Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) - Review

Review:

*Originally written July 6th, 2019*

Far From Home is probably exactly what this series needed after the massive and heavy epic that was Endgame. I wasn't sure what to expect from this, as after Marvel followed up their nearly as huge Infinity War with the massively average Ant-Man and the Wasp, I was expecting something along those lines, but this surprised me in several ways I didn't expect.

Following from the events after Endgame, humanity has pretty much recovered from everyone returning to life after Thanos' snap and things are pretty much back to normal. It does also answer some lingering questions about the implications of bringing all these people back to life when people had moved on in the mean-time. Parker returns to college and his school trip to Europe is interrupted (Obviously) by some elemental demons being hunted by Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio and Nick Fury looks to Spider-Man to live up to Tony Stark's name.

Far From Home manages to balance things a lot better than I'd imagine. Peter progresses a lot here as he struggles with both living up to the hero Tony Stark was and dealing with his new responsibilities  while also wanting the normal life of a teenager by attending school and getting a girlfriend. The awkward John Hughes inspired teen stuff from the first film is thankfully intact, as the awkward chemistry between Peter and MJ make for some of the funniest and surprisingly sweet scenes in the film.

While there are huge CGI set-pieces, Far From Home is pretty much character focused first, which I always appreciate. We spend lots of time with Peter as he struggles with his responsibilities and it shows in Holland's ever growing performance as Spider-Man, who is just the right amount of awkward, smart-mouthed and easy to root for. At this point I'd say he's definitely surpassed Tobey Maguire in the role and easily Andrew Garfield's weird, almost special needs like Marty McFly impression he bought to the misguided Amazing Spider-Man films. 

A lot of these MCU films also suffer from humour problems, but the tone works really well with these characters. It makes sense that teenage characters would take things a little less seriously and be cracking a joke every now and then, it also helps a lot of the writing seems to be a lot stronger than the usual stuff we get in these films and the hit rate is also a lot stronger. Not everything lands, but some of the funniest stuff of the whole series is in here, especially the two absolutely gold post-credit scenes. I wish the MCU would keep tone down the humour a bit and leave it to separate films like this, as hearing middle-aged men making the same quips you'd here from teenagers is one of the main reasons I find the jokes in these films so cringe, but in the context of a high-school setting, it works.

While none of the action is massively spectacular, it still has a lot of energy to it, while it sadly amounts to big CGI things hitting each other. The more interesting set-pieces are saved for Mysterio's mind tricks, which creates a sequence so zany and out-there, it was close to Doctor Strange in terms of mad imagery and it made perfect use of the character to create that scenario for Spider-Man.

Mysterio himself is a little bit of a mixed bag. Jake Gyllenhaal utterly commits to such a barmy and crazy character, bringing a lot of his usual charm and charisma to the role, he honestly steals every scene he's in, but I just wish they spent more time with his motivation, which honestly isn't the most convincing. It connects to previous MCU films in a fun way and the reveal might divide fans the same way Iron Man 3's twist did. While his motivation isn't the best, the film certainly got more interesting once his intentions are clear and leaves Gyllenhaal much more room to ham it up to incredible effect. 


Far From Home is another excellent film from the MCU (Who are also 3 for 3 this year), it ups everything I loved about the first one, continues to develop Spider-Man in new and interesting ways, while delivering a screen-grabbing, but flawed villain. Looking forward to how the third film wraps up this trilogy, especially with THAT post-credit scene.

8/10 Dans

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Avengers: Endgame (2019) - Review

Review:

*Originally written April 26th, 2019*

*Spoiler Free*

Well, here we are. The end of this first run of Marvel films that started back in 2008 and has spanned 22 films of varying quality over those 11 years. There's was a lot of worry and doubt at how they were going to pull off what is probably the biggest film event of this decade. But they pulled it off, in a glorious, 3 hour epic that brings a satisfying, emotional and extremely entertaining end to these stories and paves the way for the future to come.

It's so hard to talk about this without going into spoilers or any key plot details, but I'll try my best. Pretty much anything beyond "What's left of the Avengers come up with a plan to undo Thano's snap that erased half the life in the universe" is spoiler territory. So I'll leave it at that. Many of the theories I've read are pretty accurate in rough strokes, but there was so much more here to unfold.

This feels more like a tribute to these 11 years of films, filled with a callback to what must be every single one of these films to date. There is so much to unpack from one viewing. I was surprised that Endgame goes back to what is undoubtedly some of the weakest and often hated films of the franchise, ones that have mostly been forgotten and swept under the rug. It's basically a trip through memory lane, bad moments and good included. 

Not all the fan service is perfect though. It does get a little grating at times. A lot of script feels like pandering, to the point nearly every line is a callback to a previous event, which works for the most part. It does bring a lot of new and iconic moments to the table for the most part, but it does feel a bit indulgent. It wasn't helped that I was in a packed midnight screening where people would scream and clap and the most obvious and inane of references. Seriously, a woman in my screening was screaming with laughter for what felt like a minute straight after a callback to Infinity War, which was fine, it was a good callback, but to her it must have been the funniest thing she'd ever seen. It's fine to enjoy something, but when you're screaming with laughter to the point other people can't hear the dialogue on screen as the moment had well and truly past, then you're just a prick or extremely stupid. 

