Film Review : "The Thunderbolts*"

This might be the best Marvel Movie since the last Gaurdians of the Galaxy, but I am not going to call it the New Avengers since it literally has nothing to do with the New Avengers from the comics, in fact Sentry is the only charater from that team unless we are going to count Bucky's Cap. This could have been a good transition into the Dark Avengers but everyone might be a misfit but they do not need rehabbing like the Thunderbolts, eventually turned to rehab for villains to become heroes in the comic, so comic acuray is out the window, at this point, this should be a given, so we are going to talk about what worked. 

Sentry is one of my favorite comic characters, so he is the focus of this review.  Granted, Pugh's Yelena is the film's focal point, but her heroic arc does not focus on a big bad as much as it focuses on her shared trauma. They rearranged Sentry's origin story rather than abolish it totally. He is still a mental ill junkie, he just does not break into the lab to steal the drug but signs up for a study Close enough. The trailers for the movie are deceptive, as they waste little time introducing "Bob".  The writing is not perfect in fact, it is a little clunky, and he is handled like Thor in the first Thor movie, depowered, because it seems to hard to write for powerful people if you are going by the examples we have seen thus far. But the big payoff is when they do have their throwdown with him, which does not shy away from showing how powerful he is.

The rest of the team finds the Red Guardian as the predictable comic relief,  Ghost is still not really fleshed out, and feels different from how they appeared in Ant-Man  & Wasp. Bucky and John Walker are at varied places on the static spectrum. I think bringing in Songbird, while they were at the Vault, might have worked better than Ghost or any of the original members. But what plays in their favor is that the movie does not drag; something is always happening, not a big action film, some fighting, but not loaded with it, yet it was well paced.  The interesting change was how the VoidFre was handled; he was almost like  Freddie Krueger if you replace sleep with the trauma of your past. When the Void is embodied as Sentry, it's not the movie's most well-written moment, but they get away from the tropes that often make all Marvel movies feel the same, This is what makes the movie stand apart from the other films, however if you go into this without watching "Black Widow" and "Falcon and Winter Soldier" than you might be a little lost unless you read a lot of comics. 

Daredevil - Born Again

 I am just watching the first four episodes at present, though it's less of a comic book feel while still being true to the character. Charlie Cox is carrying things on his shoulders, as this show is largely without the comic book violence except for the fight scene against Bullseye which sets a somewhat false tone. This sets up the death of Foggy, causing Murdock to go into a depression of sorts causing him to give up his Daredevil identity, in the face of his arch-enemy Wilson Fisk becoming the Mayor of New York City. This does happen in the comic books, though the comics had more of Murdock suited up as well. 

Where the Netflix show was gritty, the Marvel show sends the kind of mixed political messages Disney has been encouraging. At this point, I am surprised they are letting the Punisher logo be shown.  Though most of this is done with a passive-aggressive undercurrent. When it comes to the hyperrealism they are trying to ground this in, I do like how the theme of the show is an exploration of what it means to be a vigilante. However, the courtroom drama tone of the first four episodes means looking into the Justice System, with failed attempts at trying to pull sympathy for petty thieves with 25-page rap sheets, it's just bad writing with mixed messages, as the subject they want you to empathize with is just an entitled dumbass, with nothing to make you like him.

 This plays into a mixed bag of writing as they did a better job of exploring the gray area with White Tiger. Frank Castle gets a good monologue but his appearance feels a little wasted, though we still have five more episodes. It is a very slow-burn build, with Murdock only getting physical in two of the episodes, In episode five things better start popping off. D'onofrio is not as earnest in his portrayal of Fisk, less imposing and leaning more into the voice than the kind of honesty that made Fisk likable as a villain in the Daredevil show. Also no Elektra yet, and only a wink that the mantle of White Tiger might be passed on.  If you are a fan of the character it is still worth watching to Daredevil is too Murdock heavy in the first four episodes. 

