I would love to see this one on 3D. They are quite rare to find these days
Spoilers Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania grade and discussion thread
- Thread starter The Nth Doctor
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Quantumania was as wonderfully weird and bonkers and ridiculous and silly and insane as I could possibly imagine. The film was a visual fest and I loved spending nearly an entire film exploring the Quantum Realm. I do wish the film took more time defining the cultures instead of just a mishmash of visual oddities and curiosities but I suppose that was never really going to happen here. If they hadn't taken the time to de-age Michelle Pfeiffer in the last film, I would'v been very curious to watch a series with a different actress portraying Janet during her 30 years in the Quantum Realm where they really could go into the societies and entities that exist there. Alas.
That said, I still loved the film's core message about families sticking together for each other and especially the expansion of the relationship between Scott and Cassie. Scott was willing to do anything to protect his daughter, even if he knew the consequences of his actions would be dire. I also liked how Cassie's free-spirited ways for the unjust came into play during her time in the Quantum Realm and allowed her to shine during the rallying call message.
Then there's Kang. Jonathan Majors had already wowed me as He Who Remains but he's quite something different here as Kang proper. Or at least Kang the Exile. He was truly menacing in his quiet undertones and did not care who he hurt to get what he wanted, just as long as he got what he wanted. I cannot wait for more Kang, especially after the credit teases with the infinite variants ready to go to war. Plus! A lovely and unexpected set-up for Loki's second season.
As much as I enjoyed Corey Stoll's return, transformed into MODOK and then later redeemed himself after he realized how much of a dick he became, the special effects of his floating head simply did not work. I don't know why but it looked like a cheaply-edited internet video most of the time. The one exception was his final scene where he was dying. Perhaps it worked then because we could see his entire head properly instead of a weird face scrunch. The Quantum Realm was breathtaking but MODOK simply didn't work visually and that's a shame.
Even though I didn't expect a surprise appearance either at the beginning of the film as a recap of the Blip or in a mid-credits scene liked we all hoped for, it still sucks there was no Luis. While the film still managed to have plenty of humor (although some of it not quite working like the repeated MODOK is a dick joke), I still missed Michael Peña's mad energy.
That said, I still loved the film's core message about families sticking together for each other and especially the expansion of the relationship between Scott and Cassie. Scott was willing to do anything to protect his daughter, even if he knew the consequences of his actions would be dire. I also liked how Cassie's free-spirited ways for the unjust came into play during her time in the Quantum Realm and allowed her to shine during the rallying call message.
Then there's Kang. Jonathan Majors had already wowed me as He Who Remains but he's quite something different here as Kang proper. Or at least Kang the Exile. He was truly menacing in his quiet undertones and did not care who he hurt to get what he wanted, just as long as he got what he wanted. I cannot wait for more Kang, especially after the credit teases with the infinite variants ready to go to war. Plus! A lovely and unexpected set-up for Loki's second season.
As much as I enjoyed Corey Stoll's return, transformed into MODOK and then later redeemed himself after he realized how much of a dick he became, the special effects of his floating head simply did not work. I don't know why but it looked like a cheaply-edited internet video most of the time. The one exception was his final scene where he was dying. Perhaps it worked then because we could see his entire head properly instead of a weird face scrunch. The Quantum Realm was breathtaking but MODOK simply didn't work visually and that's a shame.
Even though I didn't expect a surprise appearance either at the beginning of the film as a recap of the Blip or in a mid-credits scene liked we all hoped for, it still sucks there was no Luis. While the film still managed to have plenty of humor (although some of it not quite working like the repeated MODOK is a dick joke), I still missed Michael Peña's mad energy.
Saw this this morning, and I enjoyed it. I don't think it's one of the best MCU movies, but it was still good.
I loved everything about the Quantum Realm, the characters down there, the creatures, and just the overall design of it was fantastic.
It was nice to get to learn a bit about what Janet was up to while she was down there. I didn't expect her to have such a strong connection to Kang.
Speaking of The Conquer, Johnathan Major was absolutely fantastic in the role. As good as Josh Brolin was as Thanos, I'm already liking Majors' Kang better after just two appearances. After Loki, I was already wondering if each time we saw Kang it would be a different variant, if this is anything go by, it looks like that will be the case.
Corey Stoll was a lot of fun as MODOK, and I ended up liking the design a lot better here than I did when I first saw it in the trailer. The guy who runs an animal sanctuary I support is always telling the animals not to be dicks, so whenever MODOK talked about being a dick at the end, that was all I could think about.
The whole story with Scott and Cassie, and Janet, Hank and Hope added a nice emotional element to all of the sci-fi craziness.
I loved everything about the Quantum Realm, the characters down there, the creatures, and just the overall design of it was fantastic.
It was nice to get to learn a bit about what Janet was up to while she was down there. I didn't expect her to have such a strong connection to Kang.
Speaking of The Conquer, Johnathan Major was absolutely fantastic in the role. As good as Josh Brolin was as Thanos, I'm already liking Majors' Kang better after just two appearances. After Loki, I was already wondering if each time we saw Kang it would be a different variant, if this is anything go by, it looks like that will be the case.
