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Month: March 2023
This review includes major spoilers! Ant Man and the Wasp is a good movie that is definitely worth watching. The multifaceted storyline includes events that will influence the future of the MCU, and except for a couple of minor qualms, the experience is both intriguing and rewarding. Here are my key takeaways from the film.
After young activist Cassie Lang makes a communication device linking the quantum realm to theirs, Scott Lang, Cassie Lang, Hope Van Dyne, Janet Van Dyne, and Hank Pym get sucked into the quantum realm. As the story progresses, we find that when Janet was trapped in the Quantum Realm, she formed a friendship with Kang, who claimed that they could both escape if she helped him rebuild his multiversal power core. After she helped him fix it, she had visions of Kang destroying multiple timelines and universes. Using Pym particles, she enlarged his power core, making it impossible to use. The group was split up in the initial teleport, the Langs were found by some resistance fighters, and the Van Dynes, accompanied by Hank Pym, were stuck in a large quantum forest.
After we are given this context, the Van Dynes visit an old friend of Janet’s, where we find out he switched sides, now working for Kang the Conqueror. We also find out through Jentorra, one of the leaders of the resistance fighters, that Janet’s connection with Kang caused his rise to power. When Scott and Cassie are taken to Kang after the resistance base is discovered, Kang demands Scott to shrink down and help them recover the power core. When Scott says no, Kang threatens to kill Cassie.
As he shrinks down and gets to the power core, he begins to multiply. After speaking with M.O.D.O.K, a half-human, half-machine who Scott fought in the first Ant Man movie, he learns he is in a possibilities zone, leading to the appearance of every possibility of Scott resulting from making different decisions. Before Scott becomes literally smothered by his variants, he hears Cassie through his helmet, and his possibilities help him get to the power core. As he tries to fix it, Hope shows up and assists him in gathering the core.
After shrinking the core back to original size, Kang goes back on his deal, captures Janet, and destroys the ship the group had stolen with Pym still on it. Pym, being saved by his evolved ants, who were also pulled into the quantum realm, helps save Scott and Hope and they begin making their way to Kang. Cassie frees Jentorra and together they start an uprising against Kang and his army, even convincing M.O.D.O.K to turn against Kang. He ends up losing his life in the battle.
Janet fixes the power core and Hope, Cassie, Janet, and Pym all escape back to their realm. As Scott is about to leave through the portal, Kang attacks, beating Scott with ease. Hope returns to help. Scott and Hope destroy the power core, using some Pym particles. There they knock Kang into the power core, where he is pulled into oblivion. Cassie opens the portal back home and together Hope and Scott leave. Scott remembers the mentioning of Kang’s death to be the start of something terrible, but he brushes it off.
In a post credit scene, we see many variants of Kang planning an uprising. They speak of Kang’s death. We found out earlier in the movie that the Council of Kangs feared Kang and exiled him where he could never escape, in between space and time. Then we see Loki and Mobius find another Kang variant, Victor Timely, located in New York in the 1900’s.
I think the movie was good! The storytelling was excellent and the CGI in most of the film was astonishing. We got to see more character arcs that many Marvel fans were hoping for. Paul Rudd nailed his performance and having Cassie Lang included in this movie provides a possible new character in the Young Avengers cast. Jonathan Major as Kang the Conqueror was the perfect choice. His portrayal of the villain is exactly what I hoped for, linking almost directly to the comics and what we expected from Kang. I enjoyed the after credit scene where the many Kangs started an uprising. It links to Scott’s remembrance of the possibility of Kang’s death being bad. The acting skills of Majors provided some well needed improvements to the MCU, the few versions of Kang we had seen had stunning acting and showed how he was able to be multiple people at once.
The movie had its good parts, but there were also moments of bad CGI and some questionable acting from Kathryn Newton, who played Cassie Lang. My main problem with this movie is that we constantly get world shattering, multiverse endangering threats in every new Marvel movie. Also, Kang has to be an idiot for the plot to move, which contradicts the comics where Kang is probably one of the most intelligent people in the universe. While I like that the “good guys” win, this is not the case in the comics, where villains are designed to be just as strong and as smart as the heroes. Most of the time, it takes multiple super heroes to defeat the villains, so why the creators keep diminishing their intellect and power in modern movies is a conundrum to me. The newer Avengers are pretty weak, and in order to save their views and restore the quality of their work, the creators need to get together and work something out. The lack of perceived effort in Marvel movies has declined, resulting in a loss of profit.
I think my favorite part of this movie was when Hank Pym walked in with an army of ants. The final battle was brutal but amazing and provided insight into the anger and desperation of Kang. We have never seen Scott so upset, and the acting on Paul Rudd’s part made the story even better. The battle proves how strong Kang really is. Scott would have lost that battle if Hope had not returned. The end credit scene with the council of Kangs is a great addition as well, proving that with the sheer number of Kangs there are, the next battle or war involving Kang will be not only brutal, but terrifying.
