The Ant-Man trio begins after the events of the last Avengers where the superheroes defeat Thanos. But in the new installment of the series, they will have to face another villain, Fatih Kang (Jonathan Majors), who was just announced in the finale of the first season of Loki. At the end of the series, Kang warned that his death would upset the balance in the multiverse and that subsequent heroes would have to contend with his doppelgangers – even worse and dangerous. Loki and Sylvia ignore the warning so the prophecy comes true, but it’s up to Ant-Man and the Wasp to deal with the consequences.
Together with Cassie (who manages to establish a channel through subatomic space) and Wasp’s parents (his mother Janet spent 30 years in a parallel universe trying to bury the secrets of the past), they travel to another dimension where Kang is. already waiting for them. Now, the strange family must defeat the villain with multiple stunts, keep the inner order of the multiverse intact, and at the same time raise the bar for the upcoming fifth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And the worst of the picture copes with the last task.
But let’s go in order. The release of the new “Ant-Man” was expected by both fans of the series and the army of millions of Marvel fans – after all, the film begins a new round in the development of movie heroes. The proclaimed villain Kang as Thanos has been with superheroes for a long time now – this is vaguely hinted at by two scenes right after the credits, one of which traditionally disrupts the development of the plot within the story, the second – making it clear what will happen to all the heroes of the series.
The authors of the new “Ant-Man” work hard to please the audience, trying to sit in all the chairs at once. The screen features starships from the worlds of George Lucas, the endless desert landscape from Dune (which is supposed to have inspired the costume designers), fantasy monsters from the original Total Recall with Arnold Schwarzenegger, plus a plot from Rick and Morty. Here is such a hodgepodge with many references from popular culture, but there was no place for the originality of Marvel’s brainchild here.
The film desperately lacks the humor in which the story confidently holds the first two parts of the trilogy – meanwhile, main joker Luis (Michael Peña) has left the story. But instead, the villain of the first movie returned to the screens – Darren Cross, aka The Yellow Hornet (Corey Stoll). True, it is difficult to recognize the old enemy in him – after the battle with Ant-Man he miraculously survived, only able to save his head, which was also flattened in an alternate universe. It would seem that this image was supposed to amuse the audience, but at the second appearance of the hero in the frame even a child will yawn with longing.
Bill Murray, who made his debut in superheroes, is not saving the situation. The rogue character can easily be defeated even by a wooden Groot who only speaks a sentence.
But what the film does not occupy are clichés. Plot moves and characters’ sentences (from funny to poignant) are predicted one second before they are spoken. Yes, Marvel has sinned like this before, but with everything so clear to the viewer before, the picture finally loses its life-giving spark. The same applies to the images of heroes, which lack volume, originality and a skeleton for growth.
Scott Lang is no longer a charming thug, but a “losing divorcee,” as he describes himself. Daughter Cassie, who is not yet involved in the series’ future projects about children of superheroes, speaks only in manifesto phrases, and Wasp completely regains the pale shadow of Ant-Man.
On the eve of the film’s worldwide release, critics smashed it, calling it the most unsuccessful Marvel project. The last Thor, the second Doctor Strange, and The Eternals can argue with that, although the trajectory of this comic book giant is clearly on the decline. The studio’s failures, both on the full meter field and in the serial format, raise fears for the fate of the entire cinematic universe – it won’t be the Guardians of the Galaxy alone who will save the studio fees again.
There’s neither the time nor the resources to spray and use for a long time – many over-fed and seen viewers crave impressions and movie shocks. The new “Ant-Man” impresses only with its clumsiness and plot fatigue. It seems like Marvel needs a shakeup now more than ever, and a general cleanup like James Gunn did in DC: stripping off the unnecessary, focusing on the essentials, and proving that this multiverse still has a chance for an exciting future.