CAPTAIN MARVEL hit theaters last week, and I finally made it to the theater to see it. The theater was not packed, but there were plenty of people there. I've heard claims of some showings being completely empty, but with all the things being said about this film, everything has to be taken with a grain of salt. So, let's get with it.
I have to start with the Stan Lee tribute at the start of the film. It was perfect. Just as his cameo was in the movie itself. His appearance got a reaction from the audience as one would expect from people seeing pictures of a dear, departed grandparent. And yes, I did choke up a little.
As for the movie itself, it was alright. I wouldn't put it in the dead bottom of my list for MCU movies. It wasn't unwatchable, but it was also took a bit for me to stay in it and go along for the ride.
My problem was Carol. I do understand that this is a character that is being told and trained to keep her feelings in check. Unfortunately, Larson's portrayal came off really wooden. I cared about the plot, but really was not sold on the character in the film. This is a bummer because I like Carol Danvers in the comics. There was a pretty big overhaul concerning her origin story, but it works well. A lot of it was that I never felt the character was in any real danger. She was really powerful, and then went on to be super-duper powerful. Also, we never really get much emotion from her when memories come back, and she learns a bit more about her past.
As for the nitty gritty of the film, the story is pretty solid. Nothing ground-breaking, but had enough intrigue to keep me from zoning out. Some of the humor fell really flat and came off as awkward when you have aliens using phrases that one would expect from a human, not a creature from another planet. The fight scenes boasted plenty of action, but unfortunately much of it was hard to follow.
I did like the soundtrack. I came of age in the 90s, so much of it was right in my wheelhouse. The bit exception was the use of No Doubt's "Just A Girl" in one of the big fight scenes. It took all the potential edge off the fight, and I suppose they were going for campy, maybe. It was really cringe-inducing though.
I guess I should address the cat. Everyone loves the cat. The cat is cute. My kids love the cat.
Where the hell did the cat come from?
I'm dead serious. It's an alien just wandering around Project Pegasus with NO EXPLANATION WHATSOEVER!!!
And how did little Monica figure out how that change the color of Carol's uniform so quickly and intuitively?
I'm finding that the more I think about the movie, the more annoyed I get. So, I'm just going to let this one rest, and wait for AVENGERS: ENDGAME. I could have done that anyways as this movie does not tell me anything that I really need to know going into the next film aside from Carol Danvers is Captain Marvel and she's super powerful. That's literally all you need to know.
It wasn't terrible, but I have no desire to see it again.
Showing posts with label Marvel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marvel. Show all posts
Captain Marvel Incoming
Marvel's latest offering is heading out way, and unfortunately there's controversy around it. I've been busy and unfortunately by the time said controversy came onto my radar, both camps had dug in and gone full retard making up all sorts of weird stuff. It boils down to the lead actress, Brie Larson, having some concerns about things possibly not being inclusive enough. Some study was brought up. A few things probably could have been worded clearer, but unfortunately that's more than enough for battle lines to be drawn. Larson has clarified things, and I was going to see it anyhow, but it did kinda damper my excitement for the film. Early trailers were kinda lackluster. Too much time was spent by the press focusing on the feminism aspects. Not enough was spent trying to get everyone excited. Marvel has recently put out a lot of great behind the scenes stuff that has really caught my eye in a good way.
It is way too easy to get caught up in the pointless bickering, and I was guilty to buying into the articles and headlines that has a vested interest in keeping the fight going for the sake of views. The main concern I have is that any legitimate criticisms that may arise from the film will result in the person voicing said criticism as "sexist". I've had a few people online claim my dislike for BLACK PANTHER is the result of some sort of weird latent racism on my part. This is ridiculous, of course, and a symptom of the current culture of "everyone who doesn't agree with me must have some sort of terrible character flaw". With the movie still yet to be released however, we'll have to wait to see how it turns out.
There are a couple of issues that I have seen brought up online that I do want to address: "Carol Danvers is a c-list character" and "Captain marvel is a white guy".
