You know, you actually pointed out some of the reasons Ant-Man in general is my favorite MCU series so far. Paul Rudd is a delight. I like how Scott Lang is the closest we've gotten to a regular person being a hero. No magic, no genetic powers, he isn't born special, no military training, he's not even a genius much less the one that made his powers. He is just a person trying to do the right thing and be a good dad. I love how the movies are just wild fun. "If Ant-man is still the mass of a human how can he run on that gun?" doesn't matter don't care it's fun to watch.
It's what Disney does with characters big enough to put their name in the title but they don't really know how to give them their own story. Make them a supporting character and let someone else drive the plot for a while. Look what they did with Doctor Strange
it’s already release in some countries today and some for advance screenings. i saw it today at advance screenings and the movie was so amazing i loved it
I’m just hoping it’s less…dreary…than Wakanda Forever was (and, that hurts to say because I wanted SO much to have enjoyed that…and walked out mostly feeling like I Endured it)
To be honest, I like the "tell me if the movie is good, but don't spoil it"-approach. More movies should do that. Bob, I still remember your best review: Cabin in the Woods: first minute was basically "stop this video and see the movie". And I did and it's one of my most favorite movies of all time.
I'm glad Kang at least isn't as boring as he is in the comics. Maybe if he's more angry, more manically aggressive, he could still feel distinct when Doom finally comes in and makes the children stop fighting and go to bed so he can take care of the world's problems
Agreed, Kang kinda reminds me of Apocalypse; not a lot of writers can get a good story out of him... Also Doom's not going to solve any problems, he's going to steal every mcguffin, gain ultimate power, and he's going to do it while always speaking in two speech bubbles all the time.
I've had this thought banging around in my head for a while...what if Doom is a variant on Kang or even a root version of him in the MCU? The latter is a true possibility as suggested by Loki.
@@johnathonhaney8291there's some discourse between them in the comics with a Kang variant as to weather he is Doom's descendant or not. I could see your theory playing out
It's a really fun Ant Man adventure, with crazy weird visuals, and sets up Kang as an Avengers level threat very well. I have no idea where the hate is coming from, unless it's just from those who generate hate for clicks.
I think that people who are trying to watch the MCU as "one big tv series" are the ones that are getting frustrated, because the movies aren't connecting the way they want to.
I have not seen any of the Disney+ stuff, so I cannot speak on how Kang was in those, but I do agree that the original incarnation of Kang was probably not going to work and certainly not as an interesting character. I also stand with Bob's defense of Iron Man 3's Mandarin, as that character's original incarnation also would not have worked, though for somewhat different yet still somewhat similar/related reasons (go watch his review of Iron Man 3 - it is his defense, after all).
I love this review and all your other reviews. I was really interested in your comments about how the film was re-worked because of the scheduling/production chaos caused by The Pandemic. I really enjoy your insight into the film biz and the way you connect the dots. Would you want to do a video where you go over this idea more in depth with Quantumania and other movies that were similarly affected? Basically a in depth point-by-point breakdown that shows the "seams," or "fingerprints of adjustment" so to speak, or why based on what you know of Marvel it's likely the film we see was not likely the original conception of the story. Maybe this is better served as a twitter thread than a explainer vid, heh.
Honestly, MovieBob's reviews are always pretty good, even if I disagree with how much I like some movies that he either likes or dislikes more. His conversational style has a real gonzo quality to it, where it feels like you're briskly walking down a New York City street while Bob is talking about the movie to you and you're fully engaged with what he's saying. It's a type of stylistic maturity that stands apart. I also really like his perspective, because you can definitely feel like MovieBob has some real experience with and knowledge of the film business as it is today that other film reviewers, even ones that I really like (Chris Stuckmann, Jeremy Jahns, YourMovieSucks, Double Toasted) kind of lack. Like, I doubt any of the aforementioned reviewers could've explained to me how COVID most probably affected the development of Ant-Man 3 and other MCU and non-MCU movies. I also really really liked his recent video "So That Happened- New Big Picture" because Bob perfectly deconstructed, analyzed, and explained the constant misuse of the term "Marvel Humor" and how what we vaguely gesture at as "Marvel Humor" has existed for decades before the MCU was off the ground. Such a satisfying video.
