The Reel Rejects - Just Watched Ant-Man & The Wasp Quantumania (Coy's Reaction Review)

Starting point is 00:00:00 This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance, fiscally responsible, financial geniuses, monetary magicians. These are things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds. Visit Progressive.com to see if you could save. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Potential savings will vary, not available in all states or situations. Citizens of the Rejecture. nation, welcome to my non-spoiler thoughts for Ant Man, Quantum Mania, which I did see in IMAX. I am now turning so you can actually see me, but that was very dramatic, that opening.

Starting point is 00:00:39 Much like the movie, very dramatic. I have a lot of very conflicting feelings towards this movie in that I really, really want people to enjoy it, and I really want people to go see it. And I do think IMAX is the format of choice. There are so many scenes that are shot for that scale. Ironically, a movie about an Ant-Man is very, very big and bold. It is one of the most visually stimulating movies I've seen in a very long time, but where my problems lie is in the characterization. Because some of these characters are being utilized in new ways, and a lot of these characters are delivering a bigger arc.

Starting point is 00:01:13 But my issue, much like I had with Age of Ultron, is that you're suffering in the temporary arc to have the overarching arc. I feel like this movie is going to grow on me as I see where this goes, but I definitely feel like when I walked out of the movie, I didn't even know how to begin to review it. So let's go on this journey together. Let's start with Kang. Kang is a powerhouse. Kang is Jonathan Majors getting to flex majorly. And I do feel like what Jonathan Majors brings to the table is an almost Shakespearean

Starting point is 00:01:44 meets Brando-esque hyper-masculinity that is so, for me, a leaning in performance. I kept being fascinated by like little choices and facial tics and his eyes. I was so captivated at all points by Jonathan Majors. My issue wasn't with his performance as Kang. It was some of the writing choices for Kang. And again, this is a non-spoiler review, so I'm not going to give anything away. But I definitely felt the reason Kang served this story is going to be very different than how I feel about Kang, the character overall.

Starting point is 00:02:16 It is not a spoiler to say, Kang in the comic books, Kang in reality. Kang that you already know, you met him and he who remains, is a multifaceted character. So the use of this Kang didn't work for me all the time. The delivery of this Kang was always interesting, but I don't know if it actually worked for the story they told. Hopefully that makes sense. I'm very excited to give a spoiler review because all of this will be a very more linear journey to tell you.

Starting point is 00:02:37 This, as with any Marvel movie, does have two post-credit scenes, and the first one is a lot of what I was really, really wanting, and I really think it builds off of the last five minutes really well. The last five minutes is actually a perfect example of how I feel about this film. Okay, so not giving away the last five minutes, but the last five minutes was a lot more of the thing I wanted the movie to lean more into, but because of the thing the movie had to be, it wasn't allowed to be the last five minutes. So I loved the last five minutes, and I loved the mid-credit scene, but because this was the third in an Ant-Man trilogy, because this was the continuation of the 36-37 Marvel film saga, they couldn't do the thing that the post-credit scene and the very end of the movie was. So I feel like this movie was fighting itself as much as it was fighting Kang. I feel like this movie had a lot of really interesting family dynamics.

Starting point is 00:03:30 There's a couple little tweets that would have elevated it from, you know, like mid-level to upper level that like literally it's a decision here or a decision there. But overall, it felt like it was warring with itself because it was growing in a bunch of directions at once. But it definitely felt like sometimes it played too small and sometimes it played too big. Sometimes it played too Ant-Man. Sometimes it played too Giant Man. Most of all, I think it did a Star Trek Star Wars-esque film.

Starting point is 00:03:53 justice. And I really love that that's the flavor they captured here. This isn't like the heist film the first one was. This isn't the adventure. The second one was. This is truly a sci-fi film. So whereas you've got space operas with Guardians the Galaxy, this is a more traditional sci-fi film. This has more DNA with elements of Loki than it does with elements of Guardians the Galaxy. A lot of that Mobius art and the character Mobius makes that confusing. But Mobius is a comic artist that has a very intricate design. The final post-credit scene is a really interesting choice in that it reveals more than I think they've done in a lot of them lately. It also harkens back to phase one and two post credit scenes in the style and the choice

Starting point is 00:04:32 and the use of the post credit scene. And it also teases something that I think the movie could have teased, but I'm glad they at least teased it. It didn't feel like, you know, moon night or one of the ones where it's like, well, that could have just been the end of the movie. But it did definitely feel like I would have liked more of that in the movie. Highlights for me were definitely Modoc. I did not expect Modoc to be the scenes. Steeler he was. You know Modoc's in this. I did not spoil anything. He's in the trailer. It was something that I had hoped would be the way they made Modoc happen and they absolutely nailed it. I think it really fit with world building. I think it really fit with balancing drama and comedy. I think

