X-Men: Apocalypse (2016, PG-13)

I’m still trying to decide about this movie.  I don’t think it was as good as Days of Future Past, and I think First Class was better-made, even though I think Apocalypse equals that one for entertainment value, or is at least close to it.  There’s some definite clunkiness amid a number of strong performances and a handful of stellar sequences.

In keeping with the franchise’s new tradition of jumping 10 years with every film, we’ve hit the ‘80s now (not that anyone looks any older, and no one but Mystique and Wolverine has explicitly-stated reasons for their perma-youth.  Also, at this rate, they have one film to go before Xavier and Magneto need to look like Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen again – is it just a switch that gets flipped one day?)  The Professor’s school is well-established and, after the events of Days of Future Past, mutants and humans are enjoying a time of relative peace.  However, a blast from the past – namely, an immortal, all-powerful mutant from ancient Egypt who positioned himself as a god – has just resurfaced to wreak major, world-ending havoc, and it’s up to heroes new and old to stop him.

Some of the action here is really impressive.  I love the big final battle, which finds a great balance between the various characters and their unique powers, and Quicksilver has another terrific speedster scene – I honestly can’t say which I like more, this one or the one from Days of Future Past (unfortunately, this is the only sequence in which the character really feels like the same Quicksilver.  I know it’s been 10 years, but it’s weird that he’d change thatmuch.  It feels wrong not to have him bouncing off the walls in most of his scenes.)  I love most of the casting for the new characters.  Sophie Turner (Sansa from Game of Thrones) makes an excellent Jean Grey, and the end of the film has me excited to see where things are going with her character.  Tye Sheridan does a nice job with Cyclops and, although Kodi Smit-McPhee is no Alan Cumming, he’s very good as young Nightcrawler, and he looks great.  Alexandra Shipp has all the makings of a wonderful Storm, but I don’t think she’s used very well here – I know I definitely wanted more from the story than I got for her.  All the old guard turn in good work, especially (no surprise) James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender.

The story, for me, is just all right.  Apocalypse is a little too “non-specified all-powerful megalomaniac” for me, and while Oscar Isaac (Poe from the new Star Wars) gives it his all, the script doesn’t give him much to work with.  Most of the newcomers’ storylines feel at least a bit shortchanged, and Magneto’s arc somehow feels both repetitive and unbelievable at the same time, which really shouldn’t happen.  Also, this is maybe a little thing, and I know there are lines in the movie to explain it, but it bugs me that Mystique and Beast spend so much of the movie looking like Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult.  It feels disingenuous to the characters, like the film wants them more recognizable (especially J-Law) for monetary reasons; just didn’t work for me.

Warnings

Comic-book violence, swearing, drinking, naked Mystique, and thematic elements.

Relationship Spotlight: Matt Murdock & Foggy Nelson (Daredevil)

Realizing that Marvel has too much for me to only talk about in periodic write-ups, here’s a new regular feature:  Marvelous Wednesdays!  The MCU has a real way with depicting relationships between a superhero and their nonpowered friend.  Jessica and Trish, Steve and Bucky in the first Captain America, Peggy and Jarvis (although, in their case, the “super” part isn’t required,) and here, Matt and Foggy.  Much love for these two, who might get the deepest examination of this type of relationship.  Some Foggy-Matt-related Daredevil spoilers, including season 2.

The early episodes of the series quickly and clearly set up Matt and Foggy’s dynamic.  They’ve been through the trenches of law school together and are now ready to take on the world as defense attorneys looking out for the little guy.  They’re quite the “little guys” themselves; even though they know their stuff and aren’t afraid to mess with the big dogs, their operation looks decidedly ramshackle, what with their tiny, bare offices, their sole employee, and their zero dollars.  Still, they’re undaunted by what they don’t have and instead focus on what they can do.  Both give each other the sort of hard time that only best friends can, but both also know how to buckle down and give it their all when it comes to helping out someone in trouble.

However, Matt and Foggy are different from the other duos mentioned above in a key way:  at the start of the series, Foggy doesn’t know that Matt puts on a mask at night and fights gangsters.  He’s completely in the dark about Matt’s superpowers, and when he accidentally discovers the truth in the middle of season one, it’s rough.  He’s of course hurt by all the secrets Matt has kept from him, he’s naturally concerned for Matt’s safety, and he worries about the drive within Matt that makes him dish out such a brutal, self-determined brand of justice.  The revelations knock him over, and it takes time for them to get to any sort of good place again.

Even as Foggy struggles to reconcile Matt’s secret life, however, he can’t stop caring.  He gives Matt raw diatribes on how much his ever-present worry for Matt is tearing him up, but he still rushes in whenever Matt is hurt, dragging his bleeding friend home and helping to patch him up.  He puts himself in incredible danger at times to make sure Matt is safe.  Part of it is simply the depth of their friendship, but I imagine that part of it is also the fact that Foggy can’t shake the impression he’s developed over the years of Matt being slightly more in need of looking after.  Not that Foggy ever really patronized Matt or treated him with kid gloves due to his disability, but it’s clear in the little things that he’s accustomed to “helping out.”  Matt holds Foggy’s arm when they walk down busy sidewalks together, and Foggy frequently serves as his informal audio describer, filling him on visual details like someone’s facial reactions.  Although Matt’s powers essentially nullify his blindness and then some, I think Foggy’s gut still thinks of Matt as that guy, the one who needs an extra hand.  (In truth, I think any friend of a superhero would display much the same level of concern, but I think this particular detail gives the show more room to explore it.)

