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All reviews for the Marvel Cinematic Universe – from movies to shows and specials.

Movie Reviews

Eternals (2021) Review – Marvel Goes Indie And Why This Is A Good Thing

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This will be a weird review for me to write, as I will admit it straightaway – Eternals is without a doubt MCU’s weakest film in a good couple of years. It has a lot of issues; it throws a bunch of new characters your way; it was directed by Chloé Zhao, who up until now had not done a blockbuster/action film (and it shows) but… That is where the duality of my review kicks in – Eternals (read: a movie like this one) was/is needed in Marvel’s catalogue. I have admired many things about this film, and I ultimately believe, even though this film is not “superb” by any means, it might be one of the most important MCU films to date. And it’s due to the fact we need directors with such a unique vision/eye, such as Chloé, for the MCU to evolve. But maybe, just maybe, give her a second director/second unit that will advise with action sequences…?

Eternals feels like the most anti-Marvel film; that’s ever been part of MCU. Gone are the days of ultra CGI; this film replaced them with Chloé’s aesthetic eye for sunny wide shots that are stunning. That is one of the things this film has going for it for sure, purely on a technical level and how well some shots are composed in this film; this might be the most visually stunning/pleasing film in the entire history of MCU. You can tell Chloé is talented and understands characters. Unfortunately, you can also tell introducing around ten new characters to a well established “corporate machine” might not be the way to go.

But I can’t blame her for this. I don’t know whose idea this was, but this was my main problem with Eternals, too many damn characters. And even though most of them are played by well-known actors, sometimes they would not be on the screen for an hour or so before you’d realise: “Oh yeah, where is he/she?” I think this movie had the potential to be the next big “team film” like The Avengers (2012) IF we got introduced to these characters (or at least the most important ones) earlier on. Imagine how that would feel like, knowing at least some of these characters.

This film tries to do too much too quickly. We are introduced to ten new characters but not only that, they all lived through thousands of years on Earth, so of course, we need to cover that to an extent. Then there is the subplot about why they are here, the “potential big bad” we need to set up… On top of everything, the movie explains why the Eternals didn’t intervene when Thanos happened. Or why they didn’t help humans during any wars and stuff like that. And look, these are great questions to ask, and they lead to places your stereotypical blockbuster doesn’t usually go to (the idea of free will, whether it’s morally right to do nothing if you could end all suffering). But not in a movie that’s already trying to do a bit too much.

That is why Eternals end up looking like a film out of DC (I know I will piss some people off with this) but let’s face it, Marvel’s track record and DC’s track record is like comparing me to Leonard Maltin. Sure, we both love to watch movies and write about them, but one of us has been doing it “a bit” better and in a more eloquent way than I could ever dream of. This film feels disjointed. And I haven’t even talked about the action sequences.

Look… they are not that bad. But in 2021, we all saw action sequences can be done much better even within the MCU with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021, my review here). But if during this movie that feels epic, you find yourselves thinking: “a nap sounds great”, something is wrong. And this is why I firmly believe there should have been a co-director or somebody who could, at times, move this film along a bit. A maybe make these action sequences more exciting. Because they weren’t, and again, I can’t blame Chloé here. As she did precisely, what she was hired to do, she gave this movie a unique, artistic look that you can’t beat. Now imagine if they paired Chloé up with somebody else who understands traditional action more and could have advised her; how something can look/feel on the screen action-wise. I know this might sound strange saying: “This Oscar-winning director could have really used some help here; she doesn’t know what she was doing.” Because I am not saying that, let me put it this way, Woody Allen, Clint Eastwood, or Kenneth Lonergan are all great directors in their own right. But would they also struggle to direct your typical MCU action sequence? I believe so. And that doesn’t make them any less great it’s just not their thing.

The casting is something I loved in this film. We get a variety of outstanding people, from mainstream actors (Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Gemma Chan or Kumail Nanjiani) to actors I wasn’t as familiar with (Lia McHugh, Lauren Ridloff or Brian Tyree Henry), but they were superb. I hope we get to see them back (well, at least the ones who survived). Even though (and I know I’m not the first person to make this joke) it was weird for both Richard Madden and Kit Harington not only to be in the same scenes together, but they both pretty much say they love “Sersi”. That Game of Thrones (2011 – 2019) connection was pretty weird.

