Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is visually glorious but simplistically plotted 

Peyton Reed (Yes Man, The Mandalorian) directs this next superhero installment about Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne/Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), a sequel to Reed's Ant-Man (2015) and Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018). Scott, Hope, Hope's parents Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), and Scott's daughter, Cassie (Kathryn Newton), are inadvertently sucked into the Quantum Realm, where they discover strange new creatures and a new nemesis, Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). (125 min.)

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• Photo Courtesy Of Marvel Studios
• FAMILY AFFAIR Scott Lang (Paul Rudd, right) and his daughter, Cassie (Kathryn Newton), are sucked into the Quantum Realm, in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, screening in local theaters.

Glen There's a lot of eye candy in this third Ant-Man go-around—the Quantum Realm is filled with visual wonders. Rudd is as likable as ever as the reluctant and somewhat insecure superhero. Majors turns in a very forceful performance as Kang. Yet despite all that, the film is a bit of a disappointment, in part because the central plot—an antagonist out to destroy everything—is such standard-issue, boilerplate comic book fare. There was never a sense of real danger, and the story's outcome was never in doubt. Go for the sights and sounds, the performances, and the humor, but don't expect to be wowed by the story. It's a bit of a snooze.

Anna As someone who really doesn't get into superhero movies all that much, this was just fine. It looked cool; there was some much-needed comedy; I was given characters to care about, etc. I get that those things don't make it great, but I find most of these Marvel spin-offs to be pretty boring. I like Rudd—that much is evident by the fact I've seen all three of the Ant-Man films. I liked that the atmosphere and the creatures in the quantum realm were blobby sea creature-esque things. If I squinted hard enough, I could just pretend I was looking at a new display at the aquarium. All in all, I'll take an Ant-Man flick over most other Avengers any day.

Glen I'm pretty sure you'll get yet another Ant-Man film in the future—this franchise clearly has legs (pun, sadly, intended). I'm more interested, however, in seeing what Marvel does with Kang the Conqueror. Majors was amazing, and the post credits teaser suggests the Marvel Universe isn't done with him yet. I just wish his film debut (he showed up at the end of the Loki TV series) was in a better film. This third Ant-Man is a slog. We also saw the trailer for The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which is coming out on May 5. I loved the first two, so here's hoping it doesn't suffer from what ailed this film: all gloss and no substance.

Anna At some point these films run out of steam, and sadly, this may be where Ant-Man did just that. I also really liked Majors as bad guy Kang. He's a wonderful actor and brings a lot to the role. There are cute/weird/interesting creatures, one of which produces goo that works as a babel fish to translate all the quantum level languages into one we can understand. There is actually a little bit of charm here and there throughout the film, but it doesn't feel very out of the box. They're going to keep making these films as long as they can sell them, so I have no doubt we'll see more of the whole crew on the big screen. Δ

Senior Staff Writer Glen Starkey and freelancer Anna Starkey write Split Screen. Glen compiles listings. Comment at [email protected].