ANT-MAN & THE WASP QUANTUMANIA directed by Peyton Reed (2023) 11 11

[Lpgk]

I might in the minority here. I loved it and I think MODOK was handled well. I was hoping the post credits might have a legitimate surprise but I can see how it was important to build Phase 5 in the future. I might actually go see it again maybe in 3D. 

[Rip]

Saw it in 3D thought it was a lot of fun.
A middle of the road Marvel movie.

A bit formulaic at times and a few of the jokes fell flat but overall I would recommend seeing this in the theater.

I enjoyed it much much better than the last Thor movie.

[Axelrod]

Saw it.  It was watchable in the way that pretty much all Marvel movies are watchable.  But, not great.  

And - more specifically without being specific - it was incredibly formulaic.  Were there any characters introduced who we were supposed to care about?  I feel like the people making the movie thought there were, but then forgot to make them care-about-able.  Literally every "big" moment felt almost completely unearned. And events that were supposed to be dramatic, or emotional, came off as just...flat.  Maybe that's poor writing? 

Jonathan Majors is a true movie star though.  The man has presence.  

[Frisco Larson]

I really enjoyed it and had a lot of fun! There were a few spots when the theatre erupted with laughter, so the nearly sold-out room was enjoying it too. I'm about the easiest guy to suspend his disbelief and go on a ride with a Marvel movie, so that's where I'm coming from ... I'm ready to enjoy a movie with characters I love. I'll see this one again! 

[AnthonyTheAbyss]

I was a bit apprehensive going in because I was reading/watching all the reviews saying it was subpar...BUTT...

...I liked it.  I had a good time.  I like the new Cassy, Kang was spectacular, and visually it was very good (some CGI needs to be cleaned up but whatever).  Well worth the ticket price and a large popcorn.

LOVED the end credit...you know which one.

 

***Good movie to kick off phase 5

[PeterPark]

On 2/18/2023 at 4:57 PM, WeR138 said:

Hadn't seen anything by Jonathon Majors, other than the Loki episode.

By far the best part of this movie. 

I also was happy to see Hank Pym get to have some time to shine.

 

check out Lovecraft Country

[thegiftedone45]

Spoilers....

 

I saw this yesterday and thought it was ok.  I've really enjoyed the Ant Man movies especially the daddy daughter connection and in this one the daughter was pretty horrible to Scott.  Early on I was really put off Casey and was confused if we were supposed to actually like her (constantly belittled him, accused him of things, acted like he was dumb, etc.).  Majors did awesome as Kang and in my opinion the strongest part of the movie.  I would've really enjoyed having Scott's side characters back and thought the movie was hurt by not having them especially Luis.  Overall I'll give it a 5/10.

[fantastic_four]

On 2/18/2023 at 3:30 PM, Jesse-Lee said:

Just got back from seeing it - I liked it, thought it was much better than Wakanda Forever, Thor Love and Thunder, Eternals and Shang-Chi.

I agree with this--much better than most of phase 4.  I generally really liked it.  The MODOK scenes were all funny to me, but I totally get how they would take a ton of people out of the moment.  The character has seemed ridiculous to me my entire life, so I completely get people rolling their eyes at him.

I REALLY love what they're doing with Kang.  Can't wait for more of him.

[fantastic_four]

On 2/18/2023 at 4:55 PM, fmaz said:

Yes, the folks of quantum world… their situations were less relevant/interesting as a whole… but otherwise I suppose the stakes would have felt smaller a bit too quiet? I don’t know… but they weren’t the reason it was interesting, that was for sure. 

I get why people would feel this way, but I LOVED them exploring how a quantum-sized world might look.  I particularly loved the weird creatures, but I was--and still am--distracted by humans being among them.  WTF?  Why are there humans there?

[fmaz]

On 2/18/2023 at 9:52 PM, fantastic_four said:

I get why people would feel this way, but I LOVED them exploring how a quantum-sized world might look.  I particularly loved the weird creatures, but I was--and still am--distracted by humans being among them.  WTF?  Why are there humans there?

