A blog brimming with content such as movie and television reviews, superhero spotlights and one-off blog post or series either celebrating a national holiday or a specific news-flash in the media.
Kevin Feige once again dominated San Diego Comic-Con this year, by not just revealed the line-up for Phase 5 with 12 upcoming projects as well as releasing the first trailer for the last Phase 4 movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but also teasing what is to come for Phase 6.
Rather than an Avengers movie however, the movie that is ending Phase 5 will be Thunderbolts, but with no official line-up yet announced for the movie I thought I would fan-cast the movie myself.
Just to clarify, by fan-cast I do not mean pick actors to play characters in the movie as for the most part the line-up should already exist within the MCU, but I may add a couple of non-MCU characters as wishful thinking.
Thunderbolts v Suicide Squad:
So as a team, the Thunderbolts are effectively Marvel's answer to DC's Suicide Squad, and in typical Feige fashion, he sees that Warner Bros. Suicide Squad movies aren't as successful as they should be, and so decides to capitalise on that.
I will admit to not knowing too much about the Thunderbolts similar to how before the animated Batman: Assault on Arkham movie which inspired the live-action Suicide Squad movie I knew nothing about that team.
However, I do know some of the characters that appeared in the team in the comics, a lot of whom already appear in the movies.
Originally the plan I felt was to either have both the Thunderbolts and Dark Avengers existing simultaneously within the MCU, or have a combination of the two. Given Thunderbolt Ross' actor William Hurt passing away I am pretty much convinced it will probably be more the latter.
So with that in mind here is my roster for who I believe will be in the MCU's Thunderbolts.
Most Likely:
Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine
So without the inclusion of General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross aka Red Hulk...which I'm guessing may be addressed in the upcoming She-Hulk series, the next logical choice to be the mission control of the team is Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Valentina.
This character has become the anti-Phil Coulson in the MCU, first appearing in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier recruiting U.S. Agent, then appearing at the end of Black Widow where she was shown to have Yelena in her employ.
Considering these two are fan-favourite candidates for the team, it stands to reason that, even if the original plan wasn't for her to head up the Thunderbolts that they may organically change it so that it will be.
Baron Zemo
There have been many line-ups of the Thunderbolts team in the comics, yet the most logical field leader of the team is Baron Helmut Zemo portrayed by Daniel Brühl.
Zemo is not only one of the better MCU villains given his longevity across both film and television, but also for his tactician nature, his manipulative methods and the fact he was able to break up the Avengers causing the major events of Captain America: Civil War.
There was also originally supposed to be an end-credits scene either in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier or Black Widow of Yelena interviewing Zemo at The Raft for the Thunderbolts so it does stand to reason that he will be part of the team.
Black Widow
Florence Pugh's Yelena has become such a fan-favourite in just only a year in the MCU. Her breakout role in Black Widow was the highlight of the movie and then her appearance in Hawkeye elevated the series for me.
As stated before, Yelena has already been tied to the Thunderbolts as both Valentina's right-hand woman and that deleted scene interviewing Zemo.
While Yelena's Black Widow has never officially been a part of the Thunderbolts in the comics, instead her visage was used as a disguise for Natasha Romanoff to infiltrate the team, it does make sense for Yelena's next step in the MCU to be either part of this team or even showing up in the next year across different projects to recruit potential members of the team.
U.S. Agent
Aside from Yelena, this is the only confirmed member of Valentina's secret team that is now most likely going to be the Thunderbolts. Not only was Valentina's introduction into the MCU showing how she recruited John Walker, but he also could easily be the character that ties in both the Thunderbolts and Dark Avengers given that he is effectively the villainous Captain America.
Unfortunately for the character, this is the candidate to the team I am least looking forward to seeing again because, as was hopefully meant to happen for the character's appearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier he was just awful as a character in a douchebag sort of way, not a bad portrayal as I thought Wyatt Russell did a good job at being disliked.
Abomination
It is amazing what a little redesign can do for a character's popularity, Tim Roth first played this character in the critically and fandomly panned The Incredible Hulk way back when in 2008. But honestly until 2016's Captain America: Civil War it looked like that movie was trying to be phased out as even Bruce Banner and Hulk had been redesigned and recast....then William Hurt's Thaddeus Ross reappeared in the latter movie and as the years went on different aspects of the former movie have been revisited.
Abomination's cameo in Shang-Chi where he battled Wong brought with him an intriguing redesign that not only made him look less grotesque but also actually makes him look more comics-accurate.
With his confirmed appearance in next month's She-Hulk series, where we find him at the end of that series may be what leads him to becoming part of the Thunderbolts next year.
Ghost
Unlike Zemo, Ghost is unfortunately one of the many many MCU villains that have lead to fan-wide complaint that the MCU does in fact have a villain problem...traditionally because these villains are usually one and done...even if they're goddesses of death like Hela. But I digress.
Hannah John-Kamen brought something fun with this otherwise unknown character and was actually the best thing about Ant-Man and the Wasp. She may have had a redemption arc through being a villain due to circumstance but she's not all good and the Thunderbolts aren't all villains.
Unlike the likes of Hela, Ego and Ultron who are...let's face it...all villains that should have been able to survive one movie...Ghost was still alive at the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp just off in hiding with her adoptive father Bill Foster. So if she is seeking redemption for what she's done or purpose in her new life, maybe the Thunderbolts is the right fit for her.
Hawkeye
Speaking of seeking redemption, Clint Barton is someone that throughout the events of Avengers: Endgame and his own Hawkeye series was clearly seeking redemption for his actions as Ronin.
Let's face it also, he may have retired from the role of Hawkeye in terms of being a superhero, but again the Thunderbolts aren't really superheroes. They're antiheroes or black-ops. So it makes sense that he would once again come out of retirement...for the fourth time now I believe...to redeem himself.
He already has connections to Yelena and most likely knows of Zemo given he was part of Civil War, he's also led the team in the comics so could be a rival for Zemo in that regards.
Either way, I always think in a Mutant team you need a teleporter and in a vigilante team you need an archer.
Taskmaster
Another redemption story could be for Antonia Dreykov aka Taskmaster. While Antonia is a gender-switched character and fans were heavily disappointed we didn't get the wise-cracking Tony Masters from the comics, this could be Olga Kurylenko's chance to win fans over.
Let's face it, Antonia needs the redemption and to find her own identity outside of being her father's puppet. She may decide this isn't as Taskmaster and that could lead to her finding the MCU's Tony Masters and passing on the mantle.
Potentials:
Alright so as well as the most-likely to be candidates in the MCU's Thunderbolts, I also have some wild card choices who could appear either in the Thunderbolts movie on its own or leading up to it somehow.
Deadpool
We already know Deadpool 3 is coming in the MCU and that Ryan Reynolds will return as the Merc with the Mouth. However, we do not have a confirmed release window for said movie and while it may fill one of the 8 missing slots in Phase 6, there is no confirmed first appearance for Deadpool as of yet.
So why not have him appear as part of the Thunderbolts? Even if you don't use him in the official team and do a The Suicide Squad ploy of having half the team be the expendables while the other half is the main team, have him be on the expendables team.
My other theory on how they can use him is a little bit of a deep cut but in the Arrow series when they first introduced their version of the Suicide Squad, they had a cameo appearance from Harley Quinn, who is obviously such a fan-favourite poster girl for the team, but didn't fully show her and instead just showed the back of her head with Tara Strong's voice who is known as the current voice of Harley in animation and video games...so it was just the cameo.
Why not do something like that for Deadpool? If the team is based at The Raft like the Suicide Squad is based at Belle Reve, show Deadpool in a cell at The Raft as maybe a rejected member of the team, Ryan Reynolds could make a cameo the highlight of the movie if he wanted to so I'm sure he'd be up for it.
Elektra
Daredevil is making waves in the MCU, first appearing in Spider-Man: No Way Home then confirmed to appear in She-Hulk, Echo and then his own series next year.
Now while it is Charlie Cox back in the role from the Netflix Marvel Series and we have already been reintroduced to Kingpin portrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio in Hawkeye who will also most likely appear in Echo and Daredevil: Born Again, how many other characters from the Netflix corner of the MCU will make it to the wider MCU?
Personally I really enjoyed Elodie Young's portrayal of Elektra in the Netflix Marvel series, not only was she a step up from Jennifer Garner but also she just had the spark that the character needed.
While her status in the Netflix Marvel series was left unknown after The Defenders, Daredevil survived so it stands to reason that she did as well.
Punisher
Similar to Elektra, Punisher was a breakout in the Daredevil series, he is not only the right fit for the Thunderbolts team but he also has so many other ties to the MCU that having him introduced would just open those doors.
I am not entirely sure if Jon Bernthal is the right fit but if they wanted to keep the continuity then they would have to bring him back, it's not like Bernthal can't handle movies and he may just fit in with the Thunderbolts dynamic.
Daredevil: Born Again is set for release before Thunderbolts so it could be that the series reintroduces both Elektra and Punisher back into the MCU before they join the Thunderbolts.
Ghost Rider
My only switch with this character would be making it the Robbie Reyes version as opposed to the Johnny Blaze version. Not only has Reyes already been introduced to the MCU through Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. but also he would add some more diversity and of the Latino variety.
I don't know if he'd be the El Diablo of the team, I mean they are similar characters but Ghost Rider is one of few major comics characters that has not yet progressed to the main MCU.
I also just really enjoyed Gabriel Luna in this role, he almost got his own spin-off series after his appearance on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. so this would be his redemption for that.
I'm not saying they'd have to mention his time on that show, but his last appearance was him going to Hell, aka the Dark Dimension, which could not only explain how he avoided the Blip but also maybe down the line tie-in Doctor Strange as Clea is now on the board who is from the Dark Dimension.
So that's who I feel could be part of the upcoming Thunderbolts team, what do you guys think? Post your comments and check out more MCU theories as well as other posts.
Superhero Spotlight: Mutants In The MCU (Spoilers)
Disclaimer: As the title suggests, I will be diving deep into the Marvel Mutant section of the Marvel Universe. This will include spoilers for the finalé of the recent Ms. Marvel series, so if you haven't yet seen it don't read on until you have.
Introduction:
While not officially named in the main MCU-616 canon, Mutants are now officially in play in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after the "game-changer" reveal that Ms. Marvel aka Kamala Khan is in fact a Mutant/Clandestine hybrid.
This was revealed when Kamala's bestie Bruno discovered an abnormality in Kamala's DNA that makes her different to the rest of her family that descend from her great-grandmother Aisha's Clandestine genealogy that he describes as a mutation.
Aside from the obvious, the troubling thing about this reveal that seems to cement the path the MCU is taking Kamala in is as soon as he states this the opening bars of the very classic and nostalgic theme tune from the 90s X-Men animated series plays...this actually terrifies me.
The Problem With Kamala:
As much as I appreciate the Ms. Marvel series for everything it has done to positively represent Pakistani culture from religion to family and mythology when it comes to Djinn. I honestly don't think the creatives knew how to handle Kamala Khan's origin story when you take out the factor that she is originally supposed to be an Inhuman.
At first it seems that Kamala is a Djinn and the bangle simply unlocked these powers, it's even stated in the second episode that the bangle acts as a totem for these powers as they are supposedly inside her.
We also have it stated numerous times that Kamala's powers and ancestry are connected to the Noor Dimension and in Islamic faith, the Nūr is a symbol for god's guiding light so making Kamala a half-human/half-hybrid being of light would make sense with her hard-light abilities.
However, despite Kamala supposedly being a Djinn, which is a genie and therefore situated in mysticism, the show continues to push Ms. Marvel into the Marvel Cosmic section of the MCU with her idolising Captain Marvel and bringing in the Light Dimension and making Kamala's ancestry from said dimension therefore making her an alien-hybrid.
It just would make sense if Djinn were introduced in this series...which I don't even know if they are now...that they would sit alongside witchcraft, mysticism, sorcery and chaos magic...rather than space vikings and blue aliens.
I just want to reiterate, I feel the series getting Kamala's Pakistani culture authentically well done was probably the best part about this series, but then if you completely deviate from the comics and rather than making her an Inhuman or even a Djinn make her a Mutant, it takes away not only from the strong foundation the series has built up with representing the Pakistani culture, but also stretches Kamala into so many corners of the MCU that she supposedly is the one character to connect them all which has never been Ms. Marvel's story.
Mutants vs. Inhumans:
Where this problem may have stemmed from is the fact that Kevin Feige adamantly does not care for the Inhumans and simply does not want them in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This was made clear when the originally conceived Inhumans movie became that horrendous Inhumans series to which the only payoff for that has been the inclusion of Anson Mount as the Earth-838 Black Bolt who was part of the Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
But I knew when the idea was originally brought up for Ms. Marvel joining the MCU that there was a high probability she would not be an Inhuman...which I was concerned about because it the idea was also floating around that instead of Inhuman Feige would turn her into a Mutant.
It's just very frustrating both as a massive X-Men megafan but also someone who actually likes certain Inhumans introduced in the wider MCU canon. I thought Quake from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and both Black Bolt and Lockjaw from Inhumans were all great characters and all could have done well in the wider MCU.
The fact that also what is supposedly now happening in the Marvel Cinematic Universe stems from what is happening in the comics of late, where not only were Inhumans originally pushing out Mutants but now they're making Mutants more cosmic-based, is also a worrying factor for me.
Particularly if these changes aren't successful, like I hear the recent cosmic mutant change is, then why does Feige believe that not only is this the right way to go for the MCU, but how this is the right way to finally introduce Mutants into the MCU after so many years of fans waiting and hoping that Feige would finally do for the X-Men what he has done for the original B and C list superheroes like the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy.
Mutant Genesis:
Not to say that Kamala is the first Mutant discovered in the MCU chronologically, but if she is actually a Mutant then this sets a bad precedent going forward that takes away from what makes Mutants unique. If Kamala is a Mutant, it's not quite clear as to where her Mutant x-gene came from. Her mother's side of the family which goes back to her great-grandmother has the Clandestine genealogy, and it was established in X2 that the fathers traditionally carry the x-gene, so does that mean Kamala's dad has the gene?
In a way it would make sense as Bruno would have only supposedly scanned Kamala's grandmother, mother and brother given it's that side of the family...so why scan the father and therefore obviously overlook the x-gene, but then there's a second problem.
If Kamala's great-grandmother Aisha is responsible for making Kamala a mutant, then why have the same powers as Kamala. Mutants don't inherit powers from parents/grandparents. A parent and child can both be Mutants and have similar powers but not the same power. Magneto and Polaris have similar linking powers but not the same powerset, Cyclops and Havok as brothers have similar powers and immunity from each other but not the exact same.
Now yes, Banshee and Siryn as father and daughter have the same powers but Siryn's is seemingly more evolved it's not effectively the same powerset.
Young Avenger or Young X-Man?:
When the Ms. Marvel series was announced, it was heavily implied that Kamala would eventually help form the MCU's version of the Young Avengers, while in the comics Ms. Marvel was never part of the Young Avengers and instead part of the Champions, it still makes a lot more sense for the Captain Marvel fangirl to be part of the Young Avengers team as opposed to the X-Men.
There are enough young Mutants already to be included without turning Ms. Marvel into a member of the X-Men. Also it's the fear that if she does join the eventual team, is she going to be as annoying as Jubilee was in the 90s series? Because honestly that's how the character seemed to be in her series.
There are obviously the New Mutants as the "Young X-Men" team, but if you're talking about a female young Mutant who somehow as the access or powers of an extra-dimensional plane of existence...we have Magik already for that, don't dilute what is already potent.
Also, Mutants already have Muslim representation in the form of Dust, who has never had a turn in live-action, yet was also part of the short-lived Young X-Men comic series...why then would we have Ms. Marvel as a Young X-Man who is her own brand of uniqueness and found fan-favouritism as part of the Avengers, if you already have these characters that could reach the same level of fan-interest if given a fair chance.
Conclusion:
Overall I am genuinely just not happy with Ms. Marvel being a Mutant, it's not even the old trope of dropping the bombshell then re-watching the series to discover the little hints that finally add-up. I mean major fans already knew Agnes was Agatha Harkness in WandaVision from the start, but after the reveal and killer song intro, looking back and connecting the dots made a lot more sense.
Here though, there is no indication that Kamala is a Mutant and I'm not entirely sure how exactly she is. Yes Kamala can easily be the only Mutant in her family, but with her also being a Clandestine on her mother's side, the explanation that the hybrid DNA created the mutation makes no sense when you consider her brother Aamir is not at present a Mutant.
Then also with Najma being a Clandestine and her son Kamran being a hybrid, does it make him a Mutant?
Again, the way in which Kamala's origins have been handled from a superhero perspective have just reeked of sloppiness this entire season, I don't even think the creatives knew the trajectory they were going in and just made it up as they went along.
