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‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ reviews: The villain is good, but the movie is bad

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Paul Rudd is Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man, alongside Johnathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror in “Ant-Man and the Wasp in Quantumania.”
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Are the pint-sized heroes of Disney’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” enough to take on the newest — and baddest — villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Not quite.
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Peyton Reed’s previous Ant-Man installments offered the MCU a smaller-than-life look at what it means to be a hero. The small-stakes romps were welcome excursions away from the apocalyptic stakes of the wider franchise and offered a lighthearted counterbalance to the greater threats of the universe.

However, the demands of Disney‘s Marvel machine came calling for Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and his partner the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly).

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Enter Kang the Conqueror.

Played by “Lovecraft Country” star Jonathan Majors, Kang is the next overarching villain of the MCU and is expected to remain a looming threat throughout the Multiverse Saga, which includes the planned phases four, five and six of the franchise. He was introduced in the Disney+ show “Loki.”

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Critics praised Majors’ performance in the film, as the actor was able to bring gravitas to the the role and exude the kind of menace that made previous big bad Thanos (Josh Brolin) such a compelling, and threatening, villain. However, Kang’s larger-than-life presence overshadowed the quirky and charming narrative that fans have come to expect from Ant-Man side quests, critics say. (Majors will also appear as the antagonist in next month’s “Creed III.”)

“Majors is certainly chilling and captivating, but Kang seems like a mismatched foe for a standalone Ant-Man film and the result is a ‘Quantumania’ that is trying to be too many things,” wrote Lindsey Bahr in her review of the film for Associated Press.

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“Quantumania” is at its best when it keeps things “light and quippy,” Bahr said.

Marvel Studios’ “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”

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This sentiment was shared with numerous other reviewers, as the latest Marvel film became one of only two in the 31 movies that have been released as part of the MCU to receive a “Rotten” score from Rotten Tomatoes.

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“Ant-Man and the Wasp in Quantumania” held a 53% “rotten” rating from 148 reviews, as of Wednesday afternoon. The only other film from the MCU to slip below the 60% “fresh” threshold was 2021’s “Eternals,” which ultimately earned a 47% rating.

“Quantumania” centers on Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man, and Hope Van Dyne, aka the Wasp, after their family is sucked into the subatomic Quantum Realm. There, they face off against Kang, a dimension-hopping tyrant who is trying to escape from the realm after being exiled there for his rampages across time and space.

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Here are what critics thought of the film ahead of its release Friday:

Kristy Puchko, Mashable

“Michael Pena’s absence should have been a warning,” wrote Kristy Puchko in her review of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” for Mashable. “The Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown so massive and all-consuming that it’s not enough for an Ant-Man movie to be an Ant-Man movie.”

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What fans are given instead is a “chaotic, woefully unfunny mess that has forgotten why its hero was such fun.”

Puchko bemoans that both Ant-Man and the Wasp as almost relegated to sidekicks in their own movie, as Kang and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) are given the spotlight — and shine in it. (Michael Douglas also reprises his role as Dr. Hank Pym.)

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The film itself is anything but light. Puchko likened the dark action scenes to those seen during the final season of HBO’s “Game Of Thrones,” blurry, dim and incoherent.

“Yet when the lights are turned up, you might wish they weren’t,” she said, noting that the Quantum Realm, a place of endless possibilities, has been imagined as “a mash-up of ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Strange World,’ slime, and those Magic Eye posters that made us squint to make sense of them.”

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“In the end, with its clumsy collision of influences, star power, CGI that is often rubbery or outright ugly, and a convoluted plot that should have an Excedrin tie-in, ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ is like a child’s mixed media project, made of paper mache, glitter, and hunks of rotting ground meat,” she said.

Read the full review from Mashable.

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Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton) and Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) in “Ant-Man and the Wasp in Quantumania.”

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Kate Erbland, IndieWire

Charlotte O’Sullivan, Evening Standard

Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) in “Ant-Man and The Wasp in Quantumania.”

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Hoai-Tran Bui, Inverse



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Lululemon shares jump as holiday-quarter sales surge

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A Lululemon sign is seen at a shopping mall in San Diego, California, November, 23, 2022.
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Lululemon on Tuesday reported strong holiday-quarter sales, suggesting wealthier shoppers are still purchasing yoga pants and tops despite rising prices for essential goods.
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The company also issued upbeat guidance for its new fiscal year.

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Shares of Lululemon jumped about 11% in after-hours trading following the report. Through Tuesday’s close, the stock is about flat for the year, putting the company’s market value at $40.87 billion.

Here’s what the company reported for the three-month period ended Jan. 29, compared with Wall Street expectations based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

  • Earnings per share: $4.40 adjusted vs $4.26 expected
  • Revenue: $2.77 billion vs. $2.7 billion expected

Lululemon’s fourth-quarter net income fell to $119.8 million, or 94 cents per share, from $434.5 billion, or $3.36 per share, a year ago. Excluding impairment and other charges related to the acquisition of Mirror, as well as other items, per-share earnings were $4.40.

Revenue rose to $2.77 billion from $2.13 billion a year ago.

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The company expects fiscal 2023 revenue of between $9.3 billion and $9.41 billion, topping Wall Street’s expectations of $9.14 billion, according to Refinitiv estimates. The company expects full-year profit of between $11.50 and $11.72 per share, compared with Refinitiv estimates of $11.26 per share.

