Film Review : Black Panther 2 - Wakanda Forever"

 

A Black Panther movie, without Black Panther is pretty pointless. To pay tribute to an actor who plays a character, does nothing to movie a story line forward, since Tchalla did not die like this in the comic books. Nore does Chadwich Boseman exist in the comics. There was lts of empty sentiment portrayed by morning actors who were trying to translate their grief to the screen. They were more effective when displaying how they had grown into the roles of the characters they were portraying which is typically the sole strength of sequels. The key selling point for me was Namor. Sadly, he is portrayed by an actor the size of his female co-stars which makes selling his super-human strength difficult. I have a feeling the director had never read a Sub-mariner comic in his life, as it felt with characters like Namora and Attuma, they were names of characters Marvel specified should appear, so they got checked off, without any thought as to who they are as characters. Without the same steroids and personal trainer that Hemsworth used Namor was left looking like Peter Pan as he flew around.

The same could be said of Man-ape, whose comic depiction, is more of a villain, but at least he acted like more of an ape this time around. The rest of the returning cast maintained enough charm to convince anyone that is overly enamored with their movie mythos that they were getting what they wanted while the void left by a lack of Black Panther was a gaping hole in the movie. IN the last thirty minutes when a new suit is donned by the girl who takes on the mantle it did not have the desired impact, though the big CGI battle scene was better than the worse CGI in the first movie. It seemed like it was natives vs spaceships, but I for my life cannot Remember the plot as to who was fighting who thus underlining the lack of impact. Here the line was more finely drawn.  The first movie suffered because Kill Monger was just a mirror reflection of Black Panther, and they ended up fighting in color coded suits

The first movie was less than stellar but the charisma of Boseman was enough to compensate for an eager audience who just wanted to see hm get his own movie, The costumes which were another key selling point of the first movie were on par and the underwater visuals enough to make those scenes worth watching once. I do not see this Namor siding with the X-0men There was also no Storm or Dr. Doom as people had hoped meaning Marvel does not subscribed to all the fan service. This film was much less hyped than the first Black Panther, and the response to it online reflects the lack of impact it had. Seeing any Marvel character on screen at any time does scratch an itch for me not matter how badly it's done. 

But when this story was told in comics it held way more impact, thought it also proved Wakanda was not forever as the flooding was more severe. He we just had children screaming because there feet were wet which seemed to play into certain racial stereotype, you would think Marvel would want to avoid, but since the Disney machine sees diversity as a marketing buzzword with no real empath for the audience, the Machine of the Mouse just wants the coffers full and to sell toys to the It's a Small World demographics, as it equates to it's a big pay day. Never mind the fact that the tradition of emasculating black men on screen continues by turning the role over to a female, and undoes what was achieved on the first movie, or the subtle race baiting that Mexicans are coming out of the water to take over the black community. If we service one target group it makes all the other stumbles ok, ... it's not well that is what your dollars are telling Disney you want. that aside I downloaded this movie on Saturday, and it took me until Tuesday night to force my way through it. A great movie I can watch in one sitting, as my enthusiasm wanes the longer it takes. 

Review : She-Hulk Attorney at Law

Jennifer Walters is my favorite female super-hero. With the Hulk being my all-time favorite. I bought the first issue of “Savage She-Hulk” when it came out in 1980. With that said, I have been looking forward to a live action adaptation. Though considering how Mavel has treated the source material up to this point, it has been balanced with well-deserved skepticism. Her comic in the 90s took a fourth wall breaking comedic turn. I knew this was the direction they were going with it. While comedy is not my thing the show felt like it got the job done in that regard without trying too hard like the most recent Thor movie. CGI was bound to be an issue. I would say it looks better than the Ang Lee Hulk movie, but not as good as Ed Norton's “the Incredible Hulk” . The visual fx issues Marvel has been plagued with since most notably the Black Panther movie, comes with therate at which they pump these things out with. I personally do not care how real my big green monsters are looking as the suspension of disbelief is already out the window, as it should be.

 I think actress Titiana Maslany does a great job as Jennifer Walters, perhaps better in her human form, but there is room for her to grow into her big green persona. The trailer made it look like they were going to try to elevate her character as better or stronger than the Hulk, which would be a deviation from the comics and this is not the case, even when they tussle, she is only fighting a Professor Hulk, or the merged version that feel more like the mid 80s version. Once again, the MCU tends to deviate, but they at least got that part right. There is plenty of social commentary that Disney/ Marvel and let's face it Hollywood in general panders to, but not enough to become a distraction. The villain situation might prove tricky despite hearing the Wrecking Crew will finally appear. Titania, who Jameela Jamil portrays, makes a brief appearance, and feels like she is on par with a villain from the Power Rangers. Not sure if a more comic book accurate look will come about for her, but perhaps it might aid in the feel of the character who is little more than a henchwoman to begin with. 

