The third and final move in the Marvel Studios Ant-Man trilogy, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, came out on Feb. 17. I haven’t thought about it since I saw it on opening night. 

Caution! This review contains some plot spoilers. 

For a movie with such hype surrounding its release, I have shockingly little to say. On Rotten Tomatoes, critics rate it 47% and the audience rates it 83%. When it comes to Marvel films, there is a new and growing appetite for over-criticism — this movie might actually deserve it, though.

Peyton Reed continued as director, but Jeff Loveness emerged as a new writer for the series. Loveness is also set to write the 2025 film “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty,” which is fitting for the fact that Kang was the only compelling character in this movie. 

Scott Lang begins this movie with an inflated ego. He just saved the world with the Avengers and subsequently wrote a successful book about it. His daughter, Cassie, however, is beginning to struggle with the law as he did earlier in his character arc. Scott stresses again and again about how much his daughter means to him, yet is oblivious to the secrets she’s keeping from him with his father-in-law. 

Hope Pym’s character, the Wasp, lacks character development. She is used as a crutch in multiple instances — for Scott, emotionally, when he needs a girlfriend to pat his back and tell him “he can do it,” as well as for the plot. She is the saving grace about three times, but it’s all right place, right time.

Returning to Kang, I will express my utmost enthusiasm for Jonathan Majors as an actor. He is a captivating watch, with sharp line delivery and an interesting character history. From a writing perspective, his character had the potential to be utterly sinister, providing weight to the story. Every time I thought Kang was going to beat Ant-Man, my next thought was “there is no way this is the movie where Scott dies.” 

“Ant-Man” (2015) is considered to be one of the funnier Marvel movies. Paul Rudd’s charisma sells every joke, and sidekick Michael Peña as Luis contributes hugely to the film’s humor. “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” in contrast, lacks one laughable joke. There are surely attempts, such as the redeveloped M.O.D.O.K. character and suggestive looks between Michelle Pfeifer and Bill Murray, but such attempts were unsuccessful.

Not only was competent humor nonexistent, but the plot was excruciatingly formulaic. The ending is tied up into a nice bow, with little reasoning as to how the core group was able to succeed and return home with such ease. Cassie also yells “Dad!” way too many times. It had to be said.

The Quantum Realm was somewhat redesigned from previous showings, but it felt so “Star Wars” that I’m tempted to give little credit to Marvel. One scene is so reminiscent of the “Star Wars” cantina that I felt like I could hear trumpets playing and taste blue milk. CGI has recently been a common Marvel critique, so I’ll note that it wasn’t horrible. 

Watching this movie will probably aid your understanding of Marvel movies to come, but if you don’t care about that, feel free to move on!