Starting point is 00:05:07 it really fit with what they were allowed to do with the science and technology in this universe. And I really had so much fun with that choice. And I really enjoyed the family dynamic in that I love that phase four really addressed all of our heroes getting older and really addressed what it would be like to be a superhero parent. And I really enjoyed a lot of the Cassie Lang, Paul Rudd dynamic, as well as Evangeline Lilly being a part of that. And then her relationship with her mom and her relationship with Hank Pim. And I do think Hank Pim finally gets some of the most badass moments, some very ant-man moments that I've been very much waiting for. But it felt like if it was either two movies or if it was not the third in a series or I just, there was something about

Starting point is 00:05:51 how it landed. Overall, it definitely, it worked for me in the first two acts more than the third act because there's a moment, and I can't quite piece together where it was, but there's a moment going into the third act where I just feel the stake shift in a way that I was like, oh, okay, this is where this is going. So I had had fun up until that point and I was engrossed in the world. Oh, by the way, the character designs are absolutely stunning. They're There's so much beautiful character work here. There's so much stunning imagery of these insane new creatures that I think absolutely deliver. I really loved the imagination in the quantum realm.

Starting point is 00:06:28 I really loved what they were able to do by making us believe in imagination. There's so many images that feel like pure imagination quantified, and I love that. But I definitely found that by the time we got to the third act, that glee, that overwhelming sense of wonder turned into me overthinking the ramifications. the consequences. And I don't know if that's a problem of a giant shared universe. I don't know if that's a problem of this having to be contained so you're, you know, wondering about other characters. I don't know if that's a problem of, you know, we've mapped out five to seven to ten years. We've got a movie in 2025 called the Kang Dynasty. I don't know what that's a symptom of, but I'm definitely

Starting point is 00:07:04 aware that I was thinking of it instead of being engrossed. And the movie made me do that fairly often where I was never fully in the quantum realm with them. I was watching. And And I think the best superhero movies, certainly the best movies, you feel like you're with these characters. And when a superhero movie can do that, where it can have a reality at an 11, make you feel like you're running alongside them, that is the dream goal. And I definitely felt slightly removed. I felt like I was looking through the glass of ants. I felt like I was on the ant farm with them in Ant Man 1 and 2 more, and I was outside the ant farm feeding the ants. There's a lot of ant metaphors in this review.

Starting point is 00:07:41 I definitely didn't feel as connected as I wanted to, even though I love the family elements. Even though I loved a lot of those things, it never felt like I was with them in a way that I really wanted to. The comedy versus drama balance is really interesting because I've heard from a few people that didn't like the film, there wasn't enough comedy. I found the comedy really refreshing in that I got to laugh. And after phase four, there's a lot of not laughing.

Starting point is 00:08:01 There's a lot of sadness. And the joy this movie brought was definitely something I needed. I do feel like we're entering a more joyous era in phase five. We've mourned, we've gone to therapy, we've had a lot of losses. This was more joyous in a really wonderful, way in a way that I really wanted it to be. And I do credit Peyton Reed's comedy timing, and I do credit obviously Paul Rudd being Charm incarnate. But it wasn't just that. It was the Hank Pem Janet relationship being drama heavy and us feeling more in Paul Rudd's head in a way

Starting point is 00:08:30 that you were able to experience the drama of family, but also Paul Rudd inherently being funny, allowed some of the drama to be comedic. So the thing I think it did best was present characters that shouldn't work well, balance comedy and drama with insane visuals. I do feel like this lends itself to the deeper sci-fi, the 70s sci-fi, the Doctor Who stuff, the Star Trek, the Star Wars world, the character design especially is all very much that world. So as far as balancing tone, Dramity, comma, and the Star Wars, Star Trek, sci-fi, I do feel it is unique to this film, but it does, for me, suffer in the third act because of the world they built being what it had to be. So yeah, overall, enjoyed, but definitely the most

Starting point is 00:09:10 conflicted I've ever felt walking out of a Marvel film. I definitely have had movies where I've like, not for me, and movies that are like, that was awesome. This is a more like, I don't know how I feel because I really loved the opening. And then I really found myself in my head in the entire third act. And I'm excited to see it again to see how that lands. I'm excited to hear what people think. But yeah, it was an interesting journey. See it in IMAX because it is visually stunning.

Starting point is 00:09:34 Prepare yourself for a sci-fi epic in a way that is almost removing. It kind of takes you over here. And I don't know what I would change there. But in the spoiler review, I'm going to tell you guys, the little line tweaks I would change that would solve a lot of my problems. I'll tell you a couple story beats had changed that would solve a lot of my problems. And we're going to do a live stream. So tune in Saturday for that. But in the meantime, conflicted.

Starting point is 00:09:55 My review conflicted. My rating score, C for conflicted, not for a letter grade, because I have to decide later. And my overall thoughts, talk to me in a week. Okay, reject nation. I appreciate you. Like, subscribe, do the YouTube things I should have set the top. Kisses. Thank you.

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The Reel Rejects - Just Watched Ant-Man & The Wasp Quantumania (Coy's Reaction Review)

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