Tag: super hero

Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel

Posted March 9, 2019

I’m a bit disappointed because I wanted to like Captain Marvel more, despite my reservations. The trailers weren’t great. Very little story and even less personality. But I still hoped the movie would deliver. I should have known better. It’s not a bad movie. It’s just…bland. It’s not exciting. It’s not fun or funny. The movie has as little personality as the trailers. It looks cool in parts – when she’s all on fire (but without the lame helmet) and the way her memories flicker through the scenes. It’s quippy (but not in a way that made me laugh). It’s […]

Avengers: Infinity War

Avengers: Infinity War

Posted April 28, 2018

When Marvel filmed Avengers: Infinity War, they had no way of knowing how successful Black Panther would be. They probably guessed it would be successful enough. Because all of the Marvel movies have been. But 3rd highest domestic gross and and 5th biggest opening weekend. Beyond the money, it was a cultural phenomena that made so many different people feel their voice heard in new and undeniable ways. It also inspired Disney to share a little bit of the wealth to support youth STEM programs. Which means they will unequivocally make a sequel. They did know, when filming Infinity War, […]

Thor: Ragnarok

Thor: Ragnarok

Posted November 5, 2017

Ragnarok is a moderately decent Marvel movie. But it isn’t a good Thor movie. The standalone movies each have distinctive styles. An Iron Man film is contemporary and flashy with trusty sidekicks Pepper and Happy and Rhoddy and quippy one-liners. Captain America lost both his sidekicks (the Roaring Commandos) and his wonderful love interest (the incredible Peggy Carter) when he jumped forward in time. Since then his movies haven’t really been his – they’ve served as vehicles for the MCU with Cap as the centerpiece. And Thor… well a Thor movie has a bit of epic grandiosity and beauty. There’s […]

Dr. Strange

Dr. Strange

Posted November 5, 2016

tldr: It’s Inception meets The Matrix in super hero form. Which, how has no one done Inception meets The Matrix before? They fit too perfectly together. While I knew a bit about Dr. Strange going in, like the character’s name and his look and that he messed with reality, I didn’t really know his history or the mythology around him. So, it was quite refreshing to not know what was coming for this character as the story progressed. And it progressed a bit slowly. A bit of too close detail on medical tools in the beginning. A bit of meandering […]

Captain America: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War

Posted May 8, 2016

When a movie does so many things well, it’s hard to find the words. It’s a lot easier to point out flaws, to identify where it could have been better and what they should have done. But Captain America: Civil War is a solid movie; probably my favorite Captain America movie and easily up in the top 5 Marvel movies overall. I liked the plot a lot better than Winter Soldier. I like that it didn’t use montages like The First Avenger. Plus, is really funny. It’s witty and it’s true to the characters and the timing was spot on […]

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Posted May 2, 2015

I happened to watch Agents of SHIELD, the Dirty Half Dozen before I went to see Age of Ultron and it was pretty impressive how one picked up right where the other left off. It felt like one universe. It was one of the few things Agents of SHIELD did right. One of the things Age of Ultron managed is that despite all the previews and hype everywhere, I still went in not knowing what to expect. And I was surprised. I liked that the pacing of the third act wasn’t typical. I liked that it did the unexpected. I […]

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Posted April 4, 2014

There were a lot of things in Captain America: The Winter Soldier that were a lot of fun. Not the least of which is Captain America himself. Even so, it wasn’t quite what I expected. It was much more real world than prior Marvel movies, I think even more so than the Iron Man films. Because Tony Stark as a billionaire playboy doesn’t resemble much of real life even when he’s not in the suit. It almost didn’t even quite feel like a super hero movie. Which I liked. It took this very fantastic universe and grounded it in a […]

Thor: The Dark World

Thor: The Dark World

Posted November 9, 2013

I was expecting this movie to be good. I liked the first one a lot (with only a few qualifications) and I liked the character even more in The Avengers. So, yes, I pretty much expected The Dark World to be good. And even then, I was impressed. Because this is one of those movies that’s the ideal in the tentpole-blockbuster-extravaganza films because it’s a character movie first and all of those other things second. The relationship with Thor and Jane Foster is better than the first movie. Even though I still don’t think they have much chemistry we got […]

The Wolverine

The Wolverine

Posted July 27, 2013

I have to admit that I heard a couple of Collider interviews that pointed out that this isn’t really a comic book movie until the third act and I totally have to agree. It’s thoughtful and interesting and sort of everything I expected the first Wolverine movie to be. But for all the character work in the beginning, I never engaged with this movie emotionally. Not in a Nolan way, because the movie lacked substantive emotion, but in a very personal way. Nothing in this movie resonated in me. But it was well made so, I would imagine it could […]

Man of Steel

Man of Steel

Posted June 23, 2013

It’s not often that my reviews are as colored by other opinions and insights as this one is. But that’s what happens when I wait a week to write it, and in this case I think it makes for a better review. There was a lot to like in Man of Steel. A lot of character drama, some very good performances and a good score. And bonus points for Tahmoh! But there was also a darkness to the film that didn’t really fit with Superman in some ways and some Nolan elements that couldn’t be escaped. By and large, the […]