Big, loud, dumb. Who cares about Jason Mamoa and Patrick Wilson being brothers? Who cares about the random villain being bad. Some interest in seeing Amber Heard's role being minimised - I guess she'd be too heroic? They may as well have killed her. Or kidnapped her. And Nicole and Dolph.
Dull.
The film gets off to an awkwardly acted and presented start in that jungle sequence and never recovers. Dakota Johnson feels wrong. The movie doesn't seem to have much point. Maybe it should've just focused on Madame Webb mentoring three spiderwomen - like, started with the girls and gone from there. Or maybe it should've embraced it's Christmas Carol theme hinted at when Johnson watches that film - a cranky old loner discovers humanity via acts of kindess. But Johnson is too warm, is given friends. The Parker family stuff feels shoe horned in. And it is hard to build to a rousing climax about a woman who winds up blind and in a wheelchair.
I didn't mind the time jumping and freaking out that Something Had Changed sequences. Some of it is slickly done.
Thoughts on MCU after reading book (was a good book)...
- What Feige did was amazing, very few producers have come close, maybe David O. Selnick from 30s to 40s before Benzedrine addiction and dumping his smart first wife wrecked his career.
- Other parallel is James Bond series which has been going since 1962 - this has interesting similarities... cultural phenomenon, many imitators but no one has surpassed it, has ability to reinvent, makes lots of mistakes but not fatal ones, isn’t afraid to go “small” (Bond films went from the big Moonraker to the small For Your Eyes Only, from the big Die another Day to the small Casino Royale), always be true to character (eg they always have a British or at least British Empire Bond)
- Main issues with MCU not actually their fault (a) no one else can make blockbusters as consistently successful (b) Disney keep wanting them to expand bc they make so much money
- If Marvel keep small, they will endure but if they keep expanding they are rooted
- I forgot how many dud Marvels there have been eg Thor 2 and 4, Ant Man 2 and 3... but historically there’s always been a classic around the corner eg Tom Holland Spiderman... it feels it’s been a while since a classic Marvel though - I actually feel Feige’s (a) run out of gas and/or (b) simply doesn’t have the same emotional connection to these new heroes as he did the original ones - but could be wrong
- I actually love though how Feige embraces all the history - even duds like Thorn 2 and the Garfield Spidermans, which have bad reps, get call backs - this has weird parallels to soap where previous “era” get overlooked - embracing dud eras I feel is something not nearly done enough in franchises or long serials
- Also amazing how bad and voluminous the corporate notes were even AFTER the films became successful - and the head of Marvel wanted to FIRE Feige... this was astonishing... and explains why so many Hollywood films are bad... that a great producer can produce great successful films and as a result the head of the company wants to fire him (not bc of a crime, but because of his success) - this is surprisingly common
- character is obviously king - (and casting so crucial to character) - problem with Captain Marvel (warning: mansplaining) us that Captain Marvel isn't much of character... but bc it made so much money that kind of got lost - Wonder Woman and Black Widow are great characters - problem Black Panther 2 IMHO was not fixing on a character - think there is so so much scope for female super heroes just make sure they have a good character and are well cast
- my predictions about what’s coming up
- Thunderbolts - will tank bc it feels like leftovers
- Captain America Brave New World - will tank bc no one will care and that director isn’t v good
- Deadpool vs Wolverine, Blade, Fantastic Four - will go through roof bc Feige understands these characters
-
Anyway lets see how I go
Feels like an episode of a TV series. Tired. Loud, Scenes in outer space. Sam Jackson. Two of the three leads don't seem to want to be there. Iman Vellani does. Her parents were fun.
It's just dull. They throw in Tessa Thompson too.
Looks great. Plenty of genreic action and quips. Has novelty being more female driven. Kind of disappointed they didn't kill the main atagonist. Long. Tiring. Some fresh faces.
Breezy, entertaining entry at it's best when dealing with teen life as the kids head off to Europe, and also making meta comments about the story (eg a biopic of Tony Stark has been made). Less strong when it comes to action - bloated CGI scenes, not terribly thrilling. Jake Gyllenhaul's villain is fine. Tom Holland is excellent - all the kids are. I love how the joke kid character was given a little touch in that his parents sent a chauffeur to pick him up and he was disappointed. Zedaya has X factor but is basically The Girl here.
Wonderful movie - thrilling action, cleverness, heart, all that. Splendid acknowledgement of history - though part of me was disappointed Nicholas Hammond didn't appear. Hard not to cheer when Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire appear. A lot of second tier villains but Albert Molina and Willem Dafoe are solid (Jamie Foxx, Thomas Haden Church and Rhy Ifans are wet). Zendaya has a captivating screen presence, they Obi Wan Marissa Tomei. Benedict Cumberbatch is entertaining though the fake hairlines of him, and Tom Holland and all the Marvel leading men is beginning to be annoying.
I don't get why making everyone forget Peter Parker helped at the end but provided great stakes and emotion. Grand entertainment.
Why didn't this work? The trailer was great. Cast great. Story pretty good. Bring back Chris Pine. Set it in 1984, have Cheetah...
It follows the template of Batman sequels, the early ones, in that it is an origin story for two villains. Only both are very sympathetic (Max Lord just loves his kid and was bullied by his dad, Cheetah just needed love) maybe too sympathetic. What's wrong with just a baddy?
