Deadpool 2 opens funnily enough. Until the fridging of a character from the first movie. There were jokes throughout the movie of hack or lazy writers, but using this trope as a character motivation is the laziest low hanging fruit.
Thankfully the rest of the movie made up for this. I was worried that all the trailers held all the comedy, but there was plenty to go around.
The introduction of Cable, Domino, and Shatterstar really bring into focus the possibilities of an X-Force movie.
But the real star of the movie was Peter. Not Colossus. Peter with the mustache. The level of heroics he showed while having no powers were inspiring.
Starring: Josh Brolin, Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Zazie Beetz, Brianna Hildebrand, Bill Skarsgård, T.J. Miller, Terry Crews, Rob Delaney, Julian Dennison, Lewis Tan, Jack Kesy, Eddie Marsan, Shioli Kutsuna, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, Stefan Kapicic, Brad Pitt
Avengers: Infinity War brings together the world we were introduced to in 2008 with Iron Man.
Characters from all but one movie are weaved in and out of the story. We get some funny. Some sad. Some angering. Some real sad.
If you have read the Infinity Gauntlet story, you have an idea where this story is headed.
I cannot stress enough that you should watch this in the theater.
I have watched this two times so far and the emotional beats hit me both times.
Watching Dr. Strange interact with Iron Man and Spider-Manwas a high light. But the true team-up to end all team-ups: Thor, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot (teenage version).
Avengers: Infinity War is a long movie. And it is weaving several simultaneous story beats. From a fight in Wakanda to one on Titan to Knowhere. But none of the story elements drag on or are shorted. And all are needed for plot.
There is only one post-credit scene at the end of a very long list of contributors. It is not essential, but a nice easter egg for a future movie.
I am amazed that Marvel Studios has been able to create a series of movies tied to each other with various themes that work together as well as they do. Not all of their movies have been huge hits (Iron Man 2, Thor 2 – imo) But they have all had a certain level of quality. This may have come at the expense of some directors’ creativity, but Marvel Studios has not let me down yet.
Starring: … Practically everyone from previous MCU movies. Check out IMDB for the full list.
Like most initial solo Marvel hero movies, Black Panther gives us a nice introduction to the character and his motivations above and beyond his introduction in Civil War.
Black Panther introduces us to the MCU version of Wakanda, his family, love interest, and traditions. Also, where those same traditions can fail.
Wakanda as a society has always hidden who and what they are. The world at large sees Wakanda as a third world farming country. Not the technologically advanced, rich country they are. Some Wakandans believe they should go out into the world with their technology and help people while others wish to stick with tradition.
Claw returns and has a sonic hand cannon and is working with War Monger. They show little regard for human life while stealing a Wakandan artifact from a museum. Their attempt to sell it in South Korea to the CIA brings them in direct conflict with the Black Panther.
War Monger takes extraordinary steps (many evil steps) to get into Wakanda. You want to completely dislike the character. But. His backstory makes him a sympathetic character. Up to a point. War Monger’s ideals to spread Wakandan weaponry and begin an Empire are in direct conflict with the Black Panther and Wakandan tradition.
The fight between War Monger and Black Panther ultimately splits the Wakandan people over tradition and new ideals. There will be a lot of healing needed for the Wakandan people. And a change in tradition.
The mid credits scene lets us see how Wakanda will be interacting with the world at large now. The post credits scene gives us a nice update on characters last seen in Civil War.
My favorite character introduced by far is Shuri, T’Challa’s sister. She brought a fun lightheartedness take on the role. Okoye was just plain badass.
There were a lot of kids at the theater when I saw this movie. They all had a blast. This one group sitting near me had all of them picking which Marvel hero they were going to be. From Black Panther to Iron Man. Then the movie started….and all the kids were so engrossed in the movie. I have never seen a movie where kids were so behaved and engrossed in a movie.
Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown, Angela Bassett, Andy Serkis, Forest Whitaker, John Kani
Vía Letterboxd – AngryTownsman
Thor: Ragnarok is the best Thor movie to date, in my opinion. We get some good comedy and action along with dire consequences.
Thor: Ragnarok combines several storylines from the comics (Contest of Champions, Planet Hulk, Ragnarok) and gives us one of the funniest Marvel movies.
I was excited to see what Taika Waititi would do with this franchise. I loved What We Do in the Shadows.
Thor:Ragnarok does a nice job of clearing the field and leaves the Asgardians with almost a reset.
Thor begins by defeating Surtur and returning to Asgard. Where he sees a nice little play about the death of Loki. He quickly reveals that Loki has been impersonating Odin and they head to Earth to pick up Odin.
We get a little cameo from Dr. Strange. Odin tells the brothers of their unknown, older sister, Hela and she makes her appearance. Thor and Loki attempt to fight Hela, but she crushes Mjolnir and throws them both out of the Rainbow Bridge.
Thor falls out of a portal onto the GrandMaster’s planet and is forced to fight. He comes across the Hulk and a couple of Asgardians. They plan to return to Asgard to fight Hela. In the meantime, Hela has invaded Asgard and slaughtered a good portion of the population.
I do not want to go any further into the plot. But this does lead into Avengers: Infinity War.
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Tessa Thompson, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Karl Urban, Taika Waititi
I love this third iteration of Spider-Man. It had the right amount of humor and action. We get to see the beginnings of the Parker Luck as Peter has to make choices about doing things with his friends or patrolling as Spider-Man. The Vulture is way more sympathetic than I thought he would be.
I tried to go into this with my expectations lowered, but recently re-watching Civil War took that notion away. Thankfully my high expectations were met and exceeded.
Plus – no origin story! We do not have to live through Uncle Ben dying and imparting the life lesson on Peter. At most, we get Peter telling someone that he was bit by a spider. That’s it.
Mid-Credits scene was good. But the after credits scene is a game changer for the MCU.
Starring: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr, Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, Zendaya, Donald Glover, Jacob Batalon, Laura Harrier, Bokeem Woodbine, Kenneth Choi
