters give the remarkable actors little to work with. (The MacGuffin is a “multiversal engine core” that Kang needs.) They also encounter the principled underground leader Jentorra (Katy M. The second film in the cycle, “ [Ant-Man and the Wasp](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/ant-man-and-the-wasp-should-have-been-the-godfather-part-ii-of-superhero-movies),” felt tethered—Reed unleashed intermittent flourishes of inspiration, but now they were completely bound by the M.C.U.’s gravitational field, pulled down to the franchise’s established map, and sent forth to do their duty. Its modelling on the “Star Wars” template is made all too explicit by a scene (the liveliest in the film) that’s a parody of the celebrated cantina set piece. (As one of the newly arrived fivesome exclaims, “There’s quantum people in the Quantum Realm.”) It’s not just humans but also a humanoid who can read minds (William Jackson Harper), plus vaguely human-shaped beings with glowing blue heads, others with green floret-topped heads that Hank likens to broccoli, lizardy hybrids, jellyfish-like floaters, gigantic flying stingrays, and buildings that are alive. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), who devised the technology with which they shrink down to bug size yet exert colossal force; and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), Hank’s wife and Hope’s mother (and the original Wasp), who was trapped for thirty years in the infinitesimal, subatomic Quantum Realm. Just as the trouble with Bible-thumping is the thumping, not the Bible, the problem with superhero-franchise movies isn’t the source material but the uses to which it’s put.