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30 Jun 2018 13:07:52
Just saw an older thread about the Fox marvel properties joining the MCU if the Fox/Disney merger goes through and I wanted to add my two cents.
I'd be delighted with the Fantastic Four joining the MCU, after what they've achieved with Ant-man, Dr Strange and the GOTG I'm sure Marvel could finally give us a good FF movie (they could just change the name on the Incredibles script and film that and I'd be happy).
What I wouldn't want to see is the mutants appear in the MCU. Conceptually I've always disliked the idea that the X-Men and the Avengers sharing a universe, it doesn't make sense that they're are tens of thousands of American citizens being persecuted for having super powers when there are hundreds on non-mutant super heroes who no one is concerned about at all.
It would also be really jarring to introduce them now. The X-Men are the response to the persecution of mutants so before they can join the MCU we have to see the emergence of Mutants followed by the backlash against them. Only then does it make sense for the X-Men to be introduced, that would take decades to do properly. What I don't want to see is Disney say 'oh, by the way, mutants have always existed in the MCU, we've just not mentioned them yet for some stupid room'.
04 Jun 2017 23:24:33
Wonder Woman Review:
Wonder Woman is DCs fourth film in its cinematic universe, it follows the Man of Steel (decent but hated by nerds), Batman vs Superman (one of the biggest 'swing and a miss' movies ever) and Suicide Squad (a cynical attempt to copy GOTG which failed on every level). Could DC have survived four turkey's in a row? Thankfully we'll never have to know because WW is very good.
WW is very similar to Captain America's first film, in fact it's practically a re-make (they changed the comic's setting of WW2 to WW1 because, otherwise, it was just too on the nose) but WW gets right where that film went wrong. Both films have a first act that sets up the character but whilst CA went off the rails after it's great start with sci-fi Nazis and super weapons WW goes from strength to strength. WW's western front looks and feels like the real western front and that actually allowed me to believe we were watching a story from real history. WW also has the one edge that DC has over Marvel, it feels epic where the marvel films rarely match their ambition.
My biggest worry beforehand was whether Gal Gadot could carry the film. She embodies the character visually and we saw in the trailers she can hold her own in the fight scenes but could she actually act? Her Diana Prince is funny, confident, innocent and earnest and is basically spot on. What she's not is fully formed, she doesn't understand the greater world and truth of people knocks her sideways. it's an excellent portrayal of a superhero that has all the power but lacks experience.
The action is reminiscent of 300 but where that film was all about style Wonder Woman and the Amazons are all about getting the job done, they're brutal and efficient and whilst there was outcry over Superman and Batman killing people no one will complain about Wonder Woman cutting down Germans by the dozen.
The film's not perfect, the mythology around WW's origins is fuzzy and the main villain's motivations make little sense but ultimately Gal Gadot is great, the action is great and the setting is great. Now, let's wait and see if DC can ruin all this goodwill with the Justice League.
1.) 16 Jun 2017 23:39:41
I went to see it with a friend. It had been praised by so many people that I was afraid I'd be let down when I actually saw it. However, I have to say, it is one of the best superhero movies in recent times. I don't really read comic books so I have no idea how faithfully it follows the source material, but as a standalone film, it's most definitely fantastic. Gal Gadot is brilliant, and her chemistry with the actor who plays Steve Trevor is great as well. Of course, it is not without its flaws but in today's saturated market of superhero franchises, it stands out. 9/10 for me.
01 May 2017 15:19:46
Got to watch the GOTG Vol 2 last night and thought I'd share my thoughts.
The first GOTG was one of the most surprisingly delightful films ever, funny, exciting with great characters and remarkable world building. It was the sort of film the phrase 'they captured lightning in a bottle' was written for. Could Marvel repeat the trick? The answer is kinda.
First of all what works; the inventiveness, characterization and humour are still all there. The opening scene is just as great as Starlord dancing through the ruins in Vol 1. Baby Groot is, of course, superb and the biggest surprise is that Dave Bautista's Drax is arguably the best thing in the film. The new character Mantiss is a bit hit and miss but by the end feels genuinely part of the group.
