Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania (2023) Review

Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

Directed by Peyton Reed

Based on Marvel Comics

Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, David Dastmalchian, Katy O’Brian, William Jackson Harper, Bill Murray, Michelle Pfeiffer, Corey Stoll, Michael Douglas

Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
In the film, Lang and Van Dyne are transported to the Quantum Realm along with their family and face Kang the Conqueror.

My Opinion:

Enjoyed this but can see why plenty of people didn’t. As I always say in these reviews, I watch all the MCU films but I’m certainly not a massive fan & it’s starting to feel like an obligation to watch them now (because why stop at this point?!). I think the MCU characters are strong but the same old story over & over gets tiresome. So this is probably why I like the Guardians Of The Galaxy films the most as they at least feel a little different plus I like my superhero movies to be more lighthearted. I also don’t mind the more “out there” & slightly weird ones but am assuming this one was just a bit too weird for the more mainstream Marvel crowd. Because it’s pretty damn weird. But I like weird. Except for MODOK… That was terrible and looked dumb as Hell. Preferred Broccoli Head! And Holes dude. 

Anyway. This one is a bit dumb but it’s saved by Paul Rudd being likeable as Ant-Man (as always) and Michelle Pfeiffer having a large role and being awesome (as always). She was great in this & my favorite thing about the film. Sadly found Kang a bit weak as the big super villain but maybe that’s just me – I never give much of a shit about the baddies because they’re all the same & are always defeated in the end anyway.

I feel bad as I really did want to like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever which I watched just after this but that ended up being a disappointment overall. While I certainly think it’s *better* than this one, I had much more fun with Quantumania so have ranked it higher on my ranked MCU list. Both are still quite low on that list, though. These movies need to get better. At this point, it’s still feeling like they should’ve stopped after Endgame. 

This wasn’t much of a review but I never know what to say when it comes to these Marvel films. Basically, Quantumania = Meh. But I loved Michelle Pfeiffer & Paul Rudd & counting his number of holes.

My Rating: 6.5/10

Avengers: Endgame (2019) Review

**SPOILER-FREE REVIEW**

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Directed by Anthony Russo & Joe Russo

Produced by Kevin Feige

Based on The Avengers by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Bradley Cooper, Josh Brolin

Music by Alan Silvestri

Plot Synopsis: (via IMDb)
After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the universe is in ruins. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers assemble once more in order to undo Thanos’ actions and restore order to the universe.

My Opinion:

22 movies! I can’t believe I’ve seen all of these. It’s certainly the most films I’ve ever watched in a series. I thoroughly enjoyed each & every one of these MCU films (certainly much more than the dreary DC movies, although they’ve gotten better in the past few years). However, I’m not a huge comic book/superhero movie fan so I won’t pretend that these movies mean as much to me as they do to the hardcore fans. I see them as escapist entertainment. They’re fun popcorn movies. But I can absolutely understand the love for the MCU and think they did a brilliant job setting up so many strong, likeable, and well-developed characters. The films are good (and several are very good) but the characters are great. I can see how fans will feel as strongly about these characters as I do about the characters in Star Wars. They feel like family in a weird sort of way. And Avengers: Endgame provided a fitting end(?) to just over a decade of watching these beloved characters grow & come together as a team.

Avengers: Endgame isn’t a perfect film, though, and I can’t even say it’s going to be an absolute favorite MCU movie for me personally. I do think it’s one that may go up in my estimation over time and it in no way hurts the overall legacy but my initial reaction is that I far preferred Infinity War. That ending had balls. To be honest, I kind of wanted that to be the actual end to the whole MCU (that would be a bit dark, I suppose – this isn’t DC!). But Endgame certainly will have been an emotional rollercoaster for diehard fans so I can appreciate that it will be higher on their lists. I expect to feel the same sort of emotions when watching The Rise Of Skywalker.

I just felt that Endgame took the easy way out with some of its characters. I’m obviously trying to avoid spoilers so I’ll just say that, if this is indeed the last time we’re going to see some of these characters, a few had very satisfying “endings” but I was disappointed with the direction they took for a couple of them. Overall, the movie was more predictable than I was hoping. I wanted more surprises but only got a few small ones. I even managed to successfully avoid ALL spoilers for two entire days so was disappointed to get so few surprises.

