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Post by Merv on Jan 13, 2022 6:17:46 GMT 1
Ant-Man and the Wasp...I think that both the first Antman movie and this one are probably the two most easily enjoyed, independent MCU films. The overall tones of these are incredibly family friendly feeling and I don't really feel like you need to have seen any other MCU movie to be able to get it. If that makes any sense. This sequel is a lot more of the same from the first Antman...although I will say I much enjoyed Scotts having redeemed himself in the eyes of his ex-wife and her husband along with his amazing relationship with his daughter is just so sweet. Rudd as Scott is such a likeable guy. The plot makes sense and is pretty easy to grasp. Theyre trying to save Janet and the key is in Scotts head. The conflict with Hope and Hank feels weird, and unearned. Especially after they unwillingly put Scott in a position where he could lose everything he's been working for by abducting him 2 days away from his ankle bracelet being taken off. Luckily that doesn't feel like a huge aspect, just something there to add tension. The villain Ghost was fine...although my favorite version of this character was on the Thunderbolts. Where its a he and he's a big time conspiracy nut reclusive weirdo who's intelligent but quite unhinged. The other generic villains and cops were really just there to create chase scenes...which were enjoyable. Like i said it's more of the same beats from the first...which are entertaining and enjoyable but don't really go beyond surface level enjoyment. The highlight for me is the father daughter relationship between Scott and Cassie and I like when they lean into that.
MCU Rankings 1. Avengers: Infinity War 2. Captain America: Civil War 3. Guardians of the Galaxy 4. The Avengers 5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 6. Thor: Ragnarok 7. Captain America: The First Avenger 8. Avengers: Age of Ultron 9. Iron Man 10. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 11. Black Panther 12. Thor: The Dark World 13. The Incredible Hulk 14. Ant-Man 15. Ant-Man and the Wasp 16. Doctor Strange 17. Thor 18. Iron Man 3 19. Iron Man 2
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Post by Merv on Jan 13, 2022 18:44:04 GMT 1
Captain Marvel...Full disclosure, despite really enjoying Miss Marvel in the comics I had zero interest in this film when it came out. It was all pretty much completely due to the character feeling forced into the storyline midway. I didn't believe they could successfully introduce a character post-Infinity War and have me care a lick about them before watching Endgame. Since the two Thanos movies really felt like a one two punch. So this is my first watch of this film...and I didn't hate it. I actually don't mind Brie Larson as Captain Marvel. I enjoyed her snarkiness. The one thing that irked me though is she never gave a sense of fear or desperation to me. She always seemed to have this confident knowing vibe even in situations where, as far as the plot is going, she shouldn't. Young Nick Fury was great. I didn't expect Fury to be such a main character in this but im glad he was. The de-aging in this is fantastic. I do think they missed an opportunity here tho with his eye. Pushing it off as a joke didn't land for me at all and I was kind of annoyed they went that route. I didn't hate them faking it out earlier, and i thought they'd just fake it out the rest of the film but to have it be a cat scratch just didn't work for me. Especially having rewatched Winter Soldier not so long ago where his 'last time i trusted someone' speech lands seriously. But then here it's a throwaway gag. I like Ben Mendelsohn a lot. He works fine here as the Talos. I really liked the progression of the Kree-Skrull and their bitter feud. I liked a lot of the needle drops but I didn't get a 90s feel watching the film. I feel like the 90s might be more complicated a decade to get nostalgic for than the 80s. Overall this isn't bad...but it's not really memorable for me either.