Whilst the film gets the look and the feel of the first film spot on it it loses it's way when it comes to story. The antagonists are a race called the Sovereign who are about as threatening as a sharpened grapefruit. Meanwhile the plot, which centers around fatherhood and Kurt Russel's character is just a little underwhelming.
If you liked the first one you'll enjoy Vol 2 but that's about as far as I'd go. It's not another home run for Marvel and fits in alongside their decent but unremarkable films (such as Ant-man).
P.S. There really are 5 post credit scenes in the film, one sets up Vol 3 (and you need to be familiar with the comics to understand it), one sets up a potential spin off and the other three are joke scenes.
1.) 01 May 2017 17:20:03
Saw it this weekend and somewhat agree. Is a bit like batman vs superman (which I could write an essay on stupidity about) but think the sovereign should have served as an opener and then left out entirely.
Didn't really improve the film at all and took away entirely from the more interesting story about quills heritage and ego. Also SPOILERS don't read if going to see it, but second half the film been them against ego would have been really good. Also thing the yondou (sorry about spelling) but was far too forced entirely and would have served better as just comic relief, if you think about first film the whole relationship him and quill makes literally zero sense. but still somehow a great film
16 Mar 2017 10:39:52
In honour of Ed1's views on my favourite superhero films I thought I'd do my top 10 best Superhero films of all time - would be interested to get everyone else's thoughts.
1. The Dark Knight - Not just an excellent superhero film this is an excellent film full stop. In 2009 Slumdog Millionaire won the Oscar for best film, TDK wasn't even nominated. I love that film but it will be a footnote in cinematic history whilst TDK will go down as one of the greats and should have taken the statue home, at least Heath Ledger was awarded for his stunning portrayal of the Joker.
2. Spiderman 2 - There have been dozens of superhero films in the last 15 years but not one has done as good a job of bringing a comic to the screen as Spidey 2 did. The character design is perfect, the story could be told in a four-issue run and 13 years later the train top fight is still the best superhero fight scene ever committed to celluloid.
3. X2 - The first X-men film launched the dawn of modern superhero blockbusters but it was a proof of concept, for the sequel Fox fully committed. The budget was much bigger and that gave Bryan Singer the ability to bring his vision to the screen. Nightcrawler's attack on the president is stunning and Ian Mckellan's Magneto is a brilliant villain. X2 showed that superhero films could be smart as well as exciting.
4. The Winter Soldier - This is Marvel's The Dark Knight, it's an excellent spy thriller that happens to based on a superhero. Chris Evans is probably the best casting decision Marvel ever made, and his supporting cast are excellent.
5. The Avengers - This shouldn't have worked, it should have been overblown and clunky but Joss Whedon kept the tone perfect and balanced his amazing cast giving them each time to shine. 'Puny God' is one of the greatest lines in Hollywood history.
6. Kick Ass - This is how you do an R-rated superhero film. Kick-Ass both satirises and celebrates comics by exploring the real consequences of vigilantes dressing in spandex. What really makes this film fly though is Hit Girl, her crazy relationship with her father and the shock/delight of seeing this sweet little girl carve through villains makes her one of the best characters in superhero films.
7. Guardians of the Galaxy - The film that proved that no one understands superhero films like Marvel, they poured money into a production of an obscure comic with an unproven cast and a 'quirky' director and their instincts were spot on. This is simply the most fun superhero film ever made.
8. Deadpool - Another risk that paid off brilliantly. Every decision the production made worked, the action, the humour, the casting, the marketing, the style, it just got everything right. it's proof that if you give passionate and talented people opportunities then great things are the reward.
9. Civil War - So much about this film is spot on but it's its imperfection that gets it on my list. The hero on hero airport battle distracts from the rest of the film, it's at least three characters too heavy and exists to sell the film rather than serve it but, taken on it's own, the scene is the culmination of our superhero fantasies. It is an epic throw down and brilliantly choreographed, shot and edited.