By the end of season two, I’m not quite sure where things will go moving forward with Matt and Foggy.  Their friendship has been put through the ringer, personally and professionally, and as much as Foggy still cares, he realizes he can over take so much of Matt putting himself in danger.  I hope things work out for our favorite avocados at law, and I suspect they probably will in the end, but it might be a long time coming.

Favorite Characters: Bucky Barnes a.k.a. The Winter Soldier (The Avengers)

(Bucky-related spoilers, including Captain America:  Civil War.)  When I first saw Captain America, Bucky was just so-so character, mainly coasting on Sebastian Stan’s performance.  It wasn’t until The Winter Soldier that he came alive for me, both in that film and retroactively in the first movie.  By the time Civil War finally came out, he was one of my favorites.

At first blush, Bucky in Captain Americafeels like little more than a plot device, Steve’s best friend who becomes a tragic casualty of WWII, and it’s true that he has a lot more going on as a character in the later movies, but there’s still some good value here.  I like that Bucky appears so out of Steve’s “league,” friendship-wise, before the super-soldier serum turns Steve into Cap, but he doesn’t treat Steve that way.  Right from the first, it’s clear that their friendship goes deep.  It’s also important to establish him as a brave all-American boy who likes to have fun, because when he comes back in the later films, we need to see how thoroughly he’s been changed.

‘Cause Bucky has it rough.  Loses his arm and nearly dies after a fall from an elevated train.  Taken by the enemy and experimented on, giving him a bionic arm and powers similar to Cap’s.  Brainwashed and sent on wetwork missions, committing acts that would horrify him in his right mind.  Held in cryogenic stasis between missions to keep him a viable asset for almost 70 years, routinely wiping his mind and subjecting him to further brainwashing.  Because of all this, formidable as he is in The Winter Soldier, he’s always more of a weapon than a villain.  I love the way he fights like an absolute animal when he’s activated, because it demonstrates how much he’s not his own person at that point.  He does insane stuff, even for a powered person, and he just keeps coming relentlessly.  There’s no sense of self-preservation or falling back to regroup, because the fascists who’ve been playing with his brain don’t leave any room for that.

Naturally, the whole thing wrecks Steve, and it’s through his sheer belief in Bucky’s buried humanity that he’s able to break through Bucky’s programming and help him start down the path of returning to himself.  By the time we catch up with Bucky in Civil War, he’s done a lot of work to regain a sense of who he is.  However, now that he’s out from under Hydra’s thumb, some want him to answer for the crimes he committed as the Winter Soldier, as well as other crimes attributed to him.  On the run, fighting those who try to take him in, trying to keep his past from creating any further damage in the world – the prevailing impression I get from Bucky in this film is that he’s just tired.  Running, fighting, being used, over and over, and even as he keeps on going, it’s clear he’s running on empty.  In addition to the physical demands and threats, he’s also dealing with the weight of his past, exacerbated by seeing Steve again.  As much as Steve wants to believe in Bucky and will never give up on him, he’s also wary, untrusting of Bucky, and Bucky more than once has to prove he’s in his right mind before Steve starts to let his guard down.  No judgment on Steve – given what’s been done to Bucky, it would be irresponsible to do otherwise – but it’s still a harsh reminder of what Bucky has been made into.  And even Steve’s unconditional support is hard for Bucky to take, seeing Steve and others endanger themselves for his sake when Bucky doesn’t feel he deserves it.  Despite literally having had his free will taken away in an invasive, torturous manner, Bucky still holds himself accountable for his actions and carries the guilt of them.  Incredible character drama, and I’m loving every second of it, but I hope that, at some point, we can see Bucky getting at least a minute of relatively uncomplicated peace and/or happiness.  He’s long overdue.

Captain America: Civil War (2016, PG-13)

Fair warning – I just saw this movie a few hours ago and I’m still riding my nerd high.  The objectiveness of this review is up for debate, but its sincerity is unimpeachable (premise spoilers.)

Things have been building in the Marvelverse for a while, on both the macro-level – the public (and the UN) are calling for accountability over collateral damage on Avengers missions – and the micro – Steve and Tony’s ideological differences as to what the team is for and how it should be run are quickly approaching irreconcilable.  When the Sokovia Accords, an agreement for a UN taskforce to handle oversight of the Avengers, is presented, Tony leads the charge to fall in line, while Steve is wary about placing their kind of power in someone else’s hands (especially, presumably, after the events of The Winter Soldier.)  Then, Bucky suddenly becomes a lightning rod at the center of the tempest, and for Steve, the stakes are too high and personal not to dig in.

As (ridiculously) excited as I’ve been about this movie forever, I was wary about it feeling more like The Avengers 2.5 than Captain America, plus I know Age of Ultron struggled a little to balance its massive cast.  For me, though, both of these concerns were completely unfounded.  Even with all that’s going on, particularly the large shadow that Tony inevitably casts, it still feels like Cap’s story.  Steve is given definite central focus, and his relationships with Bucky, Tony, and other team members take pride of place.  And honestly, I’m shocked by how well everyone is incorporated (while maintaining the aforementioned Cap focus, no less!)  Maybe it actually helps that it is a Cap movie rather than a team movie.  It’s easy to feel like, say, Thor, is shortchanged in Age of Ultron, but when it’s Cap’s story and the other characters are woven into it, it’s more palatable to see someone like Hawkeye used sparingly but well.  People are brought in as the story needs them, integrated organically, and given logical/emotionally-consistent motivations, and when the focus needs to go down to just Steve and Bucky or Steve and Tony, that’s what the film gives us.

