-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
LTTP: Ant-Man and the Wasp (I can't decide if it's bad or just thoroughly mediocre)
- Thread starter BossAttack
- Start date
The first Ant Man is genuine lightning in a bottle. It's a Marvel movie that even people in my social circle who dislike superhero movies found charming. Sharp writing, fantastic performances, strong plotting. A spectacular climactic sequence. The sequel feels... tired. The jokes fall flat, which is very unfortunate. It's a film that feels as though it's trying too hard. Michael Douglas in particular overacts in every scene for some reason. It's strange how Louis was pure comedy magic in the first film, but in this film the material he's given is just so much worse.
I found it to be flat out bad. Certain aspects like the editing are huge steps back from the first movie.
Really makes me wonder how much the first movie was Wright and how much was Reed.
Just saw it today, its pretty good. Paul Rudd is great and so is the rest of the cast.
Only annoying thing was the studio exec required Marvel Universe references. They all were kinda out of place but I loved the ending.
Only annoying thing was the studio exec required Marvel Universe references. They all were kinda out of place but I loved the ending.
I agree with OP. Its the first MCU movie (believe it or not) that made me think immediately afterwards that ill probably never feel the urge to watch this ever again. All other MCU movies left me with a sort of buzz walking out of the cinema. Honestly if they dont do something drastically different for the sequel, itll be hard for me to get excited for it.
I know the parts where louis quickly explains what's going on was only added in after wright left. Which is really weird how despite it being fan favourite with the first movie was only used once in the sequel.
My own issues were slightly different to yours in terms of what irked me most, but I agree with everything you wrote OP.
One of the worst aspects of this film, imo, is all the incredibly forced humour. Like the FBI lead and his awkward phrasing/interactions, and TJ's random jokes just scattered about seemingly nonchalantly (like the bit where he says he wants a suit) just because this is MCU and you need to fill the gag quota.
The main problem, though, is all the Quantum Realm nonsense. Even for an MCU film with all the fantastic things that happen, it all just felt too sudden and convenient being able to access the realm, Scott having visions, the mum coming back and with powers... maybe it's because it;s formulaic now, but every aspect of the QR storyline felt utterly preposterous and I usually don't have a problem suspending disbelief.
Also didn't buy for a second that Pym would be mad at Scott for going to help Cap, he would totally be on his side with that if his character were to be consistent. And, as you said, the entire film they disregarded the safety and care of their friends blindly working on the solution to save the mum.
And the rest of the film was incredibly forgettable, especially the villain. ESPECIALLY Goggins' low-rent street gangster who realistically would not have even been able to cause a nuisance to Pym tech enabled super heroes... that he even managed to slow them down a little was ridiculous. He didn't even have any super-tech of his own right?
Also they have shrinking tech, and yet they're constantly found so easily... and the only way to do this is to make the characters stupid as fuck, like Scott telling tJ where they were because of the deal? Here's an idea:
Scott: I have to go, this deal is sink or swim for our company!
Pym: Stay and help us and I'll bail you out Scott, it's the least I could do
Scott: Ok, great, thanks Pym! Let's do this!
Lol.
Just felt so flat and anti-climactic and silly though out, none of the charm of the original which, imo, was decent.
One of the worst aspects of this film, imo, is all the incredibly forced humour. Like the FBI lead and his awkward phrasing/interactions, and TJ's random jokes just scattered about seemingly nonchalantly (like the bit where he says he wants a suit) just because this is MCU and you need to fill the gag quota.
The main problem, though, is all the Quantum Realm nonsense. Even for an MCU film with all the fantastic things that happen, it all just felt too sudden and convenient being able to access the realm, Scott having visions, the mum coming back and with powers... maybe it's because it;s formulaic now, but every aspect of the QR storyline felt utterly preposterous and I usually don't have a problem suspending disbelief.
Also didn't buy for a second that Pym would be mad at Scott for going to help Cap, he would totally be on his side with that if his character were to be consistent. And, as you said, the entire film they disregarded the safety and care of their friends blindly working on the solution to save the mum.
And the rest of the film was incredibly forgettable, especially the villain. ESPECIALLY Goggins' low-rent street gangster who realistically would not have even been able to cause a nuisance to Pym tech enabled super heroes... that he even managed to slow them down a little was ridiculous. He didn't even have any super-tech of his own right?
Also they have shrinking tech, and yet they're constantly found so easily... and the only way to do this is to make the characters stupid as fuck, like Scott telling tJ where they were because of the deal? Here's an idea:
Scott: I have to go, this deal is sink or swim for our company!
Pym: Stay and help us and I'll bail you out Scott, it's the least I could do
Scott: Ok, great, thanks Pym! Let's do this!