“Looking ahead, we remain optimistic regarding our ability to deliver sustained growth and long-term value for all our stakeholders,” said Chief Financial Officer Meghan Frank in a statement.

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The Vancouver-based athletic apparel retailer said total comparable sales for the fourth quarter increased by 27%. Also called same-store sales, the metric includes sales from stores open continuously for at least 12 months.

“We believe that it is one of the few companies in the space that has a very long pathway for growth, and it’s also a very highly visible one,” said Rick Patel, managing director at Raymond James.

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Patel said his firm, which maintains a strong buy rating on the stock, sees upside in Lululemon’s international business and its men’s business, and that the worst of the company’s inventory struggles are in the past.

In December, Lululemon said inventories at the end of its third quarter were up 85% year-over-year. The company said Tuesday that as of the end of 2022, inventories were up 50%.

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Dollar General in settlement talks over workplace safety violations, federal agency says

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The exterior of a Dollar General convenience store is seen on March 16, 2023 in Austin, Texas.
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Dollar General is in settlement talks with federal regulators after the discount retailer was labeled a “severe violator” of workplace safety rules, according to a spokesperson for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
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The spokesperson said the “mandatory settlement proceedings” before the agency’s review commission would occur “pursuant to Commission rules.” OSHA is part of the Department of Labor.

Dollar General did not comment directly on the settlement talks. Until recently, the discount retailer was unwilling to engage with OSHA about the violations, according to federal officials who spoke to The New York Times under the condition of anonymity. 

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A Dollar General spokesperson told CNBC “we regularly review and refine our safety programs, and reinforce them through training, ongoing communication, recognition and accountability.”

“When we learn of situations where we have failed to live up to this commitment, we work to address the issue and ensure the company’s expectations regarding safety are clearly communicated, understood and implemented,” the spokesperson added. 

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Dollar General has been accused of exposing workers to fire hazards and other safety concerns, such as merchandise stacked at unsafe heights, leading to “chronic failures to meet federal safety requirements,” according to OSHA.

Since 2017, OSHA inspected over 270 Dollar General stores, finding more than 100 workplace safety violations. OSHA also issued Dollar General over $15 million in fines. The company operates more locations in the U.S. than Target and Walmart.

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Dollar General was the first company to be added to the “severe violators” list last fall after OSHA expanded the reach of one of its longstanding safety enforcement programs. That program, dubbed the Severe Violator Enforcement Program, was traditionally aimed at companies with notably unsafe working conditions, like manufacturers or construction firms. 

Under the program, OSHA officials can inspect a store at random, without a direct complaint about working conditions. 

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The Tennessee-based company rapidly expanded throughout the pandemic, opening thousands of new locations. Amid this growth and profitability, the company also faced criticism from other workers’ rights advocates, making it a logical target for the Biden administration

“Dollar General’s growing record of disregard for safety measures makes it abundantly clear that the company puts profit before people,” said OSHA regional administrator Kurt Petermeyer in a January news release. “These violations are preventable, and failing to prevent them shows a blatant disregard for the workers on whom they depend to keep their stores operating.” 

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Throughout the course of their inspections, OSHA officials have found everything from blocked fire exits to unstable stacked merchandise that could fall on workers. 



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Home prices cool in January, even falling in some cities, S&P Case-Shiller says

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A “For Sale” sign outside of a home in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023.
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Home prices cooled in January, up only 3.8% nationally than they were a year earlier, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index. That is down from 5.6% in December.
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Prices have been falling for seven straight months, but the decline was a bit smaller in January. That was likely due to a brief drop in mortgage rates and a resulting jump in sales.

The 10-city composite rose 2.5% year over year, down from 4.4% in December. The 20-city composite also rose 2.5%, down from 4.6% in the previous month.

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Home prices have been cooling due to higher mortgage rates. The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage set more than a dozen record lows during the first two years of the pandemic, briefly going below 2%, but it grew sharply. Since fall, the rate has been hovering in the high 6% range, although it’s been volatile in recent weeks due to several bank failures and the resulting stress on the overall banking industry.

“Despite this, the Federal Reserve remains focused on its inflation-reduction targets, which suggest that rates may remain elevated in the near-term,” said Craig Lazzara, managing director at S&P DJI, in a release. “Mortgage financing and the prospect of economic weakness are therefore likely to remain a headwind for housing prices for at least the next several months.”

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Prices were lower year over year in San Francisco (-7.6%), Seattle (-5.1%), Portland, Oregon (-0.5%) and San Diego (-1.4%). They were flat in Phoenix.

Miami, Tampa and Atlanta again saw the hottest annual price gains of the top 20 cities. Miami prices were up 13.8%, Tampa prices up 10.5%, and Atlanta prices rose 8.4%. All 20 cities, however, reported lower prices in the year ending January 2023 versus the year ending December 2022.

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Homebuyers may be seeing more flexible sellers this spring, but there are still too few homes available for sale. Mortgage lending may also tighten in light of pressure on the banking system.

“More expensive, less available borrowing, especially with an unclear economic outlook, is likely to continue to limit buyer demand. Though home sales are expected to rebound in line with seasonal trends, this spring’s sales pace is expected to remain lower than last year, as uncertainty and high costs limit activity,” said Hannah Jones, economic data analyst for Realtor.com.

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