I like the central conflict, because the arguments on both sides make sense and feel true to the characters making them.  Neither side is fully right or wrong, and, rather than using the plot simply as an excuse for “OMG superheroes fighting!” moments, it’s clear throughout that these people don’t truly want to fight each other.  The crisis builds slowly, with numerous entreaties to make those on the other side see reason, and when it does come to blows, it feels earned.

It’s no secret that I love virtually everyone in the MCU, and I easily could rave about the whole cast, all of whom do bang-up jobs here.  For now, though, I’ll just single out the newcomers to the Marvel fold.  Chadwick Boseman is fantastic as T’Challa/Black Panther:  he feels every inch a king, and I’m currently in denial about having to wait another twoyears for his movie.  Tom Holland is so perfect as Spidey, super-fun and a total scene-stealer without being overused.  I’m still annoyed about Spider-Man:  Homecoming pushing Black Panther and Captain Marvelfurther down the schedule, but I can’t say I’m not psyched to see more of him in action.

Warnings

Comic book violence, language, and thematic elements.

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006, PG-13)

Ah, the time-honored genre film/show trap of going “too big.”  Obviously, fans love flash and exciting moments, but they also love compelling stories and strong character development.  This movie trades too heavily in the former at the expense of the latter (premise spoilers.)

Two main plots here.  In the world at large, society has been rocked by news of a medical breakthrough, a “mutant cure.”  Opinion is divided as to whether the cure is a gift to make mutants “normal” and end their oppression, or a threat to their right to exist as unique, powered individuals.  Meanwhile, on a more personal note, Professor X introduces Wolverine to a long-buried blast from the past.  Jean’s tremendously powerful, highly unstable alter personality from adolescence, Phoenix, has reemerged and is leaving a trail of destruction in her wake.  The X-Men have a duty to stop her, but at what cost?  (If you’re wondering how these two storylines come together, it involves a certain silver-haired mutant supremacist who can manipulate metal.)

In essence, there’s a lot thrown in the pot here that doesn’t get much time to actually develop.  The mutant cure idea is an interesting one, but the main characters are so busy dealing with Phoenix that we see little of the issue from their perspectives.  Speaking of Phoenix – I don’t know what she’s like in the comics, but here, she feels like a lazy depiction of a suped-up “evil” twin/split personality, complete with stone-cold sociopathy and increased sexual aggressiveness (seriously, guys?)  Most of this story is from Wolverine’s viewpoint.  We don’t get much of a glimpse into the mind of Phoenix herself (or Jean, who’s still in there,) and due to plot developments, we also don’t get much of her with Professor X, whose history with the character has potential. 

Characters are similarly wasted.  Some are discarded in service of the plot, and others don’t get the chance to resolve the stories set up for them in the last film.  And that’s just the characters we already know.  A large part of the film’s “too bigness” is the ridiculous number of new mutants it introduces apropos of mostly nothing.  There are huge swathes of new characters brought in, but for the most part, we don’t get to know any of them.  They’re cool mutant powers that can walk and talk, but they’re not really people.  Movies with comic-book craziness going on need grounding moments, and we’re short on those here. 

Plenty of new cast members, a number of whom are good for “hey, look!” moments (though, for many, it’s less “hey, it’s that guy!” and more “hey, they were in X-Men before they did _____________?”)  Most prominently, we have Kelsey Grammer in a nice turn as Beast, and Ellen Page appears as Kitty, even getting a new moments of actual cool.  Minor roles are filled, variously, by Ben Foster (Russell from Six Feet Under,)Vinnie Jones (Gareth from Galavant,) Dania Ramirez (Maya from Heroes,) and Ken Leung (Miles from Lost – love him!)

Warnings

Comic book violence, language, and sexual content (including naked Mystique.)

Relationship Spotlight: Pietro & Wanda Maximoff (The Avengers)

The addition of the Maximoff twins was one of my favorite parts of Avengers:  Age of Ultron.  There’s their cool powers – amazing mental abilities including mind manipulation and telekinesis for Wanda (the Scarlet Witch) and super-speed for Pietro (Quicksilver) – and both are compelling characters who make a big impact despite limited screentime.  Best of all, though, I think is the relationship they have with one another.  The MCU has brought some really stellar relationships to life, and these two are a particularly prime example (big Maximoff-related spoilers for Age of Ultron.)

The first thing you notice about Pietro and Wanda is how closely they’re entwined.  They come by it honestly, having lost their parents at a young age in brutal, tragic circumstances; they’ve survived the same traumas together, and each is the other’s only family.  They cling to one another, look to one another in making decisions, and protect one another before all else.  Now, their bond has grown deeper, as both have undergone the same experiments to give them their respective enhanced abilities.

Their shared loss (courtesy of a Stark Industries bomb) has placed both of them on a path toward revenge, although their anger manifests in different ways.  We see this in the twins’ demeanor as well as how they operate in the field.  Pietro has a quick temper, and he attacks his enemies (or perceived enemies) head-on, relying on his speed to get him out of danger if he finds himself in over his head.  Wanda, meanwhile, tends to be a lot subtler.  Her anger simmers beneath the surface, and she similarly attacks from the shadows, getting into the heads of her opponents when they’re not looking.

But while they come at things in different ways, both move toward the same goals.  It’s interesting to watch them as they decide where they stand at various points of the film.  Whether it’s making the choice to enter the field, join Ultron, or ally with the Avengers, they rarely discuss anything.  Instead, they more often seem to silently confer and one can announce the decision for both of them with few words exchanged.  Sure, there are little things – Wanda chiding Pietro to be more cautious, Pietro teasing Wanda about being the younger twin – but on everything that matters, they’re perfectly aligned from the get-go.  (In general, I feel like Wanda runs the show a little bit, but not in the sense that Pietro goes along with her even if he doesn’t want do.  I don’t know; it’s kind of hard to articulate.  Maybe it’s that he just implicitly trusts that what Wanda wants is what he wants?)