Lol.
Just felt so flat and anti-climactic and silly though out, none of the charm of the original which, imo, was decent.
I enjoyed it but it was ultimately pretty forgettable. I do think the action scenes were done well but they were all so short (no pun) that they just flew by.
Certainly at the bottom end of the MCU lineup and perhaps not as strong as the first - but I don't think that's such a bad place to be in the superhero genre at the moment.
Certainly at the bottom end of the MCU lineup and perhaps not as strong as the first - but I don't think that's such a bad place to be in the superhero genre at the moment.
I thought it was fantastic as a comedy and a good palette cleanser after Infinity War. I mean... it was a comedy. Was that not apparent? It's supposed to be more tonally similar to 21 Jump Street or Ocean's 11, not Avengers. That's kind of the idea of the whole MCU, that every subseries has its own identity. Ant-Man movies are heist comedies.
Didn't really feel like the movie needed some supervillain with a big evil plan. Not sure what that would have added to the plot. I think the scale and stakes were appropriate. Hank being an asshole is kind of the point of his character though. He's driven most of the people in his life away from him and only recently reconciled with his daughter.
But hey, you got the full checklist here.
Looks Like TV™
Forgettable Villain™
Does anyone else not remember the music?
/shrug
It's the 20th MCU movie. Maybe it's time to just punch out if you're not digging them.
Didn't really feel like the movie needed some supervillain with a big evil plan. Not sure what that would have added to the plot. I think the scale and stakes were appropriate. Hank being an asshole is kind of the point of his character though. He's driven most of the people in his life away from him and only recently reconciled with his daughter.
But hey, you got the full checklist here.
Looks Like TV™
Forgettable Villain™
Does anyone else not remember the music?
/shrug
It's the 20th MCU movie. Maybe it's time to just punch out if you're not digging them.
Saw it for the first time yesterday and... yeah. It's mediocre, bordering on bad.
Maybe it's because I really enjoyed the first one?
Yes, I agree. It felt like a bad Phase 2 sequel, like Thor 2, Iron Man 2 or Ultron.
I thought we were over this.
Maybe it's because I really enjoyed the first one?
Yes, I agree. It felt like a bad Phase 2 sequel, like Thor 2, Iron Man 2 or Ultron.
I thought we were over this.
A flat, forced comedy that felt like "joke per minute quota" was more important than actually well written humour? Yes.
Not sure you can make that claim, like do you know that's what they were aiming for? Either way, it IS more tonally similar to those films and that's not a good thing...
The scales and stakes were completely inconsistent...
The fact a low level street villain even managed to be a nuisance to superhero level players with Pym tech was absurd, and while street level stuff is okay for certain heroes and it doesn't always need to be the universe at stake, they just didn't sell this at all.
And both villains were forgettable and bland, that's the problem. You can do street level and still be interesting.
I was wrong. OP missed "no stakes" and "quips" from the checklist. Thanks for filling in the gaps.
There's more if you want it. The film absolutely falls flat because of that checklist.
It's my least favourite Marvel Studios film since Thor: The Dark World. I didn't mind watching something that was on a smaller scale after Infinity War but it was just very bland and forgettable. Not one I'd watch again.
I usually don't mind a bit of technobabble in my movies, but this one was just too much to handle. So much eye-rolling at the end.
Damn shame because the first Ant-man flick was such a great movie.
Damn shame because the first Ant-man flick was such a great movie.
It's a fine 6/10 but for the MCU, especially now, that's not good enough. Honestly though, this is exactly the level the first Ant-Man film is minus the Edgar Wright moments. Nothing against Reed but if there's a third I hope they switch up directors otherwise we'll end up with the blandest trilogy in superhero movies and it's not the fault of the cast.
I'm glad I saw it. I can't really dispute any of the criticism here though. More of the jokes landed for me, and I enjoyed it as an episode of the MCU. Scale is important to me and I have a beef with how much mass market works like this have such large scale stories, so I appreciate the smaller one here.
I found the editing really odd... like there was no room for any jokes to breathe or get a reaction from either the audience or the characters.
BAM! JOKE! CUT TO NEXT THING, GO!
Micheal Pena was fantastic, though. As was Wasp. In fact, the cast were all on point but the editing seemed to do everything it could to undermine what was going on. Shame, really. I could totally go for some real low-key Marvel stuff.
BAM! JOKE! CUT TO NEXT THING, GO!
Micheal Pena was fantastic, though. As was Wasp. In fact, the cast were all on point but the editing seemed to do everything it could to undermine what was going on. Shame, really. I could totally go for some real low-key Marvel stuff.
