Superhero

Justice League (2017)

The Superman we Deserve

Justice League (2017)

Director:

Zack Snyder

Starring:

Ben Affleck

Gal Gadot

Jason Momoa

Amy Adams

Ezra Miller

Ray Fisher

Henry Cavill

Plot:

Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy.

Review:

I watched this movie for the scenes with Superman, Henry Cavill, and his mustache. I had no hopes for this, I knew it was going to be crap from the minute I heard about it. DC completely screwed up the execution of this entire franchise. I have no hope of seeing a good Superman movie in my lifetime. At least Wonder Woman, Gal Godot, wasn’t awful, though in JL it seemed like they made the boobs of her costume bigger which was stupid.

The Flash, Ezra Miller, had a horrible costume, wasn’t a fan of the actor either. Cyborg, Ray Fisher, wasn’t a complete emo idiot, so that was nice, but the CG was just god awful and he’s mainly CG so…

Ben Affleck as Batman is just, ugh. I’m sorry but he is not that buff, I know he isn’t, so the suit just seems like a giant rubber unwieldy thing and I can’t believe him kicking butt in it. At least Aquaman, Jason Momoa, looks amazing. His lines are fucking stupid, but he’s hot and believable kicking ass.

Story was stupid. CG was half a step up from SyFy. Dialogue was so bad it wasn’t even funny. Movie sucked.

1/5

Black Panther (2018)

Black Panther (2018)

Director:

Ryan Coogler

Starring:

Chadwick Boseman

Michael B. Jordan

Lupita Nyong’o

Danai Gurira

Martin Freeman

Plot:

T’Challa, the King of Wakanda, rises to the throne in the isolated, technologically advanced African nation, but his claim is challenged by a vengeful outsider who was a childhood victim of T’Challa’s father’s mistake.

Review:

There is no way I can do this film justice in my review. I’m just not skilled enough and I’m still surfing on a buzz of awesome, but I’ll try.

T’Challa, Chadwick Boseman, is now not only the Black Panther but he’s king. Well, he will as soon as he completes a traditional ritual that involves fighting anyone that challenges him.

This is an incredibly technologically advanced culture and yet they are still able to honor their traditions, it was really quiet lovely. Embracing one did not, necessarily, take away from the other. However, it did end up causing some problems and they might want to think about a change in the future.

Anyway, as king he makes a vow to finally capture the colonizer that killed so many of their own decades ago. He’s given a chance, but is blindsided by a new player and loses his opportunity. This angers one of his friends and ends up providing an opening to the true villain, Killmonger, Michael B. Jordan.

Marvel is really winning on the villain side of things lately. They had a horrible, lets please forget the movie ever exists, misstep with Age of Ultron but got things right with Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Doctor Strange. They’re on a real winning streak which has me really looking forward to all the future movies.

Anyway, back to Black Panther. Killmonger could have very easily been not evil enough. He was incredibly empathetic, you could easily see how he’d become what he had become. He’d suffered and seen his people suffering all the while knowing that there was an entire country where they weren’t. Where they advanced beyond anything in the rest of the world. If he had stopped there, pleaded his case to T’Challa and tried the more humanitarian route that Nakia, Lupita Nyong’o, wanted to go then the movie wouldn’t have been as good. He went further and in so doing nearly destroyed what Wakanda stood for, but he also forced T’Challa to really see what life was like for those outside of his country and also see that his father wasn’t perfect.

Villains that make the hero change, to see other perspectives, are the best. Black Panther was a great hero, he was everything I like in a super hero. He was a good man, that strove to do the right things and make the right decisions, even when it wasn’t always the easiest route. Without Killmonger, though, I don’t think the movie would have succeeded so well in my eyes.

The supporting cast in Black Panther was also incredible. I freaking loved General Okoye, Danai Gurira, she was so freaking awesome. That red dress billowing in the breeze while she destroyed shit around her. So cool! Then you’ve got T’Challa’s sister Shuri, Letitia Wright, who was hilarious. It was so much fun to see her interactions with T’Challa. I also enjoyed how Martin Freeman’s character, Everett Ross, was the token white guy. He wasn’t killed in the first few minutes, he was actually given something useful to do so that was nice for him.

Black Panther is my second favorite Marvel movie, it was so good, and I hope that everyone is able to go see it.

5/5

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Director:

Taika Waititi

Starring:

Chris Hemsworth

Tom Hiddleston

Cate Blanchett

Karl Urban

Idris Elba

Jeff Goldblum

Anthony Hopkins

Mark Ruffalo

Plot:

Imprisoned, the almighty Thor finds himself in a lethal gladiatorial contest against the Hulk, his former ally. Thor must fight for survival and race against time to prevent the all-powerful Hela from destroying his home and the Asgardian civilization.

