Tag: marvel

Film Review: A Step In The Right Direction

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a somewhat encouraging addition to the Marvel Studios’ cinematic output and is directed by Matt Shakman. It took four screenwriters to come up with a reasonably enjoyable film, but they got there. Josh Friedman, Eric Pierson, Jeff Kaplan, and Ian Springer wrote the script with someone named Kat Wood sharing the story credit.

Pedro Pascal portrays Reed Richards also known as Mr. Fantastic alongside Vanessa Kirby as the Invisible Woman, Sue Storm. Ebon Moss-Bachrach plays Ben Grimm or the Thing. Finally, Joseph Quinn plays the Human Torch, Johnny Storm. Other cast members include Julia Garner, Sarah Niles, Mark Gatiss, and Ralph Ineson.

This story takes place in some parallel Earth in 1964. It has been four years since the space accident which transformed this family of astronauts and scientists into superheroes. Reed Richards and Sue Storm have discovered that they are about to welcome a new addition to the family. They are also warned by a Silver Surfer that a planet eater named Galactus is on his way to consume the entire planet. When the Fantastic Four take another space trip to find out what this guy’s problem was, they find an absurdly powerful being who is willing to spare the Earth in exchange for the child. Obviously, the Fantastic Four have some understandable objections to this plan and make a harrowing escape back to Earth to come up with a plan to defeat the oncoming. During the escape, the baby is born after Galactus induces Sue to go into labor. The Fantastic Four also have to contend with a growing panic among the people they have been protecting for the past few years. They have to unite the people and come up with a plan to send Galactus on his way with an unfulfilled appetite and without the new child.

This franchise has really struggled in the past couple of decades to gain a reliable cinematic audience. This iteration actually manages to be quite suspenseful and entertaining. The cast is more likeable somehow. The chemistry between Pascal and Kirby was also quite endearing. Johnny Storm was actually kind of funny at times.

The film seemed to have a pretty good mix of humor and heart in the performances. The 1960’s setting worked pretty well. I also appreciated that there was not much time spent on another origin story.

Obviously, there was some ridiculousness to forgive since it is a comic book movie, but it wasn’t quite as hard as it has been in recent contributions from Marvel.

Anyway, I am not generally a Fantastic Four fan, but I can still appreciate some success from the producers and studios when they come up with a reasonably entertaining product.

Film Review: Watch Out For The Thunder

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Thunderbolts* is the latest cinematic offering from Marvel Studios and actually manages to be a piece of solid entertainment. Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo wrote this engaging script, and Jake Schreier claims the director’s seat and may have breathed a little more life into the superhero film genre. Florence Pugh reprises her role of former Black Widow assassin, Yelena Belova. Sebastian Stan returns as Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, who is now a United States congressman. Of course, that doesn’t mean that Bucky has lost any of his punch. Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Hannah John-Kamen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and David Harbour are also included in the cast.

Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, played by Louis-Dreyfus, is now the CIA director and has been involved in some controversial black ops which has led to her facing an impeachment. She sets up some of her super-powered operatives to kill each other in a remote lab that also needs to be sanitized to protect her secrets. Yelena, John Walker, Ghost, and an enigma named Bob end up escaping the trap, but Bob is abducted by de Fontaine’s agents where whatever experiments were being conducted on him may continue. The ragtag group of contract killers have only each other to rely on until they are joined by the Winter Soldier, and Yelena’s crazy father figure who is a Russian super soldier known as the Red Guardian. Bob has transformed into a being with frightening abilities and a dark past that fuels the Void within him. This new team of loners and renegades need to figure out how to combine their abilities and save the world without the Avengers to back them up.

Pugh is actually quite fun to watch, and I think the Russian accent she affects is pretty good. I am not so sure about Harbour’s, but he did fine as well with his manic energy as Alexei Shostakov. He was pretty fun to watch, although I also appreciated the chance to catch my breath when he wasn’t onscreen. The cast was pretty well-chosen. Julia Louis-Dreyfus did quite well as a smug elitist with too much power and not much caution in achieving her goals.

The special effects were typically well executed. The fight scenes were also quite compelling if as typically implausible as expected in a comic book movie.

The story does get into some themes of despair and the effects of trauma, but there is enough humor peppered throughout to help not get too depressed. Some of the one-liners even landed pretty well,

I don’t think the film is as good as the early Marvel films such as Iron Man and the first Avengers installment, but it sure wasn’t as dubious as some of the more recent offerings in this franchise.