The series is very rooted in the Marvel Universe and feels less apologetic for being based on a comic book than the bulk of their output thus far. Ruffalo might be a little too comfortable in his role, and I have only found him as a passable Bruce Banner preferring Norton. I am sure budget wise that is more than likely his only appearance. I also do not like origin stories but feel this one was handled as best as they could and came close to the source material. The ship from planet Skaar has online buzzing about a World War Hulk set up, and I am fine with that not happening as key characters like the Sentry have not been introduced, then there is the whole no Tony Stark thing. But that is a future we are not in yet, and it is unlikely the world is even going to make it that far, so I am thankful for the first episode and if they maintain what they started here, that should make this the best Marvel show so far for sure.

Review : Moon Knight Episode 1

 While Moon Knight might not be my favorite Marvel character of all time, he is like a deep cut from an album no one appreciated until the past 5 years. That is if you read comics. He crosses over into books I read more though I have given his books a fair shake when they come out. I know Marc Spector pretty well. The challenge would be how to make him not come across like Marvel’s version of Bat-man , who wears white. They had to lean into the crazy. I approve of this in theory, how they executed it is another thing. The adherence to the Khonshu theme gets a thumbs up as Marvel has been apologetic in the past about Thor being a god. 

In some of the action scenes I was reminded of the “Quantum of Solace” , a more comedic James Bond. The losing time was a nice touch, but only for a first episode, if they went to the well too many of them it would not work. Overall Oscar could dial back some of the goofiness, just because someone is mentally ill does not mean they are so servile and meek.  Perhaps this is going to be ironed out and will prove just to be one of Spectors alters . I know this is not going to be set in the bigger picture of the Marvel Universe. I do not expect Blade or Daredevil to show up. 

I think there is promise, but it does seem they might be steering this in the wrong direction. If they continue with Oscar bubbling around like a Greatest American hero, then this will fall very flat. I get staying away from being like Bat-man but at some point we need to see what he is really about. This means not shying away from the costume. This means getting a good bit darker than what we have seen so far. I think by not using things like Werewolf By Night they are missing out on opportunities, hopefully the villain won’t fall into the mirror image of the hero trop they have worn out. Moonknight is going to become a household name now, lets hope it is the most accurate depiction and things are ironed out.

Film Review : "Spider Man- Far From Home"

The "Home Coming" sequel finds them picking up the pieces from "End Game". Firmly entrenched in the Marvel Universe , even more so than "Home Coming". Holland has settled into the role, Granted this is the 5th movie with him playing Peter Parker. The kids in Parker's school are dealing with the logistics of what is being called "The Blip". Nick Fury , who does not want to talk to Captain Marvel for reasons later revealed, is set to make Parker the next Iron-man and wants him to step up to the plate. So this movie is more about Peter Parker thinking about the great responsibility this would come with and comparing him self to Stark. This whole scenario is far from the comic, but som how feels like it could have worked in them.

Mysterio is a villain who represents fake news. This is the under lying message. However this movie tries less to be politically correct than it's predecessor Mary Jane and Flash Thompson are still terribly off from the comics. I mean can you see that guy becoming Venom like Thompson does in the comics, which is not likely to happen. Parker never punches anything but drones. The Hydro-man and Molten - Man appearances are  are not what they seem from the trailers. Obviously their size is off, but that is not all. The movie is well paced. Sure there is more scenes of Parker in action without the suit than I might prefer, but we get him in a few different suits. This movie does not set things up for Miles Morales, so if you were getting your hopes up for that , you will be waiting sometime. The whole alternate time line /Universe is not delved into like in the last Avengers movie.

It seems like there is one more movie they can get out of Holland. They have him playing the press, there is no indication he is going in a gay Spider-man direction considering the love interest for this movie. This movie carries the weight of the bigger Marvel Universe story they are still telling, so I think "Homecoming' is a little better in tone, despite every one being more settled into their roles. The Vulture also proved a better villain. I am also surprised they did not elaborate more on the Scorpion. Norman Osborne is supposed be set up here, if you blink you miss it. Is it fun? Yes, so it accomplished what it needed.    `.  .