Review:

BEST MARVEL MOVIE!

I know, that’s a pretty bold statement, but I stand by it. The music was awesome. The characters were fun. The acting was great. The story, always the weak spot in a Thor movie, was entertaining. Seriously, days later and I still can’t think of a single thing that I didn’t love.

Thor’s hair was cut, they somehow took an already super attractive man and made him that much more attractive. His comedy timing was perfect and it felt like they finally found a good balance for the role.

The Hulk was great, he’s a character that can’t really carry a movie all on his own, but adding him to a Thor movie worked out beautifully.

The new characters and world were fun and exciting and honestly I just freaking loved this entire thing. If I could I would see it again and again in theaters. It was that good.

I loved the colors, I loved the action, I loved the comedy, I loved it all.

I know, I know, this is a sucky review, but just go watch the movie.

5/5

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Director:

Jon Watts

Starring:

Tom Holland

Michael Keaton

Robert Downey Jr.

Marisa Tomei

Plot:

Peter Parker balances his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens with his superhero alter-ego Spider-Man, and finds himself on the trail of a new menace prowling the skies of New York City.

Review:

I have a confession, I am not a Spider-Man fan. I used to be, I liked the first two Tobey Maguire films, but then I was young and stupid and knew nothing. I’ve seen the Amazing Spider-Man movies as well, pretty sure I’ve got reviews posted here for them. The thing that makes me not a fan of Spider-Man, though, is the one time I bought one of his comics it was in the middle of a story arc and he chose Aunt Mae over Mary Jane and I could not comprehend. Ever since I’ve thought of Spider-Man as an idiot and scoffed at his stuff.

Now that’s out of the way I can tell you that I really liked this movie. It nailed the tone of what I feel a Spider-Man movie should be like based on people I know that can’t shut up about him. It was funny, it was a good story, and the teen angst wasn’t overwhelming. Michael Keaton as a villain was great, so believable. You do things to take care of your family. His suit was awesome looking too. Falcon will forever look like a joke after Vulture. Love that Tony Stark was the catalyst for this whole problem. Do not like Tony Stark.

I was afraid that there would be too much Iron Man in the movie, but they did a pretty good balancing act. Peter, Tom Holland, learned how to stand on his own, so that’s good for future movies.

I did not like that almost all of the big scenes were in the trailers, there were almost no new scenes with Spider-Man showing epic levels of skill. Getting tired of that, trailers are becoming highlight reels instead of showing just enough to grab your attention and make you want to watch.

Anyway, I ended up buying the blu-ray after watching this from Red Box and have already watched it again. Spider-Man: Homecoming was a great movie and the start of what I hope is a successful series.

4/5

The Gifted (2017-?)

The Gifted (2017-?)

Network:

Fox

Starring:

Stephen Moyer

Amy Acker

Sean Teale

Plot:

In a world where mutated humans are treated with distrust and fear, an institute for mutants battles to achieve peaceful co-existence with humanity.

Review:

For anyone that doesn’t frequently read my blog, I watch a lot of superhero stuff. Movies and TV, if it’s superhero related I will probably watch it. However, I’m starting to get burnt out. I’ve dropped all but Legends of Tomorrow for the CW superhero shows. I didn’t enjoy the last two seasons of the Netflix Marvel shows. I’ve dropped Marvel’s Agents of Shield and I’m probably only going to end up hate watching Inhumans because it’s going to be so short. Legion is the only superhero show right now that I’m actually excited for.

With that in mind, when I heard the premise of The Gifted I was planning on not watching. I was interested, but figured I’d wait until it was finished and binge the entire thing, maybe. Then I saw that Amy Acker was in it and that combined with my mild interest meant I could no longer do that, I had to at least try out the first episode. I’m really glad I did.

Based on what I’ve read of the show it technically doesn’t take place in any of the already established mutant timelines, but there are a number of nods to X-Men story and people. The main thing though is there aren’t so many that someone who isn’t familiar with all the X-Men stuff will feel lost.

The world is not a friendly place for mutants and when two kids find out they have powers things get complicated for them. I really like that their parents find out quickly and the episode starts out with them on the run. We aren’t dealing with them trying to hide while continuing to live a normal life. They are immediately thrust into a hard new world and fighting to survive.

I liked the episode a lot, not as much as Legion’s first episode, but it was definitely enough to get me to continue watching the season as it airs.

4/5