Marvel’s Phase 5 has kicked off with ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ and so far the reviews aren’t great, especially the critical reviews. I’m personally hearing that it’s a mid-range Marvel film, which probably isn’t the way Disney wanted this to go. Especially since they were using Kang the Conqueror. But like most MCU offerings lately, it might land with a thud.
Of course it’s far too early to tell where this film will go or how well it will ultimately perform as it is opening in theaters this weekend. But, the Rotten Tomato scores are not great. Critical scores, which count towards the actual rating, are not glowing at all. Even the “fresh” reviews aren’t good.
Currently the film is sitting at 48% critical and 85% audience.
“The worst Marvel movie yet…” -Caryn James, BBC
“I’m getting bored just typing all this up. More concerningly, it looks like the filmmakers themselves were bored putting it onscreen.” -Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine / Vulture.
“This is the Marvel way: The studio recruits actors and directors for their distinctive qualities, but over time the thing that stuck out gets filed down, until they’re just part of the machine. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is more of the same.” – Eli Glasner, CBC News.
“It’s “Ant-Man” if it was “Star Wars” written by one of the “Rick and Morty” writers during an off day.” – Josh Davis, Pop Culture Left Overs
“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania wants to psych you up about the launch of “Phase Five” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a corporate entity that’s now 15 years old and starting to look a little winded.”- Kurt Loder, Reason Online
“Quantumania is a mid-tier MCU film, with decent enough battle sequences and some nifty visuals, but we’re here mostly for the popcorn-movie enjoyment of watching Paul Rudd et al., do their thing, and once again, the little guy and gang come through.” – Richard Roper, Chicago Sun Times
“Ultimately one of Marvel’s dullest and most unnecessary movies to date.” – Emily Zemler, The Observer
“The once playful runt of the Marvel litter has come down with a case of bloated excess and despite likable Paul Rudd as Ant-Man and a pow villain in Jonathan Majors, the third time is not the charm for a sequel that ignores its own rule — less is more.” – Peter Travers, ABC News
Most people think Jonathan Majors as Kang is a high point. A lot of discussion has also been about having competent actors but they aren’t given good things to work with.
It seems that many are simply getting burned out on Marvel. The films just feel, as one review said, like cogs in a machine. It’s about the overall “reveal” they are headed to with the new phases and less of it’s own thing.
Now Kevin Feige has said that moving forward the Disney+ shows and films will be more spread out. Some shows are even being pushed to next year. Disney wants to focus on fewer projects and tighter budgets. It could also be an issue with the churn of VFX houses or people not being able to keep up. Some studios reportedly don’t want to work with Disney anymore.
Who knows. The start of Phase 5 is looking shaky.
What do you think? Comment and let us know!
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