Their protectiveness of one another is so central to both characters.  This is both in a physical sense – Pietro appears at Wanda’s side out of nowhere, always ready to bring her to safety – and an emotional one – the two orphans seem to parent one another.  For me, the absolute heart of the entire film can be found in Wanda’s reaction to Pietro’s death during the final battle.  They’re separated from one another, halfway across the city, but Wanda knows immediately, and her powers explode out as her grief overwhelms her.  Then, when Ultron warns Wanda that she’ll die if she doesn’t leave the city, she tells him that she’s already died and offers to show him how it felt, tearing his metal “heart” out of his chest.  I mean, holy crap.  This franchise has done sharp work with numerous romances, friendships, and familial relationships, but I don’t think anything compares to the rawness and love of that moment.

Deadpool (2016, R)

I’m not very familiar with Deadpool (my first exposure was actually the test footage for this movie,) but I was aware of the excitement surrounding the character and the idea of a movie for him, as well as what was evidently the near-criminal waste of him/Ryan Reynolds in the Wolverine:  Originsmovie.  I also knew going in to expect a funny, high-octane show-the-blood-style comic-book movie a la Mark Millar.  Safe to say the film delivers on that every level.

Wade Wilson, a foul-mouthed mercenary with a don’t-make-a-thing-of-it preference for helping the little guy, has his life thrown off-kilter by a terminal cancer diagnosis.  When a shady guy in a suit promises to both cure his cancer and make him a superhero, Wade is skeptical but decides to try to keep his girlfriend Vanessa from having to watch him waste away.  He sneaks off in the middle of the night to the super-secret experimental lab, but the results aren’t what he bargained for.  He’s left functionally immortal, with an automatically-regenerating body, but the mutation has also made him grotesque, and he doesn’t think he can go home to Vanessa until he finds the scientist/sadist who did this to him and forces him to fix it.

Ryan Reynolds is absolutely perfect to play a vulgar, smartass, superpowered former mercenary on a revenge kick.  He’s funny and profane without (for me) veering too far into d-bag territory, and even with a mask completely covering his face for most of the movie, his screen presence is still charismatic (granted, I don’t know how often Deadpool is CGI’d, but that would still mean Reynolds is making the character come through on voiceover alone, so kudos to him either way.)  In order for wildly graphic, completely unapologetic violence to work for me, it really depends on the character, and Deadpool’s casually-cheerful brand of slaughter just seems to fit.

The plot is fairly formulaic, though it mixes things up by extenstive use of a nonlinear structure.  But what it lacks in storytelling creativity, it makes up in snarky one-liners.  There’s mid-fight banter, cheeky sex jokes, pop culture references, and colorful analogies, not to mention huge amounts of fourth-wall breaking (sometimes explicit, with Deadpool directly addressing the camera, other times just throwaway lines – my favorites include a reference to sewing Deadpool’s mouth shut and a Stewart-or-McAvoy Professor X distinction.)  One place, though, where the movie falls down for me is with Deadpool’s much-vaunted pansexuality.  It’s arguably represented, but there aren’t any non-heteronormative references that couldn’t be explained away as jokes if desired.  Since Deadpool does spend most of the film preoccupied with his monogamous girlfriend, it’s understandable that we mostly get that side of things, but a single line mentioning an ex-boyfriend or zhefriend wouldn’t have broken the bank.

Other than Reynolds, the only actor I’m familiar with is Morena Baccarin (Inara from Firefly) as Vanessa.  She does what she can with a pretty thin girlfriend characterization.  I also enjoy Brianna Hildebrande as an X-Men trainee, the (as Deadpool notes) awesomely-named Negasonic Teenage Warhead.  I mean, how do you get cooler than that?  I wish we’d gotten to see more of her in action, but little we do get of her powers is pretty hardcore.

Warnings

Strong violence, language, sexual content, drinking/smoking, and drug references.

Favorite Characters: Agent Peggy Carter (The Avengers)

By The Avengers, I of course mean the general Avengers universe – while Peggy only has a cameo appearance (as a hallucination, no less!) in Age of Ultron, she’s an enormous part of Captain Americaand obviously anchors the fantastic Agent Carter, which recently finished its second season.  (By the way, I know I just did an MCU post on Kilgrave recently, but you can never go wrong with Peggy.  Besides, it’s International Women’s Day; she knows her value!)

We meet Peggy in Captain America, as Steve’s potential love interest and much more.  Though her contributions to the SSR in that film are mostly behind-the-lines – overseeing projects, liaising, helping with strategy – her place as a woman in a prominent position in a government-military organization during World War II is huge.  There’s just enough screentime for sexist douchebags to show how tough and determined she had to be to get where she is.  And she proves her value time and again:  facing off against enemy agents, bending the rules when it’s important, and helping Cap on his journey to being more than just a liberty bond poster boy.

Agent Carter picks up with Peggy after the war and the losses at the end of Captain America, and if anything, she’s even more fabulous there.  The ante is upped from every angle.  The show allows her to do more spy stuff, using gadgets and getting out of dangerous situations.  She does more infiltration, donning accents and disguises and being generally awesome.  She shows off her mad combat skills like a boss, she works out intricate plans, she takes on multiple cool female villains, and she does it all in the mid ‘40s, which were even more sexist than the war years.  By various necessities, much of her BAMFness has to be conducted without the knowledge of her superiors, and it kills her that those good-old-boy misogynists don’t know what she can really do.  There have been times when she’s flirted with the idea of revealing herself to them, but, begrudgingly acknowledging the reasons why that won’t work, puts her desire for recognition aside for the greater good.