 

Film Review : "Captain America Brave New World"

Not as bad as Rotten Tomatoes makes it out to be. But it's about on par with the Disney Plus show, though with a bigger budget that was ot invested in the boring fight choreography.  Sam Wilson, has problems fighting soldiers, that Steve Rogers would have annihilated by the time the elevator doors closed. I would have been less inclined to watch this movie if it was not for the cross-over into the Hulk's world. General Ross, is an antagonist of sorts. The final Red Hulk climax is not worth the cost of a movie ticket. However it does prove that Wilson's Cap was mismatched, and unless this was saved as a subplot the Thunderbolts would have been wiser to have fully fleshed out the Serpent Society and other corners of the Captain America mythos, even Baron Blood would have worked.

The writers tried to play off tensions in the world today, but replaced China, with Japan, yet neglected to tease any character from the Pacific. Instead, I tried tying up loose ends and serving as a bookmarker to keep the public interested in the Marvel formula, but I think it's safe to say the momentum of that magic is long gone. The hype for this film ducked and dodged they claimed Sabra had been dialed back but in reality just silenced the fact she was Isreal's protector and toned down her powers simply making her another Black Widow. When Bucky Barnes is the biggest guest spot you know times are hard, and the gaping Avvenger's sied hole in this cinematic universe continues to yawm out into the void.

The stakes could not be any lower for this movie, yet they missed the mark visually, with the Red Hulk being the only interesting part of the movie and the elderly Harrison Ford being forced to pull all the film's weight. Design-wise they missed the mark with the Leader. Any teases that this would be a Hulk movie with mentions of the Abomination and Banner, are all misdirectsThe bright side of this will hopefully be that Anthony Mackie showed he plays a better-supporting character, and if placed as the centerpiece of an Avengers film it would bomb rather than uphold the previous legacy of the original films. Right now things are not looking so great for the future of Marvel and this movie did not restore any hope, at least it's better than the Marvels. 

Reviewing the Year in Marvel Comics-2024

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It has been a minute since I wrote about just comics which used to be a weekly ritual for me, in fact, this very article I started back in 2023, but am now forcing myself to finish it. as Marvel Comics have been pretty underwhelming as a general. DC when I have given them the chance has been worse, they seem to be falling for some of the same traps as Marvel in devaluing the legacy of their characters Marvel got the hint to some degree and is trying to salvage its comics line and make people care about them since the movies and shows have started to tank. They are learning people do not want Disney politics mixed in with their escapism. This is bleeding into the comics as stories are starting to head back into a more classic direction. 

. The further we get from the Avengers the more it's going to fade in the rearview mirror of our collective attention span. The comics came first and that is the legacy of these characters more so than any whoring of their likeness to Hollywood so let's take a look and see how Marvel is doing in reclaiming this to steer the ship back in a better direction. So how was  2024? I will take 10  branches of the Marvel Tree that matter the most and give the run 

Spider-Man...

It does not matter who has the hit at the box office, he is their flagship legacy. Peter Parker, is doing pretty well in the Amazing Spider-Man series, it keeps breaking down into something more street-wise at present. They need to break it down to just Peter, Miles, and Jessica Drew, as the only spider people for sure.  Doctor Octopus was back in the mix, along with  Norman Osborne who returned as a crazy big bad. Parker dated   Black Cat again. It worked best when there was little to no crossover from other corners of the Spider-Verse for now at least. They tried killing off  Ms Marvel in his book, was un-needed would have made more sense in Avengers, that way there would have been someone for them to Avenge, but aside from that Amazing Spider-Man is worth reading these days. It has Parker back in a more grounded place.  Sure there is the "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man cartoon, that did some ridiculous race swapping, which seems to be shooting for a younger audience. Who cares about it really, it's something I will forget about after I press publish on this article. 