MCU Rankings 1. Avengers: Infinity War 2. Captain America: Civil War 3. Guardians of the Galaxy 4. The Avengers 5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 6. Thor: Ragnarok 7. Captain America: The First Avenger 8. Avengers: Age of Ultron 9. Iron Man 10. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 11. Black Panther 12. Thor: The Dark World 13. The Incredible Hulk 14. Ant-Man 15. Ant-Man and the Wasp 16. Doctor Strange 17. Thor 18. Iron Man 3 19. Captain Marvel 20. Iron Man 2
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Post by Merv on Jan 15, 2022 5:30:48 GMT 1
Avengers: Endgame...Theres a lot of MCU films that trend down for me after multiple viewings but I honestly think this one might have trended upward. To start...I think they deal with the fallout from the Snap wonderfully. The range of trauma and mourning that the characters have is so good because it varies so much. Like Stark immediately is the most distraught but he gets over it to the point where 5 years later he's living arguably his best life. Thor can't let any of it go and it shows. Cap naturally responds by helping others. Black Widow leans into her work with a passion. Hawkeye goes off the deep end. Like the reactions from each of these characters to this situation where they've all lost so much makes the front end of this very grounded for me. The time heist stuff initially feels kind of meh...but after rewatching it each thread here is so important for the individual character growths/conclusions of our main Avenger team. Thor gets right via a talk with his mother, Stark gets closure with his dad, Cap plants the seed of what he does later with Peggy, and Hawkeye and Black Widow have a relationship that predates even the Avenger film. For many of those characters this film feels like the end of the line and each of their time travels goes a long way toward making that pheasable and warranted. The heists themselves aren't actually important, altho the NY one was the most fun for me. But then we get to the Hulk SNAP! and the real Endgame begins. This is where i struggle to rate the film because from here until the end its some of my favorite stuff this universe has to offer. Before this its fine, but here is where the shine happens. Thor, Iron Man and Captain America taking on Thanos was amazing. When its revealed Cap can wield Mjolnir....explosive cheers from me. Such an awesome moment made so great by the visuals and music behind it. Cap looked so natural wielding a hammer and shield and this brief standoff is the highlight of this early fight. I also really appreciate Nebula killing her past self. The growth of her character in these films was really enjoyable to me. Then we have the 'On your left' moment and whew I get goosebumps every time. Ive seen the movie about 4 times and each time once the portals start opening i get chills. Seeing all these characters together in a classic charge scene was just fantastic. Up there with the Rohirrim for me. The various shots of characters fighting was all solid. Theres a few negatives here for me...the 'kill the man with the ball' vibes with the glove across the battlefield doesn't feel like the smartest way to handle that situation....and the all female posing scene just felt forced and unnatural (whereas it didn't feel unnatural in Infinity War when BW, Okoye and Scarlet Witch were all fighting Midnight). But theres still more positive here than negative. Scarlet Witch absolutely trashing Thanos was amazing and the ship stopping to fire at Captain Marvel entering the atmosphere was a great moment to signify just how strong she is. Thanos fighting against most of the heavy hitters trying to get the snap off worked well...and the Iron Man reveal and subsequent quote was such a great finale for that character. I mightve even cried a little bit when Pepper tells him he can rest now. Such a long road for this character and a heroes ending. Cap deciding to spend his days with Peggy after returning the stones is a perfect end for him as well. He finally got the life he missed, or something close to it. Thor joining the GotG is great too. Still waiting for those movie to come out. Their worlds mesh pretty well tho. All in all i really liked where this one ends off.
Full disclosure this film was a solid 'walking away' point for me. So most of phase 4 i haven't seen yet because I hadn't been looking forward to it the same way I did these previous 20 films or so. But Im curious now so here we go.
MCU Rankings 1. Avengers: Infinity War 2. Captain America: Civil War 3. Guardians of the Galaxy 4. The Avengers 5. Avengers: Endgame 6. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 7. Thor: Ragnarok 8. Captain America: The First Avenger 9. Avengers: Age of Ultron 10. Iron Man 11. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 12. Black Panther 13. Thor: The Dark World 14. The Incredible Hulk 15. Ant-Man 16. Ant-Man and the Wasp 17. Doctor Strange 18. Thor 19. Iron Man 3 20. Captain Marvel 21. Iron Man 2
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Post by Merv on Jan 15, 2022 5:35:18 GMT 1
Also...unfortunately ill have to skip Spiderman Far From Home and Homecoming for now. I'll be going to the Bahamas for a week on tuesday I hope...so this may be my last review for a little bit. But once im back.
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Post by ArArArchStanton on Jan 15, 2022 6:51:29 GMT 1
Also...unfortunately ill have to skip Spiderman Far From Home and Homecoming for now. I'll be going to the Bahamas for a week on tuesday I hope...so this may be my last review for a little bit. But once im back. sweeeeeet. Which island?