Not that I disagree with the sentiment (I too think Bob has his own style and gives insight into the business side of things that other reviews often lack), but it's funny that you say Bob has real experience with the film business as opposed to those others when Stuckmann is the one who literally directed a movie of his own.
@@DerMoerpler To be more clear, when I say that Bob has real experience with the film business, the emphasis is on the business part. Yes, I know that Chris Stuckmann is like the only major film reviewer RU-vidr who's actually made a film but my statement about Bob's experience with the film business had more to do with his insightful analysis of the way that the major studios make moves and the trends in filmmaking over the decades change.
Hey nothing against Chris Stuckman, I’m sure he’s a nice guy, but his reviews don’t go past film making 101, okay if you’re a 12 year old and you think Nolan is one of the greatest film makers of all time, but that’s about it. I’ve only seen his last short film and it is exactly what you’d expect from his reviews: wooden and mechanical too the core, 100% by the ‘film making 101 book’. Doesn’t have a soul. I’m not trying to be mean, but he doesn’t have the talent, it appears. Not that I want to stop him from trying…
I may not have *needed* this review to go watch the movie, I'm really glad I did watch it because the tone of your review is incredibly refreshing. I'm trying to distance myself from the doom trends that dominate reddit, twitter, and tiktok where people repeat angry hype crap for views. Your reviews always feel personal and grounded and yeah, I may not always agree, but I'm always glad I tuned in.
One of the big takeaways from the film is how bad Evangeline Lily is. She has 0 chemistry with Rudd and despite her character being somewhat important she's at best just kinda there.
To put it in DC terms, this movie strikes me as the Jack Kirby version of Superman's Pal Jimmy Olson when Kirby introduced Darkseid. Also, anyone really think we WON'T see more Kang variants (Immortus, Scarlet Centurion, Victor Timely) before we're done? Majors could pull that off for certain.
@@kevinmckenna5682 No, he wasn't. Immortus is a lot more active as a rule, though he does share the goal of He Who Remains in terms of preserving certain timelines. But I could be wrong.
Bob's shirt game continues to be strong. I find myself in a similar position on this one as I am with Love and Thunder - not much interest in the film overall but I'm looking forward to just seeing a supercut of good moments from the villain's performance because it's getting so much praise.
I mean, if you watched The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes cartoon, you were already a Kang fan. Glad to see Jonathan Majors is the film's highlight.
Or read Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco's excellent maxiseries Avengers Forever, which does the whole concept of Kang justice beyond anyone else I ever saw.
It probably means that he is recirding it quickly, without first writing an entire script and without taking the amount of time he normally uses to record it 🍻
mild spoiler: My favorite moment was Hank Pym walking in with a smug swagger that was palpable. Kang's biggest mistake was that he thought he could out ego Hank Pym.
Actually really enjoyable to see Moviebob just riff on a subject without all the smashcuts and deeper, all-too-clever tongue twisting scripts. More please. :)
Saw it last night, I thought of all the MCU films to date this had the most Star Wars vibe to it - a small group of friends get caught up with a weird rag tag bunch of people taking on stormtroopers of a sprawling empire. Characters know more than they are saying and the heroes unlock new potential. Not having Peña and the gang back is a missed opportunity and losing something that was great about the Ant Man adventures in the MCU. Majors is incredibly epic though. I hope he sticks around for years to come.
No, buddy, I did too. It solidified in my mind how Ant-Man movies are the equivalent of old school live-action Disney films (Herbie, Absent-Minded Professor, Shaggy Dog). Quantumania has a feel of another forgotten Disney live-action sci-fi epic, The Black Hole, which I still fondly think of.
I enjoyed it. Not only are both characters solid in concept and gimmick but for me, it's mostly it's lead. Paul Rudd. The guy is an amazing talent and tends to shine in most of what he is in. I think the MCU is at the beginning stages of "brand matchurity" (an inevitable point in every brand/product were it declines a little or is not an impactful as it once was) whitch is okay. There are a lot of westerns made after the golden age of the western genre in film that still kick ass. That is what I suspect will become of the superhero genre some day.
I hope Paul Rudd is ok. I worry that the “Paul Rudd doesn’t age” thing is gonna mess with his head and make him feel like he has to do unnecessary and inadvisable procedures to maintain the illusion/joke.