Which brings me to the ongoing humour problem with these Marvel films and Endgame truly does have a tonal problem. While there's nothing as abhorrent as the moment in Guardians 2 where Starlord learning his father gave his mother cancer is interrupted by a David Hasselhoff cameo, there is lots of time where the joke just goes on too long and really gets in the way of things. It's fine to put a joke in here and there, there are some jokes that absolutely do land, ones I'm amazed they commit to with character choices which I love. There's build-up, pay-off and hilarious visual creativity with some of these jokes, then there are just jokes that are quick, lame lines that are groan worthy thrown in the middle of them. At times it feels like something created by a 6 year old, there's even an horrific Fortnite scene which definitely ranks as one of the cringiest things in the whole franchise.

I just don't understand the mentality of writing films like this, the humour has not grown with its audience, it's digressed to Family Guy levels of lameness without the crude element. It's just awful and I was genuinely embarrassed that a film of this magnitude could have such forced, cringe-worthy humour. Less is more, guys. Have jokes that are actually set-up and clever. Not just a quick line thrown into a scene for nothing more than a cheap laugh. It's really making me question if I'll like this more or less on a rewatch.

Bad jokes aside, the emotional scenes really do resonate. Many of these characters with seen over the past decade have grown, changed and all get their own sort of ending that actually feels genuine and earned. I was getting a little scared that Marvel would wimp out and try and milk some of their characters for more, but no, they really do show a moment of rare maturity that sends off these characters in a perfect way. If you feel nothing during that final shot, then you're a monster. 

While I'm a big believer of less is more, this is one of those rare films that justifies its 3 hour run-time. There is so much going on and happening, that I'm amazed that they managed to cram it all into one film. It's paced so wonderfully that the 3 hours barely felt like an hour. I was worried I'd have to leave and use the toilet at some point, but I didn't, as that would have been a disaster as something big or important happens in what felt like every 5 minutes. 


This also didn't just feel epic because it was 3 hours, but because it felt like such a huge, grand display of finality that manages to juggle all these characters, but never taking the main focus off the original Avengers. Being a blockbuster of this size, it was inevitable that the last act would be some pile of CGI wank. Which it was. But the stakes were there to make me care and all the characters got a crowd-pleasing time to shine. The last act of Endgame really is something to marvel and behold.

Avengers: Endgame truly is the biggest film of the year and one of the biggest film events of all time. It's a daunting task to pull off, bringing an end to 22 films and 11 years of storytelling, but the Russo's pulled it off. It's not perfect and very self-indulgent, but it brings it all together in a crowd-pleasing, heartfelt and fun epic. Possibly the most entertaining 3 hour film I've ever seen. I honestly can't see the MCU having this same impact in the future now a lot of these characters stories are wrapped up. I cannot wait to watch it again. An imperfect achievement in cinema.

8/10 Dans

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Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) - 4K UHD Review

Review:

*Originally written April 24th, 2019*

It feels weird just how far this series has come from its humble beginnings before being eaten up by Disney. I'm not saying Disney haven't improved the direction of this series (For the most part), but the films under Paramount certainly have a different tone, look and feel to them, for better or worse.

The First Avenger is a more earnest entry in the series that wears its honesty on its sleeve, making for a pretty entertaining and sweet World War 2 adventure that effectively sets up the Captain America trilogy and some of the groundwork for the MCU as a whole. 

Chris Evans makes for an easy to root for hero. A malnourished young adult from Brooklyn who wants nothing more than to do the right thing and help the war effort, despite the danger and his lack of anything close to combat skills. Evans makes the character work so well, so inherently earnest and likeable as he goes from scrawny asthmatic to 'roided up super-soldier.  It is weird seeing the CGI in making Chris Evans look so small though, while I remember it being very impressive back when this released, it doesn't hold up very well.

Not a lot of the CGI or action has aged well either in all honesty, but the more cartoony look of the film and special effects works in favour of its tone, making it feel like a more Indiana Jones esque take on World War 2 and Nazis. I mean, these aren't your Schindler's List monster Nazis, these are cartoonish super-villain Nazis, which I suppose they were, but the portrayal here is much harder to take seriously. 

I wasn't a massive fan of the look of the film either. It's very drab and colourless for the most part and made even worse by a 4K disc that only exacerbates these flaws. The whole film has this flat digital look to it. I always found the first two Avengers films to not look like actual films, but more big-budget TV. First Avenger suffers from the same problem. There's not really any moments of striking cinematography as everything just looks pretty bland and the direction lacks anything with a signature.

I sound like I'm criticising this a lot, but I did enjoy it quite a bit. Which is also very much due to the character work with Steve Rogers and his journey. I particularly loved the travelling roadshow montage to Star Spangled Man that involved him punching a fake Hitler at the end of every performance, before realising he could make much more of a difference if he actually helped in battle. 

Then there's the romance with him and Peggy, which is probably the only romance in the MCU outside of Tony and Pepper that actually feels like it has any weight to it. I always forget just how touching the last moments of the film are, helped by the fact they have genuine chemistry throughout. Everything with Steve and Bucky is surprisingly effective too, especially knowing how that all goes in the next two Captain America films. 