Also now Ms. Marvel is a Mutant, does this mean that The Marvels will introduce more Mutants for her to interact with?
The term mutant or mutation could extend to most "enhanced" individuals in the MCU, but the human genus Homo Superior term of Mutant is a separate subspecies. Technically the likes of Spider-Man, Steve Rogers and the Abomination are mutates, but the likes of the X-Men and supposedly Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are Mutants.
This again creates more of a dilution not only for Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver in the MCU but also Wanda's sons Billy & Tommy. All four of them are Mutants in the comics, and realistically should've been the first set of Mutants introduced into the MCU, but having Scarlet Witch being a Nexus Being within the Marvel Mystic corner, and I'm guessing Wiccan will also be in that section, and Quicksilver and Speedy seemingly only being "enhanced", having Ms. Marvel officially be the MCU's first Mutant introduced when she isn't even a Mutant in the comics just disparages the more fan-favourite introductions impact.
Ultimately I am actually really nervous for how Mutants are going to make their mark on the MCU officially, bringing in the X-Men, the Brotherhood, how they're going to tie-in with the established characters and what the reception will be.
So that's my thoughts on the current MCU Mutant situation, what do you guys think? Post your comments, check out more MCU Spotlights as well as other posts.
MCU's Post-Credits Debuts - Saving The Best For Last?
Disclaimer: I am going to be discussing post-credits scenes as a whole for the MCU over the past 14 years, including the ones from this year's instalments. So if you still have not yet seen Eternals, Doctor Strange 2 or Thor 4, be warned that while I won't spoil the movies I will be spoiling those scenes.
The History of the MCU's Post-Credits Scenes:
The MCU's 2022 slate of movies have been mostly about debuting new characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This isn't a new technique for Disney and the MCU as far back as 2012's The Avengers, they have been introducing characters every now and again. But while introducing the likes of Thanos, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were met with overwhelming hype, the likes of Starfox, Hercules and even Clea haven't even reached the radar for most fans.
Now this could be a case that the former three were more well-known in the mainstream whereas the latter three are more niche. But surely then it is the job of the movies to give the niche characters a proper introduction that isn't a 2-minute tease.
But it's not just debuts that these post-credits scenes tease, because that's what they are at the end of the day teases. Way back when with 2008's Iron Man, the movie that started it all, it's post-credits scene was the spark that helped ignite the flame of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the introduction of Nick Fury and the tease of the Avengers which Phase One threaded through for 4 years following.
That one 30 seconds scene kicked off a strong tradition of post-credits scenes not just in the MCU but other franchises trying to match their success.
Ultimately there is the business reason for post-credits scenes and the fan reason for post-credits scenes. From a business perspective they are a way to expand the cinematic universe of the franchise and from a fan's perspective it's fun to see what or who is coming into the story down the line.
Characters Introduced in Post-Credits Scenes:
Phase One introduced 2 characters into the MCU, firstly Nick Fury in Iron Man and then Thanos in The Avengers. These are polarising examples of how effective post-credits scenes can be. Both characters would be known to fans of Marvel Comics, however Nick Fury introduced himself and was obviously portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson which makes him a bad-ass character just from that 30 seconds.
However Thanos, who may not be as well known to mainstream audiences, had mentions throughout The Avengers until ultimately being shown briefly in the post-credits scene but not being named nor even portrayed by the actor who would eventually portray him.
Phase Two had a slough of post-credits character debuts. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were teased as "The Twins" with a mini power display at the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Thor: The Dark World introduced Benicio Del Toro's Collector who would go on to have a bigger role in Guardians of the Galaxy which itself introduced Howard the Duck who has only ever had cameos in the movies.
Phase Three wasn't so much about debuts as it was about teases and setups. Captain America: Civil War set up both the then upcoming Black Panther and Spider-Man: Homecoming movies. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 only teased the introduction of Adam Warlock without officially showing him and this was just one of 5 post-credits scenes that, like the movie, were mainly just about fun. Meanwhile after a harrowing snap twist at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, Captain Marvel was introduced via a pager symbol which was later paid off in Captain Marvel.
Thor: Ragnarok, Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel meanwhile all tied in with the overarching Infinity War/Endgame story and thus helped progress those movies with backstory.
The final instalment of Phase Three, Spider-Man: Far From Home, introduced and reintroduced JK Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson in the MCU. This proved to be both a shock and delight for fans who love seeing the actor in the role, while the scene also setup No Way Home's plot by revealing Spider-Man's identity to the world.
As for Phase Four, this is where the controversy has come in as while 2021's Black Widow and Shang-Chi's scenes teased the future of the MCU with setups for the Hawkeye series and Shang-Chi's future in the MCU overall, 2022's slate of movies, as well as 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home have characters introduced to the MCU only as a soft introduction.
Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock/Venom was transported over from the Sony Spider-Verse at the end of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, leading to fans believing he would be a major part of Spider-Man: No Way Home similar to the other Spidey villains. However, rather than any physical interaction with other villains or Tom Holland's Spider-Man, he only appeared in the latter movie's post-credits scene with somewhat of a tourist reaction to the MCU before being transported back to his universe, only to leave a piece of the Venom symbiote behind.
Eternals and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder all introduced new characters in their mid-credits scenes and while Starfox and Hercules got formal introductions while Clea and Blade either just appeared or had their voices off-screen, it seems Disney and Marvel were relying more on the star power and shock factor behind the characters introductions rather than the importance of the introductions themselves.
We already knew Mahershala Ali had been cast as Blade and that he was getting his own movie, so it was a surprise to have him involved in the end-credits scene for Eternals that was about setting up Kit Harrington's Dane Whitman on his future as Black Knight, but what wasn't surprising is nobody knew who's voice it was while watching, I even had to look it up afterwards because they don't do even to cement that yes that is Mahershala Ali's Blade and yes this does probably mean that Kit Harrington will appear in his movie.
Introducing Harry Style as Starfox was actually ruined for me going into the movie, I think it got out at the premiere so then the internet already knew going in. I wasn't a massive fan when I heard the news but seeing him in the role actually makes sense, but again I question anyone who isn't a die-hard comics fan to know who Starfox is.
Clea is a fan-favourite of the comics who eventually married Doctor Strange. she is also considered to be the female counterpart of Doctor Strange similar to Jane Foster's Mighty Thor. She also has a very visually striking look which is probably why Feige thought fans that knew would know. The real importance of her introduction for me at least was that Charlize Theron had been finally cast in the MCU after not being cast as Captain Marvel despite fan campaigns.
Then as for Hercules, I guarantee you people are going to think of either the Greek demigod or the Disney version before they realise there is actually a Hercules in Marvel canon, yes it is still based off the Greek myth but he is a Marvel variant character. I personally don't know the actor, I just about remember him from an episode of Doctor Who but it was a completely different character to Hercules...and again I think the main purpose of this introduction was to push the Thor franchise forward with the promise of more Olympians.
But none of the Phase 4 debuts are really paying off, and honestly for the likes of Hercules and maybe Clea they could have been introduced in the main movies and gotten proper introductions. Particularly with the upcoming MCU slate being so crowded currently, who knows when we'll next see Starfox or Clea or Hercules, and if Feige wants us to be excited for these new characters we need to see more of them.
Going Forward:
I genuinely feel the post-credits scene should be about teasing the future stories more than debuting new characters, by all means expand on those characters in the post-credits scenes but having them debut and that's it in the post-credits scenes is getting to the point of being a waste with no foreseeable pay-off.
Not knowing everything about Marvel Comics, the only upcoming MCU movie I could see introducing new characters in the post-credits scenes is the as yet undated Fantastic Four movie. If the movie focuses on Doctor Doom as the main villain then the scenes may introduce or tease Galactus and/or Silver Surfer, or vice versa.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 or The Marvels could introduce Phyla-Vell or Nova, but that remains to be seen. I would however recommend they be introduced in the movies as opposed to post-credits scenes.
So those are my thoughts on the current state of MCU post-credits scenes, what do you guys think? Post your comments and check out more MCU spotlights as well as other posts.
Movie Review: The Secrets of Dumbledore (Spoilers)
Spoiler Warning: I am posting this review the week following the U.K. release of the movie, and the week of the U.S. release. So if you have not yet seen the movie do not read on until you have.
General Reaction:
I am going to do something slightly different with this review and not only talk about the movie in general but also the controversy surrounding the movie. Traditionally I avoid the behind the scenes of a movie and instead simply focus on what I see on film, but I feel the success or failure of this movie will not be because of the movie itself but the baggage that is unfortunately already weighing it down.
Personally, I loved this movie! This is my favourite of the Fantastic Beasts movies and one of my favourite Wizarding World movies overall. In my personal ranking before this movie, my favourites are Deathly Hallows Part 2, Prisoner of Azkaban, Deathly Hallows Part 2, Order of the Phoenix. I feel Secrets of Dumbledore sits equal with Order of the Phoenix for me. I can't say it's a better movie than either Deathly Hallows movies and Prisoner of Azkaban is my favourite book to movie but I got the same enjoyment, thrills and emotions from this movie as I did Order of the Phoenix so so it sits level for me.
However, I do unfortunately feel that the unresolved and even unapproached issues that emerged leading up to this movie, that again are not even approached in the movie, are going to be what stops a large group of otherwise easy-going movie goers from experiencing and enjoying this movie.
Firstly, yes Mads Mikkelsen is pretty much playing the Nazi version of Mads Mikkelsen, but he is a great parallel to Colin Farrell's version in the first Fantastic Beasts movie, whereas Johnny Depp's version, while still brilliant, was very much in the fantastical. Mikkelsen is not only villainous but he is also multi-layered and even sympathetic at times, I don't recall ever feeling sympathetic for Voldermort and neither of the previous two actors to portray Grindelwald have managed to come across as sympathetic, Depp's Grindelwald tried to dangle the carrot almost too obviously, Farrell and Mikkelsen were definitely more about the stick but they know the carrot is there and are cunning on when to use it.
Again, I really enjoyed Depp's take on Grindelwald, but after seeing Mikkelsen and how he interacted with Dumbledore and went about his actions of in this movie, honestly the Crimes of Grindelwald in the second movie is that Mikkelsen wasn't present.
Secondly, Ezra Miller...yes he is still in this movie and yes they are still going down the Dumbledore angle...and they really go for it here. However, I read in critic reviews that they had seemingly scaled back Miller's involvement in the movie because of the actor's recent arrest...that didn't really seem to be the case here. He is pretty much as present here as he has been in the last two movies. Keeping in mind, I haven't really sung his praises in the last two movies and I honestly won't be doing that here...but I appreciate the fact these prequel movies of the franchise took a massive risk in the last movie by creating a somewhat change to the lore and they stuck the landing here for me in my opinion.
Also on a side-note, there's no Nagini in this movie. Claudia Kim does not make an appearance in this movie neither is it mentioned where she is or why she left. Hopefully if the next two movies happen we'll see what became of her and potentially how she came into the ownership of Voldermort.
Thirdly, the LGBT representation between Dumbledore and Grindelwald, how is it handled and is it handled? While Albus Dumbledore has already been confirmed as a gay character because of this story arc with Grindelwald, I am happy to officially say the relationship between the two is really front and centre in this movie. Law's Dumbledore and Mikkelsen's Grindelwald are driven in their actions by their connection and the chemistry between the two actors is also why I am saying Mikkelsen is definitely the best choice for Grindelwald because his on-screen chemistry with Law's Dumbledore is electric. As I gay man myself I both felt and related to the tension between the two men.
Finally, and not as big but, Tina not being prominent in the movie. Tina is pretty much the female lead of the Fantastic Beasts movies and the love interest of leading man Newt Scamander. However, as was made perfectly obviously in the advertising, Katherine Waterston barely appears in this movie, she has two quick scenes that amount to a glorified cameo and they do seem to set the stage for her and Newt going forward, but any Tina fans expecting to see her, you won't. But there are other brilliant female characters to focus on.
Speaking of going forward, I'll emphasise it in my recommendation for the movie, but I now really want the final two instalments we were originally promised to the Fantastic Beasts franchise. After the last two movies I've been left with "Well that was nice, but do I need to see how all this ends?" Now I need to see how all this ends. I'm slightly concerned that the way this movie raps up could make it the last one, and I have read the commission of the fourth movie depends on the success of this one so word of mouth I feel is going to be this movie's greatest weapon.
Now that's out of the way, getting back to the movie itself, the reason I rank this among my favourite Harry Potter movies is because this movie has given me the most organic Wizarding World vibes since the Potter movies...not only because this movie has more scenes in Hogwarts and Hogsmeade than the previous movie, but also the story felt more like a Potter movie, particularly the last few that set up the final movie.
Every Wizarding World movie has beautiful locations and that magical vibe that feels purely Potter, but to see Hogwarts and Hogsmeade again properly and being able to drink in the scenes rather than listening to a bunch of exposition that distracts from it was like a welcome home.
And yes, I am going to be slightly biased of the Wizarding World franchise, it is not my favourite franchise, that's X-Men and pretty much any superhero franchise will top it, but it is my childhood franchise. My sister and I grew up with the Harry Potter movies, books and games...despite not agreeing with J.K. Rowling, she can't take my memories of that time like Grindelwald takes Kama's treasured memory...yeah Grindelwald is truly a villain in this movie.
Characters:
I don't want to dig too deep into a character analysis here as I am only doing one review, but I will be ranking in terms of my favourites and contribution to the movie.
Albus Dumbledore:
Jude Law may be top billing in all online cast lists for this movie, but the end credits having Law come second to Eddie Redmayne is a crime because Jude Law has not already proven to be leading man material and does so also here, but also Law's performance here makes Dumbledore a central and historical LGBT action hero of cinema...and how many times can you say that?
Not only is this impressive because it pretty much reimagines how the character was originally conceived, but also for the first two movies Redmayne was the leading man but never fully carried himself in that way. Jude Law spotlights himself in every role he is in but to make Dumbledore such a multifaceted character and exploring the mysteries that shrouded Michael Gambon's version is commendable.
I will say the one thing that did almost take me out of the movie was the consequential threat of going against the blood pact. I understood how the pendant acted as a totem for inflicting severe pain if it sensed betrayal in the wearer's heart...but what would happen if during the last movie Dumbledore had decided to make a move against Grindelwald...he didn't have the pendant at the time so would the pendant around Grindewald's neck have sensed Dumbledore's feelings and zoomed off to attack him? Or does the blood pact simply attack the blood in the duo's body itself? It just wasn't as well explained as I would have liked.
I mean it doesn't matter now as Dumbledore managed to break the pendant and thus the pact with a loophole, got to love a loophole. Basically when Grindelwald cast the killing curse to murder Credence and both Albus and I believe Aberforth or Newt cast a defensive curse to protect him, the meeting of the two types of spells ricochet and caused the pendant to be destroyed and thus the pact to be broken, this of course leads to that great fight scene between the two that resonates sexual tension and sets the stage for the rest of the franchise.
Also, despite the movie being titled The Secrets of Dumbledore, we didn't really learn much more about Albus Dumbledore than we already knew from the Potter movies. We knew about the circumstances surrounding his sister's death, we knew he had a rough history with his brother Aberforth because of it. We also knew, or guessed based on what we were told, that he and Grindelwald had a previous relationship...nothing about Albus Dumbledore specifically was new here.
One of the facets I have always loved about Albus Dumbledore is his kind heart and all three main actors who have portrayed the character have shown that to those close to him. Because this is a younger Dumbledore it is interesting to see how he interacts with is first army in this movie comparatively to how he interacts with the Order of the Phoenix in the later Potter movies.
I don't believe in the Potter movies we ever saw Albus interact with a muggle...I remember in the sixth book he came to the Dursleys to get Harry rather than that train station diner but in the movies we never saw him interact with a muggles, so to see him interact so positively with Jacob was a real treat.
I really want to see where the last two Fantastic Beasts movies see Albus, particularly how Law's version slowly transforms into the elderly version complete with caftan fashion sense.
Gellert Grindelwald:
Of the three Grindelwald portrayals, this is arguably the best. Until the very end of the first movie, we never saw Colin Farrell be Grindelwald, he was pretending to be Percival Graves for most of the movie. But as I said, I do believe that Mikkelsen's portrayal is the true true form of Colin Farrell's disguise more-so than Johnny Depp's portrayal.
I have exes that I have had a love/hate relationship with and so I definitely related to the dynamic between Dumbledore and Grindelwald. As I said before, Grindelwald proved to be somewhat sympathetic in in this movie...not when he was slitting the newborn Chillen's throat in order to resurrect and bewitch it to suit his own agenda or taking Kama's memory of his dead sister from him...but in his personal interactions with Dumbledore I found some sympathy, why? Because he may have genuinely loved Albus in their teen years rather than just manipulating his love for his own agenda but the two had a plan to reshape the world...and Albus went back on it. That's got to sting.