I’ll keep this short so I don’t accidentally spoil anything. I struggle with reviews for these films as I do feel like they’re the same formula over & over again and Endgame really isn’t any different from what we’ve seen before besides obviously needing & having a darker tone. Luckily, there are still a few funny moments too. The reason I far prefer Marvel to DC is because they get the right amount of genuinely funny humor mixed in with even the most serious films in the series. I’ve ranked all 22 MCU movies HERE, including Endgame. Maybe Endgame will move up in the future but, from my list, it’ll be clear that I prefer the lighthearted & funny superheroes. It’s Guardians Of The Galaxy for me. And, as Thor is my favorite character overall, I think the best decision Marvel made was to make his originally boring (but hot) character funny. Hemsworth is hilarious. I know that not all will agree with the “funny superhero” thing but I absolutely loved the comic relief provided by Thor & Ant-Man in Endgame. It was needed so that it didn’t turn into DC dreariness. But, as I said, I love that Marvel gets the right balance and the serious nature of this storyline was handled very well. To have such a strong mix of characters with very different personalities is what makes the MCU so enjoyable. There’s something for everyone across these 22 films. To make these many films in just over a decade and to bring all these characters together is a hell of a feat. This may not be my favorite Marvel film but I have a lot of respect for what they’ve done with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

My Rating: 8/10

Ant-Man And The Wasp (2018) Review

Ant-Man And The Wasp (2018)

Directed by Peyton Reed

Based on Ant-Man by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby & Wasp by Stan Lee, Ernie Hart, Jack Kirby

Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Tip “T.I.” Harris, David Dastmalchian, Hannah John-Kamen, Abby Ryder Fortson, Randall Park, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Douglas

Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
In Ant-Man and the Wasp, the titular pair work with Hank Pym to retrieve Janet van Dyne from the quantum realm.

My Opinion:

I’m going to make this quick as well as my review for Incredibles 2, which I’ll post tomorrow. Because…. I really enjoyed both of them yet have very little to say about them. With stuff like this one, I struggle to think of new things to say about yet another Marvel superhero sequel. Let’s be honest – they all follow the exact same formula. However, I enjoyed this one much more than I was expecting to and even more than the first one. I’ve now updated My MCU Movie Ranking list & this is right in the middle. And the end credits scene in this was one of the best yet.

I do love Paul Rudd, so that helps. And Chris Hemsworth, of course. I want an Ant-Man/Thor movie! I did like the first Ant-Man but thought this one improved on that quite a bit. Evangeline Lilly getting to kick some ass was a big help – I really liked these two together as a team. And then we also got the addition of GODDESS Michelle Pfeiffer, which also made me happy. Love her. And I also really enjoyed the “villain” in this one (Hannah John-Kamen) being one of those in that gray area (Is she really bad? I think we’d all go bad in her situation). As always, I know nothing of these comics so it probably helps my enjoyment as I don’t nitpick. I do believe her character was changed a lot but I liked this film version.

Like Deadpool 2, this sequel also ups the humor a bit. Ant-Man’s thieving friends have bigger roles in this, which was fun (but won’t be for anyone who finds those guys annoying). And, as I mentioned earlier, I thought the end credits scene was really strong – There was actually an audible gasp in the cinema at that scene. I quite often enjoy the origin stories the most when it comes to these superhero movies but prefer the characters themselves in the sequels as they become more developed. In this case, I think the sequel is a pretty big improvement in terms of making us like these characters more. And did I mention Michelle Pfeiffer?!? Michelle Pfeiffer rules. I think I actually enjoyed this one more than Deadpool 2. Crazy, huh? I may be alone in that opinion…

My Rating: 7/10

My Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie Ranking

**List updated June 2022 to now contain 28 films**

Well, I guess it’s time for me to finally rank the MCU movies I’ve seen so far.

