Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniahas been receiving tepid-at-best reviews. The film’s screenwriter, Jeff Loveness, spoke about these reviews and stated that he believes the Marvel Studios film is better than critics give it credit.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniais Ant-Man’s (Paul Rudd) third solo film. ThoughAnt-Man 3was projected for a solid opening weekendat the box office, it has dropped 69% in its second weekend. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film’s critical score is at a rotten 48%, nearly tying with the MCU’s lowest-rated effort,Eternals,which sits at 47%. Both films represent the only MCU movies to receive such low scores.
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Loveness revealed his thoughts onAnt-Man 3’s low score in an interview withThe Daily Beast. “To be honest, those reviews took me by surprise,” Loveness said. “I was in a pretty low spot… Those were not good reviews, and I was like, ‘What the …? I’m really proud of what I wrote for Jonathan [Majors] and Michelle Pfeiffer [scientist Janet Pym]. I thought that was good stuff, you know? And so I was just despondent, and I was really sad about it.”
Loveness clarified that he eventually felt better aboutAnt-Man 3after attending a screening. For instance,though some were not fans of MODOK’s (Corey Stoll) look in the film, Loveness relished in the character’s presence. “No, [the reviews] are wrong! I’m right! MODOK is great!’” He proclaimed. Loveness said that the ordeal taught him to take a punch.
Loveness' praise for Majors' and Pfeiffer’s performances is not unwarranted.cMajors, whostudied Tom Hiddleston’s Loki performance to play Kangin the film, gives a strong showing. Not only does Majors' natural charisma shine through in his performance, but Majors also manages to make Kang a master manipulator. And Pfeiffer sells her role as Janet van Dyne, who survived decades in the Quantum Realm, incredibly well. Her story is one of the film’s emotional centers, though it could have used more focus.
WithLoveness hard at work onAvengers: The Kang Dynasty,fans will likely see his work on the big screen again soon. Though criticism always helps a writer grow and learn, it’s probably for the best that Loveness says he learned how to take a punch.The Kang Dynastywill face scrutiny, and there will always be some people who don’t enjoy the film.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniais now in theaters.