She has flaws, too, by the way.  Like so many heroes, she has a tendency to rush into danger without backup, sometimes out of a stubbornness to prove she can do it (informed by the issues mentioned above,) sometimes because she’s so focused on the goal that she can’t think practically, and sometimes because she thinks she has to take on everything herself to keep her friends out of danger (which is admirable, but it’s still misguided.)  She’s gotten so used to shouting to make her voice heard that she doesn’t always listen to other people’s input, and that can make her miss important details.  She’s so good at pretending she doesn’t need people that she can sometimes push others away, sublimating all her need for companionship (platonic or otherwise) into her work.

But when she opens up, she can be an excellent, loyal, if still somewhat commanding, friend.  There aren’t a huge number of people who are close to her, but she would do anything to protect them; her friendship with Jarvis is a highlight of the series.  The show as gone light so far on romance, mostly teasing will-they won’t-they stuff, which feels right.  Steve was such an important figure in Peggy’s life that it can’t be easy to move on, but I’m glad the show seems to be heading in that direction.  I think there’s a lot of potential in a story about Peggy taking a risk on love again, and I’m excited to see where the show takes us with it.  Wherever that is, I just want it to be as great as her.

A Few Notes on Kilgrave (Jessica Jones)

The MCU’s history with villains has been pretty mixed.  Now, I think Loki is a bang-up character, although I’ve yet to see anything that uses him as well as the original Thor, and I adore the Winter Soldier, though his story is obviously changing, and even at his most dangerous, he’s more of a weapon than a villain.  Other movie villains, however, range from middling (Red Skull) to poorly used (Malekith) to over-the-top (Ronan.)  That said, Marvel’s TV outfits have had better luck in that department – I loved the main baddie on Agent Carter last year, and the new one is just as neat in an entirely different way – and in Kilgrave, Jessica Jones has a hugely intriguing, massively creepy foe.

First things first:  Kilgrave’s powers make my skin crawl.  The idea that he can compel anyone to do anything, be it making him their house guest, becoming his “willing” sex slave, or killing on his behalf, is so incredibly freaky!  Other than rendering him unconscious or ensuring that you can’t hear his voice, if you’re in the same room as him, there’s no real defense against it.  He can literally take someone’s power away with a single word.

What I love most about Kilgrave is that he’s nota super villain.  He doesn’t have an evil plan, he’s not after world domination, and his abilities effortlessly give him so much power that he doesn’t have much interest in acquiring more.  He’s just a stunningly-horrific example of what a completely unscrupulous person can do with his powers.  Rather than being specifically out to cause mayhem and destruction, mayhem and destruction are mere side effects of himgetting what he wants.  Because that’s about Kilgrave is about – satisfying his every desire.

He wants what he wants, and anyone who gets in the way is background noise.  Other people can be an afterthought, collateral damage, his playthings, or his means of venting his intense frustrations, depending on his whim.  He’s like a walking id that, until Jessica escaped from him in the events prior to the pilot, has never had something not go his way.

Don’t get me wrong.  Some of his desires are shockingly sick.  The dude is seriously twisted, and after all, we do meet him as Jessica’s superpowered stalker.  (Seriously, how gross is that?  Stalkers are such real-world monsters anyway, and then when you throw in unstoppable powers of persuasion?  Shudder.)  When he’s in a vicious mood, he doesn’t think twice about making someone kill themselves in a truly horrifying way, and I’m pretty sure he actually means it when he says he doesn’t consider himself to have raped Jessica, physically, mentally, or otherwise.  So, while he’s not a plotting super villain, he’s also, at minimum, awfully far down the road to Psychopathville.  I should hope his depraved acts aren’t an accurate representation of what an ordinary person would do with his powers.

At the same time, there’s a question of how much his powers shaped who he’s become, particularly since they manifested at a fairly young age.  While it in no way comes close to excusing any of the horrible things he does, it’s worth wondering what happens to a person’s psyche when everything they want is at their fingertips.  When no one can say no to them.  When they never have to work for anything.  When they can indulge their every caprice, no matter how dark.  With all that at Kilgrave’s disposal, did he have much – or any – chance of turning out “normal?”  (I repeat:  he’s still completely, manifestly awful.  No doubt about it.  Oh my gosh.)

Iron Man (2008, PG-13)

This was the only Phase One Marvel film I saw priorto being blown away by The Avengers – everything else came afterwards in a catch-up frenzy – and while it wasn’t the Best Comic Book Movie Evah, I found it to be cool, entertaining, and well-made.  Now, watching it again, I can see that the Marvel movieverse has come a long way, but it certainly started on the right foot with this film.

Just from a personal standpoint, I’ve enjoyed the Thor and Captain Americafranchises more than the Iron Man films, largely because of how they play around more with other, non-superhero genres and make for more original viewing.  Iron Man, while an excellent example of a comic book film, is a bit more typical, so it doesn’t stand out as much.  Still, preferences aside, this movie is fantastically fun to watch, and I love Tony Stark’s journey from a devil-may-care playboy to a cocky but dedicated hero.