All things considered, I would give the movie a rating of 3.5 or 4 stars out of 5. While there were some changes that would have improved the quality, it was definitely one of the better Marvel movies in the post Endgame era. Ultimately, Quantumania is undoubtedly worth the watch.
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Word Flower
Sandwiches are a staple food that is open to creativity with the ability to have many different ingredients. Quick to make with various versions of sandwiches such as peanut butter and jelly, BLT, grilled cheese, and many others. Some sandwiches can last for a long time, allowing you to premake sandwiches and take it as lunch for school. A meal I regularly made for school lunch since freshman year, sandwiches are a quick and delicious food to make. Included with the ability to change the ingredients for the sandwich, you won’t get as easily tired by it when eating it repeatedly. Here is a recipe of the sandwich I have been making and changing up for the past four years of making school lunches.
Ingredients: 2 slices of bread, 1 egg(optional if you want to use a pan or not), 1 tablespoon of any oil, pinch of salt/pepper, ham (amount of slices is up to you), 1 tomato slice, pickles, japanese mayonnaise
Estimated Time: 5 minutes
| Heat up a pan with the oil on medium heat |
Crack egg on pan and let the whites cook and form around the yolk |
Flip the egg and sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper |
| After a minute, turn the heat to off and flip the egg again to sprinkle salt and pepper on the other side |
Have your two pieces of bread out and drizzle Japanese Mayo on both pieces |
| On one piece of bread, place your ingredients together in the following order to have the best stability and spread of ingredients:pickles, tomato, ham, egg, and finally place your other piece of bread |
Sandwiches can have multiple recipes to make many different flavors and variations. This variation lets your creativity and tastes show in making your own unique sandwich. Many changes can be made to the recipe of this sandwich and can be made with cheaper ingredients. Especially with the increasing egg costs that are currently happening, the removal of the egg will make the sandwich cheaper, and removes the need to use a pan then clean it. Sandwiches are open to creativity and are able to be made in the way you can enjoy while being a quick meal to make. As you can see from the images of the sandwich I made, I had different types of twists or changes such as the bread or the ham. You can always change the sandwich to your liking making it one of the best foods to make that is quick and easy.
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Let’s Flush This Problem
by Lorely Duran, Sophomore
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Class of 2024 ASB Election Assembly
On March 2nd, the ASB class held an Assembly for the Election of McClatchy’s student body Treasurer, Secretary, Vice President, and President. Each of the current cabinet members gave a brief speech introducing themselves, and welcomed the running candidates onto the floor.
Following speeches by the uncontested cabinet candidates (Graciela Cobb, Olivia Herrera, and Mia Johnson), the presidential contestants each took the floor. Zach Gee, Lincoln Sabini, and Kira Comfort made individual statements, and when they were finished, Paige Blazevic asked them to answer a series of questions for debate.
Kira walked out on the court with a band of dancers. Her short Rihanna performance excited the crowd. Although there were a few malfunctions with the sound, she never flinched for a second until it was her moment to perform. She kept a big smile on her face all throughout the presidential debate.
Kira spoke on her ideas to have more student involvement in a campus cleanup project. As well as making sure all students even outside of ASB get their ideas heard about events that are put on for all the students. She also piggybacked off the idea of contributing her focus on cleaner and functioning bathrooms for the students. Her experience in various roles in leadership and her commitment to three sports teams here at McClatchy are what she says qualify her as a good candidate for the 2023-2024 presidency.
Lincoln Sabini brought up some significant points in both his personal statement and his responses to the debate prompts. His main arguments revolved around the importance of social connection and accurately representing public opinion in the new rules.
He noted that he is not a HISP student as all of the members of the class of 2023’s student government have been. A key subject of Lincoln’s proposed policy changes was enabling the student body to access restaurant lunch/outside food sources during lunch time. Though this brought many questions about how he intends to put that idea into action, he did claim that he will do everything in his power, including reaching out to the district administration, to allow students to order food through doordash during lunchtime.
Lincoln has been involvement in ASB, legion events, and athletic teams.
Zach Gee presented his big plans for wise use of ASB dollars, better and more expansive homecomings, and most notably, bathroom renovation. A twice previous president for his class, Zach has raised large amounts of money and has been influential in ASB in past years. He stressed this point when asked about his leadership experience, and received extensive applause in response.
His main selling point revolved around the cleaning up and renovating of the bathrooms.. This included access to soap, locks, and clean private spaces, a topic that the other hopefuls were quick to catch up on.
He mentioned in passing an idea that would involve filling in potholes in the student parking lot, and promised that if the ASB did not have the power to fulfill these promises, he would take the matter up with the district itself.
Guess today’s word or phrase!