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Post by Grandmaster on Jan 15, 2022 7:55:38 GMT 1
Also...unfortunately ill have to skip Spiderman Far From Home and Homecoming for now. I'll be going to the Bahamas for a week on tuesday I hope...so this may be my last review for a little bit. But once im back. Have fun
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Post by Merv on Jan 15, 2022 15:11:30 GMT 1
Also...unfortunately ill have to skip Spiderman Far From Home and Homecoming for now. I'll be going to the Bahamas for a week on tuesday I hope...so this may be my last review for a little bit. But once im back. sweeeeeet. Which island? Eleuthera (sp?)...Governors Harbor
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Post by ArArArchStanton on Jan 15, 2022 15:54:38 GMT 1
sweeeeeet. Which island? Eleuthera (sp?)...Governors Harbor AMAZING. I’ve actually been there to review the French Leave Resort! Walked down to the little town and everything. What was your experience like? I’ve never met anybody else who knew about it.
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Post by Merv on Jan 15, 2022 15:58:44 GMT 1
AMAZING. I’ve actually been there reviewed the French Leave Resort there! Walked down to the little town and everything. What was your experience like? I’ve never met anybody else who knew about it. I haven't gone yet. Hopefully I leave tuesday for it. I have to get covid tested and all that yet.
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Post by ArArArchStanton on Jan 15, 2022 16:02:57 GMT 1
AMAZING. I’ve actually been there reviewed the French Leave Resort there! Walked down to the little town and everything. What was your experience like? I’ve never met anybody else who knew about it. I haven't gone yet. Hopefully I leave tuesday for it. I have to get covid tested and all that yet. nice. It’s otherworldly. Is that the resort you’re staying at? Get the dark and stormy at the bar. It’s worth going to that restaurant even if you’re not staying.
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Post by Merv on Jan 15, 2022 16:10:45 GMT 1
I haven't gone yet. Hopefully I leave tuesday for it. I have to get covid tested and all that yet. nice. It’s otherworldly. Is that the resort you’re staying at? Get the dark and stormy at the bar. It’s worth going to that restaurant even if you’re not staying. No I am going to be at the Buttonwood resort...or condos or something. Its for a wedding so the entire place is going to be wedding guests. It's north of the Governors Harbor airport. But ill definitely jot that down for an outing.
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Post by ArArArchStanton on Jan 15, 2022 16:22:15 GMT 1
nice. It’s otherworldly. Is that the resort you’re staying at? Get the dark and stormy at the bar. It’s worth going to that restaurant even if you’re not staying. No I am going to be at the Buttonwood resort...or condos or something. Its for a wedding so the entire place is going to be wedding guests. It's north of the Governors Harbor airport. But ill definitely jot that down for an outing. [brAwesome! Well have a good time I always love the idea of getting down to the islands. They’re so close but feel so far away
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Post by Merv on Jan 26, 2022 14:42:35 GMT 1
Most of which can be found within Grandmasters rewatch, the last thing I watched was Endgame. This will be my first viewing of any of the tv shows and unfortunately i dont have access to the Spiderman films at this time so Im going to skip those for now.
So here we go...
MCU Rankings
1. Avengers: Infinity War 2. Captain America: Civil War 3. Guardians of the Galaxy 4. The Avengers 5. Avengers: Endgame 6. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 7. Thor: Ragnarok 8. Captain America: The First Avenger 9. Avengers: Age of Ultron 10. Iron Man 11. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 12. Black Panther 13. Thor: The Dark World 14. The Incredible Hulk 15. Ant-Man 16. Ant-Man and the Wasp 17. Doctor Strange 18. Thor 19. Iron Man 3 20. Captain Marvel 21. Iron Man 2
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Post by Grandmaster on Jan 26, 2022 15:22:01 GMT 1
If you like Merv I can move your posts to this thread. Just say the word.
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Post by Merv on Jan 26, 2022 16:02:52 GMT 1
If you like Merv I can move your posts to this thread. Just say the word. Sure. As long as its not difficult.