Any discussion of Iron Man has to start with the man himself, and Robert Downey Jr.’s performance deserves plenty of credit for the franchise’s success.  He superbly marries the different parts of Tony’s personality and makes them all feel internally consistent.  He’s a partying womanizer, he’s a wildcard billionaire, he’s an incurable smart-aleck, and he’s a workaholic tech genius.  I like that he doesn’t start out as a “good guy,” that he’s self-centered and a little callous.  His character’s transformation is probably the most unique thing about the film.  His experiences – being kidnapped by insurgents in Afghanistan and nearly killed by the shrapnel from one of his own bombs – change him, shake him out of his complacency, and he can’t help but be moved to action.

Tied in with Tony’s complex characterization is the creation of the Iron Man suit itself.  I love that, for all his shallowness and frivolity, he’s also utterly creatively brilliant and can do things that no one else can.  Starting with his imprisonment, where he designs and builds the chest plate that keeps him alive after the bombing, along with his first iteration of the suit, it’s a blast to watch him at work.  I like his innovations, his screw-ups, his fractious relationship with his robotic assistants, and his complete elation when he succeeds.  And of course, I love that, while the suit obviously allows him to do superhuman stuff, his real superpower is his brain.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts is no Black Widow or Peggy Carter, but I enjoy her as a relatively capable comic-book love interest.  Generally speaking, she’s pretty unflappable, she shows both guts and initiative, and she doesn’t let Tony walk all over her.  I’ll have more to say on Rhodey after I rewatch installments 2 and 3 – as of right now, though, I’m not quite feeling Terrence Howard’s performance.  I don’t know if I’m just used to Don Cheadle now or if the writing for the character has changed, but I didn’t enjoy him as much here as I do in later films.

Warnings

Comic book violence (along with more realistic combat scenes,) some drinking, and sexual content.

The Incredible Hulk (2008, PG-13)

This film is sort of the red-headed stepchild of the Avengers franchise.  Not that it’s terrible – it’s not! – but it feels divorced from the rest of the series.  With the exceptions of some super-soldier exposition and a brief cameo from another Marvel heavy hitter, it’s not tied into the larger threads that came together in The Avengers.  When I first rewatched The Avengers after catching up on the other Phase 1 films, I was impressed by how well the films connected to each other and The Avengers, even as each stood on its own.  The Incredible Hulk really isn’t like that. 

A big part of this, obviously, is that the film stars a different Hulk.  Before Mark Ruffalo came along, we had Edward Norton, who’s both a fine actor and a very different  Bruce (I’ve already voice my love for Ruffalo’s.)  Some of it’s the story and some of it’s the performance, but Bruce isn’t as compelling for me in this film as he is in The Avengers.  He seems more at loose ends, reactive rather than proactive and out of control – not just of his anger, but of his life as a whole.

Like most Marvel movies, this film steps outside the usual superhero genre.  Rather, it’s a fugitive piece – after a quick, dialogue-free montage of the Hulk’s origin story, the film opens on Bruce hiding out in Brazil.  The military is combing the globe for him, not to put him down as a giant rage monster, but to weaponize his mutation and turn it into a standard-issue enhancement for soldiers.  Being a generally nonviolent, non-murderous person when he isn’t green, Bruce isn’t keen on this idea, and the film shows him mainly concerned with three things:  keeping the Hulk out of the government’s hands, searching for a cure, and angstily reconnecting with pre-Hulk colleague/flame Dr. Betty Ross.

If I hadn’t seen Ruffalo’s version (as penned by Joss Whedon,) I’d probably be fine with this Bruce.  There are parts I like – his DIY scientific equipment while in hiding, and I think it’s cool that, even fleeing for his life from soldiers with a vendetta, he still does everything in his power to keep his heart rate from getting too high and unleashing the Hulk on them.  Still, he feels like a weaker character.  In this movie, Bruce is so often ineffectual in combating his circumstances, his pursuers, and his inner demons, and he’s a little too bland to really root for.  (It’s entirely possible – and probably likely – that, had they kept Norton, he’d have excelled just as much with the fantastic writing in The Avengers, and I’d be a lot more retroactively fannish right now.)

Also, I’m fairly ignorant of the comics, so I can’t speak to its faithfulness, but it bugs me that Betty acts as a sort of Hulk whisperer.  It’s cheesy to see him raging and tossing Humvees around, then be so gentle with her.  It’s a little too “Peter Jackson’s King Kong” for me; I prefer to think of the Hulk as more like a werewolf.  Even if Bruce isn’t entirely absent when the Hulk takes over, he’s not that “reachable” either – in the finale battle in The Avengers, after Bruce seems to have a better handle on the Hulk, he still fights mostly solo rather than teaming up with the others.  The only other Avenger you is him fighting alongside is Thor, because the Hulk is volatile enough that you wouldn’t trust him with someone as breakable as a human.

Warnings

Comic book violence (including guns and lots of Hulk Smashing,) a little drinking, and light sexual content.

Captain America (2011, PG-13)

 

This was my first period superhero film, and I remember immediately loving that aspect of it.  I really enjoyed Iron Man when I initially saw it, and it remains a great film, but after I finally started digging into these movies after seeing The Avengers, I was drawn to the different feels of Thor and this film.

 

Captain America, as a superhero film, is less unconventional than Thorin that it offers up a fairly traditional origin story, but it’s told very well and makes excellent use of its 1940s setting.  Steve Rogers’s transformation from a scrappy weakling to a scientifically-modified super soldier provides engaging drama, and it’s great to see him find his place in the fight against fascism.  And even though it takes place so many years before Marvel’s other Phase 1 films, I like that plot elements from it have important bearing on The Avengers.

