I think it’s fair to say Marvel hit a few bumps in Phase 4. Now, to be honest, it’s hard to know where to go from the dizzying heights of the Infinity War / End Game one-two punch that triumphantly crowned the end of Phase 1-3. And things really were looking rocky with the initial slate of films – Black Widow, Shang Chi and Eternals all being slightly underwhelming in different ways. Spiderman: No Way Home helped restore some faith, with its huge crowd-pleasing nods to the past. But then with Doctor Strange 2, Thor 4 and Black Panther 2 it felt like the franchise was floundering. None of these films were truly terrible, but they all had issues that left them feeling a bit undercooked and unsatisfying.
Now, it wasn’t all bad. I think their TV shows over this period were all pretty damn good. I even loved Moon Knight and She-Hulk. The latter of which was one of the freshest and most subversive things Marvel has done with their IP since Wandavision.
But now we’ve arrived at Phase 5, with the release of a new Ant Man movie. And this one finally introduces the big-bad (or is it?) of the phase 4-6 saga – Kang the Conqueror. Directed by Peyton Reed, again, this is an entertaining-enough romp though it does have some issues. It certainly feels like a different kind of movie to the previous Ant-Man films, mainly because pretty much the entirety of the movie takes place in the “Quantum realm” rather than the recognisable San Francisco setting of prior entries. It feels more like a Guardians of the Galaxy movie – spacey sci-fi. That’s not necessarily a bad thing and hey – all franchises need to change eventually. Though – haha – isn’t it normally the case that when a franchise decides to move their setting to space, then it’s a sign that the franchise is about to implode? (looking at you, Moonraker!)
Anyway, it’s certainly a very pretty movie, in a kind of generic 3D-spacey-videogamey way. Though speaking of 3D, I saw this in IMAX 3D and disappointingly, the 3D conversion was really not great – I would recommend seeing this in 2D. The 3D adds nothing and it just makes the picture darker. The script is serviceable – at least in the first half. There’s some funny moments – MODOK mainly – and a few visually inventive sequences, but as the story enters the third act it feels increasingly jumbled. The ending feels somewhat cobbled together.
The cast are a mixed bag. Paul Rudd remains a likeable comedy lead, but isn’t great at doing the more serious dramatic stuff. Not that he gets much of a chance to do that, as the script insists on nervously stuffing in gags every five minutes. Jonathan Majors as Kang is great. He’s a damn good actor with real presence and ability and he sells the role with conviction. He’s no Thanos yet – but I’m interested to see how they develop him as a credible threat in future films. As for the rest – Evangeline Lily is not given much to do in this one, and there’s a near-total lack of chemistry between her and Rudd. I’m guessing a lot of her scenes ended up on the cutting-room floor. Kathryn Newton, playing Rudd’s daughter Cassie, probably ended up taking most of her screen time. But at least she’s got better (family) chemistry with her on-screen dad. And both Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer were a bit stiff. Some of their line-readings were so dead and undramatic it sounded like they were reading off an auto-cue. Maybe they were disorientated filming in the giant green-screen studio that most of this movie was made in!
It’s not great, not bad. Certainly not a film I’ll be rushing back to watch again when it appears on Disney+. But if you want some more Marvel, it’s OK. It scratches an itch. I really hope Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is a good step up though.
