Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania (2023) - Movie Review

In the wake of Justin Roiland being brought in on felonycharges, and the widespread sharing of some… worrying interactions with underage fans, there have been concerns about what this will mean for the future of Rick & Morty (We’ll ignore the fact that the status of fiction in the wake of potential real-world shittiness shouldn’t be the main concern). After the news that he had been let go from the show where he voices the two main characters, and has had a major role in shaping what the show is and has become, I have seen worry that his booting will end up kneecapping the show. That his brand of thoroughly abrasive meme humour is what makes the show worth watching (I’d argue that it’s the writing that does that, but we’ll get to that), and that without him, the show would be muted and gutless. I have no real stake in this fight, even as someone who is still a fan of Rick & Morty, but judging by how this film turned out, I’m starting to realise that worries of a PG-13 Rick & Morty not working have some validity to them.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) - Movie Review

Phase Four of the MCU, the starting leg for the newfangled Multiverse Saga, has been a rather tepid affair. I freely admit that I have a lot of fondness for Phase Three, which is full of films I like, love, even admire for various reasons, and after the thunderclap of Endgame, there are some expected shortfalls in the fallout… but it still feels off. Nothing I would outright consider bad (which is more than can be said for Phase One and Two), but plenty of missed opportunities. One decent film (Shang-Chi), three disappointments (Black Widow, Doctor Strange, Thor), and two admitted greats (No Way Home and Eternals). Although it should be said that, at a time when the MCU is emphasising the varieties of the Multiverse, it says something when the two best films in this Phase had to go outside even that margin to find inspiration (past Spider-Man films and DC-era Jack Kirby respectively).

But then, that’s what I like the most about the original Black Panther: It thrives regardless of any connection to the larger franchise. While its story has some roots in the events of Captain America: Civil War, it doesn’t have the same serialised weight to it that can and has hindered other MCU films. If you go into it not having seen anything of the other films, you will still get its full impact one way or another. It is rather unique in that regard, save for the first Iron Man film retroactively, and it’s part of the reason why I hold Phase Three in such high regard: It was when more unique filmmaking voices started to weave themselves into the patchwork, and through that, allowed for stuff like this to exist. If any film in this Phase would be capable of escaping that rut, a sequel to Black Panther is it.

Thor: Love And Thunder (2022) - Movie Review

After languishing as the dark horse of the main four Avengers of the MCU, Thor seems to have found a firm footing and identity thanks to director Taika Waititi. Namely, that he is the comic relief of the team. This has admittedly been a thing with him since the Kenneth Branagh film, but with Taika’s unique brand of social cringe, it effectively smoothed itself out and made for a high point of the already-impressive Phase Three with Thor: Ragnarok. Naturally, much like Christopher McQuarrie sticking around for the more recent Mission: Impossible films, bringing him back for another trip with the space Viking is a good move. And sure enough, it’s most certainly a Taika Waititi film… although I wouldn’t particularly blame certain audiences for wishing it was more than that.

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness (2022) - Movie Review

Bryan Singer’s X-Men changed superhero cinema in a big way. It proved that not only could comic book characters survive and thrive on the big screen in the new millennium, but what makes them worth reading about can effectively be translated into something watchable; this is something that superhero flicks struggled with for years prior. But I’d argue that Sam Raimi did just as much, if not more, for the sub-genre than Singer did.

Where Singer bent the edges of those characters to make them fit, Raimi instead made the cinematic artform bend to the dynamic visuals of the printed page. His Spider-Man trilogy remains a touchstone for the sub-genre to this day, and in a lot of ways, it reached heights that most of the MCU hasn’t been able to yet. So… yeah, hearing that he’d be helming a new capeshit feature had me wanting to see him come back on top, after spending the last several years either directing forgettable fluff or producing some particularly egregious horror movies.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) - Movie Review

I know this is far from the first time Marvel Studios has done me, but fuck me, the marketing for this film has been extremely annoying. No joke, I saw two ads that were promotional tie-ins to this movie in the pre-session of the actual movie. Because buying a ticket for it apparently wasn’t enough; they had to keep trying to sell it to me. There’s also how flat-out ridiculous the session times for this movie have been, where it assimilated between 75% and 95% of all available screenings at both of my local cinemas, with one, maybe two sessions that were taken up by the eleven other films that are supposedly showing now as well. Anyone trying to use this film’s success as a gotcha for the 'wokeness' of other MCU films, or the MCU in competition with the DCEU, or even as a sign that the industry is picking back up since COVID first broke, are leaving out that the odds were stacked substantially in the production’s favour to get those box office receipts.

To be honest, I deliberately put off watching this movie for its first week because, as much as I love superhero movies, I really didn’t want to reward this overbearing, “Scorsese might have been underselling the problem” kind of behaviour.

Anyway, now that I’ve got my initial gripes out of the way, let’s get into how fucking brilliant this movie is.

Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (2021) - Movie Review

Now this is more like it! After how underwhelming Black Widow turned out, I was fully prepared for the MCU to be stuck in another middling point re: Phase Two, but I’m happy to report that this film turned out pretty damn well. Where that assessment gets a little odd is with how there’s a weird level of similarity between Black Widow and Shang-Chi. Like Black Widow, Shang-Chi was trained at an early age to be an assassin, and he has also been spending all the time since trying to separate himself from his past. Except here, it manages to correct the lack of personality that held back Black Widow, and it’s not just in the acting where that effect takes place.

Black Widow (2021) - Movie Review

“Better late than never” isn’t always the case. And when it comes to Black Widow, the member of the Phase One Avengers in most need of real character development, it arriving so long after that point is rather disheartening. Not to mention out of step with how thought-out the MCU generally is when it comes to story arcs over the span of several features. But now that it’s finally here, and the Marvel status quo is slowly returning after the COVID runaround, I can’t say that I hate it… but I can’t say I’m entirely into it either.

Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) - Movie Review

Much like Ant-Man And The Wasp was for Infinity War, the latest big screen depiction of Spider-Man feels like exactly what Marvel needed after the culture shock that was Endgame. Just as much sci-fi tinged romantic comedy as it is superhero action bombast, Far From Home finds director Jon Watts and writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers still mining gold out of the juxtaposition of superhero life and ordinary high school life.

Avengers: Endgame (2019) - Movie Review

Well… here we are. After 11 years, 21 films, over 18 billion dollars in box office receipts and twice as many geekgasms, we have reached the finale of this chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s been a long journey, and while part of me is excited for what's in store for this finale, there's still a lingering problem here: How in the actual fuck am I supposed to write a review for this thing?

Captain Marvel (2019) - Movie Review

With Avengers: Endgame right around the corner, this prequel to the franchise that changed superhero cinema as we know it has a lot riding on it. It has to not only deliver as yet another Marvel flick, but it also has to sell the idea that this superhero, Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, is the progenitor to everything we’ve seen in the MCU thus far and deliver one final setup before Endgame officially closes this chapter for good. Knowing how recent movies have turned out in regards to build-up vs. pay-off, with both Marvel and DC struggling in their own ways over the last handful of years, this really could go either way. Which is why I’m pleased to report that this film does pretty much everything it needed to succeed, starting with the casting.

Ant-Man And The Wasp (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), while under house arrest after his actions in Captain America: Civil War, gets a mysterious vision connected to his mentors Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly). As he risks further imprisonment to see them, he discovers that this vision may be the key Pym and Van Dyne need to rescue Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), Pym's wife, Hope's mother and the original Wasp. As Scott once again prepares to enter the Quantum Realm, new villains lay in wait to take Pym's technology for their own purposes.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: After many long years of planning and machination, the alien despot Thanos (Josh Brolin) is ready to initiate his ultimate plan: Gather all of the Infinity Stones and, with their combined power, wipe out half of all life in the universe. As he and his lieutenants make their way to Earth, where most of the Stones now reside, the now-scattered Avengers have to reunite and, with the help of the Guardians Of The Galaxy, stop Thanos from decimating the universe.

Black Panther (2018) - Movie Review

 

The plot: After the death of his father, T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) is set to take his place as the king of the hidden African country of Wakanda. However, frictions within his own inner circle begin to present themselves, largely connected to the continued presence of arms dealer Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) as well as the arrival of former U.S. black ops soldier Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), both of whom seek to disrupt Wakanda even more. T'Challa, donning the mantle of Black Panther, must save his people and come to grips with what he must do to be a true king.

Thor: Ragnarok (2017) - Movie Review

I never thought I would get to this point but I think I’m starting to get burnt out on all these Marvel movies. I’ve mentioned before how much I love superhero and comic book inspired films, and I still stand by all of that, but as more time passes, I’m beginning to realize that my zeal to see these films in the cinema has severely diminished. Yeah, I’ve still seen all of the MCU to date, but I ended up getting to some of them like Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming far later than I would have expected. Whether it’s down to the sheer volume of releases per year, the fact that all of them are interconnected so that they all need to be seen to get the full experience, or just down to me discovering other sub-genres that interest me more, some part of my subconscious is hesitant to keep seeing these. Not that it should be; I mean, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 is still an astounding work, Homecoming gave us the first real Spider-Man movie and even Doctor Strange has some of the greatest effects work I’ve ever seen full stop.

 

So, yeah, maybe it’s less that I’m losing my love for these films and more that they are starting to feel more like work. No change there then, honestly. Anyway, enough waffle; time to get into this latest MCU offering that seems to be taking the franchise in a different direction. A very weird direction.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) - Movie Review

Over the last several months, I’ve probably shown every conceivable pre-conception that a person can have for a movie. Whether it’s down to my own weird tastes or just how surprising this year’s releases have turned out, I’ve gone into the cinema with some odd ideas about what it’ll be like. Well, today’s film will likely represent my absolute worst expectations for a film: I want this film to be bad. Now, as much as I’ve talked about the therapeutic power of cinema, I don’t actively like watching bad movies; I rarely if ever want films to be bad, and it’s even rarer that I would want a film to suck to prove a “point”. Basically, after the clusterfuck that went down in the wake of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which I still maintain is a genuinely good movie despite some definite flaws, learning that the guys behind what is properly the worst film I’ve ever sat through would be behind the next Spider-Man reboot seriously pissed me off. It even got to the point where, and I wish I was joking, I made this claim on Reddit last year:

