Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania was released for digital purchase and rent on April 18, followed by Disney+ and disc formats simultaneously on May 16, 2023. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, the movie earned $214M at the domestic box office and $463M worldwide.
Overview
Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) return in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, a sequel to Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) and the 31st film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
The movie features new cast members Michelle Pfeiffer as Hope’s mother Janet, Michael Douglas as her husband Hank “Henry” Pym, and Bill Murray as Lord Krylar. Jonathan Majors stars as the main villain Kang the Conqueror.
How To Watch
There are several ways to watch the movie in the highest quality possible. Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is available in Digital 4K, Digital 4K with IMAX Enhanced, and on 4K Blu-ray Disc. Maybe you plan on watching all three formats, or maybe just one. Regardless, here is a review of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and the best way to watch it in your home theater.
Video
As you might guess the video imagery in ‘Quantumania’ is quite spectacular, displaying deep color palettes and wide contrast. The opening scene where Janet van Dyne and a young Kang find themselves in another world is a gorgeous display of color, rendering super-saturated blues and rich details throughout. The quantum realm where the heroes are pulled into early in the plot has layers upon layers of color and texture that is even more defined with Dolby Vision and HDR10.
In Digital 4K UHD, the movies streams at best about 20 Mbps, which is a real competitive bit rate. You might notice some slight breakdown in the shadow areas but you really need a magnifying glass to see anything wrong with the compressed video. With Dolby Vision (available with most digital retailers), the contrast ratio and color depth are enhanced on screens that support one of the high dynamic range formats.
Disney+ IMAX Enhanced version. This might be our favorite way to watch this movie, simply because of the larger vertical image it provides. There are some that will argue that there are much higher bitrates with 4K Blu-ray, and there are, about 2 to 3 times as many. But, viewing this movie with alternate aspect ratios is fantastic. Disney+ has about 20 titles now that utilize IMAX Enhanced format. Read our article discussing this film in the IMAX format.
On 4K Blu-ray Disc, ‘Quantumania’ looks absolutely stunning. The depth of color and intense sharpness and contrast are evident when compared to lesser formats. This is the preferred format if you’re watching on a very large screen, maybe 75 inches or larger, because the higher bits deliver more data to the screen. And, there are no breakdowns of soft gradients or loss in detail in the shadow and highlight areas.
Audio
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is offered in Dolby Atmos with Digital 4K versions on Disney+, with select digital retailers, and on the Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray Discs.
The immersive audio effects with Atmos and multi-channel surround sound enhance the action and discovery scenes in ‘Quantumania.’ Even in 7.1 and 5.1 channel modes, you can get a sense of space though the audio distribution to discreet channels.
When the heroes are first sucked into the quantum universe the environment introduces all kinds of ambient effects in 3-dimensional space that are only heard with Dolby Atmos. That doesn’t mean that a 7.1 or 5.1 channel system does not deliver a spectacular surround sound experience, it only means there is a height element introduced to the sound experience.
In the flashback scenes starting at about 55 minutes where Janet and Kang are fighting there are a few effects that travel through the left, right, and overhead speakers as Janet blows up the core.
Low frequencies sent to the subwoofer channel(s) are intense when there are explosions. The arrival of Lord Krylar at 31 minutes has a nice mix of bass and surround sound. The final battle with Kang at 144 minutes delivers excellent low frequencies that immerse you in the moment.
Summary
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is just a lot of fun to watch. And, the casting of veteran and award-winning actors Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Douglas, and Bill Murray gives the film some added depth to the new characters. Can you imagine if this film would have been any good without them? In terms of video, the visuals are typical of a Marvel film, delivering a comic book color grading that’s never subtle. The audio experience is greatly enhanced with a subwoofer and surround sound, as the dynamic range hits all frequencies to create a good spatial experience, especially in the action scenes.
Scores
Movie
3.5/5
Video
4/5
Audio
4/5
Bonus Material
NA
