The reviews embargo has been lifted for Marvel’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and critics are raving over Jonathan Majors’ performance as the new supervillain, Kang the Conqueror.
However, broader reviews for the third installment of the “Ant-Man” franchise are lukewarm.
The film features Paul Rudd as Ant-Man alongside Evangeline Lilly as the Wasp. Other big stars include Kathryn Newtons, Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer.
The movie itself scored a 63% on Rotten Tomatoes out of 87 reviews.
USA Today says “Majors shines” but said the movie “veers off track.”
“Majors thankfully rights the ship every time he pops up with his deliciously disconcerting presence,” writes USA Today’s Brian Truitt. “One day, though, we’ll probably be talking about the multifaceted Kang in the same breath as Heath Ledger’s Joker: Majors brings an innate and understandable humanity to a king in his own mind who’s all about manipulation and winning but not without weakness.”
Truitt, however, says the film is missing some of its “scrappy charm” from the franchise’s past and noted its “usual quirky personalities and breezy shenanigans” are gone.
The Hollywood Reporter‘s review says the film goes “big” and is more “overtly sci-fi.”
“Lilly’s Wasp has plenty of moments to shine and Douglas seems to be thoroughly enjoying playing bemused. Pfeiffer is terrific in her expanded role,” explains THR’s Frank Scheck. “But it’s Majors who brings real gravitas to the proceedings. While it’s not surprising that the actor’s imposing physicality perfectly suits his iconic villainous character, he also invests his performance with such an arrestingly quiet stillness and ambivalence that you’re on edge every moment he’s onscreen.”
Charles Pulliman-Moore of The Verge calls the film “sort of like being on a Marvel-themed acid trip that’s actually pretty fun until it comes to a confusingly abrupt halt.”
Moore says the film is “far from being a bad movie,” but adds, “it is a testament to how out in the weeds Marvel’s gotten with the MCU and how the studio’s approach to building fantastical VFX (visual effects) worlds still has a way of making things look far less expensive than they should, given their budgets.”
He suggests fans do a little homework before watching the movie.
Entertainment Weekly’s Leah Greenblatt gives the film a B+.
“Paul Rudd’s hero goes microscopic in the busy but enjoyably bonkers third installment of the franchise,” she writes.
Greenblatt notes that the origin story behind Majors’ character goes unexplained, possibly to be saved for future films. She also says there is a lot of context that a casual fan may miss.
“At just over 120 minutes, though — a blink in Marvel time — this ‘Ant-Man’ is clever enough to be fun, and wise enough not overstay its welcome,” she concludes. “Who better understands the benefits, after all, of keeping it small?”
Deadline’s Pete Hammond says the movie “is a mixed bag, still containing the lighter comedy of the 2015 original and 2018 follow up, both set in San Francisco, but now taking us deep into a subatomic universe where the familial characters will experience both good and evil forces, some wacky new creatures that look like they are straight out of a ‘Star Wars’ bar, and a mission to save this dizzying community of colorful beings who are being terrorized by another comic book legend now embodied by the imposing and talented Jonathan Majors, clearly aiming to be the next major player in the MCU.”
Hammond, however, has some gripes about the visual effects.
“The visual effects team earns their money, no doubt, but as noted really seem more inspired by George Lucas’ world than Marvel’s in terms of all the new merchandisable creatures created for this Quantum leap in the series. Also, I have to confess I am getting quite sick of the sorcerer-style flashy and fiery effects so many of these comic book movies revel in. Mix it up next time, guys.”
“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” hits theaters on Feb. 17.