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Post by Merv on Jan 26, 2022 16:23:57 GMT 1
WandaVision...So I did actually finish WandaVision right before i left for the Bahamas...like hours before so i didn't have a good chance to write up a review, but i did have an entire week to mull it over and talk about it with friends. I'll start by saying I loved it. Wanda is one of my favorite characters in comics and Ive really enjoyed how Elizabeth Olson is portraying the character. Her MCU evolution is an interesting one to watch too. So this show using her as the focal point was going to pique my interests right away. This show though managed to feed off of so many things simultaneously for me that I had never expected. The sitcom parody worked so well for the ridiculousness of the premise that I have to give props to the people behind this one. This could have easily been horrible but instead managed to hit these weird nostalgic vibes for shows that are completely unrelated to anything MCU while simultaneously hitting comic book vibes by including Wanda's 'make believe' family and advancing her character tremendously by showing how powerful she is and how dangerous that power can be when it falls into the wrong hands, or even her own hands if she loses her marbles a bit. I loved how the show gradually became more and more unhinged inside the bubble. I think it's a few episodes before you even realize what happened and those early moments of confusion and creepiness are so effective. I am a huge fan of the potential problems this show will lead to in the future and knowing that Wanda will be in the Doctor Strange sequel feels all the more fitting now. Also she looked great in her classic outfit. The main supporting cast was great...Hahn as Agatha was fantastic, Evan Peters cameo and meta reference was hilarious, and Darcy and Jimmy Woo appearing felt natural. Especially on Darcys part it feels like she's believably evolved from where she was in Thor 2 to where she is now almost 10 years later. She's got more official pedigree but she's still fairly snarky. I loved that. Monica was also great and really builds a believable timeline from Captain Marvel til now...and the scene when she blips back into existence was great...and sad. Wanda and Vision drive this thing tho and while Vision has never been a favorite of mine he's really great in this show. This was my first viewing of the show and I already kind of want to rewatch it because i feel like I'd notice more. A really unique one here. Now the problem of ranking. I always struggle with comparing different mediums. Tv show format vs movie format can be tricky but since I'm always moving my rankings around in my head anyway I wont dwell too much.
MCU Rankings
1. Avengers: Infinity War 2. Captain America: Civil War 3. Guardians of the Galaxy 4. The Avengers 5. Avengers: Endgame 6. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 7. Thor: Ragnarok 8. WandaVision 9. Captain America: The First Avenger 10. Avengers: Age of Ultron 11. Iron Man 12. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 13. Black Panther 14. Thor: The Dark World 15. The Incredible Hulk 16. Ant-Man 17. Ant-Man and the Wasp 18. Doctor Strange 19. Thor 20. Iron Man 3 21. Captain Marvel 22. Iron Man 2
*Tv shows in blue
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Post by Grandmaster on Jan 26, 2022 16:30:29 GMT 1
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Post by Grandmaster on Jan 26, 2022 18:41:25 GMT 1
Merv, I think I got them. If you miss something let me know.
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Post by Merv on Jan 26, 2022 19:30:51 GMT 1
Merv , I think I got them. If you miss something let me know. Thank you very much.
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Post by Merv on Jan 26, 2022 21:01:51 GMT 1
I didn't do this with WandaVision but i thought it might be fun to do with the tv shows...spelling out my thoughts as they happen. I burned through the first 3 episodes of Falcon and Winter Soldier and I'm very much enjoying it.
Episode 1...Falcon fighting action sequence is great. I always enjoy the utilization of his wings as both offensive and defensive tools in combat, as well as flying obviously. Bucky having the dream gives us a Winter Soldier flashback which was awesome. I actually thought this was where Bucky was in current day, hunting down the remnants of Hydra. Turns out it a tortured nightmare from a previous life. Buckys situation feels a lot like overcoming addiction. Not that I know personally but I feel like theres an allegory there. His various rules for himself and seeing a shrink and trying to make ammends to those he's wronged. It's all very interesting and will no doubt lead to even more pain before it's all over. Sam's sisters financial troubles don't feel all that important. I enjoy seeing the many faces of Sam, his family and whatnot...but it kind of feels extra. US Agent looks spot on.