However, as I said, Grindelwald is definitely a villain, and does fit into that category of bigotry and supremacy that the likes of Voldermort and Magneto fit into, but while Voldermort very much had 2-D tunnel vision about his villainy, Grindelwald at least is a more complex character because of his personal connections.
But like I have mentioned, taking Kama's memory of Leta's death from him to make him more "uncomplicated" to fit into his army, murdering the baby Chillen which is basically a baby deer...Grindelwald slit the throat of a baby deer in order to bewitch it's corpse to make it bow to him and give the impression that he is pure of heart...that itself it pretty twisted.
He also tortured Jacob with the cruciatus curse for the pure and simple reason that he (Jacob) is a muggle in love with Queenie a witch...well Grindelwald's former lover is a half-blood so what does that say about his choices?
I loved that climactic scene between the two former lovers at the end after the blood pact ended. It's basically the scene from the trailers where they're duelling in time to the infamous Potter theme only here, as always, the music does not actually accompany the scene.
But after their rather short battle, Grindelwald's parting line to Dumbledore of "Who will love you now?" I feel resonated with Dumbledore as we saw Dumbledore on his own at the end outside Jacob and Queenie's wedding walking away silently alone...powerful stuff.
I also appreciated Mikkelsen's take on Grindelwald's leadership skills as he seemed more competent than Depp. In Crimes of Grindelwald, Grindelwald did what he did to get Credence on side and that seemed to matter above all else. However here, despite stating Credence is important for his loyalty, he didn't suffer his failings lightly and was actually trying to kill him by the end. There was definitely a more ruthless streak to this version which I feel fits with the actual character better.
We do already know how the feud ends somewhat as we know in present day Potter timeline that both Dumbledore and Grindelwald are still alive...at least until the last couple of movies. But the question still remains exactly how Grindelwald gets defeated, I want to see it play out and honestly I want Mikkelsen to continue playing the part.
Newt Scamander:
Newt is very much true to form in this movie and I happy to say his presence is still welcome in these movies, but I do feel making him a secondary character and his story the B-plot of these movies is the way to go. I think all we need to see now from Newt in terms of character development is how his and Tina's relationship progresses and more interesting and imaginative beasts for him to encounter.
I say imaginative because the two main beasts we encounter in this movie are clearly based on deer and scorpions...Okay there may be a giant scorpion and okay they may be magic deer...but they're still deer and scorpions. That one pterodactyl/bird/balloon beast who somehow saved Newt and the baby Chillen was more imaginative.
I really enjoyed how this movie foreshadowed and simultaneously called-back to how the Order of the Phoenix went about things, not only is the Battle of the Seven Potters when the Advanced Guard of the Order all took Polyjuice to disguise themselves as Harry to trick the Death Eaters from finding the real Harry referenced here with a clever suitcase duplication folly, but what is contained inside these duplicate suitcases are Easter-Eggs just in time for the festive weekend.
I am of course referencing the clever nods and callbacks to the Potter movies seen in most of the suitcases...I was laughing when I saw the army of Monster Books of Monsters charging around and the cyclone of papers flying about reminded me of the letter cyclone from The Philosopher's Stone.
I also knew Newt didn't have the suitcase that contained the second baby Chillen because it was too obvious that he did, it was also obvious that his assistant Bunty did as she was the one tasked with getting the suitcase multiplied so of course Dumbledore ensured she got the suitcase with the baby Chillen as she was the most inconspicuous as "the dedicated assistant".
I definitely hope Tina returns in a full capacity in the next movie because I do want to see the two finally get together officially. It is however great to see that the relationship isn't Newt's only reason to still be in the franchise now that the torch has been passed on to Dumbledore.
Jacob Kowalski:
I love Dan Fogler so goddam much! I love him in this role, I love him in his recurring Goldbergs role, I do agree with what Dumbledore said about Jacob's best quality to the group and these movies being his giant full heart...it sums up his worth to the movies beautifully.
The best thing Jacob brings to this franchise is exploring the Wizarding World through the eyes of a Muggle. Yes Hermione is Muggle-Born but she's still a witch and we never really spent too much time with the Dursleys outside of their interaction with magic being comedic...but Jacob has experienced it all, the highs, the lows, the joys, the heartache...I love it!
I also find his interactions relatable, like his interactions with the portkeys and the magically-parting walls. I liked that we got the perspective from seeing him travelling through the wall internally because it would probably feel as weird and claustrophobic.
Jacob finally getting a wand was an interesting development. It was pretty much an ID for him while interacting with the Wizarding World but I liked how Lally hijacked it and made Jacob create that tornado at the candidates dinner, even though he never actually performed magic in the movie, I loved how he wanted to keep the wand just as a memento.
Then of course his interactions with both Lally and Queenie were good to explore. I was concerned Lally was going to be a new love interest for Jacob and I am so glad it was more of a friendship pairing with Lally being Jacob's protector while never patronising him.
But with Queenie, my god this is such a cute relationship and I love how all three movies have developed the relationship without making it stale...I mean the pair got married in his bakery at the end of the movie...despite hating the term they are definitely "couple goals".
Eulalie "Lally" Hicks:
In preparation for watching this movie I went back and re-watched the first two Fantastic Beasts movies...which was a good idea because when I heard that Lally was in the second movie I was confused as I did not remember her originally, but re-watching I realised it was a minor cameo in a book with Nicolas Flamel...of course I'm not going to remember that.
Although despite being in both movies, Jessica Williams definitely kicks things up to an 11 in this movie from the get-go, talk about a scene-stealer. She was definitely the perfect screen partner for Jacob as a comedy duo because they were both individually and together fabulous.
I loved how crafty her introduction was when she staged that heckling to get Jacob's attention and then pushed the hard sell with him to get him to join the cause.
Also, Dumbledore's gift to her for the mission being that portkey book was such a genius idea. Visually seeing the pages fly out and engulf the travellers before being sucked up into the book was very well realised and believable...though I always thought the rule for portkeys were they were individually enchanted for specific A-B locations...so maybe this book set it's own locations?
I really enjoyed the sassiness of the character, the accent helped with it but phrases like "Bunty girl" just sounded fun coming from her. But also her observation on how no one is pure and everyone has dark tendencies was very true to life.
I can't say she's the breakout or the standout character of the movie, but she's certainly become one of my favourite characters in the Wizarding World franchise and I hope she doesn't get shelved like Nagini going forward.
Credence Barebone:
It's been a steady incline but Ezra Miller has grown on me in this role as the movies have progressed...I did not care for him in the first movie but thought he was at least starting to come into his own in the second. While I still don't think he is a standout in this movie, I am happy that his personal story of identity is naturally progressing.
Yes, I was not originally happy that he was randomly apparently a Dumbledore...but finding out how he is a Dumbledore in this movie not only makes sense but also adds some sympathy to the role as well as an explanation as to why he is never mentioned in the Potter movies...because he probably won't survive the end of this franchise as he is already dying in this movie.
When Albus' brother Aberforth was revealed to appear in the movie, portrayed by Richard Coyle, I just thought it would be an Easter-Egg for the character...but no there was a reason Aberforth was in this movie and that is because Credence, or Aurelius, is Aberforth's son from a teen romance and therefore Albus' nephew.
Firstly, the Secret of Dumbledore is not only the illegitimacy of Credence being a Dumbledore but also the fact that both Albus' sister and nephew are both Obscurials...meaning they had their magic suppressed...so how is it that Albus and Aberforth are confident in their magic but the aforementioned two had it suppressed?
I also felt that his an Queenie's defection from Grindelwald was very organic as both joined his Alliance in the movie over false pretences believing the hype he was putting out...so when that veil shattered obviously they saw the light.
Yusuf Kama:
I was so confused and tortured by this character throughout this movie...I was glad to see him back even if his story was more of a revenge plot akin to Theseus' for Leta. But when he went off to infiltrate Grindelwald's Alliance, the fact he seemingly not only confessed way too soon but also sacrificed his memory of Leta made me feel he had truly drunk the cool-aid...
But then at the start of the climax of the movie he finally showed his hand by betraying the Alliance and saving Lally and Theseus...I just got somewhat confused as to what the plan was exactly.
Was Kama's part in Dumbledore's grand plan to infiltrate the Alliance and find the Chillen? If so why wasn't he the one who outed Grindelwald's actions rather than Newt? Of all the characters it did just feel that if Kama and Theseus weren't in the movie nothing would change.
Queenie Goldstein:
I am so glad they kept Queenie as she naturally is rather than randomly have her turn evil. She, like Credence, joined the Alliance as they drank the cool-aid and believe what Grindelwald was pitching...I did enjoy how we started the movie with Queenie doubting Grindelwald's intentions right from when he murdered that baby Chillen.
But the turning point for her was saving her true love Jacob, and Alison Sudol really pulled at the heartstrings with her stone-heart acting whenever she saw Jacob at the candidates dinner. Having to pretend that she didn't hear him calling her as she fought back the tears...brilliant.
When the façade finally slipped and Queenie confided in Jacob, despite knowing it put them both in danger, that's when I started liking her again...because I really didn't like Queenie going over to the dark side.
Also, much like Sabrina in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina or Emma Swan in Once Upon a Time, Queenie embracing her dark witch side seemed to affect her hair as while she was serving Grindelwald her hair was platinum blonde while when she went back to the light side her returned to her natural blonde state.
I'm glad the two got married and the Kowalski Bakery, it is very much them and a sign of the times that maybe a Muggle and a Witch marriage isn't recognised or legal in either world.
Recommendation:
As I said in my general reaction, I really want this franchise to continue for the final two instalments. I need to see how the confrontation between Dumbledore and Grindelwald comes to a head, because until the sixth movie of the Potter movies there is no mention of Grindelwald so clearly Dumbledore in his elderly years found a way to put it behind him.
Honestly, word of mouth will be the greatest asset to this movie, it needs the recognition for what it is as opposed to the focus being on the controversy surrounding the movie.
Overall I rate the movie a strong 9/10. It is definitely the best and most fantastic Fantastic Beasts movie and definitely the bedrock the last two movies need to build up from.
So that's my review of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Movie Reviews and other posts.
Disclaimer: I am posting this review the day the movie is released in the U.K, so if you haven't yet seen The Batman do not read on until you have.
General Reaction:
Hands down, The Batman is the best Batman movie since The Dark Knight...I would even go as far to say the best DC movie since, I was both amazed but also not surprised by how good this movie was, largely because Batman is as strong a player in the DC Movie space as Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man was to the MCU.
But also, Matt Reeves is fast becoming my favourite movie director, I really enjoyed what he did with the second two Apes movies and he is proving himself to be both a grande movie maker but also a master of suspense as there were points in this movie that reminded me of the Apes movies.
It is true though, Batman is DC's crown jewel, anything the Bat touches becomes either a hit or at the very least memorable. Even the 2016 Suicide Squad featured mostly Batman rogues and even Batfleck himself. So it is no surprise that DC managed again to deliver another strong Batfilm, but even despite all the positive reviews and praise I had been hearing in the early screenings for this movie, I wasn't expecting it to be this good.
Just as I trust Kevin Feige with the MCU characters, I do also trust Matt Reeves with the Batman characters. I'm not quite convinced if he is the new architect for DC like Feige is for Marvel, but considering Batman is the strongest bedrock for the DC movies, it's a good place to start.
I really did enjoy finally seeing Batman the detective rather than just simply the vigilante. There are always two ways that Batman fights crime but we never really see the intellect and detective work of the Caped Crusader in live-action, so this detective film noir feel really helped emphasise and focus on that element of the character.
The Batman is also not an origin story, despite being the first in what I hope is a new era for not only the Batman story but also DC movies in general. But I think Batman's origins are one of the most overplayed and by that extension saturated tale to tell particularly in a superhero movie, the Wayne murders, the radioactive spider-bite and for me Krypton's destruction are the three most overplayed origins in live-action comic-book movies.
But the movie does borrow heavily from the comic series Batman: Year One, despite being stated to be Year 2 of Batman's vigilantism as is noted in his journal. I cannot believe we have a Batman who has a journal but when you see it it makes perfect sense to this Bruce Wayne.
Also yes, this movie is called The Batman, so don't be expecting a lot of Bruce Wayne in the movie. Basically if you've seen the trailers you have pretty much seen all of Bruce Wayne but that's not to say those trailer scenes aren't expanded but even when he is civilian billionaire Bruce Wayne...he's basically Batman still. There are two scenes when he is primarily Bruce Wayne and almost takes a break from the main plot of the movie, and it was a good Bruce Wayne but not a great Bruce Wayne.
I think maybe because he is still in the early days of his vigilantism, he hasn't quite fully equipped his "secret identity" of Bruce Wayne, because Batman is the true identity and Bruce Wayne is the mask to him similar to how Clark Kent is the mask of Superman.
In the sequel, maybe they will have Bruce explore his public persona a little bit more especially with the revelations he goes through in this movie...and yes I want and demand a sequel.
Why I feel this movie is better than The Dark Knight is because this movie does what the 90s Burton/Schuemacher movies did which was, for the most part, have multiple villains throughout the movie. The Nolan movies had that a little bit also with the Scarecrow appearing in every movie, Joker and Two-Face in The Dark Knight then also technically Bane and Talia in The Dark Knight Rises despite both being League of Shadows members. But this was two, maybe three, "big bads" of Batman's rogues all of whom had a part to play and no one feels sidelined. It did in fact feel a little like The Long Halloween but not with as many villains...but I trust Matt Reeves to handle other villains in the future.
Cinematically, this movie is very dark...talk about a dark knight, these nights are so dark and people mostly wear black all the time at night that it became almost frustrating at points that I could not get an accurate visual, but then at times the lighting used was so well done that I forgive it. Also, how much can it rain in Gotham City? I mean I'm guessing it's an analogy on how the city can never truly be cleansed of the filth because it is constant, but then highlight that more.
Also the music was really well utilized here. Michael Giacchino has done some of my favourite movie scores from Disney, to Marvel to Apes and now he's doing DC...I am such a fan. The big booming notes in The Batman Theme was really well utilized and reminded me a lot of the 90s animated series.
I also wanted to point out that the gritty and dark realism of this movie is ever so poignant and scary in today's society particularly with the way that Riddler goes about showcasing his crimes throughout this movie. It does lean into Joker territory a little bit with that cult angle. It also teases what could happen with both creating and aiding these infamous rogues in later movies.
The Dark Knight was called a masterclass in movie making and is still one of Nolan's best works and one of DC's best movies. However, as I said at the start of this review, I do feel this movie tops its predecessor, in fact if you take the best elements of The Dark Knight and The Batman, it would be the perfect Batman movie.
Because no, this movie is not perfect, part of that is due to timing as there are 3 hours worth of film here and the last third of the movie is where you start feeling the 3 hours properly. It doesn't also help that there are three points in that final act where the movie could have ended and at times where thought should have ended, but where it ultimately ended was a good ending and I would have been sad if I didn't see what I saw.
But I can't particularly fault this movie from a production or an acting standpoint. Also from a creative standpoint, there were moments in this movie and creative choices made that I never would have thought I wanted to see in a Batman movie but now I have seen them I'm thinking "Oh my god I can't believe no one has thought of this before for the Batman character".
I would say there are a couple of missed opportunities which I will cover in my spoiler review because there are character specific, but they didn't take away from the characters overall for me.
This movie borrows heavily from previous Batman media including comics, movies and television both animated and live-action, and I do look forward to covering them and how they influenced this movie in the spoiler review.
Cast:
This was the best cast I think in any DC movie, better than Suicide Squad, better than any other ensemble or solo movie cast to date.
Honestly, I feel this is the perfect ensemble of underrated actors in a comic-book movie to date with the likes of R-Patts, Zoe Kravitz and Colin Farrell, and even Jeffery Wright to a degree, all not big A-Star names but all keeping themselves in the game long-enough for a great gig which I believe this is.
The chemistry between R-Batts and Kravitz's Catwoman was at times hit and miss but overall I believe in this universe of The Batman with these actors portraying these roles, they were a great almost angsty couple that early on in their respective careers is still believable. Again it's similar to Gotham's Bruce and Selina and if it wasn't for the obvious difference in race for Selina I'd say this could be the older versions of those characters because I believe that Bruce could grow up to be this Bruce.
As for the rogues of the movie, if I didn't know Colin Farrell was the Penguin in this movie I would never have known. There was one scene where I could start to tell and Farrell has worn prosthetics before, but this is a complete transformation and also, despite this movie not being comedic, Oz has some of the best lines.
Paul Dano as The Riddler is a complete change to how the character is in the comics, from the styling to the serious threatening presence he has throughout this movie. I am so thrilled that my favourite Batman rogue is finally getting the recognition he deserves.