Fantastic Four

Another one of the Golden Age staple books, that in the past found itself a little convoluted with too many cooks in the kitchen and way more than the core Four. Some of the babysitting hanging on is gone and at present, they are focused on Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny, which is as it should be. Though the writing it not the greatest a they have a penchant for dedicating issues to a single member rather than focusing on them as a family unit which is their strength They will be getting more of a push this year with the movie gaining hype. 

The X-Men

There are too many books, so the storylines get muddled making it a continuity nightmare.  I feel like I am always struggling to keep up, the last Uncanny arch was pretty good, and we have most of the essential characters on state. Then an increasing number get solo series which if we are going to be honest  Wolverine is the only one who warrants their own series, unless we are counting Deadpool as an X-man, less convoluted than it has been. 

Avengers 

As far as team books go the current run the roster is all classic characters like Scarlet Witch, Thor, Iron-man etc with the only twist on the classic being the Sam Wilson version of Captain America which is getting hype for the movie to come. They have tried to work Storm in a possibly Black Cat. Unless it's an Uncanny Avengers book, which was a good series worth bringing back, they are better off leaving her in the X-men, but at least there is no Blade of Ghost Rider, who was never a good fit for the team anyway. I think they need to focus on picking villains suited for them, as there can be too much in the way of trying to farm new characters than having no emotional investment. 

Daredevil 

With Spider-man also more grounded in the streets, Daredevil needs to be left on the grittier side. Matt Murdock's character is always picking himself back up to re-invent. Kingpin was running the show which put him in a bad spot, the whole prison arch, with Elektra becoming Daredevil was dumb, they should just work on making Elektra more interesting as her own character. The same cycle of rogues has been in rotation too long, they need to get writers in who keep things fresh while staying true to the character. 

Hulk 

Once again we begin to see writers at Marvel wanting to be the next person who creates a big bad like Gorr or Venom who catches on and sticks to become a recognized villain in the Marvel pantheon but fail to do this in a method that pulls from existing mythos. With Hulk, I am surprised we have not seen more from the Leader since Sterns is appearing in the new Captain America movie. While I am glad we do not have too many Hulks in the mix, it's about time to have Skaar show up, where the hell is Abomination? Rick Jones? The Hulk is doing what the Hulk does, and I have not disliked the monster slant, but there are plenty of monsters that could have made an appearance rather than trying to create new ones. Glob, the Missing Link, Wendigo, Frankenstein, the Living Mummy and Werewolf By Night could have all made an appearance shit I'll even take War-Wolf. 

Thor 

Getting back to basics is working Enchantress was due for a comeback., It was good to see the Executioner in play as well. I think there needs to be a balance of how we see Asgard and Midgard interplay. The Thor being a wanted man on Earth could have been a good angle, who would they send to hunt Thor down, when does Thor get fed up with humanity's shit and do some god smiting would be an interesting question to pose. He plays too nice, I think he works best with a rougher edge that is more true to Norse mythology. But things are less contrived than they have been in the past which works for me. 

Dr. Strange

Of all the books Strange is getting the worst end of the stick. Killing him off an making him a ghost, is dumb if anyone can navigate the afterworld back to his body it's Strange. This has spilled over into other books like Spider-man and we have seen both Clea and Dr, Doom trying to be sorcerer supreme. It's as dumb as when Thor was unworthy. This is an easy fix they need to get in there and do it right.

Iron Man

Pretty decent Stark is doing better than Steve Rogers. Stripping away Stark Industries and not making him more of an Elon Musk, works for now, but how can you expect him to not get back to where he was considering who he is and the network and resources he has. At least his book is not as littered with too much supporting cast. Not sure how I felt about the Emma Frost thing. The thing they need to get back to the classic feel, and the West Coast Avengers book seems like the part forward to that. 

Captain America 

I am only exposed to Sam Wilson through Avengers which is fine, as he is a better supporting cast member than some one in the spotlight, he has not rogues gallery and I do not see Roger's villains taking him seriously. Rogers is like Stark where too much supporting cast members like Bucky or Black Widow weigh things down and lower the stakes. There are some interesting stories that could be told with him, and I think we would be a good avenue to bring back SHIELD as a shadow organization, maybe that he plays against as was hinted in the movies, but their is a wealth to work with that is not being tapped here. 