Episode 2...I don't know much about US Agent. The few times I've crossed paths with him in comics has been pretty recent. I remember him getting all messed up during Siege, i think, and becoming the warden of The Raft (superhero prison). So none of my knowledge is him in prime condition kicking lots of ass...but the shows version I immediately like. It's a weird conflict of feelings though because both Bucky and Sam immediately dislike him. While i understand why they dislike him it comes across as really petty and shallow to me...so in turn I like him even more and am disliking them. But also they kind of kick ass so now I kind of like everyone. The fight on the trucks was very fun. I absolutely love how corny Walker comes across sometimes. The moment in the jeep where he offers them a lift and they keep walking and you audibly here him tell the driver just keep going, as the jeep keeps pace with them was hilarious to me. I don't know the Isaih guy either but apparently he's another 'captain america' from the 50s. There may be a lot of character who appear here that I don't know fully (Us Agent, Hoskins, Flag Smasher, Isaiah, etc.) but I'm loving the world building. The Flag Smashers seem far more complicated than merely terroristic or evil. The main girl especially...Karli...makes a good face for the group. Zemo!
Episode 3...The prison riot escape was interesting and suprisingly easy. I wonder if this leads to the Raft as a place, or if that already was the Raft and i just didn't notice. Thinking of Walker as the warden just has the Raft on my mind, maybe. Zemo, Bucky and Sam together was gold. The comedic timing, the dialog between them, the shere history there creates an instant feeling of tension. I love it. Madripoor is straight out of Jon Wicks universe. The night club scene feels tacked on for no real reason. Feels like they needed to pad the run time a bit and just shot some scenes of Bucky Sam and Zemo walking into a rave. Struck me as odd. Sharon Carter kicks ass! She's up to something though. I don't know who the lady with the car was but theres clearly more to her story. There's been a scientists trying to recreate the super soldier formula for the past 100 years. Thanks Erskine! Wakanda! I didn't recognize the gal but she's clearly Wakandan.
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Post by Merv on Jan 27, 2022 1:43:38 GMT 1
Episode 4...It constantly feels like Zemo is manipulating everything and I kind of love that. Despite being handcuffed to a boiler or whatever things seem to go exactly as he intends them to. Bruhl is great in this role...and probably my favorite thing about this show at this point. Headstrong Walker feels like he's constantly getting the shit kicked out of him and its showing. Him taking the last vial and using it on himself (im not sure exactly how he did this but whatever) made sense too. He's believes he has the guts but gets constantly outshone by others. He needs an edge and he got it. Walkers reaction to Hoskins death is expected. I felt a lot of Homelander vibes even though Walker is not nearly as bad as Homelander...but the heroic symbolism tarnished feels hit the same notes for me.
Episode 5...fantastic first fight. Very reminiscent of Civil Wars final battle to me. I loved it a lot. Zemo in Sokovia makes sense. Immediately I miss him though. He was a big part of this shows enjoyment for me. Walker getting dumped on and his courtroom breakdown were great. Another character in comics Im relatively unfamiliar with but I loved Julia Dreyfus as Val. I know she's Madam Hydra so the notion is maybe Hydra has resurged...but Im kind of hoping this ties to an updated Red Skull down the line. Or maybe the Thunderbolts. Speaking of which...I didn't mention it before but every single time they feature a shrink in the MCU I think maybe this will introduce Karla Sofen to be later molded into Moonstone...and so far they NEVER DO!!!! But i hold out hope. Anyhow...back on track...the boat stuff. I'll be honest it feels oddly timed for me. I enjoyed it a lot but they spend what feels like a fast paced 4 episodes hot on the Flag Smashers trail and then we go back to Louisiana to rebuild a boat. It's nice...but the pacing is weird. It feels to me like maybe this show was initially written for more episodes and covid narrowed that down. I could be wrong...maybe it's the way it always was intended to be, but it feels off to me a bit. I like the training montage and Sams eventual rise to actual Captain America status tho. I always enjoyed his and Buckys chemistry. But it does kind of lost its sense of urgency for me here. I do love the shows (and Wandavision for that matter) use of secondary and tertiary characters from the MCU. Batroc is such a nothing character but just his presence here puts a smile on my face because it's recurring.
