Jump to content

Ant-Man and the Wasp and the Spoilers


Bastard of Boston

Recommended Posts

I can't help but love Paul Rudd in everything, doing anything. I put him on the level of Robert Downey, Jr. I think they're both always worth the price of admission -- even if the film isn't particularly strong. RDJ saved two sketchy Iron Man films. And I walked away from this one feeling similarly underwhelmed by the package, but appreciating the charm. I actually feel a little...guilty about how disappointed I was. Only Paul Rudd can make you feel like an asshole for having a critical opinion of a movie.

For a film that had a bunch of competing storylines, it felt sparse, barely held together by two or three dangling threads. I was hoping that the movie would double down on legacy, giving us much more of the search for Janet Van Dyne, while also showing us lots of dueling scenes featuring the two different eras of Ant-Man and the Wasp. Unfortunately, Michelle Pfeiffer barely left a fingerprint on anything. Her casting was such big news and seemed so appropriate, only to culminate in dust...see what I did there?

The Sonny Burch character was someone we've seen before...and seen done better before. Laurence Fishburne was even more wasted than Michelle. Ghost had the makings of a compelling villain, but the film stopped just short of making me care about her. The way her arc was resolved in (literally) the most hand wavy way possible exemplified my frustration with the movie -- nothing seemed particularly thought through or interesting. I know we all wanted something light after how heavy Infinity War was, but this one melted like cotton candy in your mouth. Tasted pretty sweet, but didn't satisfy the hunger. I'm so smooth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I liked it.  It wasn't, as you indicated, heavy at all, and that may have allowed the various stories to falter a little.  

Ghost may have needed a little more, true, but indie walk out of the theater wondering if she was actually the villain. And the small Bill Foster twist did cause me to start. 

The first post credit scene might have been decided upon after the fact with Avengers being out,  it it nicely framed the timeline and set up Ant Man credibly to be in the next Avengers.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is it bad that I feel less interested in seeing this than I did Solo? I mean, I really liked the first Ant-man. Light. Fun. Maybe the biggest sign of superhero fatigue for me is that I'm in a spoiler thread posting about a movie I haven't seen and not really caring if I'm spoiled... Something that would shock my wife to no end.

Or maybe after Avengers 4, I don't see how what could happen here that will really impact the MCU. Yes, I know Scott will learn something about the quantum realm that they'll leverage in someway.

It's too bad for Rudd and Lilly that this outing is buried in such a crowded summer. I'll see AM&W at some point. Probably just wait to buy it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Eriksen's New Mascot said:

Is it bad that I feel less interested in seeing this than I did Solo?

Nope.  The first Ant man was mediocre and over-praised.  Though the action sequences are probably impressive and it'll earn a billion dollars, I can't imagine this one is much better.

Oh, something,something superhero fatigue something something.

SOLO was great BTW.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Talk about change of tone from the previous movies. Expected, of course, but this wasn't a more humorous, smaller MCU movie, this was a comedy set in the MCU. It had typical formulas of most comedies, like semi-competent law enforcement agents that get fooled more than once the same way, small villains getting dropped in for the sake of providing obstacles, protagonist's core is his relationship with his kid, happy ending (not counting the mid-credit scene).

I enjoyed it, but it falls somewhere in the bottom half of the MCU movies.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Corvinus of Teranga said:

(not counting the mid-credit scene).

I think we all expected some variation of that but damn that was harsh. 

The mention of time vortex's in the quantum realm is interesting. After seeing this movie I'm more inclined to believe that report that they cast an older version of Cassie for Avengers 4.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had much different expectations going in to this than I did Avengers IW.... or even Solo... Ant-Man is the most light-hearted, brand Marvel has right now... with that, not expecting to see a blockbuster, but rather a "fun" action comedy, I enjoyed it on its own merits... because  thats what it was... as such, with the type of movie it was, its incapable of invoking a Ragnorok/Black Panther reaction... I think the safest comparison would be Spiderman Homecoming...

Also... Normally I hate child actors, but the kid did well, 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

42 minutes ago, Scott de Montevideo! said:

Stupid nitpick question.  When an object is shrunk does it retain the same mass or is that reduced commensurately as well?  In other words shouldn’t the shrunken lab have been incredibly dense and heavy?

Whatever is most convenient for the particular scene.  Even in the first ant man film, the preservation of mass was not consistent.

As Batman pointed out, the Sherman tank on Hank Pym's keychain should have weighed 60 tons.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We brought our son and his friend to see this yesterday.  It’s enjoyable, very much a Paul Rudd movie.  It’s a family-oriented action comedy moreso than a Marvel adventure.  Despite the tie-ins to MCU, this doesn’t feel like a super hero movie.  It’s smaller in scope and happy to be so.

The Ava character’s grimaces and snarls weren’t great but Boyd from Justified was a nice inclusion and the main FBI guy (Randall Park) was a funny divergence from the cliche.

I wouldn’t recommend rushing out to see it but it is good-natured fun if your eleven year old is looking for a summer flick. 

(It wasn’t as good as SOLO; see that first)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, Scott de Montevideo! said:

Stupid nitpick question.  When an object is shrunk does it retain the same mass or is that reduced commensurately as well?  In other words shouldn’t the shrunken lab have been incredibly dense and heavy?