Oh I thought the world was cool, the creatures were cool... I just mean in the final battle, the stakes of those folks didn't mean much to me.

[Juno Beach]

On 2/18/2023 at 6:52 PM, fantastic_four said:

I get why people would feel this way, but I LOVED them exploring how a quantum-sized world might look.  I particularly loved the weird creatures, but I was--and still am--distracted by humans being among them.  WTF?  Why are there humans there?

Yeah, it's like there's supposed to be a backstory for that but it didn't make the cut?

Spoiler

Bill Murray's

character kinda alluded to something...

[Bo1983]

I really liked it 8/10 for me!

[Ken Aldred]

On 2/18/2023 at 1:20 AM, The humble Watcher lurking said:

I stopped watching the Marvel stuff because it became a chore to me. I had to watch Eternals twice to kind of like it. Got the new Wakanda movie on Disney plus, and Moon Knight, She Hulk and Marvel. really a slog fest. I watch them when I can. Excitement is over. I am all in on the Last of Us  after watching Marvel lately. The Last of Us is so refreshing. Very disappointed in Marvel since Avengers Endgame. Bring back Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. Hopefully the X-MEN and Fantastic Four can bring back the greatness.  That`s all I got. Peace out.

I agree. They’ve just been phoning it in for a while now. People often move on when they’re deprived of the excitement and quality formerly associated with a very focused creative force, be that movie franchises, music, whatever. It’s natural, fair weather erosion of the fan base.

Edited February 19, 2023 by Ken Aldred

[Sweet Lou 14]

I enjoyed the movie -- it was better than Thor 4, about as good as Black Panther 2, maybe not as good as Shang-Chi.  The main cast were all great, and I thought the Scott / Cassie dynamic and story arc worked very well.  Plus I agree that Jonathan Majors as Kang was the best part by far.

That said, without spoiling anything, it was very strange (and very noticeable) how Kang's power level varied so widely to suit the plot.  When he needed to be invincible, he was -- the slightest wave of his hand could render the heroes completely helpless, and the blasts from his suit were literally vaporizing anything they hit.  And then suddenly, when he needed to be beatable, he was -- his blasts knocking the heroes down but causing no real damage, and just standing there doing nothing for long periods while the cavalry showed up.  There was also no explanation of exactly why he sometimes activates the blue "mask" part of his costume, and what that supposedly does for him.

Also the "world building" for the quantum realm was pretty weak.  Frankly whether it's Star Wars or this movie, I'm a little bit tired of these large gatherings of aliens where no two are alike -- it barely makes sense in a bar scene where you can sort of draw a parallel to a major international airport, but it makes no sense at all as a "society" that has presumably existed for decades if not generations.  Did all of these people get accidentally zapped down there from different planets in the "real" universe?  It's never explained, though I suppose easy to assume.  And why (if the quantum realm is so vast, and in particular if it exists at many different "levels" of shrinking) is everyone basically concentrated in one place?  The quantum realm felt really small, no pun intended.

Finally, while it's hard to see exactly how they could have been fit in, I did miss the rest of supporting cast, especially Luis.  They basically tried a bookend approach where the tone of the first two movies (including breaking of the fourth wall) was present only at the beginning and end so that they could make the majority of the movie more "serious" in tone.

As for "Phase 5," here's what worries me.  When I look back at Phase 1, first of all we were dealing with Marvel's A-list characters but just as important, those characters were interconnected from the very beginning.  When Steve Rogers becomes Captain America (and gets his shield) with help from Howard Stark, that first piece clicks into place ... the Black Widow debuts in Iron Man 2, Hawkeye (and SHIELD) show up in Thor's first movie, and then Loki brings them all together in The Avengers.  The interwoven threads continue, especially in Captain America's two follow-up films:  The Winter Soldier teams Steve, Natasha, and Nick Fury while (re-)introducing T'Challa and Bucky, and Civil War ties Bucky to Iron Man while bringing Spider-Man into the MCU.  Plus of course the infinity stones tied everything together and gave each character a connection to the big bad villain.  It was incredibly satisfying far service but more to the point it was fantastic storytelling and world-building.