Overall, Eternals might be MCU’s biggest swing to date. But unlike others, I don’t think it was the biggest miss. Sure, Eternals ranks towards the bottom of their catalogue, but there is so much to like here I will be intrigued to watch it again, at some point. But one thing is for sure I hope Marvel doesn’t take the wrong lesson here. It would be so easy to blame Chloé, but if it weren’t for her and her point of view, her trying for us to get to know these characters in a relatively short amount of time, it would have been much worse. This is the way for MCU, get other directors to come, and let them play with your characters and ideas. But maybe, if the next director is also “indie-focused” with no prior experience with action, maybe give them a bit of support, pair them up (at least for the action sequences) with someone a bit more experienced in that field?

Rating: 3 out of 5.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) Review – A Near Perfect Marvel Film

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I won’t lie – this was one of the Marvel movies that didn’t speak to me enough to see it in the cinema. Part of it was because of the ongoing pandemic, and the other part… I simply didn’t know enough about this character. And this is where I have learned not to doubt the “Marvel gods” as they have done it again. They took a character I didn’t know and made him so intriguing I can’t wait to see more of him and his world. And most importantly, this film might contain the best fight scenes in a Marvel movie to date.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings starts as your “stereotypical” wire-fu movie, except much more interesting. The beginning fight sequence, where “the parents” meet, was shot beautifully, and I was fully hooked on the film from that moment. And that feeling stayed with me until the last 20 minutes or so (but more about that later).

I appreciated the shift when comes to… well, everything, to be honest. “Suddenly” we are in San Francisco (not New York or LA), most of the cast is of Asian heritage, and we hear Mandarin a lot in this film. To that, I say bravo, Marvel. It took us a while to finally get a kick-ass superhero of Asian descent, but once we got there, we got there in style, as Shang-Chi is not “just another” MCU film. It’s a film where we get introduced to a different world, culture, protagonists while still having that familiar “Marvel” feeling surrounding this film, for better or worse.

Two aspects made this movie stand out in my eyes – the cast and the action sequences. Let’s start with the action scenes. Ever since the MCU began, one of the biggest complaints the fans had, have been about their action sequences. They were choppy, tough to navigate and were not great, let’s get that straight. And we all know why – because actors are not stunt people, and if they got injured, the production would have to shut down for weeks, possibly months. That is why the studio had to get great stunt teams and then shoot the action around them, so we, the audience, were convinced it’s our favourite superheroes kicking ass, not the stunt people. Well, this movie dared to ask the question: “Yeah, but what if we tried to do the action sequences differently? Like, what if they didn’t suck?” And then the people behind this film went ahead and did it beautifully. Most of the action scenes are coherent; you get a sense of space, where everybody is, and even the cutting is down to a minimum (except the big finale, but we will get there). Just for that alone, this movie deserves all the praise.

But even the best fight scenes can’t compare to the cast of this film. This cast might be the best (non-Avenger) one in the MCU. Because everybody here works together flawlessly. Simu Liu is someone I wasn’t familiar with before, but holy shit, this guy is charismatic and charm personified. He is the perfect protagonist we can all relate to, even if were are not as buffed as he is. He felt like he was born for this role; he played everything from cool to unsure with such ease; I felt safe with him on the screen. I will be honest, I have never understood the hype around Awkwafina until now. True, I have only seen her in a few movies and need to watch more of her, but this movie convinced me. Her character could have easily been the annoying friend whom this movie didn’t need. Easily. But her chemistry with Simu was perfect, and she was actually funny in this film while having a character arc too (albeit at times, it might have seemed too rushed, I thought). Speaking of chemistry – I liked, no loved the fact their chemistry wasn’t romantic but more like brother and sister. We need more “couples” like this one in (not just Marvel) films. Simply because two attractive young people are on the screen together, it doesn’t mean they need to end up together. I honestly hope these two will not “hook up” in future films. And, on top of everything else, Tony Chiu-Wai Leung and Michelle Yeoh were, as always, fantastic. Also, I can’t forget to compliment Meng’er Zhang. Talk about somebody who can kick your ass and look great doing it. Plus, given the ending, I am intrigued by what it’s in “the store” for her character in future films.

So, let’s address my only complaint regarding Shang-Chi. The ending. Without going into heavy spoiler territory, let’s just say there are almost two different endings… storylines…? There is one about our main hero dealing with his family, and then there is the “Marvel” one where we need to have a big spectacle at the end. And instead of those two storylines intertwining with each other, they clash with each other. Particularly the stereotypical “Marvel” ending (fighting a massive, albeit cool CGI monster) could have been dropped without any problems. And it would improve the film. I understand this film is Marvel’s, and they need to “stay on brand”, but this movie would have been that tiny bit better had it stayed grounded just a bit more towards the end. We didn’t need the CGI madness. Dare I say it almost distracted from the story this movie wanted us to follow? Yeah, I dare say that because that’s how it felt. Not everything needs to have a big CGI finale, especially if you have one already brewing and you (the film) were doing fine until then.