As for our older main cast, they are all as integral and impressive as the younger cast, I could nitpick and say that maybe John Turturro is miscast but again that is just a nitpick for be based on my experience with Carmine Falcone in other media.
Recommendation:
Honestly, I can't actually say it enough, this is the best Batman movie to date and certainly in the Top 3 if not Top 5 of DC Movies. It's definitely one of the best Batmen and one of the best Catwomen portrayals.
The dark and gritty tones of most recent Batman movies is ramped up to an 11 here with the detective film noir genre utilized brilliantly. It is definitely a memorable and somewhat unique take on the Batman mythology while also being so true to the comics to the point where at times it felt like I was watching a motion comic rather than a movie adaptation.
So that's my non-spoiler review of The Batman, hopefully my spoiler review will be coming this week depending on what this week brings in terms of day to day shenanigans.
What did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more DC Movie Reviews as well as other Movie Reviews and posts.
Spoiler Warning: I am posting this review soon after the finalé of Hawkeye: Season 1, so if you haven't yet caught up with the series, do not read on until you have.
Overview:
The latest series in Marvel's Disney+ regime has come to an end, and the MCU once again did not disappoint to spoil us with goodies for the festive period. Not only was this a grounded season in terms of being 99% solely based in New York City and focusing on non-powered people, but Hawkeye also harkens back to the days of the Marvel Netflix shows in terms of tone, pacing, cinematography and most importantly characters.
But with so many milestones and promises being made in just six episodes, did Hawkeye hit the bullseye? Or is Kevin Feige starting to run out of trick arrows?
General Reaction:
It does seem weird to do a WandaVision review and a Hawkeye review but not a review for the three shows in between, but I have my reasons. Firstly both WandaVision and Hawkeye focus on my favourite characters, so naturally I am going to be more invested in the shows. But also, I have spent most of this year studying for an MA and so just had enough time to watch the shows rather than actually review them.
As I mentioned in my opening, Hawkeye felt like a great return to the Marvel Netflix formula when it worked, by which I mean with Daredevil and Jessica Jones. It had good pacing, better-lit action sequences than any of those shows, the comedy was fantastic in places, and I loved finally being able to get the chance to focus primarily on Clint Barton after a decade of being drip-fed the character as a supporting player in the MCU.
Like the other live-action Marvel Disney+ shows, I also really enjoyed how this was one continuing story where when one episode ended, the next episode picked straight back up. Not only did it make the series feel essentially like a 6-hour movie, but it also helped the re-watchability of the series as if you needed reminding of what happened, you could easily just watch the last 5 minutes of the previous episode.
The series also did a lot to establish new characters as well as returning characters. We learned new things about characters MCU fans have known for years, and met new characters with great potential going forward in the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
What I Loved
Fleshed Out Clint Barton:
I love Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, not only is he my favourite Avenger, partially because I love archers, but this series has definitely proven that Clint Barton is the heart of the team.
Firstly, dealing with the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame and the loss Clint suffered when his best friend and partner for years Natasha sacrificed herself despite Clint wanting to sacrifice himself. So he was dealing with survivor's guilt but also losing someone who was effectively a sister.
Secondly, dealing with his hearing loss as a result not only of I'm presuming the events of Avengers: Endgame but also I'm guessing all the battles he's been a part of as both an Avenger and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. I thought this added a vulnerability to the character that wasn't entirely needed, but not only is it honouring the comics where the character is also deaf but it allowed for some really touching moments particularly in Episode 3 when his hearing aide broke and he not only struggled to communicate with Kate but also with his youngest son Nathaniel when he called him and Kate had to translate.
Finally, doing whatever he can do to protect not only his family but also his newfound partner and friend Kate. He selflessly decided to stay behind in New York even though he was dedicated to his Christmas plans with his family, but he did it because the trouble happening in New York was his past to deal with. This past also jeopardized the safety of his family which is something Clint had to deal with before it got out of hand.
If Wanda's story was about dealing with her grief, Sam's story was about feeling worthy and Bucky's about redemption, Clint's was I believe a combination of the three. Dealing with the grief of losing Natasha while he survived, feeling worthy I think as a role model as he doesn't believe he is though he is and seeking redemption for his deeds as the Ronin.
Though as much as Clint did spend the series brooding a lot, he also had some great comedic moments. I love Jeremy Renner's natural wit that echoes with the character's comic-book counterpart, he not only had the banter with the Tracksuit Mafia and the LARPers, but his back-and-forth with Kate was a lot of fun too. I don't think Renner gets enough credit for how funny he is.
Also, like both Wanda and Sam, Clint gets a new costume at the end of his season. Unlike the previous two however, it is a very understated reveal, as I think is appropriate for the type of hero Hawkeye is. He doesn't want to be flashy, I don't even think he wanted to wear the costume. I am kind of disappointed we didn't see him in the mask, even as a LARPer outfit, I think it would have had a similar reaction to seeing Wanda both in her classic costume as a Halloween outfit and also that final outfit reveal. But I don't see that mask actually working in the MCU unlike Wanda's headdress.
I do hope this isn't the last we see of Clint Barton in the MCU, it is kind of implied Kate Bishop will be officially taking on the Hawkeye mantle, so whether or not we see Clint return as a mentor role going forward remains to be seen.
Focal Female Characters:
So it isn't like we haven't had a focus on female characters in these Disney+ shows before; Scarlet Witch, Monica Rambeau, Sharon Carter and Sylvie to name a few. But if I were to say to you that Clint Barton is the only strong male character in Hawkeye and the rest were all women, that should help with just how strong the women on this show were.
Kate Bishop is as perfect a character as I could have ever hoped for. Not only is Hailee Steinfeld brilliant casting but she lives up to the hype of her casting and holds her own not only against Jeremy Renner but also the next strong female character in this collection.
Florence Pugh's Yelena is just as fantastic here as she was in her debut turn in Black Widow. A lot of these fantastic characters are surprise flash in the plans, but there is something special about Florence Pugh because she owns every scene she's in just with a look...and her looks were stunning this season.
Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez is probably the breakout of this season, not only because a spin-off Echo series is already in development starring her as the titular character, but also she ticks a lot of boxes for diversity. Not only is the actress deaf like the character is, but also Alaqua's prosthetic leg also gave the character another dimension and made for some impressive fight sequences.
Then as for Vera Farmiga as Eleanor Bishop, okay fine she wasn't Madame Masque as was hinted at, but she was still an antagonist in the series if not directly in the firing line of the Hawkeyes. Though her simply being arrested by her daughter at the end of the series does set up their future rather well going forward as mother and daughter at odds.
Trick Arrows Galore:
One of my favourite scenes in this entire season is that car chase scene in Episode 3 where Kate decides to try and warn off the Tracksuit Mafia by using Hawkeye's trick arrow collection in a rather impressive visual scene.
One of the main reasons I love an archer is because of the capability of their arsenal. Arrow understated the importance of trick arrows and, unless they were blatantly obvious like the Boxing Glove arrow or the Kryptonite arrow, there wasn't a lot of emphasis on them.
Here though, much like he does in the comics, Hawkeye names and eventually labels his trick arrows purely to save time on making sure he doesn't pick the dangerous ones over the less lethal but still effective ones.
There are the classic trick arrows every archer needs, like the zip-line or grappling arrows, smoke-screen arrows and putty arrows, but then there are the more elite arrows like the shockwave arrow, acid arrow and Pym Particle arrow...I just wish the budget had stretched to us being seeing that enlarged arrow in a wide shot.
It was also fun in the finale to see Clint and Kate actually making these trick arrows, because of course they don't come from nowhere and I imagine when he was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and Avenger they were made for him, but the fact he can make them himself and is passing on that knowledge to Kate hopefully means we'll get more trick arrows in the future.
Sidekick or Partner?:
Kate Bishop in the comics originally had nothing to do with Clint originally, however in the Hawkeye comic by Matt Fraction, which this series is based on, the two have adventures together as Clint trains up Kate as a way of passing on the bow.
In this series however, Kate Bishop is more a partner to Clint similar to how Natasha was, and he doesn't accept this at first probably because of Natasha but Kate is persistent and tenacious and I admire that greatly.
Clint even says in the finalé about how every now and again you find someone who makes you a better person and he joked it off by saying he was on about the LARPers designing the costumes but we know he was talking about Kate, that's probably why she got the invite to the Barton Homestead for Christmas.
Outside of Ant-Man and Wasp, we really haven't seen this hero partner teamup before in the MCU, I mean you could argue that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier had the two titular heroes team-up but they hardly battled together. Seeing mentor and protégé is the type of stuff usually seen in DC.
This is a great precursor I guess for The Marvels, as that will see Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau and the soon-to-be-introduced Ms. Marvel team-up,
Laura Barton is Mockingbird?:
A surprise reveal in this series that I don't believe anyone saw coming is that Clint's wife Laura Barton has a secret history within the MCU apparently as an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
This was discovered when Clint spoke to her about this mysterious rolex that was recovered from the wreckage of the Avengers Compound and was sold on the black market and came into the possession of Maya Lopez before being retrieved by Kate who gave it to Clint who in turn returned it to the rightful owner who is deep undercover...Laura.
This has led many fans to speculate as to Laura's comic-book identity as lightbulbs are starting to go off for people. In the comics, Clint is indeed married but not to a Laura Barton, instead Bobbi Morse aka Mockingbird. Mockingbird is a fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who has also been part of the Avengers and AIM.
The fact that the Barton family are at the homestead they are in because Nick Fury helped them set it up and supposedly go undercover when Hawkeye joined S.H.I.E.L.D, it is highly probable that Laura was also a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent at the time but retired and went into S.H.I.E.L.D's version of witness protection and changed her name to Laura Barton...so originally her name could have been Bobbi Morse.
However, this is where the difficulty comes in, there has already been a Bobbi Morse technically in the MCU with Adrianne Palicki portraying Agent Bobbi Morse in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, there Morse knew and had worked with Clint but the two never interacted on screen. Also Palicki and Linda Cardellini look nothing alike nor does the timeline of Palicki's stint on the series taking place during the time that the Bartons were clearly together add up.
It's confirmed that Laura is a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, what is done next to develop this, if anything, will determine if Feige wants to acknowledge Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as MCU Canon or not.
What Didn't Work
Who Was The Main Villain?:
I will say this is a nitpick, but with WandaVision we knew Agatha Harkness was the villain, with TFATWS we knew the Flag Smashers were the main threat, with Loki it was Sylvie technically but also Kang and the TVA...but who exactly was the main threat in Hawkeye?
At the start of the season we are led to believe the Tracksuit Mafia is the main threat with Maya Lopez as the main antagonist, but then we see something shady with Eleanor, and then Yelena enters the game as an antagonist, finally we are reintroduced to Kingpin for one episode...so who out of these exactly is the main threat of the season?
Arguably if we're saying the Tracksuit Mafia is the main threat of the season then whoever leads them is clearly the main villain of the series. That would be Kingpin and clearly a villain like that is capable of being the main threat of the season...but Clint and Kate have so many enemies to combat in this series that it is impossible to say who is the main threat.
Considering Maya supposedly murdered Kingpin at the end of the series, it is possible to suggest that Maya is indeed the main villain of the series...but there is just no clear answer in my personal opinion.
No Clear MCU Forward Thinking:
If it wasn't already announced Echo was already in development spinning off from this series, would there be any clear indication as to where the MCU moving forward?
WandaVision not only set up Wanda as the Scarlet Witch formally as well as Spider-Man: No Way Home's end-credits confirming her presence in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Said series also placed Monica with the Skrulls and presumably Nick Fury for either Secret Invasion or The Marvels. TFATWS confirmed a Captain America 4 was in development with Sam Wilson finally becoming Captain America, while Loki was basically the setup of the multiverse breaking.
But Hawkeye has no real teases, no mid-credits scenes and the finalé had a gag post-credits scene with the full performance of Rogers: The Musical. I mean I guess as a way of spready festive cheer it was a nice sentiment but it didn't do anything to move forward the MCU.
Also, on the subject of Echo, I thought it was implied that Kingpin and Kazi would appear in that series with Maya seeking revenge on both of them...but she got her revenge in the finale...so two fantastic characters who I feel would have a great future in the MCU are no longer active players?
Overall I rate the series a strong 9/10, it's not as cinematically strong as WandaVision but I rank it the same because while I couldn't give that show a 10 because of the amount of empty teases, Hawkeye did deliver on what it teased and it was an overly enjoyable fun and festive frolic.
So that's my round-up review of Hawkeye, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Round-Up Reviews, as well as more Marvel TV Reviews and other posts.
Disclaimer: I am posting this review the day after the movie first drops in the U.K. and the day before it drops pretty much everywhere else, so if you have yet to see Spider-Man: No Way Home and have managed to avoid any type of spoiler up to this point, don't read on until you have seen it.
General Reaction:
I cannot emphasise enough how good this movie is. Spider-Man: No Way Home is as close to Infinity War and Endgame that it can be, and it delivers the same nostalgia and reactions from the audience, or at least mine, that Endgame did.
I have been saying all year that no movie can top Cruella as my favourite movie of the year, but honestly just after seeing this, Spider-Man may just swing ahead as this will be the last movie I see this year...Cruella is still my favourite for personal reasons, but this was an Endgame-level experience for me...and it came from Sony.
This movie does not give you time to breathe or to really relax as there's always something happening, right from the start we pick up exactly where we left off (not a spoiler if you've seen the advertisements) and honestly in the first 15 minutes alone so much happens that it demands re-watchability. I'm curious, particularly now with Omicron, if this movie will sell a lot of repeat tickets because I'm tempted to see it again. I'm fully jabbed and getting my booster tomorrow so I'm protected but for as accurate a spoiler review as possible I feel I need to re-watch as I'm sure I've missed things.
I did mention this movie was nostalgic and that is because of the villains it brings back, but also I will say the villains you've seen are just half the nostalgia tour, there are a few surprises (some spoiled but one or two kept secret) and one or two Easter-Eggs in the script that are fantastic callbacks and technical foreshadowing in the MCU timeline.
That's all I can really hint at without spoilers, we don't really get the multiversal sinister six as fans hoped we would, one day we might, and I do feel there's a characters absence shadowing the movie, but it doesn't take away from the epicness that this movie is, it just would have plussed it further. I'll talk more about it in my spoiler review.
In terms of the movie as a whole, I will admit that despite literally being a spider-verse movie, it does feel very contained just as any good Spidey movie should. He is after all the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man and even Into The Spiderverse may have had multiple Spider-People from multiple universes...but the majority of that movie still took place in New York City just as this one did. I believe the other two locations were LA and Atlanta and we spend enough time there but rightly so the main major action happens in NYC.
Speaking of action, there's a lot of it but also a lot of CGI action. Aside from his trick arrows Hawkeye on his series is very much grounded in physical stunt work, here though because Spidey's rogues are somewhat superhuman...but for the most part it all looks realistic. It would be so easy to make the climactic fight in this movie look like the boss battle in a game, but unlike Black Widow it feels like you're really seeing these fantastical characters.
This movie is also surprisingly funny, all of the Spider movies aside from the Raimi ones have had me chuckling here and there but this was a movie of laugh out loud howling and applauding, because usually I didn't see the joke coming.
The last half of this movie also gets quite emotional for several reasons, people were sobbing at my screening by the end, one woman rather annoyingly two seats away from me. But it even got me nearly going once or twice, not quite Endgame level sadness but it is definitely earned.
There are faults with the movie, things I wish hadn't happened and things I think should have, but ultimately this is definitely my favourite Spider-Man movie.
Cast:
Just like this is, in my opinion, the best live-action Spider-Man movie, but also this is the best cast in a Spider-Man movie. With the regular MCU Spidey cast, everyone does a great job and they are a pleasure to watch...except Ned...sorry to any Ned fans but...come on he is a waste of space as a character in a movie that is admittedly overcrowded.
Not only do we have the MCU Spidey characters, but also characters from both the Raimi and Webb movies and our standard MCU additions, in this case Doctor Strange and Wong.
Because of the amount of characters, does that mean that not every character gets a chance to shine? Well there are a couple that are sidelined but the focus is meant to be on Tom Holland's Spider-Man, his relationship with MJ and dealings with the Multiversal villains...which the movie does rather well.
I'll go into it more in the spoiler review, but I am not sure how I feel about the portrayals of the Multiversal villains, I know the movies they come from quite well but can't quite twig if there's something off about their performances here.
Recommendation:
This is a movie to be seen, and on the big-screen. If you believe the hype of the movie it will definitely pay off for you and if you go in thinking you know too much, trust me there is more to see.
