The trailers had also teased us a film with a more serious, more serious tone, but it had also hidden many things from us, its kistch certainly assumed but which was not planned in the program. And that is immediately less dreamy… Yet the first 15 minutes started off really well, with a serious intro that puts Kang directly in context, followed by a short summary of what happened for Scott Lang after the events of Avengers Endgame. As we anticipated in our decryption and theory video of the 2nd trailer, Scott Lang has finally become a real hero, and even if he does not yet have the stature of an Iron Man or a Captain America, ( given that some people still confuse him with Spider-Man), he is now recognized on the streets, signs autographs, and he even wrote his autobiography. And then the film also allows us to introduce ourselves to this large reconstituted family, with Hank Pym, Janet and Hope Van Dyne and of course Cassandra, or Cassie, Scott’s daughter who is now a young woman. A young woman who learned from her father as a thief, but also from her grandfather Hank, for the scientific side McGyver. The film also allows itself a few shortcuts that make these teenagers real geniuses of invention, the MCU is definitely well supplied with them.
But no matter, let’s move on, because what’s good at the start is that the humor is rather well dosed. We are far from the dubious jokes of Thor Love & Thunder where each character had become a caricature of themselves. And then quickly, the tone will become more serious, and our protagonists will be propelled into the quantum realm where they will discover a new universe. Because yes, the quantum kingdom that we saw in the last Avengers has nothing to do with that of Ant-Man 3. We will discover a whole section of this universe that has never been explored. By the way, I don’t know if you’re aware, but the Quantum Realm is also called the Microverse in the comics, but in the movies, Marvel Studios can’t use the term because it’s owned by Paramount Pictures who have the movie rights to the Micronauts. And this is where the film switches to this kitsch side and Star Wars version Wish which was pointed out by many journalists ten days ago, and clearly, they are not entirely wrong. As you know, creating the quantum realm obviously requires creating visual effects and unfortunately, as the whole film takes place in this Microverse, we will be immersed in this full CGI digital universe for 2 hours. Suffice to say that you will have to hang on. So be careful, not everything is so disgusting contrary to what we have read here and there, but let’s say that not everything is treated with the same quality. As much at the beginning, during the transfer and the arrival, it is quite clean, but once our heroes are going to find themselves in certain areas of the quantum realm, we can see quite easily the limits of green backgrounds and rough clipping. Moreover, the passage to the quantum realm is somewhat reminiscent of Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness when it crossed the different dimensions, while the first environments that we discover gave us the impression of plunging back into Avalonia, the last Disney that had not been entitled to its cinema release in France, but only on Disney +.
KANG, THE NOT VERY WICKED
For the Star Wars side of the poor relayed by other colleagues, difficult not to share the same feeling in the face of the unpleasant spectacle offered by Peyton Reed’s film. Because before our superheroes reach Kang, they will meet several tribes, which obviously recall the different peoples that can be found in Star Wars films. With the difference that in the saga of George Lucas, there were several films which made it possible to give depth to these natives, whereas here, it is obviously skimmed over, just to create an illusion. And we’re not even talking about the rather cheap look of these characters, which give the feeling of being in front of a group of cosplayers hired last minute for the needs of the film. It failed, just like Kang who is unfortunately not the villain we were so promised. Not that Jonathan Majors does not sweat the class in the costume of master of the Multiverse, the actor is even very convincing, but it is rather in the proposal of the character that it fishes there too. Why doesn’t it work? Because in the MCU version of Ant-Man 3, we are not dealing with the Kang the Conqueror of the comics, but more like a mock Darth Vader of the quantum realm, who finds himself at the head of an army and a empire he built himself. The problem is that Kang spends his time being threatening without actually taking action. We will have to wait until the end of the film to understand a little the extent of his powers and that is what is confusing. The film spends too much time with the tribes of the quantum realm, placing humorous moments that are not always very interesting, without ever digging into the Kang trail which should have been the red thread of this story.
THE MODOK CASE
Instead, we have to deal with secondary and completely dispensable characters, like Lord Krylar played by Bill Murray, as useless as it is uninteresting, or even MODOK, who is probably the character we don’t wouldn’t even dare to adapt it’s so complicated to manage, especially in a live-action film. For the MCU, Kevin Feige took this reckless risk, opting for a new reading via the character of Yellowjacket. On paper, that’s far from a bad idea, especially considering what happened to him at the end of the first Ant-Man. In fact, the result is immediately irritating, both in view of its design, but also for the role it plays in the film. Anyway, Marvel knew perfectly well that by transposing MODOK into the MCU, it was going to create an imbalance, especially by taking the bias to make it a deliberately ridiculous character. In its visual rendering, but also in its writing. MODOK has only one objective in the film: to relax the atmosphere. He’s the clown, the horn on duty, and just seeing him on screen will either elicit immediate rejection or embarrassed laughter. And it’s voluntary, that’s what’s dramatic. It is by focusing the film on ridiculous characters like MODOK that the Kang threat never manages to be palpable, or even credible.
CARPE DIEM
What do you think of this Ant-Man 3 Quantumania? We are frankly very divided, even if with hindsight and a bit of lucidity, it is difficult to leave satisfied with such a projection. So be careful, we are still above a Thor Love & Thunder in terms of proposal, which remains the worst film of Phase 4 of the MCU, but the disappointment for this 3rd episode of Ant-Man remains sufficiently great. to think that the introduction of Kang the Conqueror is a huge waste. There were, however, so many interesting avenues to explore, but it seems that Marvel is now frozen in each of its artistic choices, forced to think about its production one step ahead; with this perpetual need for anticipation that forgets the present moment. Yes, Marvel is already several steps ahead and preparing the sequel with the countless variants of Kang, and in fact, the two post-credits scenes are essential for the rest of the events and programs. But Marvel also forgets that it is necessary above all to think of the present moment. Because as Keating said so well in The Circle of Dead Poets: carpe diem.
OUR RATING: 5/10