Pugh is still relatively new in the limelight, but she does have plenty of talent and charisma. The scenes she shares with Harbour were often hilarious, but there was one pretty moving moment between their characters.

The film was just good, and I am looking forward to getting together with this cast of misfits again.

Film Review: Captain America Sees Red

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Captain America: Brave New World is the latest film added to Marvel Studio’s list of mildly entertaining cinematic experiences in a still over-saturated superhero market. It is a little better than I had heard but not by much.

There are five credited screenwriters for this, including the director, Julius Ornah. The other collaborators are Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Mussan, and Peter Glanz.

Anthony Mackie has succeeded Chris Evans as the new Captain America. His superhero moniker in the previous MCU films was the Falcon. Now, he is the new Captain America since the previous one, Steve Rogers, went back in time to be with his lost love and bequeathed his shield to Sam Wilson. Anyway, other cast members include Harrison Ford as now-President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Tim Blake Nelson, and Giancarlo Esposito.

Nelson reprises his role from The Incredible Hulk film of 2008, which was Dr. Samuel Sterns, a super-intelligent villain who was grievously wronged by Ross for many years.

An old friend of Wilson’s is brainwashed into attempting to assassinate the president. A treaty with Japan falls into peril as they negotiate the handling of a new element known as adamantium. Ross had invited Wilson to a summit at the White House, wanting to discuss the chances of rebuilding the Avengers. The assassination attempt sparks an investigation that leads Captain America to an enemy who was kept in secret. Ross also has to fight off a frightening transformation triggered by his ingestion of gamma radiation. The new Captain America will have quite a fight on his hands to protect his country and the world from enemies within his own government.

Mackie is actually a talented actor and does his best with this role, but I didn’t find his character to be all that interesting. His angst about replacing the previous Captain America is somewhat predictable. He performs his fight scenes quite well. He seems to have trained quite hard to make some of those moves seem so effortless. My lack of enthusiasm for this portrayal has more to do with the writing than Mackie’s casting.

Harrison Ford predictably does a solid job as Thaddeus Ross, a role he took over from the late William Hurt. The previously mentioned frightening transformation is in the trailer, so I am not spoiling much by saying that he becomes the Red Hulk, which is pretty well realized with the assistance of CGI and whatever other special effects gizmos are involved.

I guess I was also distracted by the realization that it took five screenwriters to cobble this thing together. Parts of it did feel a little tacked together.

The film manages to avoid being completely terrible. There are some interesting moments peppered throughout.

Sterns was kind of an interesting adversary with a legitimate beef. Of course, the problem is that he was willing to tolerate a lot of collateral damage for his understandable desire for revenge. Nelson was quite effectively creepy at times. It was nice to see some previously dangling threads from The Incredible Hulk get tied off.

The fight scenes were well done, but Marvel films tend to be consistently effective in that arena.

Overall, the film has some good points such as casting and a semi-interesting plot, but the editing, some of the dialogue, and a rather underwhelming cameo are a little too clumsy for me to forgive.

Film Review: The Hunter Has A List

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Kraven the Hunter is the latest cinematic offering associated with Marvel Studios, and it’s pretty much a disaster on almost every level. There are a couple of glimmers of something that could be interesting, but they’re pretty hard to detect, and I may just have a hard time admitting that I foolishly wasted my time watching this.

Anyway, J.C. Chandor is the director of this film with three screenwriters bearing the responsibility for this ill-conceived script. Richard Wenk, Art Marcum. and Matt Holloway are the culprits who for some reason sat around and considered this a worthwhile cinematic project to unleash upon the masses.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson is the pretty boy actor in the lead as the supposed rugged, semi-wild Sergei Kravinoff who becomes better known as Kraven the Hunter. Ariana Debose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, and Russell Crowe are included in the cast.

The film starts off with the two young Kravinoff brothers taken on a hunting trip by their tyrannical father, who is a major crime lord, and played by Russell Crow. Sergei is attacked by a lion and dragged before a young woman who belongs to a family of voodoo practitioners. A girl known as Calypso gives Sergei a serum which not only helps heal his wounds but also provide him with powers similar to the wild predators who he comes to protect from poachers.

Kraven also becomes a vigilante going after arms dealers and other assorted high-powered criminals. He is even more enraged when his younger brother, played by Hechinger, is kidnapped. His estranged father still wants him to take over his empire. in spite of their previous disagreements. Kraven is not without his own allies, and he has a ruthlessness that matches those who cross him and attempt to take one of the few people he actually cares for,

Another Marvel supervillain known as the Rhino also appears and is played by Alessandro Nivola. This version of the Rhino actually undergoes a metamorphosis when he disconnects his IV tube that keeps the beast at bay.