Also there are two post-credits scenes, one after the initial mid-credits roll and one at the very very very end...right after the logos have rolled and you think it may be over...trust me it's worth it.
So that's my review of Spider-Man: No Way Home, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Marvel Movie Reviews as well as other Movie Reviews and posts.
Superhero Spotlight: Why Hawkeye Is The Best Avenger
Disclaimer: Much like my dissection of the WandaVision relationship, this post will be looking at the character of Clint Barton aka Hawkeye mainly through his appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe which will further be explored in the upcoming Hawkeye Disney+ series, but also taking information from the comics as well as his appearances across various other media.
While this post is focussed on Clint Barton, I will also be touching upon Kate Bishop not only because she is the main other character to take up the mantle of Hawkeye but from the looks of the upcoming series she seems to actually be becoming Clint's sidekick as well as protege.
Introduction:
Hawkeye, for many Marvel fans, is not the first Avenger you may think of when asking who is your favourite or the best. But for me, since his debut in the MCU, he has been my favourite and, with the information I know of him from the comics that looks like it may be included in the upcoming Hawkeye series, the best in terms of representation within the original 6 Avengers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
For me, a lot of that is down to Jeremy Renner's performance. He makes the character stand out amongst the other agents in S.H.I.E.L.D, as well as the other Avengers who are considerably more powerful and unfairly more prolific in merchandise. But because Renner has the natural charisma that Clint Barton requires, he manages to stand out...at least for me.
Also, considering to date Hawkeye is the only member of the original six not to have his own movie and instead continuously be a supporting player majorly in Avengers movies, it is also largely thanks to Renner that the character has managed to stay in the conversation and somewhere in the spotlight throughout the Infinity Saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe which probably led to Feige rewarding his patience with his own Disney+ series.
I will also say that while I knew a lot about Scarlet Witch and Vision's history outside of the MCU leading into WandaVision, I did not know too much about Hawkeye outside of the MCU...so I actually finally treated myself to the Hawkeye graphic novel by Matt Fraction as homework in preparation for Wednesday...yes I am doing homework on a TV series, I want to be fully immersed.
But with all the odds against Hawkeye throughout the past ten years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, how did he go from Green Arrow wannabee to leading his own Disney+ series?
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D:
Clint Barton was, unfortunately, effectively a cameo introduction in the first Thor movie in 2011. where he was seen as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and a subordinate to then fan-favourite Agent Phil Coulson as part of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Crater Site in New Mexico to examine Mjølnir when it fell from the sky.
I did enjoy in the recent What If episode depicting a grieving Hank Pym murdering all the potential Avengers recruits, how they kept to this story introduction of Hawkeye being in his crows nest targeting Thor with his bow, but with Pym's interference this time around Hawkeye unintentionally kills Thor and is subsequently murdered himself by Pym while detained.
But Hawkeye isn't seen again until two movies later where, again, his character development is minimal but it does show his trajectory from S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to Avenger with a bout of mind control in between at the hands of Loki and the then unnamed Mind Stone.
From these first two appearances, there is not a lot laid out to be too invested in the character unless, like me, you were already invested in the character going in.
i love an archer in any franchise. Green Arrow, Legolas, Katniss Everdeen, if I was in a team in the fantasy or superhero genre I would hope to be an archer, so naturally I am always going to gravitate towards the archer of any team.
However, unlike 4 of the other Avengers at the time, I had never seen Hawkeye in an animated series or the comics prior to Jeremy Renner's portrayal in the MCU. So I had nothing to compare his performance to. Whereas Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and Hulk I had seen in the 90s animated shows and other media so I knew about them.
Archer Avenger:
When the Avengers officially formed in the third act of Avengers Assemble (2012), I really enjoyed the fact that Hawkeye proved why having an archer in the team is equivalent to having a teleporter in the team, archers can be positioned anywhere as long as they have a good visual and teleporters get you into places.
Now yes, the comparisons between Hawkeye and Green Arrow are probably more notable than other Marvel/DC comparisons because both Oliver Queen and Clint Barton are human mortal men with a bow and trick arrows and the only real difference is the colour scheme. However, Hawkeye is a lot more light-hearted rather than brooding as is the comparison between Marvel and DC Comics in general, but also...Hawkeye cares about his teammates whereas from what I have seen of Green Arrow he either positions them like soldiers or does his own thing.
The fact he was concerned about Natasha in both Avengers Assemble and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), while simultaneously focusing on the mission just shows the heart that Hawkeye brings to the team.
Speaking of Natasha, I find it really annoying that both Clint and Natasha effectively were introduced at the same time with the same abilities and skillset, yet just because maybe Black Widow being the only female Avenger at the time, she was propelled into mainstream fan-favourtism yet Hawkeye was seen as the joke of the team. Both are effectively civilians and yes while Natasha was trained by the Red Room while she and Clint were also both trained by S.H.I.E.L.D, Hawkeye's skills are a lot more long-range whereas Black Widow's are more up close.
Even the joke that Natasha makes at the beginning of Age of Ultron of "Pretending to care about this guy really brings the team together", while a joke and a somewhat meta reference to the fact that at the time fans weren't sure about Hawkeye's worth to the team, was still not in great taste for me as a fan of the character.
I do also really enjoy the fact that every Hawkeye appearance has shown a display of Clint's spy skillset. Breaking into that vault to steal that ore by using that retina gadget for Loki, trying to track down Natasha using old S.H.I.E.L.D. tracking technology, setting up that defence trap for Vision when going to recruit Wanda for Team Cap. All these things aren't really displayed well even in actual spy movies let alone superhero movies but he does it so seamlessly.
I stand by the fact that Hawkeye is also the most competent Avenger, at least the original 6. Hulk is way too out of control to be competent, at least for his first few appearances, Iron Man and Thor rely to much on bravado and showboating, even Cap to a degree did that, whereas Black Widow, as pointed out hilariously by Yelena, spends a lot of time posing.
Hawkeye meanwhile, goes in, has his arrows, gets the job done. Even puts his life at risk with saving civilians...to the cost of his teammates sometimes granted but ultimately I do think he has the highest success rate, yes you could say that is Iron Man for wiping out Thanos or Thor for killing Thanos but Hawkeye got the gauntlet out of the wreckage to the surface fighting off hoards of horribles so technically it's a team victory.
Family Man:
Like I said, Hawkeye isn't just solely about the mission, his strength is his compassion for others and this is revealed in the second Avengers movie to centre on his family. Now granted, at this point Hawkeye did not have a solo movie to explore his character development so for the middle act of an Avengers movie to be partially centric on his development was honestly the best contribution Whedon made to that movie.
I really enjoy having civilian stakes to a superhero story and for Hawkeye every time he is out there, there is a risk he could easily die. He has no powers, no armor...as he says later in the movie when Sokovia is in the sky...he has a bow and arrow. Yet he still puts his life on the line not just for the team but also the world.
Yes this did come at the loss of Quicksilver after one movie because while Ultron was firing on Hawkeye, Pietro decided selflessly to be a human shield to the barrage to save both Hawkeye and the young Sokovian boy he went back to save.
I was both surprised but glad that Wanda never blamed Clint for Pietro's murder, obviously it was Ultron's fault but Pietro died saving Clint, instead the two have become firm friends since the end Avengers: Age of Ultron.
The fact Clint retired from avenging after the events of Age of Ultron to be with his family and raise his newborn son, I thought was the right decision for him, I am however glad that as soon as he is called up to assist he does it again despite the consequences. Clint knew that going against the Sokovia Accords and siding with Cap against Tony would possibly not end in the best light for him, yet he still did it because he believed it's what was right.
Though when Tony baited him after he and the rest of Team Cap were sent to the Raft, I again thought that was a poor show on Tony's behalf...even when Stark found out that the events of Civil War had been orchestrated by Zemo, he still kept his friends and former teammates imprisoned without any show to try to get them released.
Had Clint not been under house arrest during Infinity War, I do imagine he would have helped out in some way. I don't know if he would have gone on the run with Cap, Falcon and Natasha because it seemed that Tony and his team were not his favourite people. But the fact he stayed behind to be the family man just added to the power of Avengers: Endgame opening scene.
Ronin's Rage:
Honestly Endgame's opening scene where we see Clint's entire family dusted with Clint not knowing what is happening due to I'm guessing not knowing the galactic-scale battle that was happening while he was teaching his daughter archery.
By the time of Avengers: Endgame (2019) I already knew about Ronin and Clint Barton's time as the mercenary in the comics, so seeing it in live-action I was very much looking forward to it. I thought the concept art of Jeremy Renner in the suit looked very cool and aside from archers I love samurais so was interested to see what drove him to be Ronin and what he did as Ronin.
Now unfortunately most of what we know of Clint as Ronin in the MCU to date is hearsay as we only see one scene of him actually as Ronin.
Side-note: I really want the Ronin suit but seeing a version of it in kids size in my local Disney store was torture because had it been around when I was a kid it would have definitely been on my birthday list.
Some people are comparing this scene to "Batman-lite" but I think the difference between Hawkeye and Ronin is the same difference as Green Arrow and Dark Archer, both civilians at heart with no enhanced superpower, but while Hawkeye doesn't seem to kill only defend or maim, Ronin killed with a code and with nothing else to lose now that his family has been snapped.
Friend til the End:
So what made Clint come back to the Avengers? Natasha, In fact every time Hawkeye has appeared in a movie, he shares the most screen time either with Natasha or more recently Wanda.
This is because Clint and Natasha have a history that was, up until recently, begging to be explored either in its own movie or Disney+ Series...Budapest. We do now of course know what happened in Budapest thanks to Black Widow (2021). But we never actually saw a younger Natasha and Clint interact in Budapest, we only heard Clint's voice.
As many fans have stated, the Black Widow movie would have been a lot better if it had taken place solely in Budapest telling the story how Natasha went from Red Room assassin to S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. One scene and a whole lotta exposition does not a great story make.
It also I think robbed fans of the opportunity for a two-hander Black Widow/Hawkeye buddy movie. Yes Hawkeye is now getting his own series but considering the trajectory of their friendship explored over the past ten years, it would have been a full circle moment for Natasha's final shown outing to include her best friend.
The actual culmination to this friendship was in Avengers: Endgame. Not just Natasha pulling Clint back from his dark spiral as Ronin, but their final sacrifice on Vormir for the soul stone which, of course, required a sacrifice.
It could not be anyone else other than these two to do this. There is no other pairing in the remaining Avengers of that time who it would be as potent for. Cap and Iron Man are frenemies at this point, Thor and Hulk are buddies but not as close as Nat and Clint, no other pairing would be a worthy sacrifice than Nat sacrificing Clint or Clint sacrificing Nat...but unlike Thanos murdering his supposed beloved adoptive daughter Gamora, neither Clint or Nat sacrificed the other and in fact both were trying to save the other by sacrificing themselves.
I loved the fact these were two people with dripping red ledgers, they weren't perfect people but they have amended for their past mistakes ten fold over the course of the MCU, or in Clint's case just by taking part in this time heist.
The fact Clint wanted to sacrifice himself because he had nothing left just shows how selfless he is. In one snap he lost his world, whereas Natasha has made so many wrong choices in her past that she felt sacrificing herself to save the world would wipe her ledger.
Both are selfless acts, but Natasha also knew that if she sacrificed herself, Clint could get his world back.
I love how simple Hawkeye's life is in the MCU, not meaning to sound patronising but he only needs his family and that's his life, they go all at once and that's his world gone.
Even after Natasha dies, Clint I feel has survivors guilt and it will be interesting to see if this crops up in the upcoming Hawkeye series, he lived because his best friend sacrificed herself.
Passing On The Bow?:
Clint now has his family back and, from what we see in the trailers and tv spots for the upcoming Hawkeye series, his life is pretty good again. He's spending Christmas with his family, or at least his kids as we don't know where Laura is, but then naturally things go wrong.
I absolutely love the idea of sidekicks finally coming into the MCU, because Marvel Comics doesn't traditionally handle sidekicks, that's definitely more a DC trope. Marvel has the Young Avengers but despite their first comic series being called "Sidekicks" they are not actually sidekicks and more fanboys and girl who want to be like their idols.
However, with this version of Kate Bishop, it seems that she is either the protégé or sidekick to Clint in this series. The upcoming series definitely feels like a two-hander rather than just Kate being a supporting player, which I think is great because the series is called Hawkeye and the pair of them share that mantle in the comics, a bit like Black Widow with Natasha and Yelena.
I am also looking forward to exploring the quippier light-hearted side of Clint which we only see glimpses of. From what we see of the banter Clint has with Kate, it harkens back to Avengers: Age of Ultron with the earlier scenes of the team and Clint just being a goof.
You could argue that Clint and Kate are partners and Lucky the Pizza Dog is the sidekick, but we'll see exactly how this dynamic plays out over the six episodes.
But does this series mean the end of Clint Barton as Hawkeye in the MCU with Kate inheriting the mantle? We know that Clint has tried to retire now three times but like the old saying goes he keeps being pulled back in...so will having someone take his place allow him to formally retire and maybe come back in a mentorship role?
Hopes and Wishes:
If Hawkeye is the final time we see Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye then honestly I would be upset losing him but not because he hasn't lived up to expectations, the last ten years have ticked most of the boxes from what I wanted to see from the character and even surpassed them to some degree.
I would really like it if this series maybe explored the fact Clint maybe became deaf as a result of Endgame to tie-in with his comic-book counterpart of being deaf, if for no other reason but to add more real-world representation to the character making him possibly the most relatable character in the MCU.
Also, as has already been hinted at in the trailers, I am looking forward to seeing more trick arrows. I think Arrow has shown fans just how fun and imaginative trick arrows can be and so to have them in the context of the MCU I feel will be really entertaining.
I do also hope that this series does not end on a sombre or morbid note for Clint Barton. Even if he just retires completely going forward I still want the option of him returning one day. If Bruce Banner can come back why not Hawkeye?
So those are my thoughts on why, to me, Hawkeye is the best Avenger, what do you guys think? Post your comments, get ready for the upcoming Hawkeye series starting on Disney+ this coming Wednesday (24th November), and check out more Superhero Spotlights as well as other posts.
Spoiler Warning: Because I was only able to see this movie almost a week after it was first released in the U.K, I am not going to be doing two separate reviews for Eternals and instead will be combining both into one for an overall reaction and analysis review. Regardless, if you haven't seen the movie yet do not read on until you have.
General Reaction:
I do not understand my feelings about this movie. Having seen it the night before this review is posted, the morning of typing up this review I am still very confused by what to actually make of it.
I have come to the conclusion that this movie is an interpretation of an MCU creation myth, while this doesn't really show how the MCU was created, it does try to explain that the Eternals and by extension the Celestials are the gods of Earth and other worlds that helped develop our world over the centuries since basically the beginning of time.
I am still confused as to how I feel about the Eternals as a species, the movie does explain their origins but because I do not know the Eternals from the comics I am unsure if this is at all comics-accurate, but as a Marvel fan, an MCU fan and particularly an X-Men fan, I was left wondering exactly how Kevin Feige and team are going to bring in Mutants to the MCU outside of the upcoming Multiverse saga, and now because when you do eventually have our favourite team of Mutants, I fear they are going to be compared to what has come before with the Eternals and even the Inhumans.
Speaking of, I was made to think about the failed Inhumans series at moments throughout this movie and thinking how this is the second apparent failed attempt for a Marvel team of superpowered beings. As a superfan of the X-Men and Mutants in general, I am actually now starting to become concerned that it is potentially too late for the X-Men to join the MCU not just because they don't seem to be well represented in the world of the MCU and also I fear that both Marvel fans and casual movie fans may feel that when the Mutants eventually show up, there may be a fatigue for this type of group.
Eternals as a movie was just a very oddly-paced, slow and sombre exposition story. Because we have never met a single one of the characters introduced in this movie, not just the 10 Eternals, but the Celestials, Deviants, Kit Harrington's Dane Whitman as well as the three other notable humans, and the three new characters further introduced in the post-credits scenes, because none of these had been introduced before with only Celestials referenced previously, it was just way too much for any audience member to be asked to be introduced to these characters, go on a literal journey through time with these new characters, get invested in a creation myth story we knew nothing about before this movie and then get invested in what happens to all these characters with literally no pending stakes in the wider MCU outside of maybe those two end-credits scenes...it was a headache.
Speaking of the Celestials grand plan, I kind of understood a baseline of what they were attempting to do thanks to the events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Ego's expansion, because Ego was also a Celestial...and what he was doing with his own expansion of planting seeds on different planets to terraform said planets into his overall being...that seems to be the case here down to the montaging of what looks like the seeds being planted on these planets that sprouted new Celestials, but was Ego's expansion a precursor to the overall Celestial plan? It's never really explained.