But even that is only a tiny complaint, and I can’t stress this enough – I had so much fun with this film. Even though we never actually learned what those ten rings are supposed to be doing. What is their power? We see them used a lot, but the movie treats them as an “anything goes” kind of toy, so it would be good to know their power/limitation. But other than that, this film was a pleasure to watch. Even with the run time of just over two hours, you don’t get bored (until the very end), and the movie is funny when it needs to be. It is also a character-driven action film like no other (possibly ever) we have seen in the MCU.

Overall, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was a near-perfect Marvel film. I regret not seeing this film at the cinema. But I guarantee you that I will be there for any future movies involving Simu and Awkwafina. I can’t believe I am saying this, but the sequel for this movie can’t come soon enough. Especially with such a vibrant, intriguing and unique world and characters, they have managed to build and establish in this film. I can’t wait to get back. To see what will they do with it, and it’s only my hope that Shang-Chi will be a huge part of the next phase of MCU as he’s got it all, charisma, charm and abs (as every MCU superhero). A really, really close to a perfect score.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) Review – Fan Service Done Well

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This movie shouldn’t work. It shouldn’t be as good as it is. After numerous leaks spoiling some surprising appearances (even while I was searching for a poster, I’ve stumbled upon many revealing a bit too much, and that is why I went with this almost “default” looking one) and COVID-19 pandemic, that will be with us well into the 2022 and beyond… this movie came and dominated. And finally, once and for all breaks several curses at once – we finally managed to have a superb Spider-Man trilogy, we finally got a great third Spider-Man film, Jon Watts became the first director who directed a trilogy, in the MCU… But most importantly of all, it works.

Let’s start to break it down without going to spoilers straightaway. First of all, Jon Watts – what he’s managed to do with Spider-Man, I feel like he’s not talked about enough. Especially No Way Home is a statement of how great a director he became. Even Marvel fans (well, at least the ones who are willing to admit these films are not flawless) would admit, most of these films struggle with action sequences being too “choppy” all over the place; you can’t tell who is where… And for the first time in a while, I haven’t felt like that. And this movie has some big action pieces juggling several different characters. Sure, some scenes can still “reek” of CGI because they are heavy on CGI. But in this film, it wasn’t as distracting, and I felt like Jon Watts was really intentional about trying to make the action sequences as smooth as possible. Honestly, he deserves much more credit.

Now, let’s talk about the core cast, still without spoilers. I felt like both Tom Holland and Zendaya gave their best performances in the MCU as of yet. Once we get into the spoilers, you will understand why, but it’s because this script gives them a lot to do. And this is why this movie works, despite everything – at the core of everything, the film knows what it is, what it’s supposed to be – a Spider-Man movie. That sentence might sound obvious, but if you think about it, it’s not. Especially given how closely Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has been linked with the MCU (he’s Avenger, after all). In addition to everything, we have Benedict Cumberbatch and Benedict Wong here, and that fact was one of my main worries. That this would become another “Avengers 3.5“. But no. And this is another thing – this film managed to surprise me several times.

And I am not talking about some characters or great reveals, no. It was more about every time I thought: “Oh, so this is where we are going with this.” The movie went a slightly different way. Because here’s the thing – some scenes are fully “fan-service only”, and I unapologetically loved most of them. And I, knowing what I knew going into the film (who will be appearing there), thought that is what the movie will be for the most part – Spider-Man 3: No Way Home, The Fan Service Film. And it wasn’t. It didn’t forget to give us a proper self-contained(ish) story that actually moves our main protagonists and enables them to evolve.

Ok, I think I have gone for as long as I could possibly go without discussing spoilers, so without further ado…

Beware, SPOILERS are coming!

So let’s address the “lesser” spoilers as they were part of the trailers. All the original villains from the previous Spider-Man movies ever made are back. Yep, everyone from Alfred Molina, Willem Dafoe to Rhys Ifans as The Lizard (remember him?) is back. And the one who stands out is Willem Dafoe, who is back and loving every single minute of it. He’s the main villain of the movie, which is saying a lot, in the film full of them. But his portrayal of the Green Goblin was simply amazing.