Corey Stoll was a lot of fun as MODOK, and I ended up liking the design a lot better here than I did when I first saw it in the trailer. The guy who runs an animal sanctuary I support is always telling the animals not to be dicks, so whenever MODOK talked about being a dick at the end, that was all I could think about.
The whole story with Scott and Cassie, and Janet, Hank and Hope added a nice emotional element to all of the sci-fi craziness.
A C from me.
Not terrible, but the MCU has done better.
The bright spot was Johnathon Majors as Kang The Conqueror. He did a great performance,
I really didn't care for the version/MCU take on M.O.D.O.K. (And yes, I realize the character itself has become comic relief in a few previous Marvel approved productions, but honestly, what they did here was more just plain lame then funny. YMMV.
(And the CGI they did to create the 'face' was just plain bad. I get that it was probably meant as part of the joke; but no, the whole thing just didn't work for me, or make me laugh. Groan yes,)
And the Bill Murray cameo
(And I loved him on SNL in the 70s and Caddyshack in the 80s, but again, just didn't work for me in this instance.)
It came across as them really going 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' level silly here; and while yes, the previous two Ant Man outings have been silly; again for me, this was a bit over the top.
And the part where Kang cuts loose and starts just disintegrating everything (including Quantum Realm people) was great; BUT when did growing to a relative size of 50' give Ant-Man invulnerability to the point Kang's weapons that vaporize everything else just sting hi a bit?
I liked the mid credits scene with Rama-Tut, Immortus, and another Garden variety Kang discussing what to do once they notice Ant-Man and friends have defeated the exiled Kang the Council of Kangs banished to the Quantum Realm.
The film di have some nice stuff hear and there, and Michelle Pfeiffer gave a nice performance with what she was given.
Not terrible, but the MCU has done better.
The bright spot was Johnathon Majors as Kang The Conqueror. He did a great performance,
I really didn't care for the version/MCU take on M.O.D.O.K. (And yes, I realize the character itself has become comic relief in a few previous Marvel approved productions, but honestly, what they did here was more just plain lame then funny. YMMV.
(And the CGI they did to create the 'face' was just plain bad. I get that it was probably meant as part of the joke; but no, the whole thing just didn't work for me, or make me laugh. Groan yes,)
And the Bill Murray cameo
(And I loved him on SNL in the 70s and Caddyshack in the 80s, but again, just didn't work for me in this instance.)It came across as them really going 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' level silly here; and while yes, the previous two Ant Man outings have been silly; again for me, this was a bit over the top.
And the part where Kang cuts loose and starts just disintegrating everything (including Quantum Realm people) was great; BUT when did growing to a relative size of 50' give Ant-Man invulnerability to the point Kang's weapons that vaporize everything else just sting hi a bit?
I liked the mid credits scene with Rama-Tut, Immortus, and another Garden variety Kang discussing what to do once they notice Ant-Man and friends have defeated the exiled Kang the Council of Kangs banished to the Quantum Realm.
The film di have some nice stuff hear and there, and Michelle Pfeiffer gave a nice performance with what she was given.
Admittedly, I do think that it would've been a stronger ending if Scott and Hope had been trapped in the Quantum Realm in order to defeat Exiled Kang. We know that Cassie will work tirelessly to find a way to get them back, sending more Probes in, but for now they have to stay separated.
Which ties into how every time Scott does the right thing for the bigger world, it always costs him and separates him from Cassie. Only this time, Cassie realizes it was partly her fault for goading him into heroics again.
Which ties into how every time Scott does the right thing for the bigger world, it always costs him and separates him from Cassie. Only this time, Cassie realizes it was partly her fault for goading him into heroics again.
A for me. I really don't know what audiences are smoking on this one. This is easily the best Ant-man movie, not the worst.
That was something I forgot to comment on. I was all set for the film to conclude with them trapped down there, giving emphasis to Hope's love for Scott by exiling herself down there to save him. So I was disappointed that Cassie's magical doohickey could also open a portal to them pretty quickly. It makes sense within the confines of the film's logic but it was still disappointing. Even if I knew they wouldn't conclude the trilogy in such a manner.
Once I get past my self-deluded disappointments (both in this post and in my review) and get use to MODOK's weird special effects, I'm sure I'll rate it higher but right now I'd say it's about par as the other two, which I enjoyed far more than most people.
Shrooms from Quantum Realm, probably.
I don't know about it being the best, but it is a step up from the second and it does leave you with the vibe that we're just getting started on this. It's not bad, by any means, but it's not... not great. Not the shot in the arm the MCU was needing.
At a guess, I reckon the audience's problems are:
- Franchise fatigue, first and foremost
- Feels surprisingly... well... small, given its setting's vast epic expanse and grand unveiling of 'the next Thanos.'*
- Where's that whole "I can give you back your lost years with your daughter" plot thread the trailers were hyping? (For that matter, where was Cassie's mom during all this? She should have at least been at the 'birthday' party at the end...)