Kraven was one of the rogues’ gallery of criminals who challenged Spider-Man. I found him to one of Spidey’s more interesting foes when I was reading the comics back in the day.

Taylor-Johnson obviously works out and looks great, but he does not have the air of wildness depicted in the source material. His attempts at witty banter with Calypso and his brother fall flat. He just fails to look as terrifying as Kraven would likely be if he was a real person.

Fred Hechinger as the brother, Dmitri Kravinoff, is kind of compelling. Dmitri has quite a talent for mimicry, which becomes rather important toward the end of the film.

Russell Crowe is one of the few bright spots in this film, but even his presence isn’t enough to remove any regret over sitting through this. Crowe has a pretty nice career playing some nasty characters.

The fight scenes were okay at times. The final fight between Kraven and the Rhino seemed rather run-of-the mill.

This may be further proof that movies about the villains are not that interesting unless Spider-Man is directly involved. The writing and plot were still substandard. This film got raked over the coals by the professional critics, and this humble blogger has little reason to disagree.

On the whole, this was a terrible idea, and this film earned every bit of the beating it took in the box office.

Film Review: A Venomous Farewell

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Venom: The Last Dance continues a string of mediocrity in the latest comic book films from Marvel. Tom Hardy reprises his role as Eddie Brock/Venom in what is promised to be the final entry into a trilogy. Kelly Marcel wrote the screenplay and serves as director. The cast includes Juno Temple, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rhys Ifan, Stephen Graham, Peggy Lu, and Andy Serkis.

Basically, some imprisoned tyrant from Venom’s home planet has sent some strange, demonic creatures through these space/time portals to find something called a Codex. They find Earth where Venom has to elude these creatures and the government because he is wanted for murder due to some events in the previous film. There are battles across the country and mountains. Venom and Eddie are bonded, but that connection seems to be the catalyst for impending destruction of Earth.

Hardy is talented and interesting enough to make this at least watchable. The story is not that interesting, probably due to the main villain, a guy named Knull, not being able to move. The special effects were well done, and there were some cool fight scenes. I just don’t find Venom as witty or amusing as the writers intend for him to be. Venom has a hunger for brains but will only eat those of the most despicable of people. All kinds of symbiotes are introduced. Of course, this is what Venom is. He is an alien symbiote who bonds with a host and gives them superpowers. In the comics, Venom was bonded to Peter Parker and had abilities similar to those of Spider-Man. The initial introduction has been ignored in these films.

My reaction to the film was mildly amused, but this was not one of the better of the Marvel output. Comic book films require a lot of grace in order to find some enjoyment, but this one almost stretched my willingness to give that beyond endurance.

It’s not the worst film in the franchise, but I can understand why the enthusiasm and the box office returns have been somewhat lackluster.

Film Review: Deadpool and Wolverine: Not Exactly The Best Of Friends

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Deadpool & Wolverine is the latest cinematic offering from Marvel Studios and can be entertaining if one has a high tolerance for gratuitous gore and filthy humor that barely takes a pause. Shawn Levy is the director, and he also co-wrote the script with Ryan Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Zeb Wells. The film is kind of complicated, so I can almost understand why it takes five writers to load this up with cheeky, off-color wisecracks.

Ryan Reynolds reprises the role of Wade Williams, aka Deadpool. Hugh Jackman gets jacked up to play Wolverine once again. There are all kinds of amusing Marvel movie cameos throughout, but I won’t spoil that. Other notable cast members are Morena Baccarin, Leslie Uggams, Emma Corrin, and Matthew Macfadyen. It’s a big film with a big cast, but I think I can move on.

Wade Williams has retired his Deadpool alter ego until he is told about the destruction of his home timeline and is offered a place in an alternate reality. Wade wants to save the people he has come to care for, so he escapes the confines of the Time Variance Authority and searches the multiverse for an acceptable version of Wolverine who is still alive. He finds the version of Wolverine that is considered the worst of the lot. After some initial not so mild reluctance to work as a team, the pair are taken to someplace called the Void where they meet a powerful mutant who happens to be the sister of one Charles Xavier. Cassandra Nova has some pretty nifty yet alarming psychic powers. The battle crosses through all kinds of dimensional barriers. Still, Deadpool’s crass humor and vicious fighting skill will see him through these challenges, including an ally that can barely stand the sight of him.