Episode 6...Black Uncle Sam Captain Falcon America Wilson looks great! Lol He really does tho. The wings and the shield combination works for me. Bucky is always falling off things. Get a parachute. Carter reveals as the Broker immediately makes me wonder if shes really turned antagonistic villain or if she's being mind controlled or otherwise manipulated. I've read the comics where she is hypnotized to kill Steve Rogers so Im thinking that's the path their taking. But if Steves dead already then who will she kill? Bucky? Sam? Im not sure but Im curious to see where it goes. Walkers entrance into the battle was awesome. Loved how he tried to save the truck too. He never truly fell to evil...just reacted the way most would to their best friend being murdered. Guy Gardner did way worse. Kind of sad to see Karli go. Erin Kellyman did solid in the role and she has a very unique look to her. Im interested to see her in other things. Zemo again showing he can control things from anywhere...also THE RAFT!!!! Heyo! Im glad Bucky gets closure by giving others closure and Isaiah getting memorialized feels good. Does it take away 30 years of pain and suffering, no. But it's some sort of step in the right direction. Sharon Carter is definitely up to something. I'm really hoping we get tied into Sin as Red Skull or something along those lines.
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Post by Merv on Jan 27, 2022 1:51:22 GMT 1
Falcon and the Winter Soldier...a solid show that advances the MCU, includes plenty of supporting characters and introduces just enough nuggets to get my juices flowing. It felt like it was trying to say a lot of things and while a lot of it landed some might have been helped more by a few more episodes. It did feel like maybe it was juggling one or two too many storylines sometimes. All in all I loved the progression of Bucky and his redemption, I loved that Sam gets to a point where he feels he can respectfully wield the shield, and I loved the seeds of villainy that this show plants. The show feels like one that despite most likely having to deal with problems from Covid still developed into a decent season of television. Definitely didn't enjoy it as much as WandaVision but that was an uphill climb anyway...
MCU Rankings
1. Avengers: Infinity War 2. Captain America: Civil War 3. Guardians of the Galaxy 4. The Avengers 5. Avengers: Endgame 6. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 7. Thor: Ragnarok 8. WandaVision 9. Captain America: The First Avenger 10. Avengers: Age of Ultron 11. Iron Man 12. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 13. Black Panther 14. Thor: The Dark World 15. The Incredible Hulk 16. Ant-Man 17. Ant-Man and the Wasp 18. Doctor Strange 19. Falcon and The Winter Soldier 20. Thor 21. Iron Man 3 22. Captain Marvel 23. Iron Man 2
*Tv shows in blue
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Post by Merv on Jan 29, 2022 17:07:51 GMT 1
Started Loki...
Episode 1...Tom Hiddleson can carry this by himself, that much is clear. I really love how Loki is still his pompous arrogant self in a situation that is well above even him. Loki struggles to conquer bureaucracy lol. Owen Wilson being himself as always but it's a very nice counterpoint to Loki here. I enjoy it. Gugu Mbatha-Raw is gorgeous and I couldn't tell where I knew her from but after looking at her filmography its Black Mirror. She's one half of the amazing love story in the San Junipiero episode. I love her. I like seeing Lokis reactions to all the future things that happen to him including Frigga being killed, Thor loving him and his own death at the hands of Thanos. It immediately kind of brings this version of Loki to the one we got to love by Ragnarok.
Episode 2...Any action scene featuring "Holding Out For a Hero" by Bonnie Tyler will immediately become great to me. Ever since Johnny 5 did it in Short Circuit 2. So that medieval fair fight scene gets elevated tons by including that song. Thank You. I love that Mobius sees right through Loki. Female Loki feels more sinister somehow but I like that they immediately want to work together. Makes sense. Curious to see how much chaos this whole reset bomb thing is gonna cause.
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Post by Merv on Jan 30, 2022 15:17:33 GMT 1
Loki
Episode 3...The entire thing focusing on Loki and Sylvie bonding was a good move. It makes their inevitable feelings for each other feel genuine. The apocalyptic moon is a fun backdrop too. I liked the long take where theyre fighting people then fleeing into the streets avoiding meteorites and falling debris. The continual revelations about the TVA are interesting.
Episode 4...The romance causing even more chaos makes sense. Lokis time loop with Sif is both funny and sad. Mobius having his doubts and subsequently being pruned was extra sad. I liked him. The fight scene was fun enough. The time keepers are robots? So now I don't have any clue what the heck is going on. This place clearly has power but theres so much misdirection. I thought Loki trying to profess his love was cute then they pruned him and I was like wtf? They just killed the main character. But naturally he awakes in a field surrounded by...what a kid loki, black thor, old man loki and was that a pig loki? Stuffs getting wild.