Then there was an interesting commentary on nature vs. nurture for this movie in my opinion. With the reveal that the Eternals are actually robots basically, synthetic beings, but still known as Homo immortalis as they are in the comics where they are supposed to be evolutionary offshoots of humanity as opposed to the inspirations for Earth's mythology.
Anyway, with this reveal that the Eternals are the synthetic creations of the Celestials to do their bidding and are effectively reset with every emergence of a new Celestial which destroys the planet they emerge from and the Celestials simply have the Eternals either move onto a new planet or create new bodies and factory settings reset for them each time, it slightly becomes less of an investment for fans to care about these characters because, if they survive past the emergence and don't get murdered beforehand, they effectively become new characters as they are new bodies and new memories.
I mean yes fine at the end of the movie they stopped the emergence and remained themselves on Earth, mostly, but then the three remaining Eternals on Earth were captured by Arishem the Judge and taken off to who knows where we were supposedly left to care about what happens to them...yet while I only care about one or two characters in this movie because of their actors, I don't really care about what happens to them going forward in the MCU at present.
I mean the end of the movie does split up the remaining Eternals and so could have either subgroup of Eternals show up at various times down the road but...aside from expanding the Marvel Cosmic side of the MCU...what did this movie actually accomplish?
This is the third instalment of the MCU this year and Phase 4 overall, and the Multiverse saga is the main focus coming up. Had this movie come out after Black Widow but before Shang-Chi I may not have been as disappointed, but the fact we have just had Shang-Chi which was, for me, one of the better MCU origin stories and then this which is, honestly, one of the worst, it is definitely a black mark on the MCU's copybook.
To end this section on a positive, visually this movie is stunning. It is a great screensaver movie, there are many different stunning shots in this movie both of scenic landscapes and the Eternals as a team or individually.
The powers and physical appearances of the Eternals are also very compelling. Despite being synthetic beings they carry themselves as Earth's overlords or saviours and have that regal stance and presence.
I also did like how their costumes were created and didn't look like they came from the same MCU tailor, the linking of the golden energy every Eternal has with their powers is a very definitive trademark of this group and I do feel standing amongst the rest of the MCU heroes they would definitely stand out hopefully for the right reasons.
Characters:
Alright so because I am doing a two-in-one review I am going to be grouping the characters on who were my favourites, who were my least favourites, who were okay and who were just there.
Favourites:
Honestly my favourite for most of the movie was Ikaris before he was revealed to be one of the main antagonists, but Richard Madden once again is a strong presence. The Superman/Homelander comparison is inescapable and I would have liked him to be more of an outstanding character, but I did love seeing him in action.
Then Gemma Chan as Sersi, while she may have already had a turn in the MCU as Minn-Erva in Captain Marvel, I do feel she had more of a chance to shine in this movie. I also understood why she was penned as the heart of the movie as Chan naturally has that type of warmth and welcoming presence.
Then of course Thena, it's Angelina Jolie first of all which is always a win but also Thena is effectively the MCU's Wonder Woman. Not only was she visually stunning in this movie, but her powers were also gorgeous to look at. I do wish they had the time to delve deeper into her psychosis but Jolie did a great job with what she had.
Least Favourite Characters:
I have to say these characters weren't horrendous they were just simply taking up the screen-time of other characters who could have used the time more-so to expand and develop.
Firstly, Sprite, I am sorry I am sure this character is better in the comics but Lia McHugh's portrayal was just annoying. After understanding her powers of illusion casting I did like how she was the storyteller of the group for wherever they settled...but that's as decent as she got. I thought the third wheel element of her love triangle with Ikaris and Sersi was not only out of nowhere but also narratively inappropriate. Despite being millennia old Sprite is still in the body of a child and McHugh is still 16 at the time of this movie's release...14/15 when this movie was filmed...so to portray her as being in love with Ikaris who must be at least double her age physically I just felt was a non-starter as the audiences know that not only would Disney not go there but the movie wouldn't go there.
Opposite to my opinion on Makkari in this movie, Kumail Nanjiani's Kingo went really down in my estimations throughout this movie. Starting out strong and comedic, and I loved the way in which he created a Bollywood acting legacy by himself being his ancestors, but that's where it stopped for me. I felt the inclusion of Harish Patel as his assistant Karun was effectively a poor man's Ben Kingsley in Shang-Chi...he was just there. I also felt his decision to abandon humanity and return to Mumbai before the final fight was cowardly and the fact he still was part of the three who were abducted from Earth at the end was non-sensical.
So-So Characters:
Then as for the two deceased Eternals, because surprisingly Eternals died in this movie, Salma Hayak's Ajak being the original leader and envoy of the Celestials could be seen as somewhat of an antagonist as she was willing to go along with their plan up until she realised the best of humanity but was ultimately murdered by Ikaris before she could do anything about it.
Meanwhile Don Lee's Gilgamesh would have had a higher ranking for me had the movie properly portrayed him and Thena as a couple as opposed to simply close.
As for Brian Tyree Henry's Phastos...again he would have been higher if they had focused more on the LGBT element of his character rather than a quick reveal of his Modern Family setup. Also more definition to his powers, he can control technology but if the Eternals are effectively robots why didn't he know it?
Then Barry Keoghan's Druig, I didn't know if he was supposed to be a villain but ultimately he was just misunderstood. Yes his powers of mind control and having his own cult isn't exactly morally or ethically advisable but I think he's simply misguided.
Finally Kit Harrington's Dane Whitman, he didn't have anything to do in this movie and really was just placed here to set up for the character's future. I didn't buy into his romance with Sersi nor did I feel he was needed in this movie outside of the post-credits scene setting up his future.
Post-Credits Scenes:
So we had two post-credits scenes in this movie that much like Venom: Let There Be Carnage will probably be the biggest talking points of the movie.
Firstly we get a mid-credits scene on the Domo with the Eternals who returned to space, Thena, Druig and Makkari. The trio is then greeted by a glittering rainbow teleportation sequence as Pip the Troll comes in portrayed by Patton Oswalt who at this point is overexposed not just in Marvel with Agents of SHIELD but TV in general thanks to The Goldbergs.
Anyway he comes through and sets the stage for the arrival of the "Prince of Titan" Eros aka Starfox who is Thanos' brother...but the major reveal of this is the fact that Eros is portrayed by former One Direction member Harry Styles...I knew about this prior to seeing the movie but genuinely seeing it in the movie is not as bad as reading about it...I'm actually intrigued by this character going forward.
The post-credits scene features Dane Whitman's potential origin story as he is seen in possession of the Ebony Blade, a mystical weapon that was mistaken earlier in the movie for Excalibur but in reality is owned by Dane. This comes after Dane tries telling Sersi he has found out about his family history before she is abducted.
Just as he hesitates as to whether or not to touch the blade or not, there is a voice off to the corner out of shot asking him whether or not he really wants to do that...this voice is so quick, so subtle and, unless you're aware of who it is, so passing that it is potentially the only scene in the movie that requires multiple viewings.
The voice belongs to Mahershala Ali as Eric Brooks aka Blade, as he has an upcoming movie currently slated for 2023 or 2024 I'm not entirely sure at this point. I am fascinated by this as while Blade can easily introduce characters for the Marvel Horror division of the MCU...I would not associate Black Knight with being part of that division. Blade is adept at understanding supernatural objects however and that could be his tie-in with Dane as he helps him understand the Ebony Blade.
Recommendation:
As with all MCU movies I do feel Eternals is worth a viewing at least once, but after one viewing unless you are heavily invested in the movie and the characters and need multiple viewings to fully absorb everything...wait until it's free on Disney+.
I will definitely say this movie is outside of the traditional MCU mould of how Marvel storytelling has been, but I wouldn't say it breaks the mould. I think it is definitely an intellectual piece of cinema but I am not entirely sure if it is trying to be too clever for itself at times.
Overall I rate the movie a 5/10, I would definitely say this is middle of the pack at best as an MCU movie. Unless down the line things spin out from this movie, I genuinely do not see the point of it and honestly would have made it a Disney+ series for the impact that it potentially has.
So that's my review of Eternal what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Marvel Movie Reviews, as well as other Movie Reviews and posts.
Movie Review: Venom - Let There Be Carnage (Spoilers)
Spoiler Warning: I am posting this review the week after the movie is first released in the U.K, so if you have still not yet seen Venom: Let There Be Carnage, do not read on until you have.
Characters
Eddie Brock/Venom:
I will forever be in support of Tom Hardy as an actor particularly in this role, he is a superb fit for the dual character of Eddie Brock and Venom just as Hugh Jackman is with Wolverine. Neither of them are possibly the first choices you think of for the roles when you see them in the comics, but when you see them in the movies and they both just fit perfectly.
As much as a praised Eddie's investigative journalistic prowess in the first movie prior to Venom coming into the picture, here the two of them work as one which seems to almost elevate his prowess. Now yes I did say in my non-spoiler review that nothing is really elevated in this movie but Eddie's investigative methods are heightened with Venom's keen observations, not so much his methods as all Venom wants to do is eat people's heads, but for example when Venom noticed the inside of Kasady's cell and how those markings translated to wear his victims bodies were buried was rather clever.
It was almost overly comical of how Venom tried getting Eddie to figure out what they saw by getting Eddie to speed-draw different images that foreshadowed things later discovered in the movie. In fact when Venom took over Eddie's hands and used his symbiotic tendrils almost as ink was very creative, but why he didn't just do that at first is unclear as the other images he drew almost like charades weren't relevant to the current situation at the time.
Eddie's story in this movie was also in ways similar and different to the first movie. In the first Venom, Eddie started off with having it all as having a fiancée and a well-paying job before taking the nose dive.
However, here we have the situation where he starts off pretty much where Venom left off with him interviewing Kasady and how him uncovering his victims bodies put him back on top. But it is his personal relationships both with Venom and with ex-fiancée Anne that is making his life miserable.
In fact the Eddie/Venom/Anne relationship in this movie in many ways felt more like a threesome than the first movie and effectively the three of them kissed at one point.
The fact that Venom was so keen on "fixing" Eddie's life by getting back with Anne and getting him to agree to fight crime and do good in the world I actually thought made him quite an effective wingman, I just think his way of going about things was probably not the best considering he has spent time sharing Eddie's body and therefore knows how stubborn his is, he could have easily avoided half of their troubles in this movie.
This did of course lead to that great apartment fight scene where, talk about fighting your inner demons, the two of them are pretty much roughhousing it across the length of Eddie's apartment and knocking into everything, destroying everything, throwing expensive electronics out the window. I loved how it ended with the two mutually decided to part ways and so Eddie set off his smoke alarm and Venom escaped his host and fled.
However, this is where Venom's story takes a very confusing and somewhat pointless turn. In the first movie it is established that a symbiote needs a viable host to possess in order to not kill the host and expel the symbiote...and while that is also shown here with many of the hosts that Venom possesses dying, he can still fully take control of some of these hosts and even go to a rave and party and preach about alien rights? Also why was Venom at a rave preaching about alien rights?
Even when he resolves to go back and find Eddie, stumbling into Mrs. Chen's shop and possessing her, how was Mrs. Chen a viable host? We knew Anne was from the first movie and from the comics as She-Venom, that dog in the hospital in the hospital from the first movie was...but I still don't know the rules for hosts achieving symbiosis against hosts that are killed because of it.
Also, like I said in my non-spoiler review, this movie did stretch the imagination of how Eddie and Venom interacted to the point where Eddie was able to try and restrain Venom by pulling on his tendrils...despite them looking like a liquid ooze substance. It's definitely something I think could have been handled more organically had Fleisher returned to direct in this movie the same as the first.
Focusing on the plot a bit more, I did like the fact the SFPD were treating Eddie as a hostile based on the events of the first movie and later Venom when they started believing aliens were among them. This made for an interesting scenario similar to some Spider-Man stories where he is treated as a wanted criminal by the police and so he must avoid them while also saving them from the actual villain.
The Eddie/Cletus relationship was an interesting one, Cletus definitely had an obsession with with Eddie as revealed at the end of the movie this came from a place of longing friendship while all he saw was Eddie getting him sentenced and readying for execution. However, I don't know if Eddie ever saw anything in Kasady other than fear and disgust.
Then when it came to Eddie and Anne, even though he openly admits he still loves her and she admits she still cares for him, Eddie is pretty much the whipping boy in the Eddie/Venom/Anne relationship as both Venom and Anne seem to be wearing the pants here.
I'm also glad this movie tried to show that there were consequences to Eddie and Venom's actions, they kind of had it that Eddie had no choice but to leave San Francisco and go on the run. Even with Venom suggesting the two of them part ways for the third or fourth time in this movie, Eddie surprisingly says no and that they need to stick together.
Now of course, with the mid-credits scene this may all amount to nothing but we'll talk about that when we talk about that mid-credits scene.
Overall Tom Hardy is still as charismatic and funny in the role as he was in the first movie, I do kind of wish the direction in which the character went in sometimes wasn't quite as goofy but it didn't outweigh the good for me in this movie so I will forgive it.
Cletus Kasady/Carnage:
I do believe that Woody Harrelson is suited to playing Cletus Kasady especially alongside Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock. Interestingly enough, if it was a different actor for Brock I don't think this casting would have worked as well but there is something about the chemistry between Hardy and Harrelson that just works.
I did almost feel like I was watching the characters I first saw from Spider-Man: The Animated Series back in 90s, I'm also so happy that for the first half of the movie he had a much more respectable hair style than that god awful wig at the end of the first movie...we'll talk about the god awful wig in the last half of this movie further down.
I loved how Carnage was fully realised on the big screen just as I loved how Venom in the first movie was fully realised when he first fully transformed part-way through the movie. They pretty much leap off the comic-book pages and into live-action despite being complete CGI constructs.
I also loved how the movie tried to bring in a horror element with Carnage as that is always how I expected Carnage to be treated in live-action. The fact that rather than bonding with its host, Carnage was instead born inside Kasady pretty much made for some very interesting blood-red vessel visuals.
Particularly with the transformation sequence of Carnage taking over Kasady's body, rather than Venom almost being like a biological suit of armour for Eddie, Carnage almost looks like he's ripping Kasady apart and changing his appearance to take him over. I really loved them differentiating between the two symbiotes in that way.
IAs for Carnage's biological weaponry, as opposed to Venom having his tendrils and licking people with his elongated tongue, Carnage's tendrils are almost like stingers and his tongue is used in the most boundary-pushing PG-13/R-Rating way I have ever seen.
I mean Carnage is definitely supposed to be a horror character, but he's seemingly born out of rage and bonded with a sociopathic serial killer he is a force to be reckoned with, and this movie definitely showcased that.
I want to talk about the Carnage/Shriek relationship properly in her section because, unfortunately, there isn't a lot to talk about with her, but I did believe their love story from being orphaned and abused outcast children to the anarchic adults they now are. However, I thought when Carnage tried to silence Shriek for good several times in the movie to the point where she almost died at one point, that Cletus would have tried to fight back more against Carnage than he did.
I did like how Kasady partially separating from Carnage showed Eddie/Venom that they weren't symbiotic like them but considering Kasady's entire motivation for this movie was to be with his beloved, I'm disappointed in the fact he didn't put up much of a fight.
Then the fact that yes we had Kasady and Carnage separate finally, but then both were effectively eaten or reabsorbed by Venom it just seemed like a...why?
Shriek:
I am so disappointed that Naomie Harris did not have as much to do in this movie as I thought she was going to. I guess it is the pitfall to having two villains in the movie, one always gets short-changed and unfortunately that's Shriek this time around. Is it a bad look that not only the female villain but the female villain of colour is shorthanded? I guess people of those representations will be the judge.
As I said in my non-spoiler review, the fact that Shriek has the power of sonic screaming which harms Carnage it not only made for a very turbulent relationship in this movie but also made Shriek's powers almost non-existent.
But as I also said, Naomie Harris made the little screen-time she had and few lines she had work for her.
It's also disappointing because in the comics Shriek is a Mutant, and this is yet another example of Mutants being shortchanged in Marvel Movies. Yes the Fox X-Men movies is all about Mutants but in the continuing Marvel Movies as they are we have characters that should be Mutants but due to copyright laws are not.
Anne & Dan:
Anne goes from being the female lead of the first movie to the side-lined love interest here. However, Michelle Williams definitely ups the spunkiness of the character from the first movie. Yes, she held her own against Eddie and Riot rather well in the first movie but here she uses that to her advantage.
I loved how, after realising Venom was still alive, when she and Dan went to Mrs. Chen's and she realised Venom was inside Mrs. Chen how she used the feelings she clearly knows has for her to her advantage and then used the apology that Venom wanted from Eddie as her apology.
"Put a cherry on it" is probably my favourite line in the movie just for how witty it was.
Also seeing She-Venom again, even briefly, was brilliant.