This is a comic book movie, so it’s no surprise the plot is completely ludicrous and nonsensical. Still, the charisma of both leads kind of saves it from real regret for spending the time and money to see it. Many of wisecracks were actually pretty funny.

I did find the villain played by Corrin to be somewhat underwhelming in spite of her sometimes-perverse use of her powers. Of course, it could be that Deadpool’s constant mocking kind of undercut the menace she was supposed to convey. Wolverine is also hard to actually intimidate as well.

The plot was not that easy to follow, and therefore, not that interesting. It was mainly a dirtier, crasser version of what we have already seen in recent Marvel films. As much as I appreciate that the movie sort of makes fun of itself and the franchise of which it is a part, it would have been nice to still have a more coherent main storyline.

The chemistry between Reynolds and Jackman is pretty solid though. It has some really entertaining moments peppered throughout the film, but one needs a high tolerance for the copious amounts of dismemberments and mutilation.

Most fans of the franchise will likely be satisfied, but I am sure would also agree with whatever criticisms others may note as well.

Film Review: A New Web Is Spun

~ Peter Kanelis ~ 1 Comment

Madame Web is the latest offering in the Marvel movie collection and has been the recipient of an avalanche of negative reviews, which it richly deserves. I should have known better than to waste my time with this cinematic disaster, but I allowed my curiosity to get the better of me.

The culprit in the director’s seat is S.J. Clarkson, who also shares screenwriting credit with Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, and Claire Parker. Karem Sanga must also share the blame for the story credit. Dakota Johnson is in the lead as Cassie Webb, a dedicated paramedic with mother issues, who suddenly develops ability to see future events. Tahar Rahim plays the not so menacing villain in the shape of Ezekial Sims, who sees his future death at the hands of three young women in superhero tights and becomes obsessed with finding them. Sydney Sweeney, who seems to be the current Hollywood It Girl, plays one of the trio alongside Celeste O’Conner and Isabela Marced. Emma Roberts, Adam Scott, and Mike Epps are also included in this cast.

The film starts off in 1973, which is a pretty good year since that is when I came into this world so I can torture myself with this garbage and complain about it to whoever happens to stumble across this endeavor at some sort of creative writing. Apparently, what also happened in 1973, is that a research team led by Constance Webb, who is quite pregnant with our supposed heroine, is on the hunt for a rare spider in the jungles of Peru. She is betrayed and injured by her partner. A legendary tribe with some rather familiar spider-like abilities attempts to save her life but her only able to save the child. The child grows up to be Cassie Webb, paramedic extraordinaire, who starts having jarring visions that predict the future, however she realizes that if she acts quickly enough, she can indeed change the outcome of these events. She encounters the three young women who are unknowingly being hunted by the former expedition partner of her mother’s because he is really rich, powerful, and ridiculously evil and is compelled to protect them from forces that she can’t understand with abilities that she has yet to master.

The script throws in some loose ties to the Spider-Man canon because Cassie’s paramedic partner is none other Ben Parker, the uncle to who would become Spider-Man. Uncle Ben, played by Adam Scott, and his wife will end up raising their nephew, Peter Parker, who gets bitten by the radioactive spider and develops the powers which everyone knows. Madame Web has nowhere the name recognition in the comic book canon. This background already feels like it was just thrown in a too obvious attempt to give this addition some kind of credibility. I am not sure that Ben Parker’s profession was actually ever mentioned in the original canon since it was his death that was part of Spider-Man’s origin story.

Anyway, almost nothing about this latest entry into the MCU works. The special effects are fine, but Madame Web’s powers are not conveyed all that interestingly. Johnson barely seems interested in the role, and I have heard that her enthusiasm is not all that evident on the talk show circuit. It’s hard to blame her if that is actually true. I wasn’t all that intrigued by the motivations or behavior of the supervillain. Tahir Rahim is a handsome guy and probably has some talent, but this film does little to showcase that.

There were times where the chemistry between the three girls was almost entertaining, but the dialogue was just too absurd for them to have any consistent success at being charming or amusing. Although there are moments where I could see glimmerings of acting talent in much of the cast, it was not enough to pierce the pile of cinematic muck that was presented on the screen.

The reviews and box office numbers are horrendous, and occasionally I like films better than the reputation suggests. Sadly, this is not one of those occasions, and this film ultimately earns the almost legendary amount of bad press that is being heaped upon it. I won’t necessarily blame the cast for their performances, but I question the judgment of their agents for thinking this project would enhance their careers all that much.

Marvel movies have been taking some critical hits lately, and this latest effort may actually be the stake through the heart.