Is Ant-Man 3 Really As Bad As People Are Saying?
Ant-Man and the Wasp in Quantumania is out! The reviews from the mainstream professional “journalists” as well as us independent reviewers out there have been largely negative. But are reviewers being unfair? Why is there such negativity around this film? And are there any positive aspects to the movie? Let’s explore, shall we?
Officially kicking off Marvel’s Phase 5 was no small feat for a film like Ant-Man 3. The first two Ant-Man films served as comedic breaks in the first three phases. Phase 4 was widely dubbed as Phase Bore and served no purpose in setting up a big event so it was up to Ant-Man 3 to right the ship. While the first three phases carefully and methodically teased and introduced Thanos, the fourth phase really didn’t make any mention of Kang the Conqueror other than in the Disney Plus series Loki. Introducing such an important character as your next overarching villain should be a bigger spectacle than it has been so far. Needless to say, we now have this new villain to tide us over until Phase 6. But is he as formidable as Thanos was?
The film begins with Scott Lang catching the audience up on what he’s been doing since Endgame. Things seem cheery until Scott’s daughter Cassie starts to mess with the Quantum Realm by sending signals down there which end up sucking the whole family down. From here the plot is helped along by Janet Van Dyne slowly revealing her past experiences down in the Quantum Realm. It turns out that after being banished, Kang the Conqueror made a go of it and decided to rule over his own prison. So when Cassie sent signals down there to observe the Quantum Realm, Kang saw it as his opportunity to escape.
The rest of the plot is a jumbled mess introducing easily disposable characters. But one character we have to talk about is MODOK. I went in blind without reading reviews or watching anything but knew that the character would be introduced in this movie. I’ve got to say that I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, the design was mostly accurate to the comics. On the other hand, making him be the mashed up remains of Darren Cross seemed to be a questionable choice. Don’t get me wrong, I really like Corey Stoll. I think he did a good job in the original Ant-Man film and his stint on House of Cards showcased his acting ability. But the CGI was pretty atrocious, and not just with MODOK.
It seems that with every outing in the MCU since Endgame, we get lower and lower quality of pretty much everything. The decline in the quality of CGI over the last few films culminates in Ant-Man 3. Taking place entirely in the Quantum Realm, the film requires a lot of special effects I’ll admit. But in trying to rush out this film, it seems that corners were cut. It really makes it seems like Disney executives are now treating the MCU as a product on an assembly line, cutting costs to the point that the overall quality suffers. The assembly line mentality showcases what other reviewers such as the Critical Drinker have mentioned, the product before the next product. But what about the acting?
I’ve followed the career of Paul Rudd fairly closely ever since Clueless. He’s an affable actor and that’s a quality that carries on to each of his performances. He’s made a name for himself playing nice guys, safe guys. But his acting can only take him so far if the writing doesn’t follow suit. The same can be said for Jonathan Majors. I actually really like him as an actor and think that his casting as Kang the Conqueror was great. But again, his acting ability can only take him so far if the script he’s given is crap. It’s a real shame that the powers that be didn’t take their time teasing Majors throughout Phase 4. Making him the main villain in Ant-Man 3 also makes me think that they blew their load way too early. Too soon junior. The rollout of Kang seems to have been done very haphazardly. It’s a shame and a waste of Jonathan Majors’ acting talent.
The rest of the film also seemed to lack the magic and humor that made the original and its sequel so charming. Missing was Michael Pena playing Luis which I really enjoyed in the first two films. The ending scene with Scott narrating and questioning whether it was really over was also clunky and very poorly written. It was like an unedited first draft of a high schooler’s English assignment. No thought had been put into whether the storyline made sense and whether anything needed to be changed. The other supporting characters didn’t do much to improve the humor either. The blob character trying the holes joke multiple times felt forced and showcased another problem with the film: the infantile and immature visual gags thrown in. I know that Disney has a history of throwing inappropriate images into their films, but this film takes the cake. The so-called living buildings of the Quantum Realm can only be interpreted one way: as phalluses. I was sitting in the theater wondering if the filmmakers were actually serious.
Overall, Ant-Man and the Wasp in Quantumania suffers from the same thing the rest of the films since Endgame suffer from: a general decline in overall quality. The film wasn’t necessarily as terrible as most reviewers make it out to be. But it’s also a far cry from the quality we’ve come to expect. In their rush to put out the next product, Disney’s Marvel seems to be tripping over its own feet. If they just slowed down, took their time, and carefully thought out these films, they would produce much higher quality films, and in turn earn more money. Disney’s shortsighted management fails to see beyond the here and now. As long as they view these movies as products and not as film and continue to rush them out, they’ll continue to lose money. Here’s my message to Disney: slow down, think, plan, then execute. Think of what made you successful in the first place. As for you dear viewers, I can’t recommend you rush to theaters to see this. Although I can’t say that you shouldn’t watch this film at all as it really wasn’t that bad. But you should certainly wait until it comes out on video or streaming.
If you like this review, check out the video review on YouTube: