Movie review

Phase 5 of the MCU kicks off in big fashion with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

When last we left the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was at the end of the shared grieving process that was Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. While that film contained at least one character from other Marvel properties and introduced a possible new recurring character, it was mostly a pause in the grand overall storyline of the MCU.

Now it’s back to regularly-scheduled programming with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which – at long last – collides the movie and TV sides of the MCU as the beginning of its Phase 5. Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is now a local folk hero in San Francisco, as his exploits with the Avengers as Ant-Man make him popular wherever he goes. His life is good with his girlfriend Hope/Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) and daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton), along with mentor Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his wife Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer).

All of that and more is thrown into peril when an experiment with quantum mechanics by Cassie winds up sucking all five of them into the quantum realm. There they discover a vast world full of innumerable strange flora and fauna, one where pretty much everybody is afraid of a man named Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). A confrontation between Kang and the main group is inevitable, as each hopes to find a way to make it back to the “real world” on Earth.

Directed once again by Peyton Reed and written by first-time feature screenwriter Jeff Loveness, the film accomplishes the feat of staying true to the goofiness of the previous Ant-Man films while still providing lots of great action and moving the overall story forward. The inventiveness of the characters – and the people/voices playing them – is constantly entertaining, whether or not you’re familiar with the comic book stories from which they originate.

Despite the story taking place almost entirely in a location necessitating an overwhelming amount of CGI, the imagery holds up throughout. Perhaps it’s because everything except the humans is computer-generated, but the graphics never “feel” fake, which makes all the difference in accepting the story at face value. Even better, the main showdowns feature the actual actors facing off instead of ones where the CGI does all the work.

Also helping matters is the (re)introduction of Kang, previously seen in the Disney+ series Loki. As played by Majors, he is menacing in all the best ways, charismatic enough to be appealing but mean enough to want to see his demise. And Majors doesn’t try to overplay his hand; instead of hamming it up, he uses subtle facial expressions and hand gestures to show that Kang doesn’t need to do much to exert his power.

Each of the main actors are once again a delight to watch. Rudd is the ideal everyman, even when doing superheroic things. Lilly is a great counterpart, complementing Rudd while showing her own strengths. Douglas and Pfeiffer are not just along for the ride, using their Oscar-nominated acting skills to class up the Marvel film. Newton, now the third version of Cassie, is a great addition to the cast and fits in very well.

The first of three MCU movies in 2023, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania bodes well for Marvel's plans for the future. There can be a lot of fatigue going through the seemingly never-ending superhero saga, but if they continue to be of this quality, fans will keep flocking back to movie theaters.

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Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania opens in theaters on February 17.

Photo by Jay Maidment

Paul Rudd and Jonathan Majors in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Paul Rudd Quantumania film movies

Movie Review

Podcaster lets creepy noises get under her skin in Undertone

Photo courtsy of A24

Nina Kiri in Undertone.

While the horror genre is still capable of producing some innovative filmmaking, most of the output tends to fall back on jump scares and other tropes to deliver their terror. So when a film like the new Undertone tries something different, it should be applauded for the effort, even if it’s not as successful in its execution.

Evy (Nina Kiri) is a podcaster who co-hosts a show called Undertone, which focuses on paranormal videos and sounds they find on the internet. Her co-host, Justin (Adam DiMarco), lives in London, so - for kind of contrived reasons - in order to make the time difference between them work, Evy records at around 3 am her time. Evy - who lives at home with her bedridden, dying mother - is the skeptic of the two, consistently debunking clips that Justin presents to her.

Her doubts are tested when Justin brings in a series of 10 audio clips that purport to be about a boyfriend recording his girlfriend as she talks in her sleep. The audio begins in a lighthearted manner and quickly turns creepy and then sinister as unexplained things start happening. Evy senses that what she’s hearing is bleeding into her own world, especially when inexplicable actions take place in her mother’s bedroom.

Written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Ian Tuason, the film is effective early on when it introduces the story concept. Making great use of sound design, Tuason essentially puts the audience inside Evy’s head, where every little sound is heightened. Setting the podcast sessions in the middle of the night ups the anxiety level for both her and the audience.

However, as the film goes along it gets a little tedious watching Evy listen to the audio, even as Tuason attempts to keep the film dynamic by moving the camera around her. The premise of the story - progressively going through 10 clips - and Tuason’s framing of shots that focus as much on the background as they do on Evy seem to promise more interesting results than actually transpire.

What ultimately holds the film down more than anything is its lack of different viewpoints. The only other person who’s actually seen is Evy’s mother, who is unable to speak. Evy speaks to Justin, another friend, and a doctor over the course of the story, and while each broadens our understanding of Evy somewhat, none of them make her a truly three-dimensional person. Getting a little more information about her history might have helped the story work better.

Kiri does her level best to vary her acting in the various podcast scenes, and even when they start to get repetitive, she remains compelling and watchable. It’s difficult to judge the other actors based on audio alone, but knowing that DiMarco also starred in season 2 of The White Lotus helps to visualize him and his acting style.

Undertone does well in creating a spine-chilling mood, but it needed something beyond that to become a truly great horror movie. Tuason shows some promise as a filmmaker, especially in the way he uses the camera to create tension, but a more complete story will serve him better the next time around.

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Undertone is now playing in theaters,

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Movie Review

Podcaster lets creepy noises get under her skin in Undertone