And unless you have been living under a rock, you should know both the previous Spider-Mans are also back. If you didn’t know, congrats and I hope you discovered it for yourself in the cinema. Because that was something; I wish I could do. As a person, who is no longer watching trailers and is trying really hard to avoid spoilers, even I had that pretty much confirmed for some time that both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield are back. And surprisingly, they both worked for me. Because it’s when you see them all on the screen together, interacting with each other sometimes in a silly, “fan-servicey” way, sometimes in more of a serious manner that is when it hits you – they were all great in their own way. And they were all great Spider-Men in their respective eras. A lot has changed since both Tobey and Andrew hanged their spider webs, mainly questions about ethics, killing or not killing their enemies (even though as well all know, most of Spider-Mans villains had the unfortunate luck of killing themselves by accident :-)) and whether the villains deserve a second chance.

And this is where this movie tries to justify and do something with having all three Spider-Men here. They give Andrew’s character his redemption moment by saving MJ (read as something, he failed to do that with Gwen Stacy), and Tobey, in my eyes, became the “uncle Ben” for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. Where he’s at his lowest, he stops him and reminds him what they stand for. And he also has some great moments with Otto Octavius.

What I loved, and once and for all confirmed this movie is a great one, was the ending. It feels like a “semi-reset” in the best possible way. Everybody forgets (because of Dr Strange) who Spider-Man is (including Avengers, MJ, his best friend), and because of that, he is back to square one. But this time, he has got nobody in his corner. Aunt May is dead, and all relationships he forged within the last few movies (Avengers and his own films), gone. Yes, he’s smarter because he’s been through a lot and from what I understand, he might have some Stark technology left. That has never been explained, but if we continue with Tom Holland (and I believe he has signed for a few more movies), it will be interesting to go back to “basics”. Because as much as I’ve enjoyed this trilogy, mainly the first two movies were heavily linked with Iron Man and his technology. And I can’t wait to see Tom Holland’s Spider-Man without any “techy” suit.

Speaking of Tom, he’s nailed it. That scene, where he loses Aunt May and later on when he explains to Zendaya, she soon won’t remember him that was the best I have seen him be in the MCU. The same goes for Zendaya, she nailed her role, and it will be interesting to see what they will do with their relationship, given she has no clue who he is and they have no “link” between them anymore. The coffee shop scene towards the end, where he thinks he might get her back but slowly realises it might be best for her (and his friend Ned) to leave them alone, at least for now, was heartbreaking. I wasn’t expecting these moments to hit me as much as they have, that’s for sure.

Overall, Spider-Man No Way Home delivered and delivered more than I could have possibly imagined. Could you take it apart or say we didn’t need some scenes, and some might have been dragging for way too long? Yes, you could do that. But every time I started to have that thought in my head, the movie immediately shifted into a higher gear and kept on moving. And I can’t stress this enough despite all these villans, despite multiple Spider-Men, this is still a self-contained Spider-Man story. One day, once all this hype will calm down and we can look at this trilogy without any “baggage” (it’s overhyped, it’s this or that), we will look back and wonder how they managed to pull this one-off. How was this film filled with a plethora of characters from the last 20 years of Spider-Man movies, and yet, it didn’t feel cheap, and it managed to give us a great film? That moves its story into a new field with some intriguing future for this character? I can’t wait for that and also re-watch this film.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

TV Show Reviews

Hawkeye Review (Season 1) – Hailee, LARPers and Christmas, Bro!

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Let’s get something out of the way first – this review was written after watching the entire show, so there might be some spoilers. If you haven’t watched the show in its entirety, please proceed at your own risk, bro. 😉

If there was one member of the “OG” Avengers I couldn’t care less about, it was Hawkeye. Yes, he’s alright with bows and arrows, but does that make him an “Avenger” level superhero? And this show takes it time to address that question…? Complain? Call it whatever you want, but there is a scene where Hawkeye himself is talking about him being an Avenger without any superpowers. And that, among many other tiny yet delightful scenes throughout this show, made me appreciate this character more (dammit, Marvel has done it again, those bastards!)

Hawkeye is by far the “most chill” Marvel show to date (disclaimer – I still haven’t watched The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), but from the little I know about that show, it is more action-packed), and more importantly, Christmas is almost a character in this show. Don’t worry, the creators behind this show won’t let you forget it, but at the same time, it helps to drive the point home about it. And this is where I can see certain people being disappointed with the entire show – it’s definitely more light-hearted fun than your average Marvel property. There are more jokes and quips sprinkled with some heartwarming scenes about family, and when you think it will be all just jokes, then all of the sudden – bam. Suddenly, the show discusses coping with sadness, loss, and dealing with your past.

