Trailer for the movie: "Antman and the Wasp: Quantumamania" (courtesy of Forum Film and Disney Israel)
The score: two and a half stars (photo: photo processing, .)
So how is the Marvel Cinematic Universe doing?
Depends on how you look at it.
A few months ago, the MCU completed its fourth phase, the first to take place after the dramatic events of "Infinity War" and "Endgame".
It is hard to say that he approached the heights of the phase that preceded him.
Mediocre reviews of several of the recent films, the dispersion between the cinema and television and a certain confusion about the future - all these and more reinforced the feeling that outside the hard core of fans a certain Marvel-fatigue is felt.
On the other hand, with three films in the opening 10 of the 2022 blockbuster list, studio captains can wipe away the sweat and tears with hundred dollar bills.
In these average and likely circumstances, this weekend "Antman and the Wasp: Quantum Mania" will be released, the third chapter in the plots of the most underdog member of the Avengers. Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is a former prisoner who became an asset from nothing thanks to innovative technology, which allows him to shrink to the size of an insect or strengthen to the size of a giant . In every encounter with bigger and more serious superheroes than him it's clear that he feels that it's all a little - excuse the pun - a little too big for him. He's excited to meet other heroes like a regular fan, and instead of working with Tony Stark like Spider-Man, his mentor is Hank Pym (Michael Douglas ), a scientist and quite a bit obsessed with ants.
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The most underdog member of the "Avengers" group.
From "Antman and the Wasp: Quantumamania" (Photo: Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios, courtesy of Forum Film and Disney Israel)
The choice to start with a new and fifth phase specifically with the antmen is quite surprising, but the film is big, epic and much more exaggerated than the two "Antman" films that preceded it.
In the life after saving the world, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) has more or less retired from the heroic business - he wrote a somewhat kitschy autobiography and devotes himself to a relationship with Hope (Evangeline Lilly), who is smarter and more talented than him and to fathering his daughter Cassie (Katherine Newton), after several years of absence from her life in which he shrunk Too much and get stuck in the quantum dimension.
The daughter is determined to follow in her father's footsteps and help others in any way, with a little help from step-grandparents Hank and Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer), who herself disappeared into the same mysterious dimension for decades and came out in the movie "Antman and the Wasp".
A series of unpleasant coincidences lead the whole family back to the quantum dimension, where a whole universe with its own laws is revealed to them.
Next to tiny human-like creatures there are strange-looking types like walking broccoli or a man with a lamp instead of a head.
As you might have guessed, despite increasing the screen width the film still commits to the weirdness of its predecessors, and also takes it a few steps forward.
The environment is more reminiscent of the one seen a few months ago in Disney's Strange World, and even a dry plot description of the plot would include sentences like "Then the pink jelly lump asks them how many holes they have in their bodies."
From "Antman and the Wasp: Quantumamania" (Photo: Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios, courtesy of Forum Film and Disney Israel)
Stripping away all that noise and embellishment, it's still a more or less standard superhero movie, with all the stuff we've come to expect from Marvel.
There are sarcastic jokes here even in moments that feel out of place, there are Marvelous guest appearances and echoes from previous films, along with building towards the future.
At this point, every product of Marvel, even the most marginal, is a piece of one big and complicated puzzle.
After several films that felt like another piece with a painting of the sky, "Quantumania" is a significant piece that introduces us to a new and significant character for the sequels - Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors, "Land of Lovecraft").
Without revealing too much about his identity and importance, Kang is a veteran supervillain, many verbs and many versions and characters, befitting the era of the multiverse in which this universe is located.
He's a Thanosian-sized threat, with some abilities the Purple Giant would be happy to display.
Majors, who already appeared for a moment in the "Loki" series as another version of the character, turns out to be a real casting brilliance here.
He manages to convey real power and terror, but he also has tenderness, even a certain vulnerability - and even at the end of the film it seems that the hidden is greater than the visible when it comes to his past, present and future.
It's hard to say the same about another villain in the film, who is only said to be very stupid and serves more as a not-so-successful comedic foil than as a real danger to the heroes.
We have already forgotten that they are a couple.
From "Antman and the Wasp: Quantumamania" (Photo: Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios, courtesy of Forum Film and Disney Israel)
So yes, there are two villains and five heroes in the film, who split throughout most of the film between two plots.
They each have their own goals and obstacles, and that's before we even count the more secondary characters that keep coming in and out of the story.
Aside from Scott, the main protagonist in the film is Janet - quite rightly so, her story is much more interesting than everyone else's, despite the fact that between film and film the special powers she had disappeared without explanation.
While Janet tries to manipulate the situation, Scott and Cassie bond in a small way and face a minor conflict in importance - she is a little disappointed in him, he wants to be a better father, but overall they are not in a fight enough for there to be any real drama.
Meanwhile, Hank and Hope spend most of the movie begging Janet to explain to them already what the hell is going on.
When Scott and Hope get a rare romantic moment together it's almost surprising for a moment, because their relationship is so low on the priority list that you forget they're even a couple.
In the background there is also a rebellion plot in the spirit of "Star Wars", but much messier and loaded with small details and more and less stupid jokes.
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The next Thanos.
Kang from "Antman and the Wasp: Quantumamania" (Photo: Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios, courtesy of Forum Film and Disney Israel)
The result of all this is a classic case of "you caught too much you didn't catch", because unlike a real ant, you can't load ten times its body weight on a film - two hours, in this case - and expect everything to stay put.
Almost all Marvel movies end up being easy to watch and digest, and so is this one, but here the result is quite tiring.
Another too long and too busy movie, more new characters added to the never-ending arsenal, more references to other movies, more jokes from popular culture, another addition to the mythology of the multiverse and two more post-credits scenes.
When all this starts to feel like homework, then at least the jokes will be really good and the designs will be really impressive and beautiful.
Well, maybe in "Guardians of the Galaxy 3".
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