Having seen it? Yeah, you're pretty much spot on. It's fine. It hits the usual tropes (one of the easiest uprising-storming-the-castle bingo boards I've seen), it has some pretty bonkers scenes, it has some absolute dumbassery. I do think Majors legitimately saves the movie, though - a weaker villain would've made this absolutely, completely, 100 percent forgettable.
More of a B-, almost C+ for me. There was definitely a drop in quality and cohesion in the Phase 4 movies by at least 25%. Majors’ Kang resuscitates the film for a bit, but he can’t save it. Ultimately, the film has “little” effect.
"nobody needs these things to be recommended or not recommended, people watch them at this point if they like them or don't like them." That's pretty gross.
Bob: *posts longest movie review since before COVID* Also Bob: "This is the *short* version..." Me: Hoo-boy, the spoilers to this one must be DOOZIES...
I just watched this movie this afternoon - it came out earlier in the Netherlands - and I agree with Bob here. It's clear that some scenes were shot before the script changed, but I find the movie rather enjoyable. Certainly better than Black Widow or Shang-Chi.
I was pretty excited to see Kang in the MCU because talking about what Kang does is interesting and funny, even if reading what Kang does is like watching paint dry. So there was definitely room for writers to come in and improve on the story.
I thought Quantumania was great overall. I adored the Quantum realm and loved Majors as Kang. I do wish Kang was made even more powerful but simply got outwitted by the good guys instead of losing a fight.
Honestly, MovieBob's reviews are always pretty good, even if I disagree with how much I like some movies that he either likes or dislikes more. His conversational style has a real gonzo quality to it, where it feels like you're briskly walking down a New York City street while Bob is talking about the movie to you and you're fully engaged with what he's saying. It's a type of stylistic maturity that stands apart. I also really like his perspective, because you can definitely feel like MovieBob has some real experience with and knowledge of the film business as it is today that other film reviewers, even ones that I really like (Chris Stuckmann, Jeremy Jahns, YourMovieSucks, Double Toasted) kind of lack. Like, I doubt any of the aforementioned reviewers could've explained to me how COVID most probably affected the development of Ant-Man 3 and other MCU and non-MCU movies. I also really really liked hus recent video "So That Happened- New Big Picture" because Bob perfectly deconstructed, analyzed, and explained the constant misuse of the term "Marvel Humor" and how what we vaguely gesture at as "Mavrel Humor" has existed for decades before the MCU was off the ground. Such a satisfying video.
The thing about fatigue... At least for me... Yes, I never got on board with phase whatever it is and I'm pretty bored with the latest installments. Black Panther bored me, and most of what worked FOR ME in the latest phase, is mostly callbacks to that glorious decade. I remember engaging in speculation, getting excited... Now it all feels so meh... I don't know of this is a reflection of me growing old. I loved wandavision until the end... Falcon and winter soldier I just loved. Loki wsd amazing. Everything after that... It just stopped working for me
before, they were being innovative because they kind of had to. now, they're just crapping out product after product from the assembly line, and the quality is declining as a result.
@@erubin100 it kinda feels like it. Shang Chi was AMAZING until it wasn't. Dr. Strange had some cool moments here and there. Spiderman was a beautiful fan service. Again, I might be getting old and only crack a smile when I see a callback... Maybe Captain Marvel appears as a cameo and I smile but that's kinda it... But in comics I also leaned towards Image and Dark Horse rather than Marvel and DC
@@Petu1987 you're not "getting old;" that's just an excuse that Disney-drones say to those who disagree with them. it's okay to not like something even though many others do; a minority opinion isn't necessarily wrong. If anything, I'd say the MCU model is living past its expiration point, which is pretty common with movie trends over the decades.
If you're that bored, then just GO. Brand loyalty and FOMO is meaningless if that's become your reaction. There's a whole wide world beyond the MCU worth exploring out there. Use that to find something that DOES excite you. I speak from experience when I say that you will likely find something. Best of luck!