 

Any discussion of the movie’s good points has to start with Steve himself.  Cap is just so fantastic.  Before seeing The Avengers, I knew that Captain America had a reputation for being something of a boy scout, and I was expecting him to be squeaky-clean and dull (like the titular son of Krypton in Superman Returns, yeesh.)  Quite the contrary – this series understands how goodness can be compelling, and this film introduces us to a good man trying to do his best.  He doesn’t always succeed, and it takes him some time to find his way, but he’s a hero who stands up for the little guy because he knows what it’s like to be one.  Chris Evans really taps into this with his performance – it’s so earnest and rootable, not the least bit Pollyannaish.  So much love for the captain.

 

Even better, he’s not alone.  Peggy Carter is my favorite superhero love interest ever, and it’s only because Black Widow is so awesome that she’s not my favorite Marvel woman in general.  This gutsy, competent agent, played superbly by Hayley Atwell, has claimed a seat at a very male-dominated table, and she doesn’t take crap from anyone.  She’s both badass and feminine, and she’s directly involved in the action rather than being stuck solely in romantic and/or distressed damsel plots.  I was predisposed to like Steve’s friend Bucky, since he’s played by Kings’s Sebastian Stan, but I really enjoy the relationship between those two.  In the beginning, I like that Bucky looks out for Steve without being patronizing about it and that Steve doesn’t seem to resent or covet Bucky’s size, strength, or joie de vivre; he wants to enlist like Bucky, certainly, but Bucky’s success doesn’t come between them.  And later, when Steve has superhuman abilities and nationwide fame, Bucky doesn’t feel threatened by this change.  And of course, we can’t forget Stanley Tucci and Toby Jones (the Dream Lord!) as good and evil scientists, respectively.

 

I just love the film’s WWII backdrop.  I like the sepia tones of New York City, like an old newsreel come to life, and I always love old-timey high-tech gadgets.  The V-for-Victory spirit is captured well, especially in the bond drive scenes.  It’s a shame that we got one Captain America movie in this setting, but I have high hopes for Agent Carter.  Is it January yet?

 

Warnings

 

Comic book violence, drinking, and some language.

Relationship Spotlight: Jemma Simmons & Leo Fitz (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

No post yesterday - shameful of me, I know.  Have two tonight.

Although Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has gotten palpably better as time has gone by – season 1’s post-Captain America:  The Winter Soldier episodes were a big improvement on what came before them, and it’s been decidedly cooler this season – it’s still not everything I hoped it would be (either as an Avengers satellite ora Whedon-adjacent property.)  Given the pedigree involved, this show could have been one of my favorite things ever, but as it is, it’s only a reasonably enjoyable piece of genre TV with a comic-book bent.  However, one place where the show has delivered on almost every level is with the team’s resident nerd duo FitzSimmons.

 

Bio-chemist Simmons and tech expert Fitz have gone through the S.H.I.E.L.D. ranks together.  When they’re introduced as the lab geeks in Coulson’s team of agents, they’re both brilliant but green, untested in the field.  They’re also nigh inseparable – everyone discusses them as a unit and refers to them by a portmanteau.  The two smartest people in any room, they’re on the same finishing-each-other’s-technobabble wavelength in almost every aspect of their work.  The instant one has a spark of inspiration, the other will be snapping their fingers in epiphany, and before anyone else even knows what’s happening, both are off and running to scan, analyze, or invent.  They share the same utter delight in science.  Both live to ask questions and solve problems, and they squee ecstatically over things that no one else can wrap their heads around.  

 

That was a paragraph composed entirely of plural verbs, which should give you an idea of how in sync they are.  Don’t think, though, that they’re essentially the same person split into two.  Simmons is much more of a risk-taker than Fitz; while she’s eager to spread her wings, he’d be content to stay in the lab.  But of course, side by side is how they roll, so he faces up to his discomfort and follows her into the fray.  Likewise, they’re both rather awkward, but his expresses itself in nervous verbal fumbling whereas she’s maybe-tries-a-bit-too-hard bubbly.  These differences allow the two to have a nice give-and-take between Simmons’s need to expand her horizons and Fitz’s desire for safety and consistency.

 

Though I obviously love FitzSimmons together (or I wouldn’t be writing about them,) I like that season 2 has placed them more in different spheres.  Not only does the divide allow them more dramatic material when they aretogether, but it’s also very valuable in defining each character separately.  Now that I think about it, it’s a lot like Poussey and Taystee on Orange is the New Black, who are developed apart in season 2 after being joined at the hip in season 1.  The circumstances of the separation are wildly different in each case, but as with Orange is the New Black, it seems to be facilitating a richer narrative here and better chances for the actors to shine.

 

(Warning:  this last paragraph contains some spoilers.)  I said above that FitzSimmons deliver on almost every level, and while I was starting to see hints of it late last season, it was still disappointing to have Fitz declaring his love for Simmons.  Oh so many reasons – 1) why do the most important relationships so often have to involve romance? 2) since Simmons hasn’t given any indication of returning his feelings, I’m not sure how well they’ll be able to weather it, and perhaps most significantly, 3) I love their scenes together, but if they were best friends, work partners, and lovers, I think they’d fall into this FitzSimmons vortex where they’d pretty much only interact and have plots with each other, and I like both of them with the rest of the team too much to want that.

Thor: The Dark World (2013, PG-13)

 

This Avengersverse review is in honor of the leaked trailer for Age of Ultron (Marvel released the official version after a “Dammit, Hydra” tweet; love it) and the nerdish flailing that ensued.