Captain Marvel is indeed a white guy... if you're talking about the DC Universe. Actually, I'm pretty sure that they are just referring to him as "Shazam" now to avoid confusion. In the Marvel Universe, Captain Marvel hasn't been a white guy for decades. The character was killed off about 40 years ago. When I was a kid reading comics, Captain Marvel was Monica Rambeau, a black woman and really cool. She was an Avenger, part of the SECRET WARS event back in the 80s. The character is still very active and now known as "Spectrum", and still very cool. Carol Danvers took up the title a few years ago and currently uses it. So, it makes sense that the current version of the character is what will be featured on screen. We're still hoping beyond hope that people may watch a superhero movie and then actually buy a comic book. One day, it may happen!
Now let's address the "c-list" bit. This seems to be stemming from people trying to shoehorn Captain Marvel in being Marvel's answer to Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman is a trinity character. She is the direct representation of one of the three key aspects of the superhero genre in the DCU. In the Marvel Universe, that particular aspect (science fiction) is represented by Ironman, and I don't think anyone is going to be replacing him any time soon.
So, Carol isn't a trinity character, but "c-list"? No. This is a character that has been around for decades. My first exposure to her was in the pages of THE AVENGERS. It was right around #200, but fortunately not that particular issue because holy crap how did that weird story make it past editorial? Seriously, I'm old and jaded, but I even I read that thing and said "This thing is problematic". She was still Ms. Marvel at the time, but not for long because a few years after I discovered her character, the battle with Rogue happened, and Rogue stole her powers. This was a huge deal, because Carol spent years without her powers. We've seen those stories where a character loses their powers only to get them back a few issues later. This went on for years.
She was still active though. Years later, Carol received a new power set and became Binary, and went off to have awesome adventures in space. She has since regained her old power set, as well as the Binary power set. She was known as "Warbird" for a while and recently took the title of Captain Marvel. She's currently a member of the Avengers and head of Earth's defenses against alien threats. So, she's a big deal.
This brings us to the problem: this character is at her best in a group dynamic. Her solo titles have struggled a bit. Meanwhile, her tenures in THE AVENGERS, THE ULTIMATES, and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY have always been really cool. This isn't a bad thing. Some characters just work better under those conditions. In this regard, she's top notch and definitely an asset for writers to use to play off of other characters, and great for beating the crap out of baddies and blowing stuff up in dramatic fashion.
So why feature her in a solo film?
With the Thanos saga winding down in the films, the MCU is going to need a new direction to explore. This film may give a few clues as to what's to come with more of the Kree explored and the introduction of the Skrulls. Also consider, Ant-Man is also in the group of best on a team, and the movies of that character were both really great. Carol's also a character that's fully realized and while she started in relation to Marvel's original Captain Marvel, she's moved up to make the title her own. There is a market wanting woman led superhero films. Many fans have really wanted a Black Widow film (I'm definitely among them), but with the character's popularity, Marvel seems to be taking their time wanting to really get it right.
Ultimately, we hoping that its a good movie. I've been keeping my expectations low in hopes of being really pleasantly surprised. We'll see soon when it hits the theaters.
It is way too easy to get caught up in the pointless bickering, and I was guilty to buying into the articles and headlines that has a vested interest in keeping the fight going for the sake of views. The main concern I have is that any legitimate criticisms that may arise from the film will result in the person voicing said criticism as "sexist". I've had a few people online claim my dislike for BLACK PANTHER is the result of some sort of weird latent racism on my part. This is ridiculous, of course, and a symptom of the current culture of "everyone who doesn't agree with me must have some sort of terrible character flaw". With the movie still yet to be released however, we'll have to wait to see how it turns out.
There are a couple of issues that I have seen brought up online that I do want to address: "Carol Danvers is a c-list character" and "Captain marvel is a white guy".
Captain Marvel is indeed a white guy... if you're talking about the DC Universe. Actually, I'm pretty sure that they are just referring to him as "Shazam" now to avoid confusion. In the Marvel Universe, Captain Marvel hasn't been a white guy for decades. The character was killed off about 40 years ago. When I was a kid reading comics, Captain Marvel was Monica Rambeau, a black woman and really cool. She was an Avenger, part of the SECRET WARS event back in the 80s. The character is still very active and now known as "Spectrum", and still very cool. Carol Danvers took up the title a few years ago and currently uses it. So, it makes sense that the current version of the character is what will be featured on screen. We're still hoping beyond hope that people may watch a superhero movie and then actually buy a comic book. One day, it may happen!
