Remember the excitement of the old Marvel movies? The sarcastic charm of the original “Iron Man,” the patriotic, good old-fashioned feel of “Captain America: First Avenger.” Remember the good old days? Leaving the movie theater after “Quantumania” I could not help but feel nostalgic for when the MCU felt new and exciting.  

These days, the MCU feels more like a factory churning out cheap product as fast as it can. Quantity over quality seems to be the new slogan. The plotlines have become convoluted, the same old jokes have grown stale, and there is so much CGI in the films that they have lost the ability to visually excite. For me, “Quantumania” was another step in the wrong direction for the Marvel franchise.  

The majority of the plot takes place in the quantum realm, where the characters are unexpectedly trapped at the beginning of the movie. They soon discover that unbeknownst to all except Janet, the original Wasp, that the quantum realm is not devoid of life, but home to many diverse populations. Unfortunately, it is also home to Kang, an extremely powerful villain who was exiled to the realm and is willing to do anything to escape. The movie centers around Ant-Man and his crew trying to escape the quantum realm without letting Kang out.  

What might have been a thrilling action-packed adventure is actually just a forgettable CGI nightmare. The colorful, crazy environment the characters find themselves in does nothing to inspire wonder, and in fact, it is so saturated that it ends up being more of an eyesore than anything else. The film also uses the same worn-out humor seen in every other MCU movie, and it has gotten old. A couple of jokes got me here and there, but most of the “funny” moments felt tired and overdone. The serious scenes also lacked depth; the rallying moments that were supposed to inspire feelings of victory, joy, or relief simply did not hit home for me. A lot of the performances felt insincere and lifeless, and they just did not seem to fit with the bizarre background environment. When it ended, I realized that I did not really care about the characters or the plot, a major failure for a superhero movie. 

I am sure that diehard MCU fans still appreciate the endless hints towards future movies and plotlines and extra end credit scenes that are custom of Marvel. Personally, I want to go to the movies to enjoy a meaningful story and be entertained. I do not want to feel compelled to read plot summaries of dozens of other movies in order to have enough context to know what is going on or to remember all the details exposed in movies that came out years beforehand. It is my opinion that the storytelling in the MCU has gotten lazy, with films like “Quantumania” feeling more like filler movies or trailers for other MCU projects than films that are entertaining and enjoyable in their own right. If you are absolutely in love with the MCU, then you will probably see this movie anyway, but if you are not a massive fan, do not bother.  

Gabrielle Bossart is a Dakota Student Section Editor. She can be reached at [email protected].