Superhero

Aquaman (2018)

Aquaman

Aquaman (2018)

Director:

James Wan

Starring:

Jason Momoa

Amber Heard

Nicole Kidman

Dolph Lundgren

Plot:

Arthur Curry, the human-born heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, goes on a quest to prevent a war between the worlds of ocean and land.

Review:

I went in with no expectations for this movie. I’d only watched one trailer, that I didn’t really remember, but I had several people tell me this and Wonder Woman were signaling DC finally coming into their own. I don’t know what the hell movie they were watching but I personally felt that Aquaman was hot garbage.

How many times did something explode into people interrupting a moment? Like four times! How many times did a guitar riff play when Aquaman said some one line? I think another four times, in like the first half hour. The CG hair was super distracting, especially on Dolph Lundgren. The movie was way too long. The plot boring and super, super predictable but not in a fun way. There was nothing fun about this movie.

Maybe if you’re a huge Aquaman fan you enjoyed how close to the comics the villains costumes supposedly were. I’ve never read an Aquaman comic so I couldn’t take Manta Ray seriously. And every time they said Ocean Master I snorted.

I just…I can’t with DC. After watching Captain Marvel and Into the Spiderverse it’s like they aren’t anywhere in the same league and I can’t help but compare them. Marvel has had a plan since day one and it freaking shows. The DC universe makes the X-Men universe look simple. I just don’t know what the fuck was going on in the greater world and universe and honestly I don’t care.

I wasn’t invested in any of the relationships in this movie which made the over two hour movie drag into eternity. There was no chemistry between any of the actors, though Nicole Kidman, god love her, tried. I just couldn’t with anyone here and have no idea what the fuck people were raving about with this movie.

1/5

Captain Marvel (2019)

Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel (2019)

Director:

Anna Boden

Ryan Fleck

Starring:

Brie Larson

Samuel L. Jackson

Ben Mendelson

Lashana Lynch

Plot:

Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.

Review:

So I have managed to see this movie twice in theaters, which is unheard of for me, now. I was not a huge fan of the Wonder Woman movie and ever since Black Panther I’ve been excited and scared for Captain Marvel. I hoped so much that it would be everything I wanted in a female superhero movie, but after years of disappointments I was afraid they wouldn’t be able to deliver. Oh boy did they deliver.

SPOILERS

Carol Danvers, Brie Larson, has her own sense of humor, which is a bit sarcastic and loveable annoying. She’s pushed the limits since she was a child, refusing to allow others to tell her she can’t do something, especially if it’s because of her gender. For most of the movie she is missing large chunks of her memory and because of that she has a moment of doubt unsure of who she is, but it doesn’t take much from her best friend to remind her. Even under the control of the Cree who she is shone through.

The fight scenes are always the scenes I’m most disappointed in with Marvel movies and sadly Captain Marvel wasn’t an exception. They were cut fast and shaky so it was hard to tell who was doing what, or just to see anything cool looking. It’s a common trend with the movies though so at this point I don’t expect anything else.

Nick Fury, Samuel L. Jackson, looked incredible. Based on quick math I estimate that Fury was around 51-54 at the time of the movie. I know that there was some CG done with him but it was so well done you could hardly tell. He was younger, and a bit more silly, but he was still very much the intelligent and quick thinking Nick Fury you expect.

Maria Rambeau, Lashana Lynch, was Carol’s best friend and the one that grounded her when she needed it. I was so glad that she had her own moment to shine and was not just a sidekick to Carol. Her daughter was precocious and the possible hints at Maria’s relationship with Carol were exciting.

Captain Marvel did not have a romance and I really appreciated that. I feel like there might have been a possibility with Maria, but since Captain Marvel has been missing for the last twenty-four years I’m not sure if that’s still viable in the current timeline. The main point of the movie was Carol becoming a superhero, answering questions about future plot points, and setting the stage for Endgame.

I know that more than a few people have complained that timeline wise they felt Captain Marvel should have been done at a different time that it slowed everything down, and to that I can’t roll my eyes hard enough. An incredibly common story telling technique is to take a step back, before the climactic conclusion, and do a flashback. Explain some things and maybe even introduce an element to the story that’s going to help in the final battle. It does slow things down, but it gives the viewer/reader a chance to breath. It answers questions that wouldn’t necessarily have been answered with the conclusion. It expands on character development. It gives everyone a small break from universal consequences.

We’re going to get Endgame very soon but I am beyond thrilled that we got Captain Marvel when we did. Finally, getting to see a female superhero movie done by Marvel was incredible and I am so excited for what’s to come.

4.5/5

 

HIGHER. FURTHER. FASTER.

Deadpool 2 (2018)


Deadpool 2 (2018)

Director:

David Leitch

Starring:

Ryan Reynolds

Josh Brolin

Morena Baccarin

Julian Dennison

Zazie Beetz

Brianna Hildebrand

Stefan Kapicic

Plot:

Foul-mouthed mutant mercenary Wade Wilson (AKA. Deadpool), brings together a team of fellow mutant rogues to protect a young boy with supernatural abilities from the brutal, time-traveling cyborg, Cable.

