An Expensive Ant Farm With No Ants

An expensive ant farm with no ants, the third movie in the Ant-Man trilogy maintains Marvel's signature ability in recent years to produce films without much originality, gravity, or depth.

My disappointment with most Marvel movies - this one being no exception - comes from their over-investment in CGI and under-investment in quality screenwriting. Any deep or meaningful messages were glazed over. The most obvious example of this was MODOK's transition from a "dick" to what he joked about was an Avenger. Long gone are the days of Marvel films like the original Spiderman trilogy, from which we learned, "with great power comes great responsibility."

The acting in Quantumania was strained or overdramatic in many scenes. I wish the actresses had been encouraged to show facial expressions beyond shocked or worried. Jonathan Majors' performance was a notable exception to the typical clichés with his subtle voice trembling and tears. I look forward to watching his character development over the next several Marvel releases.

The most enjoyable part of this film was its reference to Star Wars with the cantina scene, ewok- and droid-like characters, and campfire circles. I also enjoyed the reference to Shark Boy and Lava Girl's Mr. Electric with the floating head design of MODOK. Although these not-so-subtle references brought about a sense of nostalgia, there were moments when it felt like outright plagiarism.