Skip to main content

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

 


Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is the third film for Ant-Man and the first part of phase five of Marvel's Cinematic Universe.

Directed by Peyton Reed, the same director for the first two films and modern comedy classics like Yes Man and 2000s Bring it On. It's difficult to get performances out of actors when all they can see is a green screen. Because of the volume of visual effects in this movie, it felt many times that the actors didn't know what was going on around them, which was a stark contrast from the first two Ant-man movies. 

Written by Jeff Loveness, who is known for being Jimmy Kimmel's writer. Something I don't think most people would think is a good recommendation. The misfiring of the writing is felt when the comic relief doesn't land for half of the jokes. Don't get me wrong there was laughter in the theater but not due to the writing, instead just of how ridiculous MODOK looked.

Paul Rudd really phones it in on this performance. It feels like his character hasn't had any growth in the other two films and doesn't know the basics of how to be a good parent. Something he is constantly reminded of.

People said Johnathan Major's Kang was the best part of the film, and they're right but his performance was overhyped. It was acceptable at best and as far as the comic book side of things no way would the ending make sense.

The CGI is lacking for the year it was released. Everything looks fake and unbelievable but since everything looks so similar it has a flair to it that reminds you, oh you're in this fairy tale place and not reality.

People make weird decisions that don't make sense for a character who is supposed to be super-smart. I don't want to get into spoilers. If you've seen how the ending for other modern agenda-driven stories has in the past you'll see the ending coming a mile away. Just look at the tropes of The Batman, Moon Knight, Hawkeye, and Loki, then see what sort of connective tissue they all have.

I have a feeling Dungeons and Dragons will have the same problem and just be an Okay film. Result: C+


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hope (2026)

Hope is directed by Na Hong-jin , the same director who brought us The Wailing , and it has a similarly interesting approach to suspense. The story itself is intriguing, but the editing desperately needed some work. The pacing can be all over the place, which makes some sections feel much longer than they need to be. The comedy also comes completely out of nowhere, considering most of the movie is built around suspense and action. Some of it works, but the tonal shifts can be pretty jarring. Hwang Jung-min's character has the best arc in the movie. His character actually changes throughout the story, and watching that progression is one of the film's strongest elements. Ho-yeon's character, she was in Squid Game, on the other hand, is great from the beginning and doesn't really have much growth. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it makes the contrast between the two characters' arcs pretty noticeable. Zo In-sung, known from Netflix show  It's Okay,...

Runner (2026)

Runner is directed by Scott Waugh , the same director who brought us Act of Valor and Expendables 4 , and he knows how to handle action. The action is well directed, and the editing is tight enough that the movie never feels unnecessarily drawn out. The film is pretty straightforward, but it knows what it wants to be and delivers a fun action movie without overstaying its welcome. Alan Ritchson tries to branch out from the role of the giant who beats people up, but he doesn't get very far away from it. He's clearly capable of playing more than the typical physically imposing action hero, but this movie still leans heavily into what he's already known for. Owen Wilson , meanwhile, basically plays himself, or at least a character very similar to the one he played in Wedding Crashers . If you've seen Wilson in that type of role before, you know exactly what you're getting. Rodrigo Santoro , who most people will probably recognize from 300 , plays the main villain. H...

Buddy (2026)

Buddy is written and directed by Casper Kelly , who is better known as an Adult Swim writer. That probably explains why this type of film is right up his alley. The movie tries to be funny, but it tries way too hard. At the same time, it tries to be a horror movie but doesn't try nearly hard enough. It feels like the whole premise is being pushed to its extreme primarily to create something that could go viral rather than because the story actually has anywhere meaningful to go. Cristin Milioti is the main actress in the film, and while she's definitely charismatic, her performance feels a bit overdramatic at times. The child actors are all fine with one exception, although none of them really stand out enough to make much of an impression. Topher Grace is another example of the horrible male characters we've gotten in a long line of that particular trope throughout the 2020s. I can't wait to see what comes next in that line of writing. At this point, it's almos...