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Film Review : "Deadpool & Wolverine"

 What a world we live in. Its a world where writers must keep a careful balance of internet theories to please their audience. In fact, Deadpool's entrance into the Marvel Cinematic Universe pokes fun at this in its smartest moments. It also pushed the bounds of what you expect Disney to allow as the studio shows there is more wiggle room than expected since even half the adult audience might have to Google the meaning of jokes about pegging. Then it is too late, and they already have the money of the more prudish patrons in hand. I am impressed by how they worked in a wide swathe of the company's media output making "Loki" almost required viewing before going into this. Also, the bulk of the Fox films could help when some characters are marched out.  Spider-man and Ghost Rider were the only corners of the bigger Marvel Universe not touched upon with only a few winks in the direction of Peter Parker.   If you are touchy about spoilers then go see the movie, nothing happens that was not part of wider speculation and had not already been spoiled. 

Reynolds and Jackman, make this a buddy cop team-up that works well against the absurdity of premise. The fight scenes between the two were some of the movie's strongest action sequences. The various incarnations of Wolverine worked better than the varied incarnations of Deadpool, I mean where was Gwenpool? Though like many aspects of the movie, If I blinked I might have missed it. Plotwise there was little surprise, stop this and save your world tropes. I have read critics praising the movie villain Cassandra Nova, and it really just felt like Emma Corrin was doing her best Tilda Swinton impersonation as there was no clear motive or really anything to flesh her out, I think Mojo would have made more sense and been a more inspiring link to the X-Men, would have given the baby Deadpool an ore sensical role. Paradox, worked better as his two-faced manipulations of things, with no real powers held more weight. 

It would be misleading to say there were no X-men in the movie, as Colossus, X-23, and Gambit are all part of the team. I think what they were looking for is Storm, Cyclops, or Rogue, and get a glimpse at how they are going to be brought in. We can pretty much not rest assured that Henry Cavill is not going to play Wolverine, as look what happened with the Reed Richards casting in Dr. Strange, just enough fan casting then take a left turn. My favorite parts of the movie were the NSYNC dancing at the beginning and the brief appearance of the Hulk during the search through Wolverine variants. Overall the chemistry between the two leads was strong enough to carry the film in the classic Hollywood formula even when given the Marvel spin. It did not make apologies for being a super-hero movie which is a must for any such film. 

Film Review : "Barbie"

The live action "Barbie" movie proved to be an amusing mess that works best when delving into the Barbie lore. Opening with a bizarre wink at '"2001 A Space Odyssey " with Barbie as the obelisk, you are taken to a meta-fantasy world that serves as a hyper-pink alternate universe that looks like a Katy Perry video. Since my daughter certainly went through a Barbie phase, I went into this movie with more knowledge of the Barbie world than most straight men without sisters or daughters. She is without question an iconic character and this movie if nothing else acknowledges that. Story wise it barrows the nuts and bolts of it's plot from "Toy Story" . "Pinocchio" , "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and countless other Hollywood tropes playing off the life of  toys or fantasy figures and their understanding of the real world.   After consulting with the "weird Barbie" Margot's "Stereotypical" typical Barbie must make the journey to the real world when life in idealized Dreamhouse World takes a turn when Barbie gets flat feet. Thus Barbie must go on a quest to the real world.

I appreciate that Los Angeles is where the veil between the Barbie World and the real one is the thinnest, and only a rollerblade ride away. The entire Mattel as the nefarious overlords starting off working for me then some where amid the chase scene lost it's momentum. There were also lost opportunities with the Mattel connection, they could have had cameos to toy properties like the Cabbage Patch Kids or Masters of the Universe. John Cena would have been better used as He-Man to give Ken body issues, than a mer-man .If Barbie Land exists then the American Girl dolls and Cabbage Patch Kids must fit into that mythos some how. But instead we did get a pretty dead on look at what the playsets might be when brought to life, as well as a glimpse at the marketing world of her interchangeable outfits. However somewhere between magic costume changes, the writers wanted to get to the moral of their story, and that is when they got lost in the jokes of the world they created here.  