The finale felt false with people renouncing wishes. It's alright for Diana, she's hot and immortal with superpowers... the rest of us maybe don't return to something so great.
It lacks energy. They could have used the 1984 thing more. Why flash back to the Amazon Island? The romance between Chris Pine and Gal Gadot feels so, so perfunctory - like both are phoning it in.
Really fun. Bright. Wonderful tone. Good actors. Margot Robbie a solid lead, Ewen McGregor and Chris Messina having the time of their lives as villain. Funny moments. Great production design.
Took too long to get going - the story doesn't start until 40 minutes in. Didn't need all that set up. It's actually a simple story about trying to get a diamond. It didn't need the rest.
Also didn't need to be R. Why? A key character is a 12 year old girl (or some age like that). Why not let them go see it. A few trims of language and blood and surely they would have been fine and this would have made that much more. I'm Monday morning quarterbacking now.
Absolutely fine. Just a little dull. Kat Jennings pops off the screen as does Tom Hiddleston and Chris Hemsworth. Rene Russo is flat, as is the villain, Thor's friends and, most suprisingly Natalie Portman. Couldn't they make a decent love story out of this?
Loud, expensive, some decent bits.
Matthew Vaughan doesn't have the reputation of a Chris Nolan but he sure can make a solid comic book movie. This for me was the best of the franchise so far, a very smart, stylish, well made piece of entertainment.
It had the benefit of a decent origin story - Xavier and Magneto have such a fascinating conflict, and Mystique also is compelling. Vaughan has cast it perfectly - Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy seem like friends, Jennifer Lawrence brings X factor, and others like Rose Byrne, Nicholas Hoult, January Jones, Kevin Bacon, etc are all very good. I guess some of the minor X men aren't that memorable. I loved seeing Michael Ironside in a big budget movie.
It is a little pervy - Zoe Kravitz, Jones and Byrne all strut around in lingere like, well, Claudia Schiffer and Lawrence discovers the joy of going nude and blue and tries to seduce Fassbender.
It dragged around the two third mark due to bloat but recovered, in part because the central conflict is so strong, you can't go wrong with Nazis, and Magneto such a justified protagonist.
Very entertaining.
Wolverine gets his own movie - it skips over him fighting with his brother in World War Two, and then we go into a brand new team full of mutants including Deadpool, then by minute 18 he's out, and with a girlfriend. Nothing wrong with banging through story but I wonder if they do it too quickly.
It's the classic sort of movie which seems unsure of its core. Which is dumb the core is so obvious: it should be about Wolverine and his brother, and Wolverine and his girlfriend. But the actor who plays the girl isn't up to it, and the film seems unsure of itself - it smells of "hey lets put this in" so you've got a bit of Ryan Reynolds, then a bit of Will Am I, and a bit of Taylor Kisch (who comes in at the end, and a bit of the blob, a bit of all these other movies.
It's a great example of how you can go wrong if you don't focus on the core. This movie has a core but doesn't focus on it.
It feels like a patchwork quilt. Not good. There were added quips and bits like Wolverine throwing his cigar on some flame. It just got annoying.
The opening sequence was moving - the teenage boy who doesn't want to be a mutant werewolf (great work from that kid actor), and I thought we'd be fine.
But as it went on it got worse, and muffed simple things. There's this love triangle between Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen and James Marsden, but does Jackman really love her? And they get rid of Marsden instead of playing out conflict between them all which would have added to the drama.
There's a lot of characters but no one seems to have a decent story. Ian Mackellan seemed silly in this with his hat. What happened to Rebecca Romjim Stamos again? Ellen Page pops on screen I wish she'd done something decent.
There's a lot of quips and cliches. Vinnie Jones just quips. It's not a very good script. The direction isn't that cohesive. Wolverine is a lot more war and cuddly.
Some decent moments but I was glad when it was over.
A very good sequel - improves on the original, deepens the character relationships and thematic work, has some superb action sequences.
It does get afflicted by bloat in the second half - like, really bogged down. The sacrifice of Jean Grey/Famke Janssen is a worthy climactic point but you feel they could have built to it more.
They still can't find something for Halle Berry to do, but they do push the subtext more in an interesting way (i.e. mutants = gay, we all thought Bryan Singer was like Xavier but in fact he was Magneto). Hugh Jackman, Janssen and Patrick Stewart-Ian MacKellan have stuff to do.
I think Bryan Singer is a better producer than director - he has a solid collection of elements and it holds together well enough but doesn't have the visual clarity of say a Spielberg or Fincher. The good here outweighs the mediocre - they lucked out with Hugh Jackman, their X factor, but also Anna Paquin, Patrick Stewart, Ian MacKellen and the make up and Rebecca Romjin Stamos as Mystique. I also think Famke Janssen's contribution has been overlooked.
The performances from James Marsden and Halle Berry aren't so much bad as bland - so too the two non-blue henchmen villains. The core relationship between Jackman and Pacquin is solid.
It starts with a great deal of confidence but gets bogged down in lethargy. I couldn't put my finger on it - it doesn't seem to build. The final sequence has some decent fights and clever bits but no narrative build or pace. The film is remarkably sluggish.
I absolutely recognise the film's importance in the treatment of comic books by the movies. It has a serious subtext - the treatment of minorities - and effective moments. It just didn't light my fire.
