On February 17, the movie “Ant-Man 3” or “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” began showing, which is the third part of the “Ant-Man” series and the first of the fifth phase films from the world of films. Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The film grossed more than $250 million worldwide within one week of its release, becoming the third-highest-grossing film of 2023. Despite this promising revenue, critics' ratings were very disappointing;
At a rate of only 48% on Rotten Tomatoes.
New villain and no comedy
The events of the movie “Ant-Man” begin after saving the world from Thanos, where the hero, Scott Lang, lives in the brightest of his era, as he settled with his beloved Hope and his daughter Cassie, but all of this is shattered due to a scientific experiment carried out by the daughter, as it attracts the family with grandfather and grandmother to another parallel world It's called "quantum".
Their adventure back to the ordinary world begins, but they are forced to confront a danger they never imagined existed: the parallel worlds villain, Kang.
The movie "Ant-Man 3" uses the same characters from the previous parts, but at the same time represents a significant difference from its predecessors, "Ant-Man 1" and "Ant-Man 2", which were two simple films that differed from other superhero adventures with multiple goals.
But "Ant-Man 3" was very ambitious, both in terms of the plot and its connection to the entire Marvel universe, its impact on it, and in terms of technical details.
Its events took place in the so-called "quantum" world, a different world that gave the film a tint that makes it as close as possible to science fiction films, not superhero films, as if our heroes moved to the "Star Wars" or "Dune" series.
The second difference is the lack of comedy compared to the previous two parts of the film, and this was appropriate to present the film to one of the most terrifying villains ever in Marvel comics, which is "Kang" who is preparing to become the background for "Thanos", the former villain who was killed at the end of the third phase of Marvel films, The series has lost some of its luster.
Simple scenario and impressive visual effects
The story of the movie “Ant Man 3” is very simple in its construction, and it depends mainly on the heroes’ narration of its details. The grandmother, who was previously imprisoned in “Quantum” 30 years ago, in light of the danger threatening her family members, presents them - and the viewers - with the full picture of this world and the dangers. that surrounds its inhabitants and the past in which it lived.
It was not a distinctive means of narration, because it relied on direct disclosure, but in the Marvel universe, the narration technique in the cinematic script comes at the end of the interests versus the visual effects and the charisma of the stars, which are the two aspects that succeeded completely in this case.
The lack of interest in the story placed more burden on the shoulders of the actors, especially the hero Scott Lang, who is embodied by the fiftieth actor Paul Rudd with a warm and charming presence, and represents the character of the ordinary man with whom the viewer can identify, but we discover the hero inside him at the end.
In this part, the script focuses on the father's side. Building a strong relationship with teenage Casey took up a long time in the story, but it was presented well.
Michael Douglas in the role of Grandpa Hank, a scientist who is passionate about ants, and alongside him star Michelle Pfeiffer in her first long role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the role of grandmother, together they performed a different performance than was usual in the series in which we rarely find good representation.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Marvel Studios (@marvelstudios)
Jonathan Majors, in his turn, did an even better performance, as the evil "Kang" with multiple versions, who first appeared in the last episode of the "Loki" series, and has now managed to tie the series into the movie, and is expected to become the villain that unites all the "Avengers". (The Avengers) again, similar to what happened in the movie "End Game".
The quantum world is distinguished by a dazzling design, especially with 3D rendering and IMAX technology, by creating living creatures from scratch, and a color range that extends from dark red to navy blue, and using CGI technology, the Disney studio created a work that simulates Visually the best of modern sci-fi, but with a modern twist that's brightly colored and sometimes silly as Alien in Broccoli.
Ant-Man is Marvel's lifeline
Since the first films of the extended Marvel Cinematic Universe, "Iron Man" in 2008, which is the envy of Hollywood, the series has become the highest-grossing in history after its revenues amounted to $ 28.5 billion, with appreciation from the masses, as 70% of the films got ratings (A +, A and A-) on CinemaScore.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Marvel Studios (@marvelstudios)
The matter finally differed with the fourth stage, out of 6 recent films, 4 got a B- rating, and this is a strong signal for the studio that accelerated the appearance of the villain "Kang", and also prompted the "Disney" producing company to end the fourth stage early, and changed the dates of showing some films To discover that without a strong villain that brings together and unites superheroes, and in the absence of iconic characters such as "Iron Man" and "Captain America", the Marvel series has turned into a mere exploitation of past success with no hope for the future.
The "Ant-Man" films have proven their ability to reach the audience despite the permanent reservations of critics about them. Some have seen that the character "Ant-Man" or "Ant-Man" is not fit to carry the burden of a movie entirely on its shoulders, and it is better for it to remain within the framework of the "Avengers" films. the other.
But time after time, these films achieved great revenues and high ratings from the audience. Compared to the 48% of critics' rating on "Rotten Tomatoes", we find the audience's rating of 84%, a huge difference that explains the character's popularity.
The movie "Ant-Man 3" is a message from Marvel Studios to the audience that it is trying to gather its fragments after the third phase and "End Game" and the exit of the two most important superheroes, "Iron Man" and "Captain America". With Disney's strenuous attempts to create new heroes, she found the solution in The finale brings back an old familiar hero to ensure viewers' interest continues.