 

Objectively, it’s probably fair to say that Thor:  The Dark World is the weakest post-Avengers film.  It’s hampered by a generic villain with nonspecific evil motives, and some of the humor veers a bit too close to wacky – given the high drama of the Asgardian royal family, it makes sense to have some comic relief, but the tonal shift here can get jarring. 

 

Not that it’s a bad film.  Not at all; imperfect though it is, I enjoy it a lot.  As I’ve said before, the growing maturity of Thor is terrific, and this installment does a nice job on that front.  His cockiness has softened into a less showy self-assuredness, and he’s more willing to admit out-and-out confusion or fear, or even ask for help.  His impulsive streak, though, is intact – this time, he presents his argument to Odin before openly defying him but still ultimately defies him.

 

And what has him going against dear old dad?  After reuniting with his human love, Jane, Thor discovers that she’s been infected by an ancient power known as the Aether.  Not only is it strong enough to kill her if not excised, but it’s attracted the attention of baddie Malekith and his army of Dark Elves.  Thor is understandably pulling for a solution in which Jane lives and the Elves don’t get the Aether, but Odin feels his methods are too reckless and uncertain.  So, Thor takes matters in his own hands, enlisting his brother Loki as an extremely slippery ally.

 

I find the Thor movies are the most visually arresting in the series.  Asgard looks fantastic, and we get the chance to see a lot more of it here.  I continue to love everything about the Bifröst, and I dig the flying boats.  Also, there is some cool, topnotch action in this film.  The Dark Elves have these amazing mini-black-hole grenade things, and the big final battle is augmented by a lot of physical and gravitational anomalies that differentiate it from many of its fellow films.

 

I’m still lukewarm on Jane.  I like that she’s smart and scientific (and I love that Thorloves that she’s smart and scientific,) her curiosity and wonder is great, and I enjoy seeing her take a more active part in the plot here.  However, she borders on damsel-y, and her tendency to go giggly-schoolgirl around Thor seems disingenuous for a brilliant physicist.  I get that she’s a little socially awkward, but come on – she’s still an adult.  As for Thor’s other major relationship, I love that, while he knows he can’t trust Loki and keeps that thought at the fore of his interactions with his brother, he badly wishes that he could.  It’s a desire that’s come back to bite him before, and no doubt it will again, but their dynamic continues to be the Thor movies’ strongest quality.

 

All the usual suspects are back for this film.  I really enjoy Jaimie Alexander as Thor’s comrade-in-arms Sif, and Rene Russo gets a chance to shine (and kick some butt) as Thor’s mother Frigga.  Christopher Eccleston does a fine job as Malekith, but his talents are pretty wasted in a commonplace bad-guy role.

 

Warnings

 

Comic book violence, some swearing, and a little implied nudity.

Thor (2011, PG-13)

Imperfect as this film is, I think it’s my favorite of the pre-Avengers movies.  I know that the tone is sometimes jarringly uneven, the third-act fight isn’t anything to write home about, and, as far as love interests go, Jane can’t touch Pepper or the incredible Peggy, but I’m okay with it.  I’ve talked before about Thor’s growth in this film, and that’s where this story really succeeds – weaving the ripe-for-drama tapestry of Thor’s world, his friends, and his family.  

 

It isn’t the typical superhero movie, because Thor isn’t a superhero.  He’s an alien, but not like any of the assorted species we meet in Guardians of the Galaxy.  Thor is from Asgard, a warrior culture where magic and science are the same force, primitive societies worshipped his people as gods, and wormhole is the preferred mode of travel.  He’s the eldest son of a king, and as such, his film tells a lofty story full of war, betrayal, ascendance, duty, and exile.  It’s great to watch him mature from a brash, arrogant prince hungry for war into a future king sworn to protect those weaker than him.

 

One of the film’s biggest assets is of course Thor’s relationship with his brother Loki, the most memorable Marvel baddie to date, and they’re at their best here.  Loki rises as Thor falls and vice versa, and despite everything that goes down, it’s obvious that Thor still loves Loki.  This, by the way, helps Loki’s continued existence in the franchise make sense beyond his character’s popularity.  I get why Thor is so conflicted about going up against Loki and never stops wanting to believe there may be a shred of good in him.  (Side note:  as much as he resents Thor, a manipulative trickster like Loki must love having Thor for a brother.  He’s soruled by his emotions – easy to read, easier to exploit.)

 

Speaking of the silver-tongued one, it’s no secret that Loki is a stellar villain.  His intricate manipulations are hugely entertaining to watch, and he makes an especially dangerous adversary for Thor, who, again, is susceptible to Loki’s tricks and is much more at home wailing on a foe than outsmarting them.  This forces Thor to stretch and adapt, never a bad thing in my book.

 

And hey, maybe it’s a bit corny, but I get a kick out of the fish-out-of-water comedy during Thor’s time on Earth.  Thor approaches his new surroundings with an amusing mix of defiance (ranting about his mightiness just before getting tazed,) rolling with the punches (demanding sustenance for his new “mortal form,”) and trying to fit square pegs into round Asgardian holes (trying to procure a horse from the pet store.)  Given all the high drama going on with his family, it’s a nice way to defuse the tension now and again.

 

The acting is just fantastic.  Marvel couldn’t have found anyone better than Chris Hemsworth or Tom Hiddleston.  Hemsworth brings just the right combination of charisma, nobility, and fun to Thor, and Hiddleston is perfect as the scheming, tormented Loki.  Jane is a rather thin character, but Natalie Portman brings what she can to the role, and both her sidekicks and Thor’s are engaging and well-played.

 

Warnings

 

Comic book violence, some drinking, and a little swearing.