That is one aspect I appreciated about this show – they didn’t shy away from Hawkeye’s Ronin past. You remember how he became a ninja assassin, going around killing lots of people when the “blip” happened? Oh yeah, the show goes there and is not afraid to address it. What I liked about this was how nobody was trying to justify it. Even Hawkeye himself knows he was wrong, and that is “the thing” for him throughout this show – dealing with consequences of his own actions, being celebrated as “the hero who helped to save New York”, knowing very well he’s done some bad things, alongside another “simple” thing he’s going through – his guilt for Natasha aka Black Widow sacrificing herself instead of him. So we get Hawkeye feeling extra guilty for living instead of her. And this is how you make us, the viewers, care about a character like him – give him something to chew on. I feel like ever since he became the go-to joke (as the character), we often forget that Jeremy Renner, who portrays Hawkeye, is more than a capable actor, and he sells us all these moments. But for me, the real star of this show (except the dog with one eye, who was just pure adorable) is Hailee Steinfeld.

Firstly, we all have known for a while now, Hailee is a talented and charismatic performer; after all, she was an Oscar-nominated actress at age 14! And not only is she physically fit (she works out hard, and it shows) she is the heart behind this show. She is the much needed human element, somebody who is kind of like Hawkeye but not really as she has her past to deal with, and towards the end of this show, you will discover that her family situation is not easy either. But talk about a multi-talented individual. She can be funny, charming, charismatic, and throughout the series, she goes through believable growth where I want to see more of her. I know (well, suspect) this will be a springboard for her character to appear in more movies and TV shows, and honestly, I can’t wait, especially if paired up with another talented actress – Florence Pugh.

I liked they brought her into this show not only because of her obvious Natasha connection but thanks because of her; we get a new, unique view of how would it feel to be one of the people who “blipped”. We have seen it once or twice now, but in this instance, it was shown so well because it was all sudden – what feels like a few seconds for her character turns out to be five years and what’s more devastating than that is discovering your sister is no longer alive. And a huge reason you are back living. Her need for revenge and dealing with that pain/guilt was also an intriguing part of this show, and her genuine great chemistry with Hailee makes me wish we would get a show or movie where these two would be our main characters.

Also, I need to give a special shoutout to Alaqua Cox – a real-life deaf actress who has done an incredible job with her character of Maya. I loved how this show didn’t make this into a big deal, and she wasn’t great because she was deaf. She was great because they gave Alaqua a pretty decent backstory to her character, and she nailed it while kicking a lot of asses. I would love to see her again in future films or shows, and something tells me we will.

And here’s the thing – remember when I said this is a light-hearted show? And now, I’ve spent most of my review talking about these “deeper” things? That, for me, is the ultimate reason Hawkeye worked. Marvel found a perfect way to make these characters deal with complicated emotions in a pretty fun, entertaining way for us, the audience. So you are having fun, sometimes certain lines/situations might seem a bit too cringy, but then stuff like this hits you out of nowhere.

For example, I can see how the “bros” moving company might not be everybody’s cup of hot cocoa. For example, some fights are stagged more like a comedy routine (villain stop fighting, simply to compliment Hailee on the advice she gave him before that and how he and his girlfriend sorted things out because of her). Or the entire sub-plot of LARPers and how they ultimately helped Hawkeye and Kate. And this is what I mean by “the most chill” show/movie Marvel has made in a while – they are known for quippy, witty characters. But Hawkeye takes that concept into overdrive. And it’s only up to you and your sense of humour, whether you will find it funny or not. Once I understood this show is not to be taken too seriously and Marvel is here, just trying to create some Christmas show, I had more fun with it. I am guessing if you approach this show like that, it might work for you too?

Overall, Hawkeye is not a perfect show by any means. But it’s still very enjoyable entertainment, something simple to watch, where there are some stakes but it’s nothing “world ending” you’d have to worry about. What Hawkeye has done well is simple – it made me actually like Hawkeye’s character, and it sold me on Kate Bishop/Hailee’s as the newest addition to the MCU. I can’t wait to see more of her. If you feel like watching something new for Christmas, something Marvel-related, but you don’t want something too heavy, you might try to give Hawkeye a chance. It’s not flawless, but it’s charming and funny at times, with great casting and some surprises along the way.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

Black Widow (2021) Review – Much Better Than Expected

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After years of waiting and the pushback due to COVID-19, we’ve finally got the Black Widow movie. Some argue it’s a bit too late as if you have watched Avengers: Endgame (2019), you know that is where her story ended. But people wanted it, the studio still had a major star under contract (of course, I am talking about the magnificent Scarlett Johansson), so this came about. And let me be honest… I wasn’t that excited about it. Mainly because I agreed with the majority of people that it might have been a bit too late, given she is no longer in the MCU. But then again, if we have the multiverse now, she might be… Let’s not start this debate; that’s not the point. I thought that now it was about five years too late for this to be a good movie. So, I wasn’t in any rush watching this, even though Scarlett is one of my absolute favourite actresses of all time. And now, since I’ve finally seen it, I must say… I was wrong. And I am so glad.

