Paul Rudd acts his ass off in this movie, and his portrayal of Scott shows an arc from a carefree hero reading his own headlines and resting on his laurels to a dedicated father who will stop at nothing to protect his daughter and loved ones. She shines as a mother and a protector of all children, and her scenes with Michael Douglas and Bill Murray are a sparkling tribute to legacy actors in a fun, imaginative environment.

Pfeiffer is also a plot device, but she’s also an exposition machine, which gives her plenty of time to chew up the screen and show a badass side to her that was only alluded to in her previous Marvel outing. doesn’t strike fear when he is onscreen, because he’s genuinely frightening, but he’s also a giant fucking head so we have to take some time to recognize that. “The fuck is that? Are you a giant head? Holy Shit!”Īnd this film does that! Every time someone see him for the first time they say “Holy Shit!” Which is not to say that M.O.D.O.K. appears in a comic book or animated feature everyone shudders and says “Oh no! It’s M.O.D.O.K.” But if he were to appear to any person who is expected to have a loose tether with our real world, the response would always be the same: I was talking to a friend about his inclusion in the film and a certain awareness that I felt had to be present in a live-action adaptation. who I’d forgotten was in the film before his name was mentioned. One of the things the film gets particularly right is M.O.D.O.K. I predict this film will be universally celebrated, as it has a tremendous heart, a terrifying villain, visceral fight sequences, and just the right amount of peril to satisfy that itch that we didn’t know we had until Marvel scratched us back in 2008 with IRON MAN. I’m here to praise it, because after the last few features that Marvel has released, this film marks a return to formula that creates a product that will not divide its fans in any way. Dasmtalchian voices a goo creature named Veb, who brings a levity to the uncertainty of the Quantum Realm, and Hannah John-Kamen plays a resistance fighter that is indistinguishable from Valkyrie as she is given no motivation or backstory.īut I’m not here to split hairs and talk about what this film does wrong. Newcomer Kathryn Newton is wonderful but is largely relegated to being a plot device, albeit an engaging one. The film is a three-legged table, held up by Pfeiffer, Rudd, and Majors. The film’s villain, Kang, is unquestionably menacing and seemingly insurmountable, so there is very little to laugh about when he is onscreen. Whereas THOR: LOVE & THUNDER overused humor to its detriment, ANT-MAN 3 uses it where it belongs: in the spaces between life and death. There is still humor, to be sure, but it is used smartly and sparingly. Quite unlike Scott Lang’s first two outings, ANT-MAN 3 is a deathly serious film. While filming there was much to-do about the film’s logo looking like a Led Zeppelin album name and those jokes pay off when the film itself plays out like a psychedelic concept album of togetherness through our otherness. We’ll get to that.ĪNT-MAN 3 takes place almost entirely in the Quantum Realm, which offers the visual artists at Marvel/Disney the opportunity to crank up the creativity and colors to eleven. There is no Peña, no T.I., but surprisingly there is still Dastmalchian, but not in the flesh. That’s a heck of a trick if it can make you smile just thinking about, so I was very interested and excited to see if we’d get a third ride in his charmingly tangential head. While driving to the theater and recalling Michael Peña’s previous exposition dumps, a smile crossed my face. Who better to offer the spectacular, then, than Marvel? I can confidently say, after a slew of releases that were divisive at best, Marvel is back to true form with ANT-MAN & THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA! (There will be mild spoilers ahead) Howdy, folks! I am excited to tell you that I saw my first film in the theater of 2023 and it, of course, had to be a spectacle.

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