10 Blade 2 - This is my wild card, not only is it a great sequel that builds on its predecessor rather than repeats it but it's also stylistically brilliant. Benicio Del Toro was the perfect director for this franchise and Donnie Yen's work as action coordinator is right on the money. Don't forget, this film was ground breaking with it's use of digital stuntmen over a year before the Matrix: Reloaded did it (admittedly the effects have dated badly but they were state of the art in 2002).
Honourable mention - Batman - Tim Burton's Batman has been thoroughly superseded by Christopher Nolan but in 1989 it was a revelation. It showed that superhero movies could be true to the comics whilst still being great films, it was the progenitor of every superhero film since and deserves its place in the pantheon (Superman, on the other hand, is a product of it's time that, in hindsight, is just very dull).
{Ed001's Note - apart from Spidey 2 and X2, the one I have most difficulty with is Blade 2! I love Blade, the character and Donnie Yen as an actor, I liked the Blade films, but that one was the worst by a country mile, of the trilogy. Batman on the end is another one I have issue with, it is awful. One of the worst films ever made and that series of films killed my love of comic books for a while.
I really do not understand those three sequels you have picked at all, there is nothing about them that worked for me. Spidey was an awful take on the character and had none of his character from the original comic books. The appearance in Civil War was actually the closest to his comic book persona and the first time I have had hope they have got it right.
Still, if we all liked the same things, for the same reason, life would be so boring. I was thinking about asking Ed033 to set up a series of polls, one each week, to vote on which one out of a series of films is best. Anyone interested in doing that?}
1.) 16 Mar 2017 11:35:20
It's funny ed, I thought blade 1 was ok and 3 was utter bobbins but 2 got it just right. As for Spidey, I'm reserving judgement on the new guy till the film comes out, I trust Marvel but making him interesting again is a big ask.
As for the poll idea I think it's great.
{Ed001's Note - I didn't think any of the Blades got it right, but the first was the best and 2 was woeful. Looking back on 3 now, it was a good warm up for Deadpool for Ryan Reynolds.....
I will have a word with Ed033 about doing the polls then.}
2.) 16 Mar 2017 11:39:34
Ps I may have over egged how good the original batman was, nowadays it looks almost as camp as the TVs series, but at the time it was groundbreaking and it's important in the history of superhero films hence the 'honourable mention'.
{Ed001's Note - I remember it being bigged up by critics etc but watching it just made me cringe with how terrible it was at the time. I could not even countenance how bad it would seem now.}
3.) 16 Mar 2017 13:30:47
I want to share my top 5. Sorry, because I'm not a fan of comic book films and I can only think of this 5. These films really blown me.
1. Batman Begins - I love Batmam as a character, but hated all the films. But this, the realism of the story, was so good that it made me forget all those craps came out before it, especially the Batman with Val Kilmer and Batman with the Penguin (sorry I really can't remember the titles)
2. Man of Steel - this is a comic book character that I don't like at all for so many reasons. I tried watching the old films but failed to enjoy them. I remembered watching Superman Returns, and that film was super boring. But this one, yes, it was loud (maybe too loud) but the origin story was really entertaining to watch. Costner, eventhough didn't feature much in it, was really good as the Superman's father.
3. Watchmen - I don't want to sound like I'm a movie expert, but there were something about its cameraworks, editing, and plots that, for me, were really engaging. I enjoyed the film so much I watched it quite a number of times. Rorscharch is my favourite character in that film.
4. Guardians of the Galaxy - when I watched the trailer, and saw Chris Pratt in it, I asked myself "Chris Pratt? Really?". Well, like you said Putney, it was really fun to watch, and the humours were hilarious.
5. Ang Lee's Hulk - one thing I was dissapointed about this film is the last battle scene with his father. The rest of it was brilliant. It was long, the action wasn't that much. If only Ang Lee managed to cut it short a bit, add more Hulk action in it, it will easily get on top of my list here.
4.) 16 Mar 2017 18:41:37
I won't go into a top ten as such as I will just keep arguing with myself over what deserves to be number 1.
The dark knight is a superb movie and is up there with my favourites across all genres.
The whole captain America trilogy stands out for me, I think there a cut aboveboard the other marvel films.
Deadpool, had the potential to be awesome and they surpassed it imo.
GOTG funniest marvel film and one I didn't expect to like, watched it and was instantly hooked.
Ironman deserves a mention (1&2) in particular as without those I don't think we would have the MCU as it is today.
Spidey should be in here but I think the new one will blow it out of the water, was sceptical when he was added to civil war but seems very well casted.
Also a fan of the 1989 batman, I know when you watch it now it's a bit dated but for me it started my love for DC/Marvel.
As for The polls ed001 could be a great addition to the site.
{Ed001's Note - fingers crossed as Ed033 is setting up.}
5.) 17 Mar 2017 23:58:18
1 - avengers: has to be as it had such a big build up over the span of years and just delivered! Still remember the first time I saw it in the cinema and absolutely loved it! Was just a great comic book adaptation!
2 - the dark knight - think the greatness of this one glosses over the over all quality of the 1 & 3, both good but think get more credit than deserved.
3 - Spider-Man 2, was a great adaption of Spider-Man and still the best Spider-Man film made.
4 - X2; first x men was good but lacked somewhat and this made up for it, touched on a lot more of the story from the comics and had some great scenes
5 - guardians of the galaxy, just a fun funny and joy to watch, again marvel did great at adapting a fairly odd comic book series on the big screen
6 - the watchmen; probably the best adaptation of a graphic novel I've seen. But different from other hero films and had a great storyline
7 - dead pool, think this has been covered already - perfect person for this passion project
8 - captain America winter soldier- think this is the best stand alone marvel film from this franchise, wasn't as epic as civil war but much better story and had the more espionage parts to it.
9 - civil war - probably an improvement on what the comics offered and is a really good film, preferred winter soldier but this wasn't as good
10 - Logan, doesn't stay true to the comics but is a much better wolverine film then has ever been done, very different tone to it and not entirely action driven. But got to at least see a few scenes of what wolverine should have been like - only down side is took till their last attempt to finally get what made wolverine a good character
08 Mar 2017 12:37:07
I watched 'Logan' last night and I thought I'd do an alternative review to the one from a few days ago.
The Logan trailer was hands down the best trailer I've seen in years, the soundtrack set the mood, the violence looked appropriate and the 'Wolverine becomes a father figure to a young girl' story is the only one worth telling. My anticipation couldn't have been higher. Sadly, as often happens when you over anticipate something, the film struggles to live up to it.
We'll start with what does work, Hugh Jackman portrays Wolverine as world weary, bitter and vulnerable, its a great antidote to the usual portrayal as an unstoppable killing machine. Patrick Stewart is also very good, he's angry that he's so helpless, he's got a deep remorse for a hinted at tragedy but he's still an idealist at heart, there is one sequence in particular, when he gets to use his powers for something positive again, that is very satisfying. Laura, the young girl who they take in, completes a triumvirate of top performances (she doesn't say much but you can see her character learning as she watches people). The fight scenes are also good, the 'R' rating allows us to see, for the first time, how a bezerker with knives sticking out of his hands would fight but it's here they make the first mistake, frankly they take it too far.
The director hasn't used the 'R' rating to deal with more adult themes, he's used is as a license to indulge in a murder fantasy. Logan tears through legions of meaningless henchman and each one is dispatched in the most graphic way possible, it's violence for the sake of it rather than serving the story and by the end of the film I was completely numb to the latest claw through the head. The approach to swearing is also juvenile, Patrick Stewart in particular seems to think it's hilarious that he's allowed to curse now and let's skim over the flashing scene which serves literally no purpose other than to get a pair of boobs into a superhero movie.
Whilst the three main actors do a great job the supporting cast suffer. Stephen Merchant is terrible as Caliban who, instead of a character, is just a (poorly executed) plot device. Richard E Grant is completely wasted as the mastermind behind the plot and the chief henchman does nothing all film.
I mentioned the story earlier. Wolverine is actually a very shallow character (there's not a lot you can do with 'angry immortal warrior') but over the years he's been most interesting as a surrogate father figure to young girls (think Rogue in the first film or Jubilee and Kitty Pryde in the comics). The heart of the film should be the growing relationship between Laura and Logan and in this area it gets a solid B, there are a number of subtle moments that hint at the changing nature of this relationship but the emotional climax at the end doesn't feel fully earned, we haven't spent enough time seeing the effect they have on each other.
Logan is certainly the best of the Wolverine films and it's probably better than all but the first two X-men films. If your expecting a superhero film for adults it's not that, it's still shallow and gratuitous but if you want to see Wolverine cut loose in the way you've always hoped he would then you'll get a kick out of this.
1.) 13 Mar 2017 03:31:50
Did you really enjoy the first two X-Men movies? I am surprised at that! I am also surprised you think Wolverine is a shallow character, I would take it from that you have not read the comics? He has a lot more to offer than the films ever got into. In fact they cut out huge portions of his story and deliberately made him more shallow in his origin films. That was a mistake for me.
I am glad you agreed on Caliban, who was receiving rave reviews but I never understood that as he was ok like, but nothing special.
2.) 13 Mar 2017 11:15:40
I watched logan over the weekend and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it, I loved the brutality and I thought the story was pretty decent. Loved the references to the comics and professor X was incredible!
agree with both of you on Caliban there was quite literally no point in him being in the film, the only think I didn't like was the "new generation" didn't really get much time to showcase anything that part seemed rushed.
{Ed001's Note - I enjoyed Logan as well. Best of the X-Men films by a mile.}
3.) 15 Mar 2017 08:14:21
I rate the second x-men film as one of the best superhero films of all time (along with spiderman 2 and the dark Knight). I've always thought that wolverine was a good foil for other characters but was boring when he was the focus of the story. Basically I see him as cyclop's sidekick.
{Ed001's Note - the second X-men film? Really? It was dreadful! Mind so was Spidey 2.}
18 May 2018 15:14:12
Saw it a couple of nights ago, really enjoyed it, I especially thought what they did with x-factor was great.
Having said that it didn't have the impact the first one did and I'm not sure it will stick in the memory for long.
{Ed001's Note - that is because the first one was such a shock and the second can't shock like that, I think. It was such a big step away from previous superhero movies that it was always going to live in the memory - either in a good or bad way. Whereas this is a continuation of the first, so it doesn't have surprise value.}
04 Jun 2017 21:36:25
Watched it today ed, I'll write a review in a bit but once again our opinions differ, I thought it was really good and easily the best Of the new DC films.
{Ed001's Note - the best yes, but that is because they are terrible.}
16 Mar 2017 11:39:34
Ps I may have over egged how good the original batman was, nowadays it looks almost as camp as the TVs series, but at the time it was groundbreaking and it's important in the history of superhero films hence the 'honourable mention'.
{Ed001's Note - I remember it being bigged up by critics etc but watching it just made me cringe with how terrible it was at the time. I could not even countenance how bad it would seem now.}
16 Mar 2017 11:35:20
It's funny ed, I thought blade 1 was ok and 3 was utter bobbins but 2 got it just right. As for Spidey, I'm reserving judgement on the new guy till the film comes out, I trust Marvel but making him interesting again is a big ask.
As for the poll idea I think it's great.
{Ed001's Note - I didn't think any of the Blades got it right, but the first was the best and 2 was woeful. Looking back on 3 now, it was a good warm up for Deadpool for Ryan Reynolds.....
I will have a word with Ed033 about doing the polls then.}
15 Mar 2017 08:14:21
I rate the second x-men film as one of the best superhero films of all time (along with spiderman 2 and the dark Knight). I've always thought that wolverine was a good foil for other characters but was boring when he was the focus of the story. Basically I see him as cyclop's sidekick.
{Ed001's Note - the second X-men film? Really? It was dreadful! Mind so was Spidey 2.}
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