I reviewed Avengers: Infinity War yesterday (I liked it a lot). As I always say, I enjoy these Marvel films but I’d never call this a favorite genre of mine. I never get too involved with the superhero stories, which follow the same formula in every film. And how can I worry about a favorite character when I know they’re unlikely to ever truly die or be hurt? I absolutely love the Guardians Of The Galaxy films, though, and those along with Thor: Ragnarok have made me more excited about these movies again. Superhero movies need some humor. If I want dark & dreary, I’ll watch the DC shit! (But I did like Wonder Woman). Marvel does things right with a good balance of humor and really strong characters. The characters, for me, are more important than the recycled stories. If the characters weren’t as great as they are, I doubt I’d have watched 18 of these movies.

Yep. 18. I’m doing this list even though I never did see The Incredible Hulk. I’ll probably slowly be working my way through watching these again in order now that my kid has taken an interest in seeing them. That’s the second film so I can update this list once I’ve seen it (I’m not expecting it to be high). And, of course, I’ll have to add the next Infinity War film next year. I hope that’s high but I’m very worried that, if not handled well, it’ll ruin Part 1. We’ll see… So Part 1 may move up or down the list depending on Part 2.

**List Now Updated To Include everything up to June 2022**

This is My Marvel (MCU) Movie Ranking, counting down to my favorite.

28. Eternals – 5.5/10

27. The Incredible Hulk – 6/10

26. Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness – 6.5/10

25. Black Widow – 6.5/10

24. Spider-Man: No Way Home – 6/10

23. Thor: The Dark World – 6.5/10

22. Black Panther – 6.5/10

21. Spider-Man: Homecoming – 7/10

20. Spider-Man: Far From Home – 7/10

19. Iron Man 2 – 6.5/10 (to be fair, I need to re-watch this as I remember it the least)

18. Iron Man 3 – 6.5/10

17. Captain Marvel – 7/10

16. Ant-Man – 7/10

15. Ant-Man And The Wasp – 7/10

14. Avengers: Age of Ultron – 7/10

13. Thor – 7/10

12. Doctor Strange – 7/10

11. Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings – 7/10

10. Captain America: The First Avenger – 7.5/10

9. Captain America: Civil War – 7.5/10

8. Marvel’s The Avengers – 7.5/10

7. Avengers: Endgame – 7.5/10

6. Thor: Ragnarok – 7.5/10

5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – 8/10

4. Avengers: Infinity War – 8/10

3. Iron Man – 8/10

2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – 8/10

1. Guardians of the Galaxy – 8.5/10

My Top Ten Michael Douglas Movies

Happy (early) Birthday to Michael Douglas, who turns 72 on Sunday.

Recently, I watched & reviewed Paths Of Glory for my (pretty much dead) IMDB Top 250 Project. I’ve just been lazy on doing those – I’ll get back to it at some point. Anyway, I realized that it was the first and only film I’ve ever seen starring Michael’s father Kirk Douglas. How pathetic is that?! I’m a poor excuse for a movie blogger. But, hey – I realized that I’ve seen a lot of his son’s films! So, there you go – that’s why I decided to do this list. That’s a good enough reason, right??? 😉

I’ve also noticed that Kirk Douglas will turn 100 on December 9th. Wow! I’ll finally watch Spartacus in honor of that. 🙂

So, in the meantime, here are My Top Ten Michael (not Kirk) Douglas Movies, counting down to my favorite movie (not role):

(I’ve seen 13) 😉

13. Don’t Say A Word
12. Disclosure
11. A Perfect Murder

Top Ten

10. Basic Instinct

9. Coma

8. Wall Street

7. The War Of The Roses

6. Chorus Line

5. Romancing The Stone & The Jewel Of The Nile (I could really do with re-watching these, though)

4. Ant-Man

3. The Game

2. Falling Down

1. Fatal Attraction

My Top Ten Movies Of 2015

Yesterday I did a list of My Top Ten Movies Watched At Home In 2015 so today I’m posting My Top Ten Movies That I Saw In The Cinema In 2015 (going by UK release date – I know some of these were 2014 in America). 

