  I don't often visit the Marvel Universe but I spent a day prepping for this one by watching recaps of all the precursors for this film. Turns out only "WandaVision" and an extremely brief knowledge of End Game was necessary to understand this film's plot. I even watched "Spider-Man: No Way Home" for the first time just so I wouldn't be burned at the stake if someone brought it up in conversation and realized I hadn't seen it yet. Watching that film was the best experience I had that Thursday. For a film universe that prizes itself on developing storylines over years of movie titles and epic adventures, I was remarkably disappointed by this film's accumulation of the Scarlet Witch's storyline. This is a character planted in the Marvel universe nearly a decade ago in the end credit scene of Winter Soldier. As someone who doesn't watch Marvel movies anymore, I was impressed with myself for remembering that. For a character who's been developed for that long, who recently had her own show, how did they manage to miss the emotional hits in this film? Every punch felt pulled. Sure, there were grand moments of action and mind bending CGI visuals that you've probably seen before. If this was only trying to be an action adventure it might have worked better. They could have spent more time exploring the Multiverse, which didn't feel utilized enough here. The films coolest idea took a back seat so that the Scarlett Witch could see her story through and they finished that without catharsis. However, it wouldn't be a Marvel movie without the crowd cheering on opening night and there were moments of fan service that were able to erupt the theater. Even as an outsider I couldn't help but smiling at the fun of it all. Though in truth those moments didn't really add much value to the films plot and probably won't develop into anything of note...
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  After experiencing this film I thought the title was more of a consideration of Pedro Pascal's talent than Cages, because this movie's entertainment rides on Pascal's shoulders. Without him I don't know if I'd have made it through. Nic Cage has been playing himself for years. I hoped there would be a deeper meta and higher understanding of the man's talent buried in this script somewhere but by the third act the screenplay writers seemed ready to end it. What starts out as an endearing buddy comedy between Nic Cage and cinephile gangster (Javi) slowly transgresses into a stupid spy film. Cage's delivery runs from dry to over the top but the comedic timing is just not there. On the other hand, with Pedro at his side this is a very watchable buddy comedy. The best moments were them just goofing off while on acid. The script pokes fun at itself for deep diving into a full on action-spy film but the punchline just isn't good enough to justify the descent in quality.
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