Review:

This is one of those rare instances when the sequel is better than the original. I loved the first Deadpool movie, but this just about blew it out of the water, and I haven’t even seen the unrated cut yet.

Holy shit, the music, the jokes, the action! It was all spot on. I seriously can’t think of a single complaint and hope to god that Deadpool 3 and X-Force can live up to what Deadpool 2 has done.

Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool, kills all the bad guys, except one. Unfortunately that one ends up destroying all of Reynolds happiness. Due to his mutant ability he is unable to kill himself and finds himself at a loose end. He tries to be an X-Men and that fails. He tries to make his own team, that does not work as planned. Eventually, it takes a time traveling Josh Brolin to tell him his path back into the arms of his love. It’s beautiful.

In a year where we’ve had the fucking amazing Black Panther, Deadpool earns it’s position right up there with it. So good.

5/5

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Seasons 4 & 5


Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Seasons 4 & 5

Network:

ABC

Creator:

Maurissa Tancharoen

Jed Whedon

Joss Whedon

Starring:

Clark Gregg

Ming-Na Wen

Chloe Bennett

Ian De Caestecker

Elizabeth Henstridge

Henry Simmons

Natalia Cordova-Buckley

Jeff Ward

Plot:

The missions of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.

Review:

I dropped Shield three episodes into season 4. Later I heard so many people talking about how amazing it was and how the last two seasons were the best and after watching several other superhero shows I decided to go back and give it another shot.

First off, I have to disagree about Season 4, it was very much more of the same for me. The virtual world they were in was interesting, but went on way too long. I never warmed up to the Ghostrider arc.

Season 4 overall, was alright, but didn’t do much for me. It just kept dragging out the relationship drama more and the big bad never seemed to be beat, but they were fighting it forever. It was draining. Just when you thought there was a resolution, they’d discover some new connection, or their “solution” would have all kinds of bad consequences.

Finally they beat it, take a breath, and then disappear. I was all prepared to drop Shield again, but the Season 4 finale had me deciding to try out at least the first episode of 5, which then had me watching the entire season.

Season 5 was, for me, when things finally got good. I love time travel, I love space, and Fitz, Iain De Caestecker, as a mercenary is something I never knew I needed in my life until now. The first half was fun, though, by the end it had gotten increasingly darker as more revelations about the future were made. They finally get back home and things just get horrible.

It was back to the constantly trying to fight an inevitable conclusion that finally wasn’t resolved until the last episode. It’s one thing to hint at something throughout a season, but having it basically be the focus for entire episodes is just draining. I just wanted it to be over. I wanted Fitz and Simmons, Elizabeth Henstridge, to be together and not fighting to survive the destruction of the world. I wanted Deke, Jeff Ward, to stop being a love sick puppy and go back to being a Dollar Store Starlord. I wanted Daisy, Chloe Bennett, to just be gone. And please, everyone, just get off of Yoyo, Natalia Cordova-Buckley, back. She made a hard decision that needed to be made and most of the team *cough* Daisy *cough* were being absolute hypocritical assholes about it.

The ending had me in tears. Not because Phil, Clark Gregg, was leaving, even though he’s one of the best characters, but because they fucking killed Fitz. But then, they didn’t. There’s a second one floating in space waiting for them to find him, because of course there is, but that’s honestly the only reason I’m going to watch the next season. I’m really hoping for a less world ending season and more of a focus on smaller things. Leave the world to the Avengers, please.

2/5

Renegades

Renegades (Renegades #1) By: Marissa Meyer

Plot:

Secret Identities. Extraordinary Powers. She wants vengeance. He wants justice.

The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies — humans with extraordinary abilities — who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone… except the villains they once overthrew.

Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice — and in Nova. But Nova’s allegiance is to a villain who has the power to end them both.

Review:

Why do YA superhero books have to start out killing a baby? I understand setting up a tragic past, but come on do something else, please.

It took me a while to get into Renegades, partly, I believe, because it reminded me a lot of Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson. As the world was revealed and the characters more developed those similarities lessened, but it was still a world recovering from an apocalypse, still had young adults with powers making stupid decisions and being emo.

Nova and Adrian are frustrating characters for me, they’re both smart kids, capable of critical thinking, but they have both swallowed the kool-aid so completely on their respective sides that they can’t seem to see the negatives. They’d walk right up to the edge and then turn around, they couldn’t take that final step. It was annoying.

My fear is that the next book, which is supposed to be the final one, doesn’t try to fix things, that it picks a side and you’re supposed to just accept the problems that come with it. Surely that’s not where she’s going with this.

I was disappointed with the level of world building. What there was only really existed for the Renegades. The rest of the world didn’t matter, it was just sort of there ignored in the background.

There was some potential here, but I wasn’t thrilled with really anything in this book.

3/5