I agree with some comments. Easy guys, I'm not looking for confirmation or encouragement to stop watching... It was just a reflection, I like bob videos and usually comment a thing or two
If I disagree with Bob about anything about the MCU, is I liked IRON MAN 2 and THOR 2 more than IRON MAN 3, THOR 4, and ETERNALS. Man, was THAT a slog to get through. But yes, I like the relatively light and zany ANT-MAN movies as deserts following something as big and filling as an AVENGERS movie. I still wonder What If... Edgar Wright got to finish the script for his Ant-Man movie and direct it on time for Phase 1. It makes more sense this new one fits in with the other Phase 4 things setting up the Cinematic Multiverse (was THAT the big connecting theme among them, or basically "Legacies of the older heroes"?), but I can't wait to see the whole thing. If Douglas and Pfeiffer suit up as their versions of ANT-MAN and The WASP, bonus!
I watched this because, aside from just enjoying your work in general, I wanted to know whether the Studio was actually struggling. It’s encouraging to hear that they still know what they’re doing.
I don't think there was any doubt that they knew what they were doing. I think it was a case of already being in a vulnerable, transition phase getting multiplied by COVID. It didn't help that this was the time they decided to spread horizontally instead of finding a few vertical anchors. The Disney Plus shows have been pretty consistent with actual Marvel comics quality which is to say that they start strong and end weak, and I think that batting average without a megastar anchors for the heroic leads really hurt the brand. Which is a shame too they have some ringers in their bench -- She Hulk, Ms Marvel, N'amor, Kate Bishop, Yelena, Moon Knight, Shang-Chi all of them are no-qualifiers great but to the loudest casual audience they aren't conventional white male leads, so hate to say it but the anchor points aren't there. It will all course correct. They have more than a few aces up their sleeve-- the big septic "anyone with two legs who ever once did a Marvel thing please cameo for our Multiverse special" Kang movies will be the saturation point to juice a bad quarter and the load bearing leviathans that are Fantastic Four and X-Men on the horizon. But yeah for the time being they are about as weak as they are ever going to be. I guess it's good that Majors seems to be as um, major a get as he seemed.
@@chavesa5 It helps that Marvel Studios has been here before in the form of Phase 2, which remains the messiest, most disjointed of the phases (yes, even Phase 4) where things came perilously close to falling apart thanks to Ike Perlmutter. It also helps that the strength of the brand has been enough to carry them through three very weird, stressful years. We've even gotten the occasional, improbable gem like Wakanda Forever out of it.
@@johnathonhaney8291 Phase Two had anchors and a much less horizontal spread. Remember when AoU introducing "just" five characters was considered massive overkill? Perlmutter nearly took out the enterprise, to be sure, but it's a little apples to oranges. There the foundation was insecure but the fire was hot. Here the fire is at its coolest but the foundation is rock solid.
@@johnathonhaney8291 It's not an analogy. It's a visualized metaphor. I know it's good. Thank you. The machine will be fine, the question is whether or not they find an anchor lead who sells four quadrants like RDJ, Evans, or Holland did-- before, after, or during the Fantastic Four launch.
I don't want to give spoilers but basically some redditors pitched the fan-theory years ago and you can tell that marketing was like "oh yeah that'll be great" and then by all accounts it just... doesn't quite work the way everyone hoped it would. Which is unfortunate.
@@johnathonhaney8291 I know there's the embargo but usually he's able to articulate why he enjoyed a movie even on spoiler-free reviews. In this one you can tell he's pretty much just looking for ways to say the movie isn't good in the nicest way possible.
@@jvictor3048 Or you are looking for ways to validate your conclusions based on sketchy information. The only true ding he gave it was in the marketing, which has nothing to do with the film itself. And 7/10 is way too strong a rating to justify your argument.
@johnathonhaney8291 it's so funny that y'all are going SO HARD for a movie that's, by your own admission, 7/10. Then again, I would expect nothing less from sheep.
I'm curious about your thoughts for the whole Falcon Winter solider connection point. I can kind of see what you mean after seeing the movie, would just be interested in seeing you elaborate in the spoiler review.
I am too. I’ve not seen Falcon and the Winter Soldier but I’m sure that series has the opposite take on the “children are our future and we should listen to them” aspect.
The DM in me will always love a story that can be described as, the PC blunder into a situation thinking they are fighting a villain of a week only to realise that this is a big bad and that is very much in danger. so i wan to see this now
Johnathan Majors is a good actor definitely, but some of his work as Kang is quite simply amateurish and broad, don't even blame him so much as the mediocre scripts and production process.
It feels weird that they had to tell you the embargo lift was only was spoiler-free reviews. Why would you even consider putting out a spoiler-review before the movie comes out? In any case, this felt to me like Tron Legacy ft. Guardians of the Galaxy, and for that I liked it.