Black Widow is a great MCU movie. Does it bring anything new to the table? Except for the backstory about the main character, not really. It’s an MCU film through and through, so there are beats of it you can safely predict will happen (same vs same fight towards the end, witty dialogue that occasionally feels a bit forced) but, and this is a huge but… I had a very good time with this film. And it’s due to Scarlett and Florence Pugh.

It’s not a spoiler to say they play sisters in this film (it was in the trailers, and trust me, even if you haven’t seen the trailers, you are introduced to them as sisters from the very start of this film), and their chemistry worked. Scarlett’s character finally gets a bit more “meat on the bones”, as they say, and she nails it. We can all laugh and make jokes about her character and Hawkeye being the “disposable Avengers”, as let’s face it… they are. If superheroes existed in our world and would fight other supervillains/alien Gods, the humans in the team would be the first to die, no matter how great they are with guns or arrows. But, since we have her here, Scarlett did the very best to bring her character to life, to make her more than a “tougher than nails” character – she made her human. The scenes I enjoyed were the quiet ones, where she needed to hide, and we got to see her existing, trying to stay low.

As for Florence, I wasn’t sure about her accent, but it’s not like she would be the first Marvel Avenger, who would drop her accent as the movies go (cough, Elizabeth Olsen cough), so I won’t hold that against her. Because the rest of her performance is awesome. Her character is a funny, no-nonsense sister who “gels” perfectly with Scarlett’s character. And even though we have “the family” here (their “parents” are played by Rachel Weisz and David Harbour), it’s these two sisters who carry this film. If their relationship didn’t work, the film wouldn’t have worked nearly as well.

Since I’ve mentioned them, let’s talk about them – both Rachel and David were alright with what they have been given. Even though I couldn’t shake the feeling that David’s character was there as the “comic relief”, who was in the film to add some humour to it. And sure, he gets an emotional scene too, but at times, he seemed to be in an entirely different movie than all the other family members. Rachel was the one who had a much more complex character to play. Of course, she nailed it… I mean, it’s Rachel “motherfucking” Weisz here, we know she’s a superb actress, but it was hard for me to care about their characters as much, as this is their first (and probably only) appearance. I think we will 100% Florence’s character back at some point, either in a future Marvel show or a movie. I would be genuinely surprised had we seen their “parents” again.

The movie itself was well-paced, had a decent enough villain, and I liked the revelation of the “Red Room” location. I thought it was clever and made sense. Of course, at the very end, since it’s a Marvel movie, we must have a big action sequence that is edited to death, so I am “glad” they honoured their brand and had one here too. For what it’s worth, it was going on for a bit too long. Wait, am I complaining about an action sequence being too long? Yes, because there was no tension, and towards the end of it, I was losing my footing regarding everyone “location” in the fight. There was no tension because you know our main heroes won’t die and if you know that, you can focus on the action. Except here, if you do that, you just get frustrated, as it’s edited confusingly. That is the one thing Marvel should get sorted – their action sequences rarely feel superb/worth it. It usually ends up being a CGI mess.

Overall, Black Widow was a charming surprise and well worth my time. I thought Scarlett nailed the performance; I loved Florence’s character and can’t wait to see more of her in the MCU. The movie was well-paced, wasn’t too long and knew, what it wanted to say. Also, it was nice not to deal with the “end of the world” scenario in this film. So even though there were some stakes to this story, the stakes weren’t that high. That makes sense because, ultimately, it’s still “just” the Black Widow film. We are not dealing with any other God-like figure. She and Hawkey will always be the odd ones out from this group of powerful superheroes and literal Gods. But if you like Marvel films, you should not skip this one. You might end up like me, pleasantly surprised.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

TV Show Reviews

Loki Review (Season 1) – Low Key Awesome Show

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I know what you are thinking and no, I won’t apologize for that pun in the title. Because Loki delivered everything, I could ever ask for, and more. Out of the Marvel shows, only one I still need to watch is The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), but based on everything I’ve heard about it, it would be a surprise to me, if I liked that show more than Loki, as this is really close to perfection. And some elements of this show (casting, the score) are more than perfect.

