A dive into the Quantum Realm

“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is a garbage movie, but it’s trash in a way that surpasses most Marvel movies. Until now, Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films have, for the most part, managed to have a blend of emotion, kid-friendly humor and superhero activities.

When they succeed, it’s because these elements are being tastefully pushed to its audience. When they fail, it’s always because they pushed too far in one direction — the movies are either too nostalgic, trying to be too funny, or cluttered with boring action sequences, but I’ve never been so dumbfounded by one the way I was by “Quantumania.”

Aside from the relatively short opening section set in the Marvel present where Scott Lang has written a memoir about his eventful life as Ant-Man and his experiences, much of “Quantumania”takes place in the Quantum Realm, a world that you fall into if you shrink so much that you fall between subatomic particles. A whole universe of beings exist in the Quantum Realm, with elaborate alien tribes in seemingly constant conflict.

Among them, we learn, is Kang, an erratic traveler whom Janet initially befriended, thinking he was a lost soul who had accidentally wound up in this dimension. It turned out, however, that Kang was a dangerous, imperious, all-powerful being who had been exiled to the Quantum Realm from his own world. The movie loses its audience from here.

Rebel tribes, smugglers, new species and spaceships are introduced, making the movie feel like a knockoff version of George Lucas’s “Star Wars,” but without any creative elements. The movie just wanders through a psychedelic world, trying to find a magical item to fix all their problems, and is a waste of time, money and attention.