Black & A Half

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Review:Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

PG-13  ‧ Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy ‧ 2 Hours 5 Minutes 

Written by Jeff Loveness

Directed by ‎Peyton Reed

THE CAST

Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Douglas, Kathryn Newton, David Dastmalchian, William Jackson Harper, Katy O’Brian, Bill Murray

(L-R): Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man and Kathryn Newton as Cassandra “Cassie” Lang in Marvel Studios’ ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.

THE STORY

(In their own words) Ant-Man and the Wasp find themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that pushes them beyond the limits of what they thought was possible.

THE BEST
The BEST things about the film

  1. Visually stunning. It’s like everyone’s imaginations have just come to life. 
  2. I think it’s the most appropriately funny of the films. While all Marvel has comedy, I feel like Ant-Man is built for it.
  3. Great new villain in Kang the Conqueror. I’m very excited to see where this goes. 
  4. Paul Rudd continues being a very relatable superhero. He gives us that glimmer of hope that we might one day be able to fill his shoes. He’s a regular guy who happens to surround himself with brilliant people who will help him be a better man.
  5. The whole film either met or exceeded my expectations. 

THE WORST

Jonathan Majors as Kang The Conqueror in Marvel Studios’ ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL.

The WORST things about the Film

  1. The beginning of the film is great, as we are learning about the world, then it tapers off a bit quickly and I don’t feel entirely fulfilled by the things I learned. Some of “the world” just wasn’t explained enough. 
  2. While it does a wonderful job of spectacle, I don’t think the film was great for character development. I don’t think any of the characters really changed to any significant degree over the course of the film. It just really squanders the opportunity to elevate it over just another event and be a powerful film.
  3. As much as I liked the film, I feel like it’s starting to feel redundant. It’s like the dopamine hits the films used to provide are just not lasting as long. I’m watching incredible visual films and in the back of my head I’m thinking. Is this it?
  4. I really wanted to get into Kang’s backstory more. If he is being set up as a villain, they really need to show us why he’s doing what he’s doing. The best hero stories really invest the time in developing the villains, and for me, they just didn’t do that in this film.

THE COMMENTS

The MCU has hit a dangerous spot. Endgame was such a masterpiece with so much building to it, it doesn’t seem like that is something it could ever replicate again, but it has to try. They are releasing so much content, it’s hard to keep track. This film should have had a huge wow factor, but as creative as it was, you get the feeling like you’ve seen this before. The introduction of Kang The Conqueror is interesting because he seems to be different. We don’t know completely what is behind his motivations, but it seems to have potential. I really wish they had gotten more into Kang’s backstory, because I wasn’t invested in rooting against him enough. 

(L-R): Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, Kathryn Newton as Cassandra “Cassie” Lang, Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne/Wasp in Marvel Studios’ ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.

THE LESSON

Keeping secrets is never a good idea. Keep communication going and you won’t accidentally be sucked into the quantum realm. 

IS IT REWATCHABLE

Yes. There’s so much to take in visually, I don’t think you can catch it all at once. 

THE FINAL WORD

A thoroughly entertaining and visual spectacle of a film that is propped up by really solid actors. This film is clearly the set up for the next big phase of Marvel films and you get that the studio really wanted to wow the audience with visuals and potential for the future. Disappointing is the lack of character growth within the story. It’s really a missed opportunity since it was full of such talented actors. Jonathan Majors is excellent with what he is given for the role. I look forward to seeing what he has to offer the franchise and just hope Marvel Studios will not forget what got the films so popular in the first place.

THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It. 

THE TRAILER

THE MEME REVIEW

Review: Thor: Love And Thunder

Thor: Love and Thunder  (2022)
PG-13 ‧ Action/Adventure ‧ 2 Hours 5 Minutes


Written by Taika Waititi(story by) Jennifer Kaytin Robinson

Directed by ‎ Taika Waititi

THE CAST

Chris Hemsworth; Christian Bale; Tessa Thompson; Jaimie Alexander; Taika Waititi; Russell Crowe; Natalie Portman.