Even prior watching any Marvel show, Loki was the show I was looking forward to the most. And to be perfectly honest with you, even though I was enjoying it for the first 4 episodes, I didn’t see myself giving it the ultimate rating, as something was still missing. But that is why I tend to rate/review shows after finishing the entire season. And I am glad I didn’t break the rule, especially with this show, as the last 2 episodes pulled me over the edge. They delivered on everything, from emotional pay-off(s), to setting up (by the looks of it) the entirety of Phase 4 of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and I am here for it.

Believe it or not, I wasn’t the biggest Loki fan before watching this show, as his character was getting slightly boring to me, as basically every time you thought he was the “good guy” now, he would always flip. Yeah, the first hundred times it was intriguing, but the second hundred or so times, it was just getting repetitive. But just as with WandaVision (2021, my review here), the creators utilised the TV show format correctly (by that I mean more episodes = more screen time = more character development) and almost re-defined Loki’s character, they actually made him grow and that made it easier for me to care about him. He was no longer this “kind of good, kind of bad” character, that only has some snarky comments and magic tricks in his sleeve, they actually put him on a journey, where we could see a very different character, than the one we started with. And at the end of this season, you know he’s a different person, even though his core didn’t change. Underneath the surface, it’s still him, but he’s just matured and here’s me hoping this character won’t go back to his old self, next time we will see him (either in a movie or the already announced second season of this show).

Besides Tom Hiddleston, I do need to complement pretty much anyone, who starred alongside him. Owen Wilson‘s performance complimented Loki’s really well, it was the perfect blend of funny and serious. Gugu Mbatha-Raw was one of those characters, who you will remember, as after the first season is finished, she still has this mystery around her, and you are just fascinated by her and want to know more about her. You are almost sure she’s not bad, but it wouldn’t surprise you, if she was. And Sophia Di Martino as Sylvie, was simply great. I can’t talk about her character without going into some massive spoilers, so let me just say, I can’t wait to see more of her and I hope she will have massive impact on the story going forward.

But that’s just it – I can’t wait to see them all back, either in various Marvel movies (and I am sure plenty, if not all of the main characters from this show will play some part in upcoming movies) or in the second season of this very show. That is something I didn’t even consider wanting, but soon after finishing this season, and seeing the “Loki will return in season two” title card, I was just extremely happy. Because it made so much sense. Where they left this story, it not only affects future Marvel movies going forward, but we could definitely have a great time exploring more of Loki’s character, the world they had built over the entire first season, and I can see the viewers having plenty of fun exploring plethora of… options (again, don’t want to go into spoilers).

One more thing I need to compliment is the score. Plenty of Marvel scores (except maybe the main Avengers theme) blend in together for me. But this show not only looks, but mainly sounds so unique, it has its own thing going on and I absolutely loved it. Something like this hasn’t happened for a while, where I would get the chills just from the theme music alone, or when things on screen started to get serious, the main Loki theme would intensify. Bravo, Natalie Holt, my imaginary hat is off to you, truly magnificent work.

Overall, Loki was a show I had some expectations for and yet, it managed to surpass them. And that is not a small task in this world full of things to watch. What I really enjoyed was the mystery aspect of it, how the show communicated the information you needed and at the same time, it always managed to hold something back, to keep you intrigued, without getting annoying. I know some people will be disappointed by this finale, as it doesn’t really tell us too much, it’s “just another setup”, but since I saw that coming, knowing what I know about future Marvel’s films/Phase 4, I really liked the way they handled everything. If you think about it, the creators had a massive task – they had to make this TV show work on its own, at the same time they had to establish “a few” things for future movies, they had to tweak Loki’s character, so he’s not the same one, we knew from the previous films (as that would have been a boring show, I would say) they managed to setup second season really well… Honestly, my imaginary hat is yet again off to everyone involved. This wasn’t a small task, and they achieved it brilliantly. If you are into all things Marvel, this show will not disappoint you.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

TV Show Reviews

WandaVision Review (Season 1) – It’s Been Great Show All Along!