As for Dan, he has one great moment in this movie which is, after realising the weaknesses of the symbiotes and after Carnage and Shriek abduct Anne, he uses gasoline and a torch flame to hurt Carnage while helping Eddie. The fact this earned Venom's respect was a very nice moment considering he effectively wanted to eat him earlier in the movie.
Mulligan:
Then as for Detective Mulligan, I didn't really understand his role in the movie until the very end. Yes he seemed to be Eddie's police informant but if he didn't need one in the first movie why does he need one now?
But then at the end of the movie when it looked like Shriek had killed her but he had actually absorbed a piece of the symbiote which clearly infected him with the blue eyes, is the birth of Toxin maybe?
But yeah, because Eddie chose to keep him out of the loop with everything going on for most of the movie, Mulligan was effectively side-lined and pushed to the background.
Mid-Credits Scene:
Everything that has happened in this movie though, may amount to nothing with the inclusion of this mid-credits scene. Now yes I had this scene spoiled for me due to the fact that the movie was released two weeks earlier in America than here in the U.K, but it was still good to see it play out.
So what happens?
Well, Eddie and Venom are on the run and have apparently ended up in Spain or at least some Spanish-speaking country watching a telenovela and discussing between the two the soap opera drama of it all.
However, when they are having yet another disagreement, suddenly something of an earthquake with an explosion of light occurs as the rooms somewhat shifts in appearance while still appearing to be in the same hotel room.
The main difference? Rather than a telenovela, the tv is broadcasting J. Jonah Jameson's breaking news exposé on Peter Parker as Spider-Man...the same exposé as of the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home with JK Simmons and Tom Holland back in their respective roles...meaning that Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock/Venom have found themselves in the same universe canon as the MCU.
Clearly this is a sign that Tom Hardy will be appearing in the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home and/or Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. But will his capacity be as part of the multiversal Sinister Six that is quickly forming or as an ally to Spider-Man against them?
I cannot wait to find out.
Overall I rate this movie a 6.5/10, it dawned on me while typing up this review that I didn't actually rate the first movie but I would rate that a 7.5/10 and cannot rate this higher than that. I do think both movies have their flaws and both have ideas that are partially executed or realised, this one definitely does but it also really becomes jumbled towards the end so that when it ends you're left scratching your head as to how we got to that point.
So that's my spoiler review for Venom: Let There Be Carnage, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Marvel Movie Reviews as well as other Movie Reviews and posts.
Disclaimer: I am posting this review the day after the movie is first released in the U.K, so if you still have not yet seen Venom: Let There Be Carnage and want to go in with a completely clean mind, don't read on until you have.
General Reaction:
I personally have a love/hate relationship with sequels to movies I very much enjoyed. Not only do I find myself to be somewhat more critical of the continuation to the story I have grown invested in, but also if it is not as good as the first movie then I feel let down as I feel it may tarnish the quality and my enjoyment of the first movie.
With that being said, as were my original thoughts at the time, I really enjoyed the first Venom movie, I thought that Tom Hardy is very well cast in the dual role of Eddie Brock and Venom as well as the story being something of a divergent from the comics but still an enjoyable plot.
Yes making the Eddie/Venom relationship more of a domestic odd couple as a way of ramping up the cartoonish comedy of the situation was definitely a choice but one I feel Hardy and the first movie's director Ruben Fleisher pulled off by also making it an action-packed comic-book movie.
As for the sequel...well...you can tell it's a different director. Personally I love Andy Serkis as a motion-capture actor and even in the few live-action roles I have seen him in, but personally for me his take on an already established character like Tom Hardy's Venom blurs the lines of trying to honour the original concept Fleisher envisaged while also putting his own stamp on it and honestly that's where I feel Venom: Let There Be Carnage hits a snag.
It is still a Venom movie but because Carnage is in the title and is as much a fan-favourite character as Venom, it's almost as if the movie is divided into two, much like the Cletus/Carnage relationship, as opposed to working symbiotically like the Eddie/Venom relationship.
Overall the movie feels like the story is divided between the Eddie/Venom relationship and the Cletus/Carnage/Shriek relationship. This movie is very much about relationships, Eddie/Venom, Cletus/Carnage, Cletus/Francis, Carnage/Shriek and Eddie/Anne. Would I say it makes it an easy candidate for a romcom date movie? Well it depends on your idea of romance, because to me every relationship in this movie is a portrayal of anarchic and chaotic toxicity of relationships.
Moving away from the romance of it all, I felt the psychology of this movie was surprisingly sophisticated, not just in the nature v nurture argument of what makes a murderer, but also in how symbiotic relationships develop and depend on each other.
That being said, I cannot say the storytelling was as sophisticated as the first movie. The first movie was pretty straightforward, Eddie starts off high but then loses it all before becoming host to a targeted symbiote by an evil corporation who must learn to work together to defeat said evil corporation.
With this movie, the story is Cletus longing to reunite with his beloved, Eddie spiralling because of the revelation his ex is getting married and Venom wanting his freedom or to at least have an equal partnership with Eddie. None of these stories really all tie together by the end like the first movie did aside from how the Eddie/Venom relationship developed, but you could have easily taken out the Cletus/Francis relationship and just focus on the symbiotic relationships of host and symbiote as we now have two in this movie.
The main issue I think this movie will have though other than the stereotypical cartoon violence that comes with a non-R-Rated movie is that...the movie doesn't elevate itself from the first Venom. There's no real growth in the movie or the characters from the first movie and it does feel like the character development is simply recycled from the first movie.
But all of this bad is somewhat either saved or at least forgiven by the end credits scene which propels this version of Eddie Brock/Venom into the forefront of Marvel Movies characters more-so than I feel these two movies tried to do. It's a short scene and if you're not a follower of Marvel Movies at large you may not understand exactly what was going on, and I already had it ruined for me prior to seeing the movie because it came out at the start of the month, but it was still very exciting to see.
Cast:
Tom Hardy still continues to be very captivating in the dual role of Eddie Brock and Venom. I continue to be impressed by Hardy's voiceover work as Venom and the comedic superhero duo that Eddie Brock and Venom are becoming. I am however interested in the physiology of the symbiotes because I presumed from the first movie that it was a composite alien goo type substance that made up the symbiote being, but then there were times in this movie where it seems more solidified even when coming out of Eddie for a chat.
Woody Harrelson is such a delight to watch because I always feel confident he is going to accomplish what the character description needs from him. I've never seen Natural Born Killers but I've been told he is effectively playing a watered down version of that role, for me Harrelson plays psycho very well, for me personally though the Cletus Kasady I know I don't think went far enough in this movie.
Naomie Harris' Shriek meanwhile I don't think had a chance to go very far here unfortunately primarily because of her mutation power of sonic screaming being the kryptonite to her beloved Cletus once he "bonds" with Carnage. For that reason she doesn't shriek as much as I think fans would have hoped but she still has some good moments and surprisingly, probably because I've recently re-watched the entire Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, she was giving me throwbacks to her days as Tia Dalma aka Calypso with the dreads and the makeup and overall performance.
Michelle Williams and Reid Scott also return and again surprisingly have at least one really good moment each, Williams has a few to be fair probably because she is the main love interest to our heroes, or anti-heroes.
Then as for Stephen Graham, I would be intrigued about his story going forward if I could be safe in the knowledge this particular universe would be continuing.
Recommendation:
Overall I really am somewhat disappointed in how underwhelming this movie was. It was enjoyable, some great and fun moments and one or two tense scenes. But at large it didn't have the grandeur you want to see a sequel step up to particularly when the first Venom was so well received.
I would say see this movie for Tom Hardy and Woody Harrelson's performances, as well as Naomie Harris because for the little she's in she does very well with it. But with how elevated Marvel projects particularly are becoming, this movie is pretty much only useful for that end credits scene.
So those are my thoughts on Venom: Let There Be Carnage, what did you guy think? Post your comments and check out more Marvel Movie Reviews as well as other Movie Reviews and posts.
Movie Review: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Disclaimer: This is my non-spoiler review of Shang-Chi that I will be posting the day after I personally saw the movie which is the weekend following the movie's release. So if you haven't yet seen the movie do not read on until you do.
General Reaction:
This is what I want from my superhero origin movies! When your ad campaign promises me an MCU Mortal Kombat style movie I'm already hyped, but to add a flowing, action-packed and comedic origin story of a Marvel Comics character not that well known if at all to mainstream audiences...I've been a fan of Marvel for 20 something years now and have never heard of him until now...and suddenly I'm excited for the future of the MCU.
That's not to say the Disney+ shows haven't done well in setting up said future, not only with pending stories such as Secret Incasion and the imminent Multiverse of Madness fast approaching as well as the introduction of the Young Avengers, Dark Avengers/Thunderbolts and even old favourites from Marvel Movies and Television returning, but this is the first proper MCU Movie since Avengers: Endgame that not only teases the future but proposes the possible format for how MCU Movies may work going forward.
Without going into spoilers but if you've seen the trailers you know, while this is very much Shang-Chi's movie and rightfully so, there are one or two appearances from a couple of MCU favourites that don't contribute or assist in the main story, but do leave an impact that again does tease the future of this cinematic universe and thereby proposes an interesting theory.
Outside of Blade, all the movies lined up in Phase Four going forward are team up movies, from Eternals, to Doctor Strange 2 which we know will feature Spider-Men and Scarlet Witch to The Marvels which while being a Captain Marvel sequel will focus not only on Carol Danvers but also Monica Rambeau and Kamala Kahn.
So, with how certain returning characters are utilised in this movie, mainly in the end credits scene, and no official Avengers movie on the horizon, are we looking at a situation where already established characters will lend assists in these movies similar to Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Spider-Man: Homecoming?
Outside of my postulating what did I actually think of this movie? Honestly Shang-Chi is definitely in my top ten favourite MCU Movies, it has heart, it has comedy, it has action, it's a great script and the VFX are fantastic.
My favourite thing, as my friend who I saw it with said, was surprisingly the action sequences. Obviously with any comic-book movie the action sequences are important either from an choreography level or a VFX level but this movie marries these two elements in a somewhat unique way. There's often the metaphor in action movies how fighting is like a dance, well in this movie it definitely feels like watching well choreographed jiu-jitsu tangos for the most part. There is a lot of precision and elegance focused upon in how one style of fighting is presented as opposed to how the more aggressive other style is used.
It really becomes a question of offence vs defence and that age-old saying of the best offence being a good defence, in a martial sense heavy movie, the fact the fighting can provoke such a strong impact on me is job well done.
Cast:
I will say, outside of an Avengers movie, this is probably the first cast where I was heavily invested in all the major players of an MCU Movie.
Simu Liu's Shang-Chi and Awkwafina's Katy make for a rather compelling double-avt and definitely work better as friends, it is teased that there may be something more between them but honestly I would it if they just left it as them being best friends because we have romances between superhero and civilian with Cap & Peggy, Tony & Pepper, Thor & Jane, Peter & MJ...there's no harm in just having the leading man and his main supporting female friend just being that.
Tony Leung as Wenwu aka the Mandarin...honestly while a rather compelling and arguably sympathetic antagonist (not villain) is probably the one weak spot I would say I had with the movie if I had to pick one and that is probably only because after 13 years of being teased about the Ten Rings as a terrorist organisation and the Mandarin being this formidable big bad who was pretty much used as a scapegoat in 2012's Iron Man 3, I was just left underwhelmed as the movie went on with the direction he went in. Started off strong in the opening to the movie, but from when we are reintroduced to him in modern day, something was missing for me, maybe I would have kept his longer hair.
Meng' er Zhang and Michelle Yeoh I will clump together as while Zhang is featured throughout the movie both she and Yeoh are used most in the last hour of the movie and while both make strong impacts...they really don't have much to do other than being Shang-Chi's tethers to the good aspects of the past he's running away from.
As for those MCU returning players they are sprinkled brilliantly throughout this film with three in the main movie and two more in the first of two end credits scenes that I feel brilliantly reinforces the mystic, scientific and cosmic corners of the MCU.
Recommendation:
Alright so this is where I may divide opinions but, as I said, Shang-Chi is now in my top 10 favourite MCU Movies and for me after one viewing site in between Thor: Ragnorok and Black Panther in terms of my favourites making it my 4th/5th favourite and in terms of quality I would say this is up there with Black Panther in terms of representation of a culture and also Thor: Ragnarok/Guardians Vol. 2 in terms of feel goodness/whacky but wonderfulness. Honestly this is probably my second favourite movie of the year if not third after The Suicide Squad for me...Still not beating Cruella but that's more personal bias.
I will say this is my favourite MCU origin movie since Iron Man. I wouldn't class Spider-Man: Homecoming or Black Panther as "origin movies" as they're continuations to already introduced characters and this beats Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel and the Phase One slate for me.
So that's my non-spoiler review of Shang-Chi, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more MCU Movie Reviews as well as other movie reviews and posts.
Disclaimer: I am posting this review the day after the movie airs on Amazon Prime, so if you haven't yet seen it don't read on until you do.
General Reaction:
It is slightly weird to think of another movie studio taking on one of the classic fairy-tales that isn't Disney, because, as I am sure is the case for a large portion of the mainstream audience, Disney have almost claimed fairytale adaptations as their own.
However, as identified, Cinderella, is a fairy tale and one created long before Disney came about. As such, other studios are allowed to put across their own interpretation of these classic stories that we have seen a lot of times adapted at this point.
That being said, we have seen many different adaptations of Cinderella at this point from the classis Disney Animation version and it's live-action counterpart, to modern-day reworkings like A Cinderella Story of the mid-noughties starring Hilary Duff.
It's quite an easy story to tell and adapt to a variety of different settings, and what this 2021 retelling does with the story blends the old-fashioned with the modern. Does that mean it is set apart from the others? Well in my opinion yes and no.
While this is a Sony movie, it plays a lot like a Disney Channel Original Movie. From the comedy to the settings to the costuming and the music, it plays like the best of those types of movies. I'm talking the High School Musical franchise and the Descendants franchise. It is by no means bad or corny, but it isn't even on the level of the 2016 live-action Cinderella.
While that version was pretty much a straightforward live-action version of the original animated version, the style of the movie outweighed the substance.
Here however, there is a great blend of both style and substance. The story takes the classic elements of the original Cinderella fairy tale but tries to inject a modern and feministic twist that the recent live-action Beauty and the Beast tried to do.
In terms of whether this version of Cinderella stands out in the crowd of Cinderella movies, I would say it does. Not only is the titular character race-bent and the setting she is in seemingly plays into that, but the reworking of the Fairy Godmother as the Fab G as well as giving the Stepmother a more humanised backstory allows for a more compelling take on a classic.
Cast:
Because this is just the one all-in review I'm not going to do an in-depth character analysis and instead group the characters as who were my favourites, who did a passable job, who was bad and who were for some reason just there.
Favourites:
I have a top 3/4 favourite characters in this movie. Idina Menzel's Stepmother Vivian, Billy Porter's Fab G, Minnie Driver's Queen Beatrice and additionally Beverly Knight's Queen Tatiana.
Idina Menzel was always going to be fantastic in this movie, but to see her portray what is traditionally the villain character in the movie as a sympathetic character as part of the movie's feminist agenda was an interesting twist. No cat for a start, I don't know if Lucifer was a part of the original fairy tale but of course in the Disney adaptations Lady Tremaine is always accompanied by her faithful feline, but also the fact that her backstory parallels Ella's current story and the fact Vivian was so willing to have Ella reject her passion to do what is expected of her just as was forced on her was actually great motivation.
In truth I have only ever seen Billy Porter in one other thing aside from this movie and that was American Horror Story: Apocalypse. I have never seen Pose though I have heard good things, but from what I understand, Billy Porter only really has one speed. However, as the character's name states, that speed is fabulous. I loved Fab G in this movie, the fairy godmother is usually one of my favourite characters in the movie and every interpretation I have seen has brought something different and memorable. If this version of Cinderella is remembered for anything it will be for this very modernised take on the Fairy Godmother, not only gender-bending and race-bending a traditionally white female character, but with Porter choosing to make the character non-binary and that outfit speaks for itself, Fab G was simply a fabulous character.
In both Disney adaptations, I have never heard mention or reference to Prince Charming having a living mother...or a dead one for that matter. So to not only have the Queen being in a chunk of this movie, but also having her own story branch tying into the feminist agenda running through the movie and being portrayed by Minnie Driver, I was in love with this character.
Pretty much similar to the Fab G, if you've seen Beverly Knight's one second in the trailers you've pretty much seen her in the movie. She contributes to Ella's story in the movie and only appears in the latter half of the movie in 2 maybe 3 scenes but she makes an impact because she's Beverly Knight. My only gripe with her is she does not sing in the movie, you have Beverly Knight with not even a solo in a group number?