Hugo Weaving's Red Skull is also a pretty solid villain. Again, his motivations are very cartoonish and his look is ridiculous, but it works in favour of the films tone. Even with the tone, I was surprised at just how violent this was at times too. When people get shot, there's pretty strong blood splatter and even a pretty shocking moment where Steve throws a nazi into a plane engine and he turns to bloody mulch, something the MCU would in no way get away with now. I'm amazed they even got away with it in a 12 rated film from 8 years ago. This came out 8 years ago, Jesus.


Captain America: The First Avenger is a solid first outing for the Evan's Steve Rogers, helped enormously by strong character work, Evan's earnest performance and fine campy tone that saves the film from it's forgettable action and bland, drab visual look. 


7/10 Dans

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Captain Marvel (2019) - Cinema Review

Review:

*Originally written March 13th, 2019*

So... this is the sort of film you virgin incels try to boycott? Not films starring or directed by rapists, racists or homophobes? But a film starring a woman who made a joke about a terrible film at the Oscars and suggested media journalism needed more diversity than mostly just white males? You chronic wanking hentai watchers will take any excuse to hate women because they won't fuck you in your mums basement after you tip your fedora to them and hold a door open for them, won't you? Time to shave the neckbeard and focus on real problems, losers. 

Anyway, Captain Marvel is another very solid entry in the ever-growing MCU. I had my reservations with this due to the very underwhelming trailers that made it seem like any other Marvel affair for the most part, but aside from the odd shot of formulaic familiarity, I ended up having a really good time with this. Might have been low expectations, but I believe this is definitely one of the best of the origin stories for this series.

I'll admit it gets off to a rough start with a pretty incoherent first act and I really had very little idea what was happening. It throws you right into the middle of things and bombards you with exposition, making it very easy to get lost and confused as to what these characters and their motivations are. Thankfully, once it hits Earth, things are a lot more fun and engaging. 

Brie Larson shines in the titular role, playing it with a strong amount of confidence, charm and just the right amount of snark. I got a little worried early on that she'd just be sarcastic and annoying most of the film, but that quickly went away as she won me over. There's even a surprisingly compelling arc she goes through as she slowly discovers her true origins and her previous life on Earth. It all works very well.

Larson shines most when she's paired with Nick Fury (Who has an insanely convincing de-aging job that makes Samuel L Jackson look like he walked straight off the set of Pulp Fiction). The two have great chemistry together, making all their scenes a joy to watch. Plus it was great to see a younger, more inexperienced Fury, who had yet to discover the existence of super-humans/aliens. I'd love to see a series based around Fury's adventures in the '90s on Disney's upcoming streaming service.

One of my worries was the appearance of Ben Mendelsohn, an actor I love, but I was afraid he would be wasted as yet another forgettable and bland MCU villain. But again, my expectations were subverted and he gave a far more interesting performance with a nice twist that turned things on its head towards the end. It was nice to see him not be yet another forced bad guy he's sadly been typecast in these past few years in films like Robin Hood and Rogue One. Check out The Place Beyond the Pines to see what Mendelsohn is really capable of.

One of my biggest question marks surrounding this was the appearance of Jude Law and he's merely fine. It was pretty quick and easy to see what was going to happen with his character based on just how obvious it was towards the beginning and the trailers. I just wish they'd done something far more interesting with his character than what we ended up getting.

Being a hugely budgeted blockbuster, everything is gorgeous CGI wise, from the space stuff at the beginning, alien designs and explosive third act. It makes me wonder what went wrong with the CGI in Black Panther that was similarly budgeted. How on Earth can the same company release a film with effects as good as the stuff here, then release a film with those awful CGI rhinos and PS2 cutscene final battle? 

As fun as the action is at times, there really lacks a sense of directorial style. There was just no signature here, leading me to believe it was competently made, but lacked any sort of personality or visual flair, which is a great shame, as the MCU was really growing in starting to let directors do their own thing, but it seems to be gone here. At the very least this actually looks like a proper, cinematic film and not the televisual ugliness of say Avengers: Age of Ultron. I was also pretty disappointed with the score, which started off pretty well with some great synthy stuff, but quickly devolved into me forgetting the film even had a score at points.

I have to get it off my chest that the fact the MCU has only just released a female starring film after 11 years and over 20 films while DC managed to do it in less than half the time and films. I don't know what went wrong there, but it's a severe and backwards decision from Disney that should have been amended years ago. It's a shame that they waited this long, because it clearly works (Like it obviously would) and I really hope they finally ramp up with the Black Widow film after the success of this.


Captain Marvel is another great entry in the forever growing MCU. It starts out rough, but quickly became some of the most fun I've had with this franchise in a while and Brie Larson is an excellent addition to the series and I cannot wait to see more of her and how she factors into Avengers: Endgame. My superhero film fatigue might have just got a new boost of life.

8/10 Dans

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The Incredible Hulk (2008) - 4K Review

Review:

*Originally written September 1st, 2018*

I know The Incredible Hulk gets a lot of flack for its quality and it has more or less been forgotten in the overall run of the MCU and it's not hard to see why, but in all honesty, it's just a remarkably okay entry. It's no less aggressively mediocre than the first Avengers film, Ant-Man and the Wasp and Iron Man 2 or a bunch of the other 3 star entries of the MCU. 