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I don’t understand it. How are people working for Marvel so brilliant, they made me care about Wanda and Vision? How did this happen? Maybe it’s because they gave them characters and made them actually interesting, unlike the movies they appeared in…? Yeah, that’s probably it. But let’s start from the beginning…

When I first heard about this show, I thought to myself “hard pass” and moved on. Because as I said prior, I didn’t really care about those two characters and now, they will star in their own TV show, that will somehow be a sitcom…? Just nothing about this made sense, which is exactly what those Marvel bastards wanted you to think. And I stuck to my guns, didn’t watch the show until people were talking about how good it actually is and how there is more to it, it’s a mystery kind of show, how they actually work on them as characters… So I broke and caught up on the first 6 episodes, as those were the only ones out by the time I broke. And after those, I was fully on board with WandaVision. And after the finale, I can only say those crazy bastards did it again. They yet again took fairly uninteresting characters we kind of knew, gave them proper backstories, heart and brain and thanks to that, you can’t help by care about both Wanda and Vision.

Let me just preface this – I will try really hard to say as much as I can without going into some serious spoilers, as that was one of the things that also put me over the edge of watching WandaVision – every Friday/Saturday after brand new episode, things were popping out on my Twitter timeline, full of spoilers. Even though I don’t follow people who’d spoil stuff, sometimes you just see enough context clues or a name trending on Twitter and say “hey, why is X trending” so you’d click on it and found out that they either appeared on this show, or will appear, or are rumoured to appear here. And it got to the point where it’s not just day or two, these spoilers became regular thing on Twitter, so the only “real” solution is not to go there at all. Anyway, back to this review.

Yes, first 2 episodes you will be thinking “what does this mean?” but if you stick with this show, I can promise you, everything will be explained. I mean, everything when comes to WandaVision. That is my only “quarrel” with this show – it’s Marvel after all. So they can’t just make one contained show, give us all the answers. They need to tease us with more things! So even though this feels contained more or less, I would be lying if I said I didn’t have any questions once the show ended. But mostly I am just amazed how they managed to pull this one off. How I didn’t really care about either of those main characters and now, I need to know more about them, mainly what will happen to them from here on.

I need to talk about a few people here. First of all, it’s been great to see Kat Dennings again and the fact she is Dr. now, brings me joy. She needs to be in more things, as she’s not only pleasant to look at (after all, I am but a weak man) but I love her sense of humour. I really hope Teyonah Parris will become more important moving on beyond this TV show (and from what happens to her, I would presume so?) as she was also great. It’s been awesome to see that Kathryn Hahn is finally getting the recognition she deserves, as she’s spectacular in this show. But it’s mainly about Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen. And I think the main reason this show works so well, is they understand their characters and how they function, not only in this show, but in their relationship, so it’s reflected heavily in the entirety of WandaVision. What am I talking about? The fact Vision is the brain and Wanda is the heart and soul of this show and their relationship. If you have already seen this, think about it and you will see I am right. Vision has plenty of amazing lines (the one that will stick with you is 100% “What is grief, if not love persevering”) and Paul Bettany delivers those lines really, beautifully. Which is strange, as he’s technically a robot and in his delivery, you can tell it’s kind of robotic, but in the best way possible…? It’s hard to describe, but what he did with this role, is definitely top notch. But even that can’t compare with what Elizabeth is doing with Wanda’s character. She goes above and beyond and she deserves some recognition. Most emotional things on this show “fall” on her and her character, and she delivers. But not only with this, everything else, even the early comedic episodes, they are both brilliant in them.

What I really appreciated is WandaVision kind of brought back the hype surrounding a TV show, by releasing it one episode/week, it managed to build up more and more hype around it and managed to give us something that almost everybody watched. And that isn’t a small achievement, as we live in age of “content” (sorry, Martin Scorsese, I hate that word too) where there are so many movies, TV shows, YouTube videos available to us at all times, everybody is watching something else, or everybody is watching the same thing on Netflix for a day or two and then the hype dies down. Since Game of Thrones (2011 – 2019) ended, I can’t remember a show that would achieve what WandaVision achieved. Even The Mandalorian (2019 -, my reviews can be found here for the first season and here for the second season) and that was a great show, didn’t feel like it managed to hype up as many people on weekly basis, where fans would talk about the possible plot points, trying to predict what will happen the next episode… I guess with WandaVision it might have been slightly easier to do, since it is technically a mystery show…? Who knows why, but Marvel struck gold yet again.

Overall, if you liked most things Marvel has done in the past decade and then some, I don’t think you will disappointed with this show. Make sure you stick around, as everything becomes much clearer later on, but again, don’t count on having every question answered, as it’s Marvel and you know they will probably answer some questions in one of their 45 839 upcoming movies. 😉 And if you think “I don’t know whether I want to watch it, as I don’t really care about Vision or Wanda”, I understand you, as I was the same as you. But I think you will care, if you give this show a chance, Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen make sure nobody underestimates their characters ever again. Can’t wait to see more of them… well, hoping to see more of them.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke