

And Majors could be comedic, I’m sure.Īlso problematic is that “Quantumania” is bathed almost entirely in animated computer-generated effects. Perhaps, a funnier villain would have helped maintain a sense of balance. The tonal shifts from Kang’s dreary and mysterious but engrossing motivations to Scott Lang’s comic quips might give you whiplash. To say Majors acts circles around his co-stars is an understatement. Sadly, the seriousness that Majors conveys is met with a juvenile narrative and jokey supporting roles that undermine his somewhat Shakespearian approach. He’s a lonely, vicious killer leaving a high body count in his wake. Majors delivers a handsome, mature performance as the murderous Kang the Conqueror. The bright spot in “Quantumania” is the gifted Jonathan Majors, an actor on the rise and will next play the boxing nemesis in the March release “Creed III.” But in this ludicrous movie, his considerable talents are almost out of place. And maybe the MCU is more suited for a smaller screen that is less cinematic and more televisual.
#Henchman story platforms movie
Ironically, this big blockbuster slice of “Ant-Man” reminds viewers of the inherent limitation to the comic book movie empire that Disney now shepherds. If the future entries are as weak as this one, the franchise’s theatrical experience will yield less and less with each installment. However, the abuse of the metaverse conceit will be an MCU touchstone moving into Phase 5. In “Quantumania,” the subatomic and the metaverse are blurred confusingly with lots of talk but very little of it intelligible. But in the notion of a metaverse, Marvel and Disney found their saving grace everything and everyone can co-exist. At some point, the jokes only accentuate the schmaltziness of the entire enterprise. It’s a crazy and inspiring science fiction idea that’s everywhere right now and served as a crucial plot component for the aptly named Oscar-nominated “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” But as the theory develops in the MCU, it’s become a crutch to explain away missteps and faulty casting choices and to eliminate entire films from the canon that, for one reason or another, failed to move the Marvel ball forward.Ĭonstant in-jokes are often employed to help to soften the quantum leaps from one actor to another and from one failure to another success. Those small models had texture and weight, which is seriously lacking visually and narratively in “Quantumania.”īut it’s the concept of the metaverse that nagged at me as I drove home from the press screening on Monday night. The skilled special effects artists’ work on “Shrunk” with miniatures and stop-motion effects holds up pretty well today. The family-friendly PG rating helped broaden that picture’s appeal pushing it to more than $222 million in worldwide box office. “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” didn’t have the pressure of a multi-billion-dollar franchise hanging over it. Their improbable descent into a tiny, tiny world is reminiscent of another Disney family film, 1989’s “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.” “Quantumania” takes Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), Scott’s daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton), and Hope’s parents, Hank (Michael Douglas) and Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer), to a subatomic universe. Just where the improvement goes is uncertain, especially when Marvel Studios and Disney have erected a built-in reset button-the metaverse. But in a way, this limp adventure leaves plenty of room to grow. This wacky, terribly uneven, and often nonsensical movie places Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in peril. Assigning “Quantumania” a wholesome moniker is a big red flag, an attempted excuse for the movie’s utter mediocrity. When discussing the third chapter in the “Ant-Man” series, director Peyton Reed emphasizes the “family” dynamic. Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, Michelle Pfeiffer, William Jackson Harper, Bill Murray, Corey Stoll, and Michael Douglas