It's all just by the numbers and competent. It's a huge step down from the first Iron Man in terms of freshness, but it still has its merits. Edward Norton makes for a great Bruce Banner, he lacks the goofy charm Ruffalo later brings to the role, but Norton goes for something different and a bit more serious and I was okay with that.

My biggest gripe is that studios don't seem to know what to do with The Hulk in his own film. I have very little memory of Ang Lee's Hulk, but I remember that being truly awful. This reboot covers a lot of ground we already know and have seen in countless other comic-book  films. Guy with powers is on the run from the government while not being being to be with the woman he loves, while ironically her father is the man hunting him. It's all just fine. 

It's always fun to see the Hulk smash shit up and while the CGI on The Hulk himself hasn't aged massively well, it's still enjoyable chaos with some memorable bursts of action. One could argue Hulk looks too much like Daddy Shrek, but this is definitely not a problem for me.

There's also the annoying superhero film trope of the villain having the same powers as the hero and using them for evil, which is exactly what happens here. Tim Roth is a fine actor, highly underrated even and while it was somewhat of a joy to see him ham it up outrageously, when he actually turns into abomination, I had unfortunate flashbacks to Doomsday in Batman vs Superman. Which is also an ugly, cave troll looking piece of CGI. That said, I wish they would have brought Roth back in the MCU at some point, but I can confidently assume that will never happen now.

Some of more minor things I liked here are a few little moments. There were some nice moments between Banner and Betty Rose, even if she is another one of the MCU's disposable love interests that are nothing less than an afterthought. They really need to work on that. Then there's the heart rate monitor watch that Banner uses to stop himself becoming the Hulk. It might be a bit of a cheap move that maybe simplifies his change a bit much, but I don't know, I thought it was a nice touch.


There's not really a lot else to say here, The Incredible Hulk probably deserves the hate it receives, but I kinda like it, it's remarkably watchable and does very little in the way of interesting, but in terms of the MCU, it's just another watchable, if forgettable entry. Universal and Disney need to sort out the rights issues so at least one of them can make another solo Hulk film again.

6/10 Dans

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Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written August 4th, 2018*

While Ant-Man and The Wasp is probably a much needed step down in scale after the insanely huge Avengers: Infinity War, it's also one of Marvel's most forgettable films in a while. A completely risk free piece of fluff that did nothing to stick in your mind. I usually defend the genre when people who barely watch superhero films say "They're all the same" , but when comic-book films like this exist, I have a hard time arguing with those people.

It's just such a shame, Marvel have had such a strong run these past few years. Infinity War, Black Panther, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2 and Thor: Ragnarok. All films that had their own unique voice and at the very least, some interesting action. For the most part, the MCU have made sequels that have massively improved on their original, with the odd exception (Age of Ultron and Iron Man 2). Ant-Man and the Wasp sadly can't even live to the decent standard of the first.

This all starts off so well, the opening 20 minutes have Scott Long/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) stuck in his house after the events of Civil War, finding himself bored until his house arrest is over. He builds elaborate cardboard mazes, watches too much TV and routinely plays the drums. It's this sort of humanising of characters that the MCU needed, but it quickly falls apart when Hope Van Dyne/ Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) and her father, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) enter the picture. 

From then on, it is such a dull, formulaic affair and I lost interest so fast, I fell asleep for a good 15 minutes or so towards the end of the second act. Despite this missing that much of the film, I felt I had missed nothing, I still knew what was going on, I just wish I'd slept a little longer. The villain problem is something that Marvel had struggled with in the past, but it seemed like it was a hurdle they were finally over, but it comes crashing back here with such wasted and uninspired villains in Hannah John-Kamen's "Ghost", an angry person who can shift through walls and has a personal vendetta towards Pym and Walton Goggin's Sonny Burch, a charming, Southern arms trader. Both of these fine actors are completely wasted in thankless roles.

I was also surprised at what little action there was, the first Ant-Man had some genuinely inspired set-pieces involving ants and changing sizes in the middle of a fight. The sequel just does this again with no real effect, but at a bigger scale. A car chase in the third act started off with the cool idea of a car shrinking and growing on the go to evade pursuers, but they use the same trick several times in a row and it become tiresome very quickly. I suppose a big problem was just the fact there was no emotional weight to anything, there is no real consequence. It was mostly just frustrating.

While Marvel has continued to improve in many respects, where I find them lacking is with it's lame cringe humour clearly aimed at children (Which you know, is fine, it's a kids film after all), but there is some really awful stuff here. It's not Thor: Ragnarok or Age of Ultron levels of obnoxious, but there is some real cringe, especially from Michael Pena, who is quickly becoming the worst part of every film he's in. His eye-rolling, fast talking monologues from the first film is just lazily rehashed and thrown in again here. It really did just feel like people liked it in the first one, so let's not doing anything new, so just do it again.

I know there was no way this would have anything close to the stakes of Infinity War and I didn't expect it to, but I was hoping for something far more substantial than this. If there was any word to describe this sequel, it would be "Inconsequential". The only real change by the end of film is related to Pym's wife, Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), which is a spoiler, so I won't talk about that, but every character goes through no change. I still like Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, he's completely charming and watchable, but his character goes through absolutely nothing here, he's completely the same person by the end of it, it just felt so pointless. I did appreciate how Janet had more to do this time, relegated to a much more action orientated role, which is a huge improvement from here role in the first. 

I've ragged on Marvel films for looking "Televisual" and drab before, and like their villain problem, it's something they've massively improved on over the years, but they've sadly regressed once again, as a Ant-Man and the Wasp is such a bland and dull looking film, the colours are flat and looked washed out, the lighting is so plain and TV like (Expensive TV). I'm not sure if this is how director Peyton Reed wanted the film to look, but if he did, my god, he does not have the visual eye for making a good looking film. There is some good anti-ageing CGI and all the set-pieces are technically impressive, but cinematography wise? Gross.


I'm making it sound like I hated Ant-Man and the Wasp, but in all honesty, I didn't. It's perfectly watchable, just absolutely forgettable and made that much worse based on how strong the recent Marvel offerings have been. It's just such a lower tier MCU film that lacks any consequence and barely manages to be anything more than serviceable. 

5/10 Dans

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Ant-Man (2015) - Film Review

Review:

*originally written August 1st, 2015*

Compared to Marvel's last film, an overblown and dull display of special effects in a genre that is reaching serious levels of fatigue, Ant-Man is a pretty refreshing change of pace.

Giving us the origin story of a lesser known superhero was a pretty risky move for Marvel, especially with a character that is so easy to mock, but thankfully Ant-Man works far better than it should.

Paul Rudd as Scott Lang was extremely likeable and carried a lot of charisma, more so than most of Marvel's characters. Kate from Lost was fine, even if her character isn't given much to do for most of the film. Michael Douglas was a nice surprise, having a role that is a lot more fun than the usual stuff he does.

Ant-Man had a long, troubled production, which is even more commendable that the end product turned out so well. There are clearly flashes of Edgar Wright's touch here and there, I just wish Marvel would have let him do the film how he wanted, I'm sure that would have made Ant-Man one of Marvel's best and unique films.

It's becoming a joke the blandness of Marvel villains. Yellow Jacket is yet another forgettable villain to throw on the pile. It's not that the guy from House of Cards did a bad job, it's just that the motivation is poor and you really don't care about him or what he does. I'm honestly struggling to remember a moment he stood out and did anything interesting.

The action scenes were easily Ant-Man's highest point. Although all the action doesn't happen till the last half hour, what they do give us more than makes up for the lack of set-pieces in the first 2 acts. The use of mundane household objects being used as the centrepieces of the action was a stroke of genius. A scene that takes place on a railway set with Thomas the Tank Engine, gold. 

There is a heart in the middle of Ant-Man too. With Scott Lang's motivation being to see his estranged daughter and the relationship with the actual ants themselves, which are also used pretty creatively in set pieces.


Ant-Man is a refreshing and smaller film which doesn't hinge on being part of this wider universe, telling its own story with some creative set-pieces that nearly outweigh its been there, done that plot.

7/10 Dans

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Avengers: Infinity War (2018) - Film Review

*Originally written May 3rd, 2018*

Review:

Avengers: Infinity War had a lot to live up to. It's the culmination of an insane 18 films of hit-or-miss quality and 10 years of build up. I had my worries about Infinity War. Packing all these characters into such a huge film. Would it work? I wasn't sure. While it is far from perfect, this is a fun, effective, ambitious and surprisingly emotional epic that spells the beginning of the end for a decade worth of superhero films.

The structure is more in line with Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, while the characters never all meet up in one huge scene (And a couple are curiously absent), everyone has their moment to shine and a part to play. A lot of the team-ups were unexpected, but mostly work. It's hard to talk about without spoiling, which I will not do.

Marvel has always had a villain problem, 90% of them are bland and throwaway fodder just to fill the space of a bad without any real character. Thanos, on the other-hand is a completely different beast. Josh Brolin delivers an extremely developed and compelling villain. It's so rare that a villain comes along where you completely agree with his motivation and why he does what he does. Despite being the bad guy, he has genuine heart and emotion behind him, leading to a moment of surprisingly brutality that I didn't think the MCU had in it. It really helped that Brolin is given such a huge amount of screen-time, possibly more than the heroes themselves.

Much like the Guardians films, this is an extremely gorgeous film to look at, filled with mostly impressive CG (Aside from a couple of Thanos' throwaway goons). It's not just the CGI too, the cinematographer is top notch too, there's so many bright and beautiful locations, a far cry from the ugly and televisual Age of Ultron.  Alan Silvestri's score was also fantastic. Again, scores are something the MCU seem to overlook, so it was great to hear a memorable orchestral score in a Marvel films.

Like I said, it's not all perfect though. A big problem I have had with the MCU is the lame humour and while there is quite a bit of eye-rollingly embarrassing comedy here, it's not as intrusive as it has been in the past. It's much more in line with Civil War, where they let moments of emotion breathe rather than throw in some stupid joke and remove any kind of tension. That said, there are some moments that are genuinely funny, it's not massively hilarious, but I do have to remember these kids films, despite how dark and mature Infinity War gets.

And Infinity War does get dark. A lot of people die, some long running, some not. While some of the deaths will be impossible for the MCU to commit to, it didn't make the ending scenes any less haunting or unsettling. There were one or two deaths that just got a collective shrug from me though, particularly the ones early on.

Infinity War really is a hard film to talk about, it's half a film, despite losing the "Part 1" in the title, this really feels like the first part of a film, and luckily we only have a year to see the resolution to the Empire Strikes Back style ending, but based on this, I'm sure it'll be worth the wait.


Superhero fatigue might be slowly kicking in, but Infinity War manages to be an ambitious and devastating entry into the now 19th film MCU that are slowly learning from their mistakes. I don't know what more I could have wanted from this film.

8/10 Dans

Avengers: Infinity War is out now in cinemas in the UK
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Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written April 14th, 2016*

Definitely not the "political thriller" people seem to claim it is. Sure it has elements of this, but Captain America: The Winter Soldier really is just another Marvel affair, although it's one of the best efforts from them.

In Captain America's second solo outing S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised and he doesn't know who he can trust as a new villain emerges in the form of the 'Winter Soldier', a killing machine with ties to Cap's past.

I know it's widely considered so, but Winter Soldier is easily one of the best films in the MCU so far, top 3 material for sure. I wasn't a huge fan of the first Captain America film, so I was pleased at what huge step-up this one was.

The themes of national security play a big part here, although I feel it could have been explored a bit more, but whatever, this is a comic-book film, not a statement on society. The film asks what's more important, freedom or protection, but it never gives a clear answer either way, which is fine. This looks to be explored a lot more in the upcoming Civil War.

What Winter Soldier does better than any Marvel film to date is finally the first decent villain in the form of the Winter Soldier. He's a terminator sort of character, violent, scary and emotionless. He is way more intimidating than anything the MCU has had to offer before hand. It's just a shame that Robert Redford's bad guy was kinda boring and forgettable.

There are some cool nods to other Marvel films. I never even noticed at Dr. Strange got a mention in any of the other watches, but that's probably because he's still in my mind due to the recently released trailer for his solo film. Also gotta mention a fantastic cameo that was Abed from Community in a tiny role.

The action is also far more impressive and less "CGI smashy-smashy". There are some genuinely memorable action scenes like Nick Fury's SUV attack and the now iconic close quarter elevator fight. I'm the directors of this film are back for the next one, they have a talent for creative set-pieces.

I still really like Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America. Still the most likable of all the Avengers. He's modest and easy to get behind, unlike some of Marvel's other characters. Evan's brought the heart to this film, I've always liked the "man out of time" idea and he nails it pretty well, his fight at the end also feels like it has genuine weight to it, mostly thanks to the performance.

My only real complaints are it goes on a bit too long and my problem with all Marvel films. They don't look like films, they look like really expensive episodes of TV and really lack their own visual style, which is such a shame. That said, this looks a lot nicer than both the Avengers films.


The Winter Soldier is one of the most successful films in the MCU to date, filled with memorable set-pieces, Marvel's first decent villain (Outside their Netflix shows) and an engaging story.

8/10 Dans

Captain American: The Winter Soldier is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK

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Black Panther (2018) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written February 17th, 2018*

I went into Black Panther with relatively low expectations. I find most of the first standalone films in the MCU to be their weakest. I wasn't surprised by the critical acclaim Panther received though, good or bad, these films get a free pass from the critics, so I went in not knowing entirely what to expect. To my surprise, this was pretty excellent and while it suffers from a few of the problems most superhero films succumb to, this manages to fix a few of them.

This opens an entire new world within the MCU, Wakanda is a gorgeous, fascinating place that mixes futuristic sci-fi ideas with old fashioned tribal aesthetics. I have to bring up the society's backward system of using a monarchy and royal family though, such a stupid and broken system and only leads to the trouble they get into at the end on the film. They had it coming.

Black Panther wasn't the best in Civil War, but Chadwick Boseman really makes the role is own here, a near James Bond like figure with charisma and gravitas to him that makes him insanely watchable. Aside from a few lingering threads to Civil War, his story feels entirely standalone, which I always appreciate in this now 18 film franchise. 

Boseman is joined by a cast of very memorable supporting characters too. Panther's sister is a sort of Q like presence that provides the team with gadgets and weapons, Martin Freeman is given a lot more to do than he did and Civil War, I was surprised at how much screen-time he was given too, I suspected he was going to be nothing more than a cameo, but he's a pretty big supporting character.

On the villain side of things, Michael B. Jordan is excellent, one of the finest villains in the MCU yet, a sympathetic sociopath with clear motivations, motivations you could actually get behind and a surprisingly emotional character arc. He was a far cry from the wasted bad guys the MCU usually put out. Andy Serkis was also great fun in his role, I just wish he got more screen-time in this whole thing.

Coogler directs the 135 minute film with a brisk pace and the whole film does look gorgeous (The MCU seems to have finally broken away from the awful televisual look that plagued Avengers 1-2 and Captain 2-3). Some of the action is fluid and kinetic to watch, it's just a shame the film succumbs to that annoying third act where boring pieces of ugly CGI hit each other. The final fight on the train tracks is disgusting to watch, some of the worst special effects the MCU has had to date. Which is a shame considering how small in scale the early scenes were.

I wasn't a huge fan of all the hip-hop music either, a lot of the time it just didn't fit and felt forced, but at the very least it was far more memorable than the utterly forgettable score here. I'm pretty convinced there wasn't one at all in all honesty?

One of my biggest problems in this series has been the lame humour that ruined some of their films. Thankfully, this is a lot better in that department, the writers know when to shut the characters up and let the tension in a scene breathe, rather than ruin it with an embarrassing joke to make 6 year old children laugh. It's not all perfect though, that lame humour does pop up every now and then, a particular character towards the end ruined some potentially effective scenes.


Black Panther is far better than I was expecting, a gorgeous, beautiful film that expands the MCU, tells its own story and finally delivers a great villain, it's just shame it falls into the third act trap of bombastic garbage CGI towards the end.

8/10 Dans

Black Panther is out now in cinemas in the UK
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Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written July 6th, 2017*

"The Almost Amazing Spider-Man"

I was pretty on the fence about Spider-Man: Homecoming before its release (Can you blame me?), the trailers have been uninspired, the posters sucked and Sony have fucked up Spider-Man more times than they've done it right. So I was actually pretty surprised that I liked Homecoming as much as I did.

Spidey joining the MCU is a big deal, they used him effectively in Captain America: Civil War, and this takes place mere moments after that in the form of a video log during Peter's time in Berlin with Stark. It also takes place 8 years after the events of The Avengers, as it still deals with the after effects of the Battle of Manhattan.

I'll say the stuff I liked first. Tom Holland is excellent as Peter Parker and Spider-Man. It was so refreshing to see a different take on the character as a young and naive kid, but still already Spider-Men (No origin story again, thank fuck. No mention of Uncle Ben either). It doesn't cover ground with seen before, although it does pay homage to a few moments from Sam Raimi's trilogy. Holland isn't an actor I'm very familiar with, but he really carried the film and was far better than Andrew Garfield's mentally challenged Marty McFly Peter Parker.

The stuff I loved the most was all the high-school stuff. This feels like a love letter to John Hughes' films. It's a coming of age tale as Peter has to balance his double life as a student and Spider-Man. There are some wonderful homages to Ferris Bueller's day off and other general cliches of these sort of '80s high school comedies, and that's where Homecoming really shines.

There's a decent supporting cast. Michael Keaton is far more memorable than most Marvel villains as The Vulture, although he's a little underused. His character had genuine motivation, charm and real intimidation, especially during an hilarious scene towards the end as he's forced into a situation by pure coincidence and has to deal with Peter Parker, rather than Spider-Man. I loved Zendaya as Michelle, who delivers some really dead-pan humour while still remaining cool and I hope to see her expanded for further films. I really did not like Jacob Batalon as Ned, he was a purely lame attempt at humour and felt like he was directly from the worst of Marvel.

It is seriously funny at times too. I usually find Marvel films to be horrifically childish and cringe-worthy with their humour (Age of Ultron and Thor 2 being the biggest offenders), but it really helps that the humour doesn't really feel like a marvel film and does actually pull out some decent gags, including one that was surprisingly dark for a kids film. Captain America's brief appearances also make for some of the funniest stuff in the MCU to date. Homecoming easily has the best closing 3 seconds of a Marvel film so far and best post credits scene.

Where I found fault in Homecoming however was the pacing and action. I found myself really bored in moments during the action, which were very forgettable (And spoiled in the trailers). It should have been trimmed down to around 2 hours. The only action I really liked was the montage of Spider-Man just being a "Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man". The finale was a complete trainwreck. It wasn't a bombastic, city-destroying end, but it was far too dark to see what was happening, so I was so taken out of the film and I just wanted it to end by this point.

The CGI was pretty solid for the most part, but I really don't like the look of Spider-Man's suit, it just looks really fake and distracting, but I did like variety of gadgets and settings it had. His homemade suit is better though.

They made a huge deal of Robert Downey Jr. returning as Iron Man here and Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan. Thanfully, they did not steal the spotlight at all and it was all about Peter. Iron Man did add a genuinely sweet touch of being Peter's father figure in the film. Again, something I hope is explored in the future. Assuming, Iron Man dies in the next Avengers film, that could make for an interesting character arc for Peter.

Spider-Man: Homecoming has its faults like a lack of any interesting action or visual style (It is very "Marvelized"), I still had a lot of fun with it and it's easily the best Spider-Man film in 13 years now. Here's to more good Spidey films.

7/10 Dans

Spider-Man: Homecoming is out now in cinemas in the UK
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Iron Man (2008) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written December 29th, 2015*

"Strong beginnings"

Marking the start of Marvel's 'Cinematic Universe', Iron Man is a really great start to a franchise that has been victim to the law of diminishing returns as of late. Not saying they're bad, they just aren't as fresh or fun as they like to think they are.

Following Robert Downey Jr as a sarcastic billionaire weapons dealer who gets captured by terrorists in the Middle East and escapes, but changes his ways to stop making weapons and helps people instead... with a suit, that is essentially a weapon.

I did like the progression of Tony Stark's character. He's an asshole, but he's an asshole you hate to love. He's nothing more than a playboy that also happens to be a scientific genius. Despite this, there is a certain charm to Robert Downey Jr's performance that I can't see the role of Tony Stark being played by anyone else. The guy is a charisma magnet. I found him much more endearing than say the humble Captain America, or any of the other Avengers for that matter.

Jeff Bridges plays Obidiah Stone, the villain of the piece, and while he is a more interesting villain than most of the MCU, that really doesn't say much. By the end of it, he is just another throwaway villain that ends up fighting the hero with powers that are the same as the hero, but evil. Yawn.

There are some fun action scenes though. The first 40 minutes are easily the strongest, especially with Tony in captivity and it feels weird to see the small beginnings of these films that mostly seem to end with a whole city being leveled in a CGI frenzy. Here, things seem more restrained and it works.

As the first film in the now huge MCU, there is obviously some world building. We get the first appearance of Agent Coulson, a good character, but he's not given a lot to do here rather than say the name of his agency. Then in the first post credits sting we have Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury, trying to recruit Tony to the Avengers Initiative. I'm sure the film was also littered with references to Marvel comics and what not, but I don't really know any of that stuff.

Iron Man is great start to Marvel's MCU, it is carried by Robert Downey Jr's charisma and there are a couple of shortcomings, but this was a lot of fun and I can't wait to go forward with my rewatch of the MCU.

8/10 Dans

Iron Man is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) - Film Review

 Review:
*Originally written April 28th, 2017*

I was expecting to enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but I did not expect to like it anywhere near this much. The first Guardians was Marvel's weirdest, strangest and riskiest film yet, and it somehow paid off and delivered one of their best films. Vol. 2 gives us more of the same, but improves on everything. The same characters we loved are here, but it's bigger, better and packs a far more emotional punch.

Straight of the bat, Vol. 2 is easily Marvel's most visual beautiful film yet. I've had a bit of a problem with a few of the films in the MCU looking like expensive episodes of TV (The 2 Avengers films are the biggest offenders of this), but the Guardians of the Galaxy films really pack a gorgeous, vibrant and cinematic punch. There some wonderfully designed creatures, planets and the special effects are the strongest yet. 

From the opening scene I fell in love with Guardians 2. From the prologue returning us back to Earth with a flashback to a scene of Quill's mother and father (Kurt Russell's Ego), I knew I was going to love it. Last year had Deadpool with it's hilarious opening credits, but this year belongs to Guardians 2. I'll be amazed if I see a more memorable opening credit sequence this year. 

Baby Groot

We're once again given another excellent soundtrack of classic rock music with 'Awesome Mix Vol. 2' that perfectly captures the tone of the series and cements some more emotional scenes that play throughout. Tyler Bate's score is sadly lost in the mix and extremely forgettable like most Marvel scores shamely are, but it at least makes up for this with a lot more tracks I'll be adding to my Spotify playlist. 

Despite primarily being a comedy (It is very funny), Guardians 2 does go to some really dark places I had no idea it would go to, making for a surprisingly horrific reveal towards the end that really surprised me. This time around it is a lot more character focused, you learn a lot more about Chris Pratt's Peter Quill/Star-Lord's heritage, which brings an emotional punch to the proceedings.
 
Kurt Russell steals the show as Ego 'The Living Planet', Russell's grandiose narcissism was great to watch as was his bond with Peter, which involved some very touching moments. I think the Guardians series might be the only franchise to be able to get away with making a character an actual planet and have it work.

The big thing that worried me going in was Baby Groot. In the trailers he was cute and adorable, but I was concerned he would be overused and shoved in every scene to sell toys, almost like a modern day Jar-Jar. I'll add I say this while I look to my right and see a Baby Groot Pop-Vinyl standing in front of my Blu-rays. Thankfully, Groot is adorable, but not used anywhere near as much as I thought he would be. Which is a good thing. He's used sparingly and effectively, he's responsible for some of the films funniest moments, and yes, he is adorable.

Chris Pratt and Kurt Russell

On top of the usual members of the team, Drax, Gomora, Rocket, there are new members added to the team. Surprisingly, they are minor villains in the previous film. Michael Rooker's Yondu and Karen Gillan's Nebula. Both characters are greatly expanded with more depth, Nebula is given a really sad back story and Yondu's explanation for keeping Peter for many years is given a touching reason. 

I can't mention it without spoilers, but for the first time in Marvel's film history, they have finally given us a truly great and memorable villain, but I can't talk about it without spoiling it, so you just gotta trust me. Where Guardians does falter though is its length. This does feel long, longer than it needs to be. Aside from that, there was one scene of weird and sadistic brutality from some of the good guys as they kill over a hundred poeple one by one as they gleefully watch and laugh which didn't sit quite right with me.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 isn't quite a masterpiece, but it is a triumph from Marvel, a richer, bigger and much improved sequel that packs a hell of an emotional punch.  

9/10 Dans

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 is out now in cinemas in the UK
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