There is simply nothing like this in Phase 4, which has been a disconnected mess.  The only character we see in multiple movies is Wong, and he's basically just comic relief when he shows up.  Ha ha ha, can you believe that a hermit monk who calls himself the Sorcerer Supreme binge-watches Netflix?  The entire existence of the Eternals is a head-scratcher -- where were they when Thanos showed up again? -- and the awkward inclusion of both the Black Knight and Blade didn't make any sense in terms of a larger story arc.  Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness is probably the worst Marvel movie of them all, completely screwing up Wanda's character just because.  And Thor 4 threw away just about everything I loved about Thor's development as a character to go all-in on dumb humor.  The whole thing just made me sad.

My point is, when Avengers 5 comes around and we have to watch a completely random hodge-podge of Avengers "assemble," we won't be invested in them at all.  What exactly is going to connect the new Captain America, Shang-Chi, the Black Knight, Shuri, Yelena, and Photon, or whoever else they decide to toss in?  Plus we know that it's all going to take place in a big multiverse full of variants and alternate timelines -- meaning there are basically no stakes since all of these characters could die a million times over (and let's face it, we will probably literally watch these characters die a million times over at the hands of a million Kangs before we're done).

I keep waiting for Marvel to figure out what they're trying to do and string together some movies that actually make sense as part of a larger whole.  Quantumania was a step in that direction, so I'm happy to see that.  Let's see where they take it from here.

Edited February 19, 2023 by Sweet Lou 14

[Bosco685]

 

[Gatsby77]

On 2/19/2023 at 8:06 AM, Sweet Lou 14 said:

 

My point is, when Avengers 5 comes around and we have to watch a completely random hodge-podge of Avengers "assemble," we won't be invested in them at all.  What exactly is going to connect the new Captain America, Shang-Chi, the Black Knight, Shuri, Yelena, and Photon, or whoever else they decide to toss in?

This...this is what concerns me most about Phase 4 (to date).

Reminds me of the issue I had with Netflix's The Defenders.

On paper, it should have worked. You had a group of "street level" NYC heroes thrown together as a makeshift team - who have to adjust accordingly.

But...with the exception of Jessica Jones & Luke Cage, none had interacted before, and the team simply didn't work.

Particularly the pairing of Cage and Iron Fist - given their long history in the comics, one would have expected more chemistry.

Instead, the entire show just seemed like a haphazardly constructed cash grab - a great idea, astonishingly poorly executed.

I fear the same for the disjointed list of heroes you cite above.

Best case scenario? Maybe they cordon them off as "West Coast Avengers" - thus still reserving the OG Avengers name for a more substantial collection of heroes.

[fantastic_four]

On 2/19/2023 at 8:06 AM, Sweet Lou 14 said:

There was also no explanation of exactly why he sometimes activates the blue "mask" part of his costume, and what that supposedly does for him.

I've always assumed it's a personal force field.  In the comics I never noticed him turning it on and off, so the fact that he did turn it on and off in this film felt like a validation that it's a shield since he only enabled it while he was fighting.

[bentbryan]

Saw it last night. Theater wasn’t even half full.  Even with lowered expectations it was still just ‘meh’ for me.  More and more I am coming to the conclusion that superhero movies have had their time in the sun.   

[drotto]

On 2/19/2023 at 10:47 AM, bentbryan said:

Saw it last night. Theater wasn’t even half full.  Even with lowered expectations it was still just ‘meh’ for me.  More and more I am coming to the conclusion that superhero movies have had their time in the sun.   

I think the MCU has gotten into the trap that they must keep out doing themselves.   Bigger villains, bigger threats.  What they need to do is go small again and build back up.  I know they will claim they are doing that with the shoes, but the fact is the shows capture a small percentage of what the movies do, so that is not working.

[Bosco685]

 

Edited February 19, 2023 by Bosco685