- NO LUIS
* Speaking of... seriously, if Scott (and a female Loki) can take this guy, with the only real casualty being whatever bazooka-face's name was, should we really be that worried about even an arena full of Kang's variants**? And our other guest villain... well...
** That scene, btw, did not come off at all the way I think they were intending it to. It frankly felt like a joke. (That is not a knock on Majors, I thought he did pretty well given the material.)
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Apparently a suspicion I had was right: Originally the ending WAS going to be Scott and Hope trapping themselves in the Quantum Realm to fight and defeat Kang, and Cassie wasn't immediately going to be able to rescue them. It would've been Cassie vowing she WILL send more probes to find them and someday it will happen...but unfortunately it's not that day.
Apparently it was too much of a downer for the test audience.
Apparently it was too much of a downer for the test audience.
Test audiences are dumb. Leaving Scott and Hope stranded in the Quantum Realm would have given Cassie something to work toward as she takes over as the primary character in the Ant-Family going forward.
Plus, them immediately being rescued kind of undercuts Hope's sacrifice in going back to help Scott (and Scott's sacrifice in staying to hold Kang back). It felt like they understood what they gave up to stop Kang, but it's okay, because Cassie immediately figured out how to bring them back!
Plus, them immediately being rescued kind of undercuts Hope's sacrifice in going back to help Scott (and Scott's sacrifice in staying to hold Kang back). It felt like they understood what they gave up to stop Kang, but it's okay, because Cassie immediately figured out how to bring them back!
The whole film was lighter in tone. The trailers gave the impression that Antman's relationship with his daughter was going to be key to everything. Kang offers Scott those missing 5 years back so Cassie's life doesn't go off the rails. When Scott realizes he has made a huge mistake helping Kang he makes the sacrifice to stop Kang and trap them both.
But instead they played safe again and stuck to a lighthearted film.
I don't know about it being the best, but it is a step up from the second and it does leave you with the vibe that we're just getting started on this. It's not bad, by any means, but it's not... not great. Not the shot in the arm the MCU was needing.
At a guess, I reckon the audience's problems are:
- Franchise fatigue, first and foremost
- Feels surprisingly... well... small, given its setting's vast epic expanse and grand unveiling of 'the next Thanos.'*
- Where's that whole "I can give you back your lost years with your daughter" plot thread the trailers were hyping? (For that matter, where was Cassie's mom during all this? She should have at least been at the 'birthday' party at the end...)
- NO LUIS
* Speaking of... seriously, if Scott (and a female Loki) can take this guy, with the only real casualty being whatever bazooka-face's name was, should we really be that worried about even an arena full of Kang's variants**? And our other guest villain... well...
** That scene, btw, did not come off at all the way I think they were intending it to. It frankly felt like a joke. (That is not a knock on Majors, I thought he did pretty well given the material.)
I agree some part of it has to do with outside factors as well as that the trailers for this movie were definitely some of the most deceitful I've seen in a while. (I mean, the I can give you time subplot was technically there, still, it just didn't in any way involve Scott. But it also wasn't even the only the thing the trailers completely twisted around.) I also agree the post credits scene felt weak, like someone said 'we have to introduce all the Kangs' but no-one had an actual concept of how to do it.
But the 'how can we take Kang seriously' complaint is really just plain dumb. Honestly it is. It completely misses the point of Kang while also completely missing the point of Scott while also being based on totally false claims in the first place.
Kang never lost to any version of Loki, that Kang literally wanted to die. And he didn't actually lose to Ant-man, either, it was Modok that destroyed Kang's suit and with it his ability to fight overwhelming odds (which is hardly strange since Modok was created by Kang using his tech). Even the fist fight where Kang had no powers wasn't going well for Scott until he got lucky by Kang getting vaporized/swallowed up by the power core.
And even if the basic facts were right, the whole point of why Kang should terrify the Avengers isn't because of any one Kang, it's because of Kang*s* (plural, potentially infinitely so) and the whole point of Scott is that he is, in fact, a superhero just like Iron Man, Cap, etc. The fact that his movies are comedies doesn't mean he's some kind of pushover. The Thor movies are comedies, too.
B+
This was a really fun movie. My fav of the Antman flicks, but the ending... Ugh... I 100% agree with Anwar and Skywalker.
Anyhoo, Kang was awesome. The entire cast had their moment to shine. The post credits were really good. I had a feeling heading over to the theater we'd get a scene from season 2 of Loki. MODOK was a bit weird looking, but was still a hoot.
Also, the beginning narration would have been better if Luis was the one reading the book
This was a really fun movie. My fav of the Antman flicks, but the ending... Ugh... I 100% agree with Anwar and Skywalker.
Anyhoo, Kang was awesome. The entire cast had their moment to shine. The post credits were really good. I had a feeling heading over to the theater we'd get a scene from season 2 of Loki. MODOK was a bit weird looking, but was still a hoot.
Also, the beginning narration would have been better if Luis was the one reading the book
Let's be fair here...MODOK would always look weird in Live Action.