Now let's address the "c-list" bit. This seems to be stemming from people trying to shoehorn Captain Marvel in being Marvel's answer to Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman is a trinity character. She is the direct representation of one of the three key aspects of the superhero genre in the DCU. In the Marvel Universe, that particular aspect (science fiction) is represented by Ironman, and I don't think anyone is going to be replacing him any time soon.
So, Carol isn't a trinity character, but "c-list"? No. This is a character that has been around for decades. My first exposure to her was in the pages of THE AVENGERS. It was right around #200, but fortunately not that particular issue because holy crap how did that weird story make it past editorial? Seriously, I'm old and jaded, but I even I read that thing and said "This thing is problematic". She was still Ms. Marvel at the time, but not for long because a few years after I discovered her character, the battle with Rogue happened, and Rogue stole her powers. This was a huge deal, because Carol spent years without her powers. We've seen those stories where a character loses their powers only to get them back a few issues later. This went on for years.
She was still active though. Years later, Carol received a new power set and became Binary, and went off to have awesome adventures in space. She has since regained her old power set, as well as the Binary power set. She was known as "Warbird" for a while and recently took the title of Captain Marvel. She's currently a member of the Avengers and head of Earth's defenses against alien threats. So, she's a big deal.
This brings us to the problem: this character is at her best in a group dynamic. Her solo titles have struggled a bit. Meanwhile, her tenures in THE AVENGERS, THE ULTIMATES, and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY have always been really cool. This isn't a bad thing. Some characters just work better under those conditions. In this regard, she's top notch and definitely an asset for writers to use to play off of other characters, and great for beating the crap out of baddies and blowing stuff up in dramatic fashion.
So why feature her in a solo film?
With the Thanos saga winding down in the films, the MCU is going to need a new direction to explore. This film may give a few clues as to what's to come with more of the Kree explored and the introduction of the Skrulls. Also consider, Ant-Man is also in the group of best on a team, and the movies of that character were both really great. Carol's also a character that's fully realized and while she started in relation to Marvel's original Captain Marvel, she's moved up to make the title her own. There is a market wanting woman led superhero films. Many fans have really wanted a Black Widow film (I'm definitely among them), but with the character's popularity, Marvel seems to be taking their time wanting to really get it right.
Ultimately, we hoping that its a good movie. I've been keeping my expectations low in hopes of being really pleasantly surprised. We'll see soon when it hits the theaters.
Netflix IRON FIST review
OK, let's do this. There's been a lot said about this series even before it came out. The character was created in 1972. He's a kid who got stranded in the montains after a plane crash left him the sole survivor and was taken in by monks who taught him Kung-fu.
There's a ton of people upset that the ethnicity of the character was not changed from white to asian for the show. These people are at best in need of a real problem to be concerned about and at worst racist. There are plenty of people who have gone to Asia, learned martial arts, and become quite good at them. I'm living proof. To insist that a character be asian because they become a kung-fu champion pushes a nasty stereotype. Quite often those are making these complaints rave of the virtues of multiculturalism; but upon seeing someone they don't approve of based solely on their skin color benefitting from being immersed in and benefitting from a foreign culture, scream 'cultural appropriation'.
Now that the stupid part is pushed aside, let's look at the show. Yes, there will be SPOILERS. You've been warned. Also, this is going to be more of a book report in that if you want full explanations of who all these characters all WATCH THE SERES!
Its a thirteen episode slow burn. It doesn't rush, because with this story, you can't. Our hero, Danny, has returned to New York all grown up trying to figure out what it is to be Danny Rand again. Everyone believes he's dead and it takes quite a bit of effort to convince people he is who he says he is. His childhood friends run the corporation that their fathers started. They, Ward and Joy, are understandibly sceptical because Danny is worth a ridiculous amount of money. Danny, to his credit, is more concerned with helping people and getting his life back than he is about the money.
What follows is an incredible web which is just a beauty to watch play out. This brings us the theme of the entire show: manipulation.
From Merriam-Webster: manipulate: to treat or operate with or as if with the hands or by mechanical means especially in a skillful manner
Quite appropriate that the foes Danny faces throughout the series is The Hand. The Hand first popped up in Netflix's Daredevil series and was featured prominently in season two. In Iron Fist we see a lot of their inner workings, especially as Danny tries to fulfill the mission he was given: to destroy the Hand. That's only part of his problems in that everyone he encounters, with the exception of Claire, is either a manipulator or a pawn.