Just so we’re clear, this is how badly I not only didn’t want to see those numbnuts get rewarded for their lack of effort, but how badly I wanted some hubris to kick in after the honestly OTT reactions ASM2 got. But as I’ve already established, I’m a bit of a fanboy for comic book movies and I’m usually a lot kinder to them than I probably should be; I may not be happy to be proven wrong in this instance but I definitely get that the possibility of it happening here is pretty high. Anyway, enough waffle, let’s see where my cold-hearted cynicism gets me as we look at the latest iteration of the New York Webslinger.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) - Movie Review

 

Out of all the Marvel Cinematic Universe we have gotten so far, from the politically-driven thrills of Captain America to the Objectivist musings of Iron Man, 2014’s Guardians Of The Galaxy still stands as my personal favourite of the lot. Hell, my defence for Suicide Squad likely came from how much it reminded me of Guardians in both tone and intent. Apart from what people have come to expect from a modern Marvel film, like the pitch-perfect casting and the industry connections to some of the greatest effects wizards working today, it also opened the gates for a more bizarre and kitschy brand of superhero story, one that director/co-writer James Gunn was more than apt to tell.

 

Despite how late this review ultimately is, with the film in question being out for quite a while before I finally got around to it, I was definitely eager to see just how it would measure up to the original that I hold in quite high regard. Once again, this is the year that sees fit to kick audiences square in their expectations, so here’s hoping for a solid project.

Doctor Strange (2016) - Movie Review

It’s Marvel time again and, while not quite as problematic as Civil War, we are once again dealing with a rather tricky bit of comic book adaptation history. We’re furthering our way into Phase 3 of the Cinematic Universe with an origin for yet another superhero who doesn’t exactly have the best on-screen history. Way back during the days of the Bill Bixby Incredible Hulk TV show, Stan Lee and CBS attempted to kick-start a Doctor Strange series to run alongside Hulk and The Amazing Spider-Man. Needless to say, it didn’t end well and the series wasn’t picked up for glaringly obvious reasons. However, unlike Spidey and the Hulk, this was the first and, up until now, only live-action appearance; there isn’t any form of reputable precedent for this one. Say what you will about Guardians Of The Galaxy, at least that film was able to completely blindside audiences thanks to a complete lack of mainstream recognition. Strange, on the other hand? Not so much. This may be one of the bigger tests of Marvel’s uncanny ability for consistent quality standards, even more so than the talking raccoon who is best friends with a talking tree.

Captain America: Civil War (2016) - Movie Review

Back in 2007, long before my critical awakening even took place that would forever change (for better or for worse) how I look at media in general, I became embroiled in the original Civil War comic book event. This is without having read a single issue of the comic itself, nor any of the many, many tie-in issues. I have the Marvel Universe wiki to thank for this, as I wound up spending a lot of time at one of my school’s library computers reading up on various characters who were involved in the event. It is with this tertiary knowledge that I can safely say that this addition to the MCU might be one of the single riskiest ventures they have ever undertaken, as the fallout as a result of the original story is staggering and still being felt to this day. It doesn’t help that the inclusion of a certain character in this story almost guarantees that I need to go into comparisons with the source material; regular readers will know that I always try and avoid that when possible. So, as I wade through the massive backlog of releases I’ve accumulated over the last few weeks, I figure I’d start out with the most potentially problematic of them all.

Ant-Man (2015) - Movie Review

As my review for Magic Mike XXL demonstrated, knowledge about a film’s production history can create an unfortunate preconception about said film. However, unlike that instance, there is legitimate reason for concern this time around. Edgar Wright, AKA the guy behind the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy and easily one of the best filmmakers working today, was originally slated to direct and co-write this film. Then, word hit that he was leaving the project due to ‘creative differences’ and the script he and Joe Cornish had put together was re-worked by Paul Rudd and the guy who wrote Talladega Nights. This is like being offered a gourmet pizza and ending up with a hot dog-stuffed crust. Still, between Marvel’s relatively high standards and the fact that Wright’s fingerprints are apparently still on the script, there's still a chance that this could all work out for the best.

Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015) - Movie Review

With the current cinematic dictatorship Hollywood is under thanks to Marvel Studios, it’s easy to see the point of view of people who are getting sick of comic book movies considering not only the frequency of their output but also the insane amounts of preparation they put into their releases, ensuring said frequency for the next several years. However, given the rather lacklustre comic book fare that came before Iron Man curb-stomped its way into the public consciousness (Look at any list online for worst films ever made, and I guaran-damn-tee you that several of the entries will be older superhero films) as well as my own preference for the genre, I’m not sharing in that thought process. So, when the release date came out for the follow-up to Joss Whedon’s 2012 geekgasm The Avengers, I joined in and added to the already copious amount of fanboy drool in the ocean. But, considering how legendary the original has become in such a short amount of time, how does this hold up?