Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 12, 2023

It used to be that it would take two, maybe even three or four years for a franchise to release its next installment. Now, with Disney and Marvel, it feels like there's a new MCU film coming every two, maybe every three or four, months. Indeed, it was just three months between Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 fresh in theaters, it was only another three months in between films. For a while now it's been feeling like a new Marvel movie can be found in the local multiplex or, at least, in the nearby second run theater at almost any time. That's a lot of content. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania kicks off Marvel's "Phase 5" and suffers the same fate as so many of its recent time predecessors: it's just hopelessly rote, stock, and watered down. There's not much character here, and everything seems built on a prefab foundation. Sure, it has its own unique character and story beats, but it's more or less the same film in terms of technical structure, pacing, visuals, and so on that have been MCU staples in theaters and on Blu-ray for some time now.

Super Heroes Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) return to continue their adventures as Ant-Man and The Wasp. Together, with Hope's parents Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), and Scott's daughter Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), the family finds themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought possible. Directed by Peyton Reed and produced by Kevin Feige and Stephen Broussard, 'Ant- Man and The Wasp: Quantumania' also stars Jonathan Majors as Kang, David Dastmalchian as Veb, Katy O'Brian as Jentorra, William Jackson Harper as Quaz and Bill Murray as Lord Krylar.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania checks all the boxes for a Marvel movie. And that’s a problem. It’s soulless. It’s not vapid, it's just tiresomely repetitious. The film expands the universe (by shrinking it) but does nothing to break away from the MCU status quo. Watching the movie, it just feels like the filmmakers are playing to expectations rather than working to exceed them. To be sure, the movie is packed with all of the visual razzle dazzle audiences have come to expect from the MCU, and the digital artists have done well to build a full, complete world full of interesting “stuff” in the Quantum Realm, but a lot of the film merely amounts to just that: “stuff” filling the screen, “stuff” that is somehow unique to the film but wouldn’t feel out of place in any other Sci-Fi film set on “alien" (read "unfamiliar") worlds. There’s no real vision here. It’s a collection of content that seems only to distract from the lack of a significant story around it.

The film is not well paced, either. It’s slow and stale and the action that breaks up the monotony is merely a rehash of other MCU action with the same variety of movement and execution. The acting is fine, even if the script is nothing to write home about. There’s humor and balance, but the various core intercharacter dynamics are little more than scripted content that feels pulled from a playbook rather than organically assembled and finely tuned for these characters. Jonathan Majors is really the only bright spot in the film; his work balances disturbing villainy and agreeable personality rhythms that makes him one of the most formidable foes in the MCU, and one of the best acted, too. Unfortunately, his great work is not enough to elevate the rest of the substandard content. The MCU really needs a break for the creative team to catch its breath and regroup. But, the film more than doubled its budget at the box office, so expect the wave to continue and the plan to follow on through the five films planned through the end of 2024, which admittedly feels like a slight slowdown for this juggernaut of a cinema machine.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania arrives on the UHD format with a Disney-standard 2160p/HDR presentation. The UHD is significantly darker than the Blu-ray. Look at a scene featuring M.O.D.O.K. talking with Scott and Cassie for a fine example where brightness is lessened and darker ambience is heightened. The HDR grading deepens and darkness the image broadly, but it also offers more ample vividness and punch to brighter hues. The film is fairly dark within its broader construct, but the HDR parameters do allow for more tonal subtlety and accuracy in addition to the more absorbing, but also deeper and more accurate, blacks; the more pristine whites; and the more lifelike skin tones. The 2160p resolution offers a satisfying boost as well, not so much in terms of lifting it to the level of a textural game changer compared to the Blu-ray but offering enough refinement to textures and overall clarity to make for a superior viewing experience. This is plainly evident on faces, which are deeper and more dynamic, and the various costumes, which reveal textures and materials with greater accuracy and attention to super-fine detail. The film is not one that is at all visually arresting by its very nature, but the UHD extends a welcome uptick to core competency and fine supports alike. With no encode or source issues of note, either, the end result is a good-looking presentation even if in the larger UHD landscape it doesn't really stand out from the crowd.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Disney releases Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania to the UHD format with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack which is not a radically different listening experience compared to the base Blu-ray's DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is, like the 7.1 track, a bit bolstered compared to the typical Disney MCU audio output, offering not prolific, and not even ample, bass, but enough bass to keep the track from sounding too thin or flat. It could stand some more depth, but it's not at all bad. As with the 7.1 track, the Atmos presentation is surround intensive, offering a very large an expansive sound arena where both action and general atmosphere are nicely inserted and enveloping, offering the listener a satisfying full spectrum surround experience that drops the audience into each battle and location. The additional overhead channels here don't offer ample discrete content, making them more "nice to have" supports rather than game-changing extras. Musical output offers good definition and excellent spacing. Dialogue is clear and center positioned. This is not an explosive track, but by Disney standards it's one of the best MCU audio experiences in some time.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This UHD release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania includes a few extras, which are all included on the bundled Blu-ray; there are no supplements included on the UHD disc. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. This release ships with an embossed slipcover.

• All in the Family (1080p, 7:28): The importance of building audience-character relationships in the previous films, plot dynamics specific to this film, family dynamics in the film, cast and performances, and more.
• Formidable Foes (1080p, 11:36): How the stakes and tone are different between this film and the previous Ant-Man films, including this film's larger and more action-oriented scale. The piece also, as the title suggests, looks at the film's villains. The piece explores Jonathan Majors' performance as Kang the Conqueror, his costumes, and more. The piece also looks at Bill Murray's character and performance and M.O.D.O.K.'s role in the film.
• Gag Reel (1080p, 1:52): Humorous moments from the shoot.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Included are Drink the Ooze (1:51) and I Have Holes (0:57).
• Audio Commentary: Director Peyton Reed and Writer Jeff Loveness discuss the film.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Remember the early days of the MCU when movies like Iron Man were really changing the game and offering something new, engaging, and bold, not just in the nascent MCU but in the larger cinema landscape? That was a long time ago, and with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania the MCU continues its slog through repetition that seems only concerned about tweaking the level of technical sophistication rather than trying to find dramatic resonance and novel moviemaking excitement. The film is perfectly fine in a safe and effective way. It's polished to a sheen and all of that, but it's just sort of there. It injects new story elements and adds new characters to the MCU roster, but it doesn't bring any heart to the proceedings. It's a product, not a living entity. The UHD is fine, however, offering tip-top video, excellent-for-Disney audio, and a few extras. Recommended for fans.