The bottom keeps dropping out from under Danny and the viewer during the series. Every time you think you have a good handle on how this is going to play out and where everyone stands you get a new bit of information that changes everything.
Hands are a powerful motif that repeats over and over throughout the series. The hand being the name of the organiztion Danny is facing. You see a hand print on Harold's window when he leaves his confinement and they let him know they are watching. Harold later slices off a finger showing subservience and his lack of influence within the hand. His finger returns showing that he still has quite a bit of power and influence upon his return. At his lowest when Ward is in need of drugs he injures his own hand thus showing his lack of ability to control himself and others. That lack of control is quickly evident when he fails to get the drugs he wants. A handprint is necessary to enter Harold's penthouse. Danny's hand getting shot in the final battle as he's desparate to clear his name stop Harold, only to be fully healed once he comes to terms with himself and the path he's on. Showing of handprints let's you know you're being watched. An injured hand shows a character losing their power. Healing of a hand shows a return of their power and their control (either over themselves or others).
There's all these little pieces that make this so delicious. The sale's women manipulating people into buying their drugs. All the insults Danny is subjected to in hopes of making him angry and controlable. The entire challenge match Gao sets up is completely about control. She even manipulates the outcome. Gao is fascinating here in that she's just as manipulative as eveyone else but she's honest about it. Truth can manipulate as much as any lie when truth is controled. And the name of Colleen's dojo, "Chikara". Translated from Japanese it mean "power", "capability" or (pay attention) "influence". Also, for a nice subtle one, the kata that is being practiced by the group inside the compound when Danny is being shown around is named Seienchin which means "to push or pull in battle" or "control".
The show is worth the ride for the brilliantly executed themes and motifs alone. Add in really great performances from the entire cast and so excellent fight sequences and its a definite winner. Its not a front to back kung-fu action piece. The action is earned and not gratuitious. The fight scene themselves get more and more interesting and intense as the series progresses.
And I'm going to make a quick note here about the "hallway fight". The original hallway fight was in season one, episode two of Daredevil. Its an amazing piece in that it firmly tells a story and is down without cuts, meaning you maintain one camera shot and its done in one continuous take. Its insanely difficult. They did it again in season two. Since then, people were trying to see "hallway fights" in later series Luke Cage and Iron Fist. They aren't there. Just because a fight scene takes place in a hallway does not mean the writers and directors were going for something as grand as they did in Daredevil.
Bottom line: while I hold Daredevil as the high water mark of Marvel's Netflix shows, Iron Fist is right behind it. Its smart television with great performances. Definitely worth your time to watch.
There's a ton of people upset that the ethnicity of the character was not changed from white to asian for the show. These people are at best in need of a real problem to be concerned about and at worst racist. There are plenty of people who have gone to Asia, learned martial arts, and become quite good at them. I'm living proof. To insist that a character be asian because they become a kung-fu champion pushes a nasty stereotype. Quite often those are making these complaints rave of the virtues of multiculturalism; but upon seeing someone they don't approve of based solely on their skin color benefitting from being immersed in and benefitting from a foreign culture, scream 'cultural appropriation'.
Now that the stupid part is pushed aside, let's look at the show. Yes, there will be SPOILERS. You've been warned. Also, this is going to be more of a book report in that if you want full explanations of who all these characters all WATCH THE SERES!
Its a thirteen episode slow burn. It doesn't rush, because with this story, you can't. Our hero, Danny, has returned to New York all grown up trying to figure out what it is to be Danny Rand again. Everyone believes he's dead and it takes quite a bit of effort to convince people he is who he says he is. His childhood friends run the corporation that their fathers started. They, Ward and Joy, are understandibly sceptical because Danny is worth a ridiculous amount of money. Danny, to his credit, is more concerned with helping people and getting his life back than he is about the money.
What follows is an incredible web which is just a beauty to watch play out. This brings us the theme of the entire show: manipulation.
From Merriam-Webster: manipulate: to treat or operate with or as if with the hands or by mechanical means especially in a skillful manner
Quite appropriate that the foes Danny faces throughout the series is The Hand. The Hand first popped up in Netflix's Daredevil series and was featured prominently in season two. In Iron Fist we see a lot of their inner workings, especially as Danny tries to fulfill the mission he was given: to destroy the Hand. That's only part of his problems in that everyone he encounters, with the exception of Claire, is either a manipulator or a pawn.