I'll settle for thoroughly mediocre, but eering to the side of bad
Edit: Also, agreed with those saying the first is better
Edit: Also, agreed with those saying the first is better
Nah dr strange is pretty great relative to the mcu
Last edited:
I liked the action scenes and Pena was good as usual, but yeah, it was mediocre.
The villain(?) was yet another guy in a business suit. His sidekick/assistant had the best jokes at least.
Edit: Oh yeah, I also didn't care for Jimmy Woo being an incompetent comedy relief character.
The villain(?) was yet another guy in a business suit. His sidekick/assistant had the best jokes at least.
Edit: Oh yeah, I also didn't care for Jimmy Woo being an incompetent comedy relief character.
Last edited:
OP
OP
*detailed OP explaining the movie's faults*
This film's discussion is shallow.
Okay...
I agree with all of this, especially the joke per minute quota. The real laughs from me typically came from Rudd and were the tail end of a joke that you thought was finished. For instance, when Hank asks if he wants a juice box and string cheese and Scott finishes by asking if he really has some.
Those little jokes, almost as if ad-libbed, were funnier than every regular, overwritten joke such as Pena shenanigans. I think his wanting of a suit joke was the worst joke in the film.
Last edited:
The first movie is one I've rewatched a good number of times and that I hold to being one of the more underappreciated movies in the MCU.
This movie, much like Deadpool 2, I really enjoyed when I saw it in the theaters but I'm not exactly rushing to rewatch it. I think I enjoyed it more than Deadpool 2 at least, which got a bit too full of itself.
This movie, much like Deadpool 2, I really enjoyed when I saw it in the theaters but I'm not exactly rushing to rewatch it. I think I enjoyed it more than Deadpool 2 at least, which got a bit too full of itself.
I had a good time but it sure was rather forgettable
They could have gone ham with quantum realm shit and whatnot, but instead the shrinking/expanding was underused outside of the big final chase
Hopefully the third movie if there is one goes full quantum bananas
They could have gone ham with quantum realm shit and whatnot, but instead the shrinking/expanding was underused outside of the big final chase
Hopefully the third movie if there is one goes full quantum bananas
I completely agree with this point, too. Judd's charm is a huge reason I enjoyed the first film, and he has great timing and delivery of lines like these and they do feel ad-libbed in the best possible way. Really natural. And he clearly loves playing the character, so it's even more of a shame this film turned out so formulaic for me, the guy can be a joy to watch.
Am I remembering the first film correctly in that if was much more natural in delivery in this way? I need to watch it again...
I wish they explained the Quantum Realm a bit more as it was important for this movie and will be pretty important for IW2.
Mediocre sounds about right for this movie. It never quite crosses into the badness territory, never does anything particularly shitty. Never does anything even remotely memorable or noteworthy either, which in its own way is pretty fucking bad. Basically Ant-Man 2 is a complete waste of time with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Just shows how little a positive score on Rottentomatoes actually matters.
The 6.9/10 on RT is a better indicator of the film's quality, but obviously people usually cba to look at that.
Takes an immense effort to read TWO scores
6.5-7/10 sounds right to me. Some fun bits, good acting, plot is serviceable but nothing really gound breaking. Missed opportunity for something awesome, like dr strange, for me.
I liked it. It's nowhere near my favorite, but it had charm . Ghost was a cool twist on the traditional villain trope. Ant-Man and the Wasp had great chemistry. The action setpiece with Giant-Man was great. Some of the jokes were hilarious, like the Baba Yaga one or downsized Scott.
I actually felt like the movie was refreshing because it didn't have OBVIOUS BAD GUY and OBVIOUS PLOT POINT that the OP is describing as a reason the film isn't good. Not every big budget movie needs to follow the same f**king formula every time. Sure the movie is rather middling but not because it doesn't go in the obvious directions the OP wanted it to. I thought the movie was OK. I've seen much worse from the MCU and elsewhere.
That's just my two cents.
That's just my two cents.
Is this how they will introduce mutants in mcu? People who died in iw went to quantum realm. When they eventually be brought back to life. Some of them will manifest mutant power.
I'm leaning towards bad.
This is the one Marvel movie where the story didn't work for me in any way. The script was all over the place!
Instead of giving the villain or the micro-verse story enough room to breathe, it's all mangled up to the point, where nothing is getting enough attention and feels like a half measure.
Some gags are fine and work, but for a small scale personal story, there's just not enough development for any of the characters.
This is the one Marvel movie where the story didn't work for me in any way. The script was all over the place!
Instead of giving the villain or the micro-verse story enough room to breathe, it's all mangled up to the point, where nothing is getting enough attention and feels like a half measure.
Some gags are fine and work, but for a small scale personal story, there's just not enough development for any of the characters.