They were wise to not go all in on Capitalism since Warner Bros a major cog in that machine made this movie that had been raking in hundreds of millions of dollars. Barbie's creator was a business woman who is rooted in it. Perhaps the Barbie and the body image issues she has created might have had more impact if there had not been an obese Barbie that never existed in Barbie lore, though they could have used the Fashionista lines' "curvy" body for the same purpose. Even more effective might have been calling out Mattel for their "I am Barbie" diversity line, which uses "diversity" as a marketing tool to sell more toys. Mattel will only make fun of itself to a certain extent.

 You can't really call this a children's movie or accuse this of being nothing but a long Barbie commercial, thanks to "Ladybird" director Greta Gerwig going all in on this. I would not be surprised if the bulk of " Warner Bros" marketing budget went to pay  Ben Shapiro for his press buzz regarding the film Perhaps to  provide the movie some press armor from being cancelled by purposing in 2023 that how Barbie became a real woman was by going to the gynecologist 

The movie's most important lesson came by way of a quote from Weird Barbie,  who says " You are either brainwashed of you are ugly and weird."   

Despite a lack of the Down Syndrome Barbie in all this, I found myself laughing out loud in several places, and I am normally not a fan of comedies. It never dragged even when the film lost direction midway in.  Determined to capture Barbie's world is where the film shines, from the restraints of the Barbie box to the pooping Barbie dog, they might not have gotten it perfect , but they were invested enough in the character to make this work more often than not. 

Marvel's Secret Invasion

Ok we can skip right past the fact that this has little to do with the story found in the comic book evet of the same name except for Skrulls being the focal point. It feels this is the epilogue to the Captain Marvel movie, which might have worked better than the story the Marvels is going to try to tell. Rhodes and Fury are the only two superheroes that are involved three episodes in and it is evident that this is not the story they were meant to support. They do bring up why they are not involving the Avengers, and while the real reason is budget and contracts, the in story reason makes sense as well., But what does not work is suggesting that the Avengers are the only super-heroes in the universe. This could have been a good spot to bring in Nova or other New Warriors. How would this effect the Winter Guard?  The Secret Invasion could bring up Secret Avengers, though really what this feels like is it should have been a season of   Agents of SHIELD. 

Instead we are having the character discuss a civil war amongst aliens with an action to discussion ratio that adds up to the most bring thing Marvel has put out so far. The writing is better than when it comes to dialogue, but the over plot pacing is at a crawl that makes it hard to watch. The interesting elements is the fact that this gives a clear cut example of what it might look like for reptilian shape shifters to pull the strings on the world from the background, but we already see enough of that on CNN and Fox, we watch Marvel shows and movies for the escapism of it.  Watching politicians argue and Russia threatening to launch World War 3, well that is everyday life these days, and it bores me when it's one the news now day, we have already seen Skrulls so trying to set an entire series on their shoulders, feels like what we have already seen on the various incarnations of "V".

This series is only going to be six episodes long, so it is more of a mini-series, there is no time for a slow burn, we are half way through it and nothing has happened. Marvel is releasing another clunker, when they need a win more than ever. Sure Guardians was great , but that is another chapter closed . It is unlikely the new Captain America movie without Steve Rogers is going to help the big picture, This us putting all the chips on Fantastic Four and X-men. Why is another failure such a big deal? It is time and resources that could have been better invested in bringing to life characters that matter more. Daredevil could have been fast tracked. The Punisher could have been invested in. Where is Ghost Rider?   A actual Hulk show ? More Were-wolf by Night? But as I have said all eras of a genre come to an end