Like yesterday, I’ll just list them (counting down to my favorite – plus I’ve again included the next five as honorable mentions) but feel free to further discuss any with me in the comments. The one thing I’ll say is that number one and two are closer than you’d expect considering what a big fan I am of the series of one of them. I actually think that number two is, technically, the better film. But nostalgia won out… 🙂 Oh, and I’m very proud that I managed to review all of these! Here’s my list:

Honorable Mentions:

15. Ant-Man
14. Avengers: Age Of Ultron
13. Kingsman: The Secret Service
12. Terminator Genisys
11. CHAPPiE

Top Ten:

10. Krampus

9. Whiplash

8. Big Hero 6

7. Suffragette

6. The Peanuts Movie

5. Inside Out

4. It Follows

3. Ex Machina

2. Mad Max: Fury Road

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Fury Road is awesome! But it’s not Star Wars… 🙂

**If you can’t live without knowing how I’ve ranked the rest, you can see the full list of all 29 movies I went to see in 2015 HERE. Have a Happy New Year, everyone! I’ll be posting My Top Ten Books Read In 2015 tomorrow so be sure to read that while you’re hungover. Ha!** 

Oh! I have to add this: Nothing makes my day more than when some 80’s movie star briefly acknowledges my existence on Twitter. 😉 Marshall R Teague, who was in the f*%king awesome ROAD HOUSE, retweeted my Road House review a couple of days ago. Everyone! You must watch Road House if you’ve never seen it! Put it on your Bucket Lists!!!!!

Ant-Man (2015) Review

Ant-Man (2015)

Directed by Peyton Reed

Story by Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish

Based on Ant-Man by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby

Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña, Tip “T.I.” Harris, Anthony Mackie, Wood Harris, Judy Greer, David Dastmalchian, Michael Douglas

Plot Synopsis:
Superhero ants.

My Opinion:

I finally saw Ant-Man! It was… okay. Everyone has reviewed it by now so the general vibe I got was that it wasn’t exactly the best superhero movie ever but it was a bit of fun anyway. Yep – that’s pretty much it.

First of all: Paul Rudd. I’ve talked of my love for Paul Rudd here a few times. I’d say he’s definitely the best thing about this and, had it been someone else playing Ant-Man, I’m sure I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much. I mean, it’s about a tiny little superhero with an army of ants. It’s weird! The movie could have been a total disaster but I think they just managed to actually pull it off thanks to Rudd more than anything else.

With Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish writing this, I was hoping for a slightly better story (I found Cornish’s Attack The Block to be a pleasant surprise). The story was okay but it was kind of “same old same old”, as with most Marvel movies. I’m getting a tad bored with the superhero thing so I did appreciate that Ant-Man felt a little “different” (although nowhere near as different as Guardians Of The Galaxy, which is probably why that remains my favorite superhero movie of recent times & maybe my favorite ever).

You know what else I’m bored with? Reviewing superhero movies. I’m kind of glad to hear that Fantastic Four sucks so I don’t have to waste my time on that one. What else can I really say about Ant-Man?? If you love the Marvel films, you know you kind of need to see this as they’re all connected. As always, I don’t know a thing about the comics so I can’t compare but I doubt Ant-Man was anyone’s favorite character in the first place so I think Paul Rudd did a good job making such a potentially boring superhero so likeable.

Oh! Being a woman & mother of a young girl, I have to admit that my favorite element of the story involved Rudd’s scenes with his character’s daughter. She was so adorable! Nothing melts women’s hearts more than seeing a daddy protecting his daughter. Also, although you see it coming (which is fine as all Marvel films are pretty predictable), there’s a scene during the big climax at the end that was fantastic & saved the movie a little for me. I didn’t think Ant-Man was at all bad but the final half hour or so did really up my opinion of the movie as a whole.

Summary:

I know I sound a little bored with this movie but it’s just the overall superhero thing that doesn’t excite me so much anymore. They’re fun popcorn movies & I’m sure I’ll watch them all but I’m waiting for another one to surprise me in the way that Guardians Of The Galaxy did. I’d have to say I actually enjoyed Ant-Man more than some of the sequels involving Marvel’s much more famous superheroes (such as Iron Man). In fact, I’d almost say that I enjoyed this one a little more than Avengers: Age Of Ultron, although I think Ultron is a better film. I don’t know… Ant-Man is an enjoyable enough experience. I’m just happy that, of the two, Fantastic Four is the massive failure instead. I do love my Paul Rudd and am glad he did pretty well in this one.

My Rating: 7/10

Is There A Scene After The Credits? Don’t be silly – of course there is! Two, actually – a mid-credits & one after the credits. Fairly worth staying for…