I'm ngl, I loved what they did with MODOK. Maybe an unpopular opinion but idc, he cracked me up. And yes he looked so stupid that it circled back to hilarious.
After only 4.5 million years of rewrites, and generation after generation of Reeses monkeys assaulting warehouses full of typewriters at DC Comics, Bob is going to finally has a stable movie against which to release his Flashpoint opus!
All that time writing ABOUT the movie, it'd be hilarious if he did a 30 second review saying. "It's fine... It's memberrries. It's fine. I'm Bob and I wasted so much of my life on useless shit."
@@hardy83 I love Bob in full 'I don't give a rip" mode like with Morbuis and the last Fantastic Beasts but I love his analytic content too. That would be really funny though.
I honestly no longer care. Also, can we appreciate how a movie about "the fastest man alive" has been one of the slowest to get off the ground? Only Black Adam had a more tortured production history at WBD.
Thanks for an honest review! Too many reviewers now are trying to ride waves of popularity (or rather, unpopularity) or fulfill their own prophecies of "Marvel's inevitable downfall! It's here, it's here!"
MODOK was a massive fail! Literally everything about him was wrong, his look, his origin, his ultimate fate, everything was grossly mistranslated from the comics like some Disney exec came up with it 1 week before principal photography because their son wanted to see him in the movie.
Yeah, no thanks to COVID effing up everything from top to bottom. But I still don't buy the "MCU is worse now" arguments being thrown out there. It's messy, for certain, but the kind of messiness that makes it worthwhile.
@@johnathonhaney8291 yeah, I mean we're still getting new players and they're working in the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Netflix marvel people plus whatever they want to do with Cosmic Marvel now that James Gunn seems to commit to DC.
Fun Fact. They are calling the Little World the Qantum Realm beacuse They can’t use the Comic book name Which was the Microverse beacuse Hasbro owns the Micronauts.
This is going to be the first big test of "do you have to watch EVERYTHING to understand what's going on." Will they spoon-feed enough about Kang in this to cover for those who didn't watch Loki?
I mean, they didn't even call him "Kang" in Loki, so no. As with all of these, the only things that would come close to "required viewing, probably" would be any previous movie with Ant-Man in it.
I watched this out of necessity to the mcu timeline I can’t stand the ant man movies but like you said it’s a by the line b grade movie for marvel and can be enjoyed by folks who just want to sit there and watch
It feels like Bob spends some of every episode feeding the Internet trolls. He's waging a battle against toxic fandom and/or culture war that's largely invisible to so much of the massive Marvel fanbase that I fear he's just giving it oxygen.
He hates the trolls and for good reason. But honestly, I'd love for our Mr. Chipman to abandon the dead bird app before it comes into a crash landing. The toxicity there CANNOT be good for his mental health.
Really enjoyed it! Loved Pfeiffer and Douglas’ expanded roles. Shots of Hank by the end was terrific. Rudd and Newton had nice chemistry! Majors perfect. VFX was good as well, and imagining of the Quantum realm was terrific. I enjoyed the heck out of it. No apologies here.
Just watched antman 3. So exetremely mid. Movie was very low energy. The quantum realm is a boring setting. There were little to no stakes. The character of derran, or modok, is got to be the worst and lamest mcu character. Genuinely cant think of anything good about the movie besides Kang.
I dunno, this film left me feeling underwhelmed and I can't quite put my finger on why... The cast is excellent (really looking forward to seeing more of Jonathon Majors) and the story itself was interesting. But for some reason, I just didn't enjoy it all that much, like the whole was less than the sum of its parts... I think the script itself might have been the main problem, a lot of characters say and do stupid things just because the plot requires them to in order to setup a joke or an action beat. But then the a lot of the jokes really fell flat for me too (something the previous Ant Man moves were so good at) There were individual moments I enjoyed (and like I said, the cast was spot on), but this was the first time I've felt let down my a Marvel move since The Dark World... Hopefully Guardians Vol 3 hits a bit better for me! :)
You're feeling that way because the story was pointless. Scott and all the other protags are literally in the exact same place at the beginning and end of the film. Nothing changed. Nothing mattered. Oh, and kang was defeated by ants, so he kind sucks now.