The bottom keeps dropping out from under Danny and the viewer during the series. Every time you think you have a good handle on how this is going to play out and where everyone stands you get a new bit of information that changes everything.
Hands are a powerful motif that repeats over and over throughout the series. The hand being the name of the organiztion Danny is facing. You see a hand print on Harold's window when he leaves his confinement and they let him know they are watching. Harold later slices off a finger showing subservience and his lack of influence within the hand. His finger returns showing that he still has quite a bit of power and influence upon his return. At his lowest when Ward is in need of drugs he injures his own hand thus showing his lack of ability to control himself and others. That lack of control is quickly evident when he fails to get the drugs he wants. A handprint is necessary to enter Harold's penthouse. Danny's hand getting shot in the final battle as he's desparate to clear his name stop Harold, only to be fully healed once he comes to terms with himself and the path he's on. Showing of handprints let's you know you're being watched. An injured hand shows a character losing their power. Healing of a hand shows a return of their power and their control (either over themselves or others).
There's all these little pieces that make this so delicious. The sale's women manipulating people into buying their drugs. All the insults Danny is subjected to in hopes of making him angry and controlable. The entire challenge match Gao sets up is completely about control. She even manipulates the outcome. Gao is fascinating here in that she's just as manipulative as eveyone else but she's honest about it. Truth can manipulate as much as any lie when truth is controled. And the name of Colleen's dojo, "Chikara". Translated from Japanese it mean "power", "capability" or (pay attention) "influence". Also, for a nice subtle one, the kata that is being practiced by the group inside the compound when Danny is being shown around is named Seienchin which means "to push or pull in battle" or "control".
The show is worth the ride for the brilliantly executed themes and motifs alone. Add in really great performances from the entire cast and so excellent fight sequences and its a definite winner. Its not a front to back kung-fu action piece. The action is earned and not gratuitious. The fight scene themselves get more and more interesting and intense as the series progresses.
And I'm going to make a quick note here about the "hallway fight". The original hallway fight was in season one, episode two of Daredevil. Its an amazing piece in that it firmly tells a story and is down without cuts, meaning you maintain one camera shot and its done in one continuous take. Its insanely difficult. They did it again in season two. Since then, people were trying to see "hallway fights" in later series Luke Cage and Iron Fist. They aren't there. Just because a fight scene takes place in a hallway does not mean the writers and directors were going for something as grand as they did in Daredevil.
Bottom line: while I hold Daredevil as the high water mark of Marvel's Netflix shows, Iron Fist is right behind it. Its smart television with great performances. Definitely worth your time to watch.
Captain America: Civil War REVIEW
For those of you who have followed me for a while, you know I think the CIVIL WAR comic book was horribly written and one of the worst things Marvel ever put out. Why that comic has gotten any praise at all from comic book fans baffles me. It utterly screwed up the dynamic of the Marvel trinity. It had main characters acting horribly out of character. And the fall out from it was ridiculous.
Need a quick overview of the book, watch this.
Ok, got all that? Cool. Now on to the review.
PAST THIS POINT THERE BE SPOILERS, AND POSSIBLY DRAGONS, SO DON'T GO CRYING TO ME ABOUT RUINING THE MOVIE OR GETTING CHAR-BROILED!!!
Everything the comic book did wrong, the movie did right. The book had Cap and Tony at each others' throats over a difference of opinion about government oversight on superheroes. That element is indeed at play in the movie, but there is so much more at play here.
This is a revenge story, and a really good one. All these little twists keep going to bring about the ultimate result of the movie. The fanboys who love the comic have been wanting to see Captain America and Ironman kick the ever-lovin' crap out of each other, and guess what, that's exactly what the main villain wants too.
Let that sink in for a moment, you people who wanted to see tension between these characters and wanted them to beat each other up.
Tons of manipulation, all these little moments that seem to be a bit pointless in the film, come together to form this nasty web that catches our heroes. And the great thing here is that it allows each of the characters to stay true to themselves and we don't have idiotic things like Cap acting like a zealot and Tony recruiting super villains after all the heroes realize he's being a douche.
