The 31st film in the MCU feels very much like many that came before it—gonzo visual effects and occasional humor but overall shrug-worthiness. It’s perfectly fine, sure, and the addition of Jonatan Major’s Kang the Conqueror injects the festivities with some new blood, but there’s not much here to jump up and down about—no real dramatic heft, no thought-provoking storyline, and, sadly, too little room for Paul Rudd to flex his comedic muscles and just do his thing. As a matinee escape, it does the trick, but in the overall ranking of the long, long (long) list of Marvel movies, this one lands squarely in the middle.

3.5/5 stars