You need to approach this with no expectations for the laws of physics.  None.  Even less than Star Wars. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Iskaral Putsch said:

You need to approach this with no expectations for the laws of physics.  None.  Even less than Star Wars. 

Not only that.  Every time they used the building like a rolling suitcase shouldn’t everything in the building have gotten knocked all over the place?  And did the building have the handle on top built into it during construction, or added while it was shrunk?  If after, how did they put in the handle without destroying the building’s structural integrity?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ant Man & the Wasp is the most Disney of Marvel's cinematic works, and if you accept that then you'll have fun with this installment. Rudd is great. Was completely sold on the bond between him & his onscreen daughter. So much so that I was quite annoyed when Wasp kidnapped him and jeopardize his formal release back into lawful society. And as much as I was happy to see Hannah John-Kamen from Killjoys here, I was was underwhelmed with Eva/Ghost.

On the Infinity War tie in at the end;

Spoiler

Janet: 'Stay away from the Tardigrade field. And don't get sucked into a time vortex.'
Anyone else doubt Ant-Man will be ploughing through both fields to find out what's happening?
(Tardigrades are awesome by the way, toughest of the tough. If Ant-Man was to befriend one and solicit aid... oh wow.) 

 

9 hours ago, Scott de Montevideo! said:

Stupid nitpick question.  When an object is shrunk does it retain the same mass or is that reduced commensurately as well?  In other words shouldn’t the shrunken lab have been incredibly dense and heavy?

Best not to dwell on this. It's like pissing into the wind. Though on a different scale... I still wonder about The Universe on Orion's belt from MiB. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, ithanos said:

Ant Man & the Wasp is the most Disney of Marvel's cinematic works, and if you accept that then you'll have fun with this installment. Rudd is great. Was completely sold on the bond between him & his onscreen daughter. So much so that I was quite annoyed when Wasp kidnapped him and jeopardize his formal release back into lawful society. And as much as I was happy to see Hannah John-Kamen from Killjoys here, I was was underwhelmed with Eva/Ghost.

 

That did require some plot hand-waving.  The guy is three days away from completing his house arrest, but they expected him to jeopardize a 20 year incarceration to assist with a search for a woman who has been missing and presumed dead for thirty years already?  And criticized him for whining about it.

Eva and Wasp bear deep scars from losing parent(s) at a young age, and yet neither show any hesitation in causing the same to another girl of approximately the same age.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Iskaral Putsch said:

That did require some plot hand-waving.  The guy is three days away from completing his house arrest, but they expected him to jeopardize a 20 year incarceration to assist with a search for a woman who has been missing and presumed dead for thirty years already?  And criticized him for whining about it.

Well there was a throw away line from Paul Rudd as Janet that if they didn't get her out soon they wouldn't have another chance for a hundred years. Which was really random but it does I guess sorta explain the rush. 

My question is why does he need someone to pull him out of the quantum realm at the end? I'm 90% sure he went there and back with just his suit in the first movie. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, RumHam said:

Well there was a throw away line from Paul Rudd as Janet that if they didn't get her out soon they wouldn't have another chance for a hundred years. Which was really random but it does I guess sorta explain the rush. 

My question is why does he need someone to pull him out of the quantum realm at the end? I'm 90% sure he went there and back with just his suit in the first movie. 

That was the hand-waving.  No explanation, no scientific basis.  The planets are aligned and if we don't do it right now then the Illuminati will take over the world.

But even as the movie created the fake urgency and tension, no-one seemed to care much about his personal cost.  It's unheroic to not risk everything on a distinctly flaky hunch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Iskaral Putsch said:

That was the hand-waving.  No explanation, no scientific basis.  The planets are aligned and if we don't do it right now then the Illuminati will take over the world.

But even as the movie created the fake urgency and tension, no-one seemed to care much about his personal cost.  It's unheroic to not risk everything on a distinctly flaky hunch.

Yeah. The worst part is it's not even clear that Hank and Hope knew about the time limit before that line. I'm pretty sure they never mention it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree that there needed to be some hand waving...but I'm not 100% certain I care.  It's a summer movie. A comic book movie.  It isn't required that we worry too much about the real world ramifications of the plot, provided it hangs together in rough form.

That there was ultimately no true villain in the end, I found interesting.  Ghost had specific motivations that made basic sense.  The effects for her phasing I thought were very nicely done. 

I think this movie might suffer a tiny bit from its connection to the overall MCU. If it was all out there on it's own, perhaps a bit more time could have been devoted to exploring the Quantum Realm and its secrets.

As for the physics of the shrunken items, yeah, it's something you need to not think about too much, but it is somewhat consistent with source material.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gotta say this was significantly worse than the first.  Think someone said it's just set-piece to the next set-piece.  Totally agree.  Paul Rudd is not likeable to save it.  Very few are.  I love the father-daughter dynamic - as a Nolan fan that's right up my alley.  But once you tear peanut away you get nothing that could even make a sandwich.  Michelle Pfeiffer is pretty cool, but not worth it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...