THE STORY

(In their own words) Thor embarks on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced — a quest for inner peace. However, his retirement gets interrupted by Gorr the God Butcher, a galactic killer who seeks the extinction of the gods.

THE BEST

(L-R): Natalie Portman as Mighty Thor and Chris Hemsworth as Thor in Marvel Studios’ THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER. Photo by Jasin Boland. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.


BEST things about the film

  1. The Direction- It is probably the first Marvel movie with such a distinct voice of the director. This is no doubt a taika Waititi film. It is quirky and funny and takes unexpected approaches to the situation.
  2. Special Effects – Excellent special effects that’s becoming par for the course for Marvel films.
  3. The comedy – This is a very fun film. It really leans into comedy, which director Taika Waititi.
  4. Story – The story has a huge level of magnitude and will have huge impact on the future MCU. I think I now know what the direction of Phase 4 is, especially after the two post-credit scenes.
  5. Christian Bale – Holy moly. I totally forgot he was in the film and I didn’t realize that was him until the film ended and I saw the credits. Incredible transformation as an actor

THE WORST

WORST things about the Film

  1. Lack of relatability – This film deals with a lot of “Gods.” Similar to The Eternals, we are starting to deal with less “grounded” characters that we can relate to. Which makes it tough to really feel relatable.
  2. Jane -You know from the previews that Jane somehow gets the power of Thor in this film. I was super excited about this, but it kind of hurt the film by making everyone super powered. Suddenly, we don’t have our relatable character to side with. Jane needed John, someone to look after that would be more vulnerable.
  3. Villain – We hear a lot about the villain, but don’t get to see a lot.  I don’t feel like they properly built up the big bad for this film. He was there, present, but I didn’t have a strong feeling of caring. Without a good villain, we just don’t care if the hero wins. The origin of him they showed was fantastic, but we needed to see him as the villain longer before we intro’d the heroes to fight him. 
Christian Bale as Gorr in Marvel Studios’ THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

THE REVIEW

This will probably be the most polarizing marvels film we’ve had yet.  In fact, I could see this movie being as polarizing as the Star Wars film The Last Jedi.  Some people will love Thor Love & Thunder for its quirky, offbeat filmmaking style, it’s continuous use of comedy throughout, the stretching of the established characters’ personalities, and the unexpected direction this film goes with its story.  Others will hate the film for the exact same reasons. 

My daughter watched the press screening with me and she said it didn’t feel like a Marvel movie to her.  And I get that.  It is the first Marvel film I can remember that feels distinctly different because of the director & writer’s style. Most of Disney’s Marvel movies director’s point of view gets generalized by the powers that be.  They don’t want anything to be too unpredictable, that’s why so many Marvel movies feel the same. For this one they clearly let director Taika Waititi have free reign.  

THE LESSON

Love, above all else.

(L-R): Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie and Natalie Portman as Mighty Thor in Marvel Studios’ THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER. Photo by Jasin Boland. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

THE FINAL WORD

Thor: Love and Thunder is a mixed bag. It’s got a lot of elements I really, really liked. It had big shoes to fill after Thor: Ragnorok, and I think it might fall short of expectations in that regard. However, it is still a quirky, fun Marvel film. You haven’t seen anything like this yet. Don’t think too hard and enjoy the action and story. This film is setting up the next big phase of the MCU, so don’t miss out on it. 

THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It.

Thor: Love and Thunder gets a Like It.

THE TRAILER

THE REVIEWER

When he’s not reviewing films or interviewing people for the Black & A Half podcast, Silas Lindenstein can be found in the greater metro Seattle, WA working as a real estate agent helping people buy and sell homes, or performing stand up comedy to fellow nerds. He has a wife and three children and desperately wants to learn to make the perfect homemade pizza.

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