In fact, Tony is the main target of the manipulation. I have to wonder if there's scenes that had to get cut revealing the mother of the slain college student was a plant working for Zemo and that the explosion early in the film was somehow rigged. That isn't crucial to the film, as it could just be our villain waiting for the perfect opportunity to spring his trap. He's a patient one.
So, we have an excellent plot that greatly improved the dreck that was the comic. On to the movie itself.
The performances were great top to bottom. There's been a lot of buzz about Spidey and Black Panther, and how great they were, and its warranted. Everyone had these wonderfully juicy moments, and it all meshed together so nicely. It's a very well balanced script, and while we have a dozen superheroes running around its clear that this is a Captain America film. That's hard because Robert Downey Jr. is always amazing as Tony Stark, but Chris Evans holds his own so well as the stanch moral rock of the movie.
Here's the hing about Captain America: he's right. He's the character that is when given all the possible choices is always going to make the one that's going to help as many people as possible. So, when asked if you're TeamCap or Teamfillintheblank, if your answer isn't TeamCap then you need to probably reconsider your position. And Evans absolutely nails it without coming off holier-than-thou.
My only problem with the movie is how some of the fight scenes were shot. I hate shakey camera work and I hate quick action cuts. That's how sloppy fight choreography gets covered up and it doesn't look like these scenes were sloppy fight choreography. Let me see the moves and not risk motion sickness, please!
There was plenty of funny bits to keep folks entertained, which is good. There's a lot of really heavy and dark stuff going on in this story. Marvel knows when to lighten the mood without coming off cheesy or cheapening the story. They're also a bit self aware, especially in regards to Marissa Tomei who many people have said is way too young and too hot to play Aunt May.
The trailers for this movie were really misleading on the lot of points. Lines were cherry picked to make it seem like Tony and Cap were really not liking each other at all. They left me wondering how two people who are indeed friends could have that much animosity over a difference of opinion on an issue that's pretty much just political. Once everything gets put in context with the movie it makes so much more sense. And for those who say, well there was that animosty there back in the first Avengers movie, you're refering to scenes in which all the characters were at each others throats due to the Mind Gem being in the room, so stop, you're embarrassing yourselves.
Bottom line: I went into this movie with a lot of apprehension, and am now releaved that that Marvel managed to make this story happen without it being the utter trainwreck that the comic was and having all of these heroes coming out of it with us as viewers still being able to see them as heroes. Did the villain win here? Some may think so, but the final scenes in the film let us know that when the time comes, the Avengers will assemble once more.
Need a quick overview of the book, watch this.
Ok, got all that? Cool. Now on to the review.
PAST THIS POINT THERE BE SPOILERS, AND POSSIBLY DRAGONS, SO DON'T GO CRYING TO ME ABOUT RUINING THE MOVIE OR GETTING CHAR-BROILED!!!
Everything the comic book did wrong, the movie did right. The book had Cap and Tony at each others' throats over a difference of opinion about government oversight on superheroes. That element is indeed at play in the movie, but there is so much more at play here.This is a revenge story, and a really good one. All these little twists keep going to bring about the ultimate result of the movie. The fanboys who love the comic have been wanting to see Captain America and Ironman kick the ever-lovin' crap out of each other, and guess what, that's exactly what the main villain wants too.
Let that sink in for a moment, you people who wanted to see tension between these characters and wanted them to beat each other up.
Tons of manipulation, all these little moments that seem to be a bit pointless in the film, come together to form this nasty web that catches our heroes. And the great thing here is that it allows each of the characters to stay true to themselves and we don't have idiotic things like Cap acting like a zealot and Tony recruiting super villains after all the heroes realize he's being a douche.
In fact, Tony is the main target of the manipulation. I have to wonder if there's scenes that had to get cut revealing the mother of the slain college student was a plant working for Zemo and that the explosion early in the film was somehow rigged. That isn't crucial to the film, as it could just be our villain waiting for the perfect opportunity to spring his trap. He's a patient one.
So, we have an excellent plot that greatly improved the dreck that was the comic. On to the movie itself.
The performances were great top to bottom. There's been a lot of buzz about Spidey and Black Panther, and how great they were, and its warranted. Everyone had these wonderfully juicy moments, and it all meshed together so nicely. It's a very well balanced script, and while we have a dozen superheroes running around its clear that this is a Captain America film. That's hard because Robert Downey Jr. is always amazing as Tony Stark, but Chris Evans holds his own so well as the stanch moral rock of the movie.