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Post by ArArArchStanton on Jan 30, 2022 15:30:34 GMT 1
Loki Episode 3...The entire thing focusing on Loki and Sylvie bonding was a good move. It makes their inevitable feelings for each other feel genuine. The apocalyptic moon is a fun backdrop too. I liked the long take where theyre fighting people then fleeing into the streets avoiding meteorites and falling debris. The continual revelations about the TVA are interesting. Episode 4...The romance causing even more chaos makes sense. Lokis time loop with Sif is both funny and sad. Mobius having his doubts and subsequently being pruned was extra sad. I liked him. The fight scene was fun enough. The time keepers are robots? So now I don't have any clue what the heck is going on. This place clearly has power but theres so much misdirection. I thought Loki trying to profess his love was cute then they pruned him and I was like wtf? They just killed the main character. But naturally he awakes in a field surrounded by...what a kid loki, black thor, old man loki and was that a pig loki? Stuffs getting wild. Iol it’s so awesome to read you reacting just like we did. Shit started going off the rails in the best way possible!!! The vibe of this show was uniquely incredible.
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Post by Merv on Jan 30, 2022 23:31:53 GMT 1
Loki
Episode 5...So the Void is great and I wish we spent more time there. All the different Lokis with their own quirks were fun and the fact that when the opportunity struck they all double crossed one another had me laughing out loud. Like of course you can't trust Loki!!! Loki should know this! Classic Loki is badass! Glad to see most of the characters on the same page at this point. I thought for sure Alioth was gonna be cloud monster Loki or something. I got major Lost vibes. But behind that smoke is a castle? Okie dokie.
Episode 6...I like that He Who Remains is nicely psychopathic. He's clearly off his rocker yet he claims his variants are even worse and the groundwork this sets for the future of the MCU is great. I liked that Loki is the reasonable one at this point. It makes a lot of sense for Sylvie to feel nothing but hatred for this person that ruined her entire life and despite Lokis feelings toward Odin or his heritage there is no doubt that he at least had the privilege of a family and a home. I also really like how Loki doesn't want to hurt Sylvie to stop her. He's continually just trying to talk her down and get her to think about things for a minute before they make a terrible mistake. The chemistry between them is believable and logical here and this interaction may be my favorite of this series. The killing of He Who Remains isn't even met with triumphant victory either, even by Sylvie. Its met with somber tones and feels so much more like our heroes failed...which maybe they did. Again the seeds for large scale MCU ramifications are set here wonderfully. They've opened so many doors with this. Just wanna say I only know Jonathan Majors (He Who Remains) from one thing, The Harder They Fall...which is a really entertaining all black western on Netflix. I definitely recommend it.
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Post by Merv on Jan 30, 2022 23:46:08 GMT 1
Loki...I love this as both a Loki character study and a foundation for a lot of potential moving forward in the MCU. I think both this and WandaVision have given me the most excitement for potential moving forward with problems, characters and large scale threats ahead. Hiddleson as Loki carried so much pretty easily. He's great in the character. I loved his and Sylvies chemistry too. Owen Wilson was very likeable as well and his dynamic with Loki early on was hilarious. Ive said already but Gugu Mbatha-Raw is gorgeous and I thought maybe early on she'd be more of a villain by the end but she seemed somewhere in the middle and Im ok with that. The various Lokis were fun and He Who Remains aka about a billion other names...was a good end point here that raises the stakes moving forward. The only thing Im worried about is whether a Loki season 2 will just be more shenanigans in a Kang controlled universe rather than bringing Kang to the big screen where he probably belongs. I'm guessing Dr Strange 2 will answer at least some of these questions.
