‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Review Report - Not a Good Start to the MCU Phase 5

The reviews for the first film in the MCU Phase 5 are officially out, and they all seem to agree that ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ is not the ideal start as expected by Marvel Studios and its fans.

The critics seem to agree that the only good thing about the film is its cast, especially Jonathan Majors, whose character has been the talk of the town since he was cast. Kang the Conqueror seems to be too big and bad to be handled by Ant-Man and the Family. But apart from Kang, no other characters are able to develop or work on their potential, which seems to be the main cause of the disappointments.

Critics have highlighted that it has laughs, astonishing visuals, and a terrifying villain, but yet it comes up short in almost every other way that matters. Some critics are way harsher than others and have called it the worst MCU film ever while doubting the fate of MCU Phase 5 to be worse than Phase 4 as they hae also called Eternals look a lot better in front of this film.

This may be a piece of very bad news for the Marvel fans as Ant-Man 3 is not only the first film of Phase 5 but a vital entry into the Multiverse saga. Almost every other upcoming MCU film will be directly or indirectly related to it because of the inception of Kang. The upcoming Avengers films which are concluding the Multiverse saga have Kang at the center and the critics are concluding that the writing is so cringe and the CGI is so bad that it may cause the downfall of the MCU.

Doug Jamieson from The Jam Report says, "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania falls under the weight of its own ambition and loses sight of what made its two predecessors so breezily enjoyable." Kristy Puchko from Mashable writes, "The thrill isn't just gone, it's been buried beneath a swarm of plot contrivances and truly hideous CGI." Lee McCoy writes, "Kang is smothered by a VFX mess, the film with a sluggish plot and way too many painfully weird characters." "Even a star as bright as Majors’ can’t shine enough to eclipse just how unapologetically transitional and transactional this film is," wrote Lauren Coates for AwardsWatch.

It will not be fair to give my conclusion to this film as I am yet to see it, but after reading all the critics' reviews including the positive ones, Marvel Studios should definitely think seriously about the quality of writing and the millions of dollars they are putting into the CGI and special effects which are making the film feel like animated one instead of live-action.

It should also make them worried as they are far into a storyline that there is no going back. If the trend that started with Eternals is going to continue, then the downfall of Marvel may not be far away.

Directed by Peyton Reed, ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ will release in theaters worldwide on February 17, 2023. The film is currently rotten on Rotten Tomatoes with an average score of 53%, making it the worst start for an MCU film.