Here's the hing about Captain America: he's right. He's the character that is when given all the possible choices is always going to make the one that's going to help as many people as possible. So, when asked if you're TeamCap or Teamfillintheblank, if your answer isn't TeamCap then you need to probably reconsider your position. And Evans absolutely nails it without coming off holier-than-thou.
My only problem with the movie is how some of the fight scenes were shot. I hate shakey camera work and I hate quick action cuts. That's how sloppy fight choreography gets covered up and it doesn't look like these scenes were sloppy fight choreography. Let me see the moves and not risk motion sickness, please!
There was plenty of funny bits to keep folks entertained, which is good. There's a lot of really heavy and dark stuff going on in this story. Marvel knows when to lighten the mood without coming off cheesy or cheapening the story. They're also a bit self aware, especially in regards to Marissa Tomei who many people have said is way too young and too hot to play Aunt May.
The trailers for this movie were really misleading on the lot of points. Lines were cherry picked to make it seem like Tony and Cap were really not liking each other at all. They left me wondering how two people who are indeed friends could have that much animosity over a difference of opinion on an issue that's pretty much just political. Once everything gets put in context with the movie it makes so much more sense. And for those who say, well there was that animosty there back in the first Avengers movie, you're refering to scenes in which all the characters were at each others throats due to the Mind Gem being in the room, so stop, you're embarrassing yourselves.
Bottom line: I went into this movie with a lot of apprehension, and am now releaved that that Marvel managed to make this story happen without it being the utter trainwreck that the comic was and having all of these heroes coming out of it with us as viewers still being able to see them as heroes. Did the villain win here? Some may think so, but the final scenes in the film let us know that when the time comes, the Avengers will assemble once more.
Movie Review: THOR: THE DARK WORLD
For those wondering what's the 411 on this and haven't seen it, its been two years since the events of the first movie. We also find out what happened when Loki was returned to Asgard at the end of THE AVENGERS. Beings called the Dark Elves who were defeated by forces led by Thor's grandfather are setting to return to destroy the "Nine Realms" which does include Asgard and Earth.
Everything in this movie is bigger than the first movie. The first movie was more Earth centered. In this film you see so much more of Asgard, and its all absolutely stunning. The effects in the film were very well done. The amount of production and post production that went into this really show in the final product. Of course, being me, I love the fight scenes, and there's plenty of those to be had.
Chris Hemsworth once again did a wonderful job playing Thor. Yes ladies, he does take his shirt off. I know this is important to many of you. That aside, he really delivered with everything asked of him be it the big action heroics, the heavy drama, the romantic parts, and the humor. Natalie Portman is great as Jane who is once again in way over her head (not a short joke, honest) but shows a lot of guts in dealing with the fantastic things she's experiencing. Anthony Hopkins shows a lot fo gravity and restraint in playing Odin. It would be so easy to go over the top with the role. Chris Eccleston plays the big bad in this and he's quite monstrous in his quest to destroy everything. There's no liking this villain.
Three people in this really made this a memorable movie for me. Kat Dennings as Darcy was a joy. For the most part she was comedy relief, but she so great here that you can't help smiling whenever she's on screen. Rene Russo as Frigga was magnificent. She was quite under used in the first film, but this movie gives her these really great scenes that made a lasting impression on me. Finally, I have to talk about Tom Higgleston as Loki. Yes, I know there's a lot of fan-girling over him. I wasn't too sure about how they were going to be using him in this film. Tom Higgleston gave an amazing performance, and he's given so much great material to work with. The character's motivations are constantly questioned both by the other characters in the film and the audience. He keeps everyone guessing, but is so consistent that who can really latch onto him as a character. The actor has gotten a lot of praise for the role, and earns every bit of it.
This movie had a lot of action and drama. Outstanding effects. The final battle was completely nuts, but I loved every bit of it. They also did a great job in lightening things up with great humor at all the right times. There were real laugh out lot moments.
Lastly, this movie succeeded where IRONMAN 3 failed. IM3 felt like a final chapter, as if that part of the Marvel Universe was closing down. This movie expanded on thing in the finale which will leave viewers wanting more. Also, make sure to hang in for both of the bonus scenes. The first one mid-credits surprised the crap out of me. The one at the end of the credits was a lot of fun.