MCU Rankings
1. Avengers: Infinity War 2. Captain America: Civil War 3. Guardians of the Galaxy 4. The Avengers 5. Avengers: Endgame 6. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 7. Thor: Ragnarok 8. WandaVision 9. Captain America: The First Avenger 10. Avengers: Age of Ultron 11. Iron Man 12. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 13. Loki 14. Black Panther 15. Thor: The Dark World 16. The Incredible Hulk 17. Ant-Man 18. Ant-Man and the Wasp 19. Doctor Strange 20. Falcon and The Winter Soldier 21. Thor 22. Iron Man 3 23. Captain Marvel 24. Iron Man 2
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Post by Merv on Jan 31, 2022 19:43:39 GMT 1
Black Widow....I think it's safe to say Yelena is one of my new favorite MCU characters. This was a film I thought came out a decade too late for my interests. I thought if theyre going to do a Black Widow film they shouldve done it around phase 2 or at least certainly before the character is killed as how could any storyline here feel satisfying when you know the character dies in Endgame? Boy was I wrong. The sisterly bond between Natasha and Yelena was portrayed excellently and the entire broken family dynamic with the girls, Alexei and Melina which culminates in that believably awkward family dinner...so great on so many different levels. Alexeis narcissism, Melinas guilt, Natashas drive and Yelenas broken heart are all on full display and I feel like I could rewatch that dinner scene over and over and still enjoy it. The awkward family dynamic this film creates is easily my favorite part about it. Dreykov is just straight up evil and Im glad this film didn't try to make us like him. This is a film that Im ok with a lack of villain depth. Taskmaster the character feels a bit butchered but I do enjoy the Dreykovs daughter connection for Natashas redemption arc. The first few fights with Taskmaster were solid tho by the time they got to the finale nothing really stood out for me. The pacing of the film was great. The action scenes were a lot of fun with memorable set pieces and when the film slowed down it focused on that family dynamic with plenty of dry humor and quirky moments to make this an extremely well rounded film. The post credits scene is mixed for me...Yelena whistling for Natasha at her grave and not getting a response is about as sad a moment in any of the MCU films...and I like the inclusion of Val although if it's actually leading toward Yelena-Clint conflict that seems a little naive on Yelenas part. So im hoping she's not as dumb as that and they'll do something more interesting in the Hawkeye series...which i know is on the list. Anywho this one gets a surprising amount of thumbs up from me.
MCU Rankings
1. Avengers: Infinity War 2. Captain America: Civil War 3. Guardians of the Galaxy 4. The Avengers 5. Avengers: Endgame 6. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 7. Thor: Ragnarok 8. Black Widow 9. WandaVision 10. Captain America: The First Avenger 11. Avengers: Age of Ultron 12. Iron Man 13. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 14. Loki 15. Black Panther 16. Thor: The Dark World 17. The Incredible Hulk 18. Ant-Man 19. Ant-Man and the Wasp 20. Doctor Strange 21. Falcon and The Winter Soldier 22. Thor 23. Iron Man 3 24. Captain Marvel 25. Iron Man 2
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Post by Merv on Feb 1, 2022 0:11:53 GMT 1
What If...
Episode 1...Captain Carter...I really enjoy the Watcher as the narrator style opening and closing. Gives me Twilight Zone vibes. Captain Carter was a fun alternative timeline, tho i kind of wished they'd have left Steve in the chasm thinking maybe he'd become the Winter Soldier. Wouldve added a new dynamic to that interaction. I enjoyed that Howard used the tesseract to power an Iron Man suit for Steve. The finale did feel mildly anticlimatic tho...like just dont step forward Peggy!!! But it was fine.
Episode 2...Tchalla as Star Lord...loved the effect Tchalla has on the universe. Hes famous and popular and spreads peace and fairness to all. Really embodies the Guardian aspect of Guardians of the Galaxy. His crew is very fun too and makes sense. Korath was particularly hilarious. I burst out laughing when he angrily jumps at Nebula saying 'How dare you do this to my best friend Tchalla!' when he just became part of the crew like yesterday. Lol has me giggling thinking about it. I thought it was interesting that Wakanda is destroyed when he's gone but since that turns out to be a lie in order to keep him from going home this really seems like a better reality than the one we got. Except that pesky Ego. I liked this one a lot. The tribute to Chadwick Boseman at the end was a great touch.
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Post by Merv on Feb 1, 2022 15:14:09 GMT 1
What If…
Episode 3…World lost its Heroes…The idea of a serial killer targeting heroes is interesting…the reveal kind of made me go meh tho.
Episode 4…Doctor Strange loses his heart…This one was pretty great. The continued failure to save Christine felt properly tragic. I could believe Strange would utilize darker tactics to gain power to bring her back. I liked that it showed him even being aware of the Watcher. Now I’m curious if this is the origin for the evil version we see in the Doctor Strange 2 trailer. That could be interesting.
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