Great film. I'd pay to see it in theaters again.
BAIL OUT!
The following is completely true, except for the parts that aren't.
With our troubling economic times it seems like everyone is taking a hit. The comic industry is no exception.
"We're pretty sure that the country's economic woes are the real reason COUNTDOWN didn't sell as well as we hoped." said Dan DiDio, DC Comics editor-in-chief.
The problems did not stop there, as Marvel was having it's own troubles making sales. "I don't get it." cried Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, "Three movies, a cartoon series, and his likeness on everything and SPIDER-MAN just isn't selling? What the hell?"
"The government has to do something." Remarked DiDio. "We're too big to fail. What would the world be without Superman?" Despite the fact that this question was answered by the storyline following the "Death of Superman", DiDio remained adamant that society is not ready to face this possibility. To try to get in the good graces of the folks on Capital Hill, DiDio and Quesada both are looking to whatever it takes to try to get a piece of the bailout pie.
"We're going green!" announced DiDio. "We'll only be using recycled storylines from now on! In fact, expect Clark and Lois to get a visit Neron next year."
"You can't do that!" cried Quesada.
"Why not?"
"Because we ripped off 'One More Day' from the storyline where Neron tried to steal the love between Wally and Linda West... I mean... nuthin'..." Quesada said and them promptly left the room for a potty break. He returned moments later much more composed. "We've already gone green over at Marvel!" he proclaimed, but then asked to retract that proclamation upon being informed that having Skrulls all over the place doesn't count.
They did meet with some opposition at getting bail out funds from the Government as President-elect Obama felt that money should be taken from them and given to smaller companies, because 'spreading the wealth is a good thing'. The President-elect quickly changed his mind after DiDio and Quesada offered to create a massive crossover event revealing that Lex Luthor and Doctor Doom both receive orders from radio talk show host, and TV personality Sean Hannity. Obama did seem a bit more cozy with the Marvel contingent.
"I don't know why." said Quesada. "He just seemed more comfortable with people willing to deny the existence of twenty year long relationships."
Only time will tell if any bail out money goes to either of the companies. It's my hope that these companies do make it because should they fall Lord only knows what Geoff Johns and Brian Bendis would do with all that time on their hands.
With our troubling economic times it seems like everyone is taking a hit. The comic industry is no exception.
"We're pretty sure that the country's economic woes are the real reason COUNTDOWN didn't sell as well as we hoped." said Dan DiDio, DC Comics editor-in-chief.
The problems did not stop there, as Marvel was having it's own troubles making sales. "I don't get it." cried Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, "Three movies, a cartoon series, and his likeness on everything and SPIDER-MAN just isn't selling? What the hell?"
"The government has to do something." Remarked DiDio. "We're too big to fail. What would the world be without Superman?" Despite the fact that this question was answered by the storyline following the "Death of Superman", DiDio remained adamant that society is not ready to face this possibility. To try to get in the good graces of the folks on Capital Hill, DiDio and Quesada both are looking to whatever it takes to try to get a piece of the bailout pie.
"We're going green!" announced DiDio. "We'll only be using recycled storylines from now on! In fact, expect Clark and Lois to get a visit Neron next year."
"You can't do that!" cried Quesada.
"Why not?"
"Because we ripped off 'One More Day' from the storyline where Neron tried to steal the love between Wally and Linda West... I mean... nuthin'..." Quesada said and them promptly left the room for a potty break. He returned moments later much more composed. "We've already gone green over at Marvel!" he proclaimed, but then asked to retract that proclamation upon being informed that having Skrulls all over the place doesn't count.
They did meet with some opposition at getting bail out funds from the Government as President-elect Obama felt that money should be taken from them and given to smaller companies, because 'spreading the wealth is a good thing'. The President-elect quickly changed his mind after DiDio and Quesada offered to create a massive crossover event revealing that Lex Luthor and Doctor Doom both receive orders from radio talk show host, and TV personality Sean Hannity. Obama did seem a bit more cozy with the Marvel contingent.
"I don't know why." said Quesada. "He just seemed more comfortable with people willing to deny the existence of twenty year long relationships."
Only time will tell if any bail out money goes to either of the companies. It's my hope that these companies do make it because should they fall Lord only knows what Geoff Johns and Brian Bendis would do with all that time on their hands.
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