Passable:
Unfortunately the star of the movie Camilla Cabello is just passable in this movie as Cinderella. She does have some humour about her and her singing is great despite maybe being autotuned because I know how she can sing, but she doesn't feel like Cinderella to me, it actually feels more like a version of what Emma Watson was doing with Belle in the live-action Beauty and the Beast rather than Cinderella but at least she tried.
As for Nicholas Galitzine, he's definitely more engaging as a modern-day Prince Charming, Robert is definitely more engaging a character than Ella unfortunately, which to be fair is still good as the 2015 Cinderella is the only other adaptation to really make the Prince interesting, but I can't quite put my finger on exactly which movie it is but there is another movie I have seen where the Prince Regent doesn't want to be king but the Princess does and has to fight for her right to be it...that's pretty much this story for them.
Also Pierce Brosnan as the King, despite jokingly singing towards the end, did a great job at being the archetype of old-fashioned values with his on-screen wife Minnie Driver's queen pushing him into a modern-day thinking.
Bad:
As for who's bad, I have to say it pains but the British comic relief characters really let the side down in this movie.
In the three mice defence, Romesh Ranganathan and James Acaster are somewhat funny but unnecessary. James Corden however is abismal in this movie. I get he produces it, but particularly after Cats I do not understand 1) Why he'd want to portray another CG animal or 2) Ever think that one shot of him changing back from human to mouse with his head on a mouse body was funny...it was terrifying.
Also this movie is supposedly a family-audience movie...so why include a crass joke of Corden's character talking about peeing out of his front tail?
Additionally to the three mice, Rob Beckett has a surprising role in this movie as a potential suitor for Vivian's daughters, but he simply portrays such a creepy, cringe-worthy character it's almost uncomfortable to watch.
New Additions:
So as well as the two queens and the British comic relief there is also the addition of Princess Gwen to the movie who is the sister of the Prince and the one who wants to be ruler. It's kind of the same story as Jasmine's in the live-action Aladdin as wanting to be Sultan but being a woman isn't taken seriously, however here it is treated more comedically as every time there is a serious moment with the King trying to force Robert to grow up and be King, she always tries to interject with "Would this be a bad time to tell you about an actual real reason why I would be a good ruler" and they make sense but she's always dismissed until the very end.
Then there's a town crier, who is also inserted as a musical number while he's reading his proclamations but as a rap. Honestly I don't know Doc Brown as an artist but I did happen to enjoy what he contributed.
Music:
Which brings us on nicely to the music of the movie as this is a musical and I usually break down the songs. Again this time I will be doing groupings of best to worse.
Honestly my favourite number is probably "Shining Star" mostly performed by Billy Porter with verses by Camilla Cabello and, unfortunately, James Corden.
I also enjoyed the two original songs of the movie, "Million to One" which is Cabello's "I Want" song of the movie and used a lot through the movie, and then also "Dream Girl" which is Idina's main other song but also sung by basically the women of the movie, it's Idina Menzel if you don't give her an original song it's an insult.
Idina's other song is a cover of "Material Girl" and honestly it is a lot of fun, Nicholas Galitzine's rendition of "Somebody to Love" was also fun and surprising as I did not think this guy could sing that well.
The group numbers were fun and well choreographed but they are also somewhat forgettable. The song at the ball of "Whatta Man/Seven Nation Army" was probably the most memorable but still just mediocre.
Recommendation:
So with all that said, would I recommend watching Sony's Cinderella? Honestly I would say it is worth at least one viewing, and I do recommend watching all the way through just to get the full experience. I do think it will do better as a streaming movie than it would have done as a theatrical release, but I cannot pinpoint a market for this movie.
I don't think this will go down as one of the great adaptations, but there are moments and aspects of the movie that sets it apart from the crowd.
Overall I rate this movie a 7/10, it's not as fantastic as I feel the trailers were making it out to be, but having seen the movie twice there are definitely elements of the movie I looked forward to watching the second time around.
So that's my review of Sony's Cinderella, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Movie Reviews as well as other posts.
Spoiler Warning: I am posting this review the week leading up to the movie's release in the U.S, it has already been out for a week here in the U.K. so, if you haven't seen the movie yet then check out my non-spoiler review for a broad overview or do not read on until you have.
Polarising Opinions:
Thanks to having a week of U.K. reviews released and the U.S. reviews starting to surface more, I have noticed that while the majority of critics and fans are mostly positive about this movie, and I'm one of them, but there are also others that don't seem to either understand or appreciate some elements of what James Gunn and the actors involved tried to get across here...honestly I can see where they're coming from, but I feel if they're going to let these moments affect their overall enjoyment, it's a shame for them.
Vulgarity:
Firstly, as I said, there are crude jokes and moments of toilet humour, literally at one point when referring to Peacemaker's helmet, which don't seem on the same level as the more fantastical and bonkers humour the rest of the movie has.
Honestly, I feel that James Gunn is never going to be 100% everyone's taste, do I care for the "big bag of dicks" jokes or the "splooshing" comments? No, but honestly the crude humour has already been in the trailers and so if you've seen the trailers and are still offended in the movie then you are wanting to be offended by it.
Nothing But Death:
Secondly, yes there's a lot of death in this movie. Task Force X has two separate teams in the first act of the movie and Team 2 (I think) are mostly all wiped out by the times the opening credits are rolling. Obviously the main one to survive is Harley Quinn...because she's Harley Quinn. But as I said in my none spoiler review, the Suicide Squad lives up to it's name in this movie and the majority of the members may as well have been wearing red shirts.
But it's not just them, the animal death in this movie is ridiculous. I have never so much bird death before I mean come on...and they don't ease you into it. The opening scene of the movie sees Michael Rooker's Savant bouncing a ball around the yard and making a trick shot that purposely kills a canary whose blood he then wipes on his leg like it's nothing.
Now granted, another bird gets vengeance later when Savant dies and it starts picking out his innards, but then there is an entire avory burned alive by the new president of Corto Maltese after the original president is killed because they're deemed a sign of weakness. I have never wanted to know what the sound of birds in pain sound like and now I know it will never leave me.
Political Commentary:
I don't get political, I feel particularly in a comic-book movie if you can subtly inject a political theme mixed in with the comic-book genre like Captain America does and even make it a political thriller like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, then great. However, there is some political commentary in this movie that isn't necessarily out of place, but it is so hammered in particularly in the third act that I do feel if you don't care for politics whatsoever it will make you hate politics even more.
Firstly, Starro is an extra-terrestrial weapon captured, tortured and engineered by the Thinker on behalf of the Corto Malteseans to use specifically against China, Russia and America. If Corto Maltese is supposed to be South American then obviously this is political warfare and honestly nuclear warfare as Starro is capable of enslaving and massacring.
But taking away the big gun that is Starro, the evidence of what the American government sanctioned to keep Starro secret, and knowing that Waller knew about it and enlisted Peacemaker to intercept the evidence to ensure it never got out to the public, speaks to the corruption within not just American government but the government in general.
As I said in my non-spoiler, the fact that fight came down to two All-Americans with Rick Flag on the side of good and Peacemaker on the side of corruption, but in the end the team members left standing were all portrayed by non-Americans, Idris Elba = British, Margot Robbie = Australian and Daniela Melchior = Portugease...even Sly Stallone who is half-Italian, who all decided to turn a blind eye to the American corruption and bargain with American corruption (Amanda Waller) to their advantage, that's the political intrigue in this movie.
It gets so dark at one point, and some of the imagery both on screen and commentary wise is actually quite upsetting that I can see why this is a hot button topic for this movie.
Characters:
So those are the main issues with the movie, now we move onto characters...and there are a lot so strap in. As usually, this will be in order of my favourites and some I will be grouping because of how many there are.
Harley Quinn:
I believe I put Harley as my favourite in the first Suicide Squad and honestly my opinion of her has never really wavered. Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn is as brilliant a casting to me as Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. While they may not be the exact casting you think of when you see these characters in the comics, you can't imagine anyone else portraying them as well as they do.
The Suicide Squad and James Gunn had the best handling of Harley Quinn that I have seen portrayed in live-action. Not only did I feel that her look incorporated elements of most Harley interpretations that have come before, but her first look which resembled her base Injustice 2 look, is probably my favourite Harley look.
And I loved her Suicide Squad look, I felt it was a great reimagining of the character and Margot Robbie looked incredible in it, but it has been so oversaturated at this point with Halloween and cosplays that I'm glad they reworked it.
Also I love the message on the back of her jacket "Live Fast Die Clown", amazing. I was quite sad when it clearly got disused after becoming disgusting in that hole.
Her "princess" look, worked well if Harley Quinn was going to be a princess, but it's Harley freakin' Quinn why is she being given a princess makeover?
On that note, why is this the third movie of seeing Harley Quinn and she is still effectively being defined by how men view her? The first Suicide Squad was setting up that Joker/Harley dynamic, but then Birds of Prey was not only about how she rebounded from that break up but also how Black Mask viewed her...now here we have this Corto Maltease president who wants her to effectively be his queen, but then she has to kill him because he says something bad (about how children die for the sake of Starro) and gives this big speech about how she's been mistreated by men.
I'm with her on that don't get me wrong, but Harley isn't all about her romantic entanglements, she can also just be the wild card.
On that note, they did utilize her as a wild card somewhat in this movie, not only because she was on Team 2 before running away and eventually joining the main team, but also the fact that Harley is absent for portions of this movie and only really joins the action in the third act, she does her own thing a lot of this movie.
Also, in promo material we see her with what I thought was a spear while she's in her second outfit, turns out how she got that javelin via Flula Borg's Javelin as he's dying was actually one of my favourite moments because originally it seemed like she was really mourning his death but in actuality she tries to wake him up because he doesn't finish saying what she needs to use the javelin for, it's hilarious.
And when she actually does figure out why she was meant to use the javelin for, I was actually quite impressed because I did not see it coming. The fact she used the javelin to pole-vault into Starro's eye and enters it like a swimming pool, I absolutely loved it.
A lot of my favourite scenes actually came from Harley, not only was her comedy on point, but her manic wild card behaviour has been my favourite from any of her movies, I loved her confusion with how to say the term for citizens of Corto Maltese.
Her action scenes, particularly her escape from her torture chamber were fantastic. I fully understand how that entire sequence of her slicing the guards apart with an explosion of flowers was pretty much her mind, it did call back to that Birds of Prey police station scene with the smoke canisters which is one of my favourite sequences from that movie also. It was all brilliant.
I don't know where Harley Quinn is going to go from here, I did see reports of Margot Robbie wanting a break from the character, which is understandable but I hope Margot Robbie studies this movie's portrayal and brings on James Gunn for her next outing as the character because everything about this movie worked for her.
Ratcatcher 2:
Breakout performance of the movie for me was Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2. Not only did I love how they explained why it was Ratcatcher 2 and not simply Ratcatcher, and that one scene explaining her relationship with her father portrayed by Taika Watiti in that beautiful flashback sequence was one of the biggest emotional moments of the movie.
I've always loved rats, since I was a child I have wanted a pet rat but ended up getting a hamster and then a gerbil because my mother refused to let a rat in the house no matter how domesticated. So the fact people are saying how this movie gave them a new appreciation for rats isn't exactly the same for me, but now I love rats more because of the respect they get in this movie.
And yes, just to mention what I said before about the bird massacre in this movie, it's comes to something when rats are treated better than birds.
I also don't know if Ratcatcher 2 was meant to be portrayed as a narcoleptic because she did seem to sleep a lot, however I really enjoyed those moments because it humanises the character. Most of Task Force X are supposed to be villains if not anti-villains, and yes Cleo was a criminal and trained her rats to commit crimes, but Ratcatcher 2 is probably the most redeemable member of Task Force X this time around. She just never seemed to enjoy villainy and instead had that bad bitch quality to her that was only eclipsed by Harley Quinn.
I loved the surrogate father/daughter relationship that she developed with Idris Elba's BloodSport because she lost her father and he was only on this mission for his daughter so the fact they found each other and BloodSport managed to overcome his fear/hatred of rats because of her was really sweet, and they're actually probably my favourite partnership from this movie.
Speaking of rats, if James Gunn brought in Weasel to try and give the movie that Baby Groot/Baby Yoda quality...he should have really focused on Sebastian because as much as Ratcatcher 2 was the breakout character of the movie, she did have assistance from this little guy because he was adorable. I loved his little vest/harness that separated him from the other rats.
Bloodsport:
Idris Elba does not get enough credit for the brilliance that he brings to the screen. I haven't seen Luther but the clips I've seen I love him in, I thought he was good as Heimdall in the MCU despite not having much to do, Cats was a let down and if I wanted to see a full-frontal nude Idris it should not be in CG fur but.
Here though, he is fantastic. I don't know Bloodsport that well so I am still struggling to understand how he is basically not Deadshot other than the fact he can apparently create weapons out of anything whereas Deadshot can't, but he has a daughter, they both have suits with helmets, they both like guns and they both had a rivalry with another alpha male in the group.
Speaking of, the dynamic between BloodSport and Peacemaker was both reminiscent of Deadshot v Rick Flag in the first Suicide Squad, but also probably the only good thing about Peacemaker in this movie in that it gave Bloodsport that foil to banter with and allow comparisons between the two. Both characters have that All-American feel to them, but Bloodsport has a vigilante justice to his methods whereas Peacemaker is clearly corrupt American values.
As I mentioned with Ratcatcher 2, I really enjoyed the dynamic between these two characters. Not only do I feel they helped humanise each other but the journey BloodSport went on from hating rats to coming around to stroking Sebastian in the final moments of the movie was really fun to see.
I do feel Bloodsport has much more to give in the DCEU and there is an element of show and tell with how he took out Superman with a Kryptonite Bullet, I would love to have maybe seen a flashback with a Superman cameo equivalent to how the first Suicide Squad had those mini origins scenes introducing the main characters.
I would also love this to be Idris Elba's staple character, because he does deserve it and I feel he earns it in this movie. I also didn't know that I've seen a version of Bloodsport before in the CW's Supergirl.
The Thinker:
I was so happy with how Peter Capaldi was handled in this movie. It would have been so easy for Thinker to have been a throwaway gag character or one of the red shirts from the beginning with how he looked particularly with those nodes in his head which weren't symmetrical and annoyed me to hell.
However, only really being used in the second act, Capaldi was Thinker for me. I've seen Thinker before in The Flash on the CW, but I never really liked the character because of how overpowered he was. Here however, he was a supervillain, he was the smartest guy in the room and he was a somewhat sadistic individual. There was no real redeemability to the character, but there wasn't really meant to be considering he was the one who captured and experimented on Starro.
But particularly because of how Capaldi portrayed his version of The Doctor in Doctor Who, I felt he already had that cold and calculated personality that The Thinker is supposed to have.
He sought refuge in a foreign country and used it to his advantage in building a weapon off the radar. Obviously he's not really the main villain of the movie because that is Starro and Waller is also a contender for that title and ultimately they are all villains, but Thinker didn't feel out of place.
I will say though his death, being literally torn apart by Starro as revenge for being captive and tortured for years, his final plea was somewhat horrifying and speaks to that theme of corruption.
Captain Boomerang:
Yes Boomerang is high on this list despite only being in the movie for about 20 minutes with very few lines, and yes this is complete bias for me because I love the character and Jai Courtney as an actor. But I do have a lot to say about the character and honestly every character that follows I don't overly care about in this movie.
But yes, Boomerang is only in that first act which sets up the main team of the movie by wiping out the other team, and unfortunately Boomerang is one of the red shirts who dies so the other team can thrive.
My favourite moments with Boomerang are his interactions with Harley and Savant, the fact Savant looks menacing but Boomerang was just jokingly flirting with him was hilarious.
I was really sad when Boomerang died, but fortunately it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the movie because that scene on the beach was so bonkers and so action-packed that you have no real time to mourn other than when the camera slowly goes over the remains of the bodies.
On that note, Boomerang's hand sticking out the sand clenching his boomerang was a very sad visual.
It's also worth noting that with all three Harley Quinn appearances, Boomerang has been featured in some capacity, which is interesting because in Suicide Squad the two of them butted heads, or at least Harley rubbed Boomerang up the wrong way in that bar scene.
But also in Birds of Prey, Boomerang's picture is seen in the GCPD with Harley noting how she knows him.
So that line of dialogue between the two of them at the start when Boomerang asked why Harley is back in prison and she says about getting road rage in a bar was a really sweet line.
I do feel there's an element of honouring the source material from James Gunn with including Captain Boomerang in this movie, because Captain Boomerang was an original member of the Suicide Squad as a team, but I also loved having that carry on from the first movie because I enjoy the first movie.
Rick Flag:
Unlike Boomerang, I didn't actually care for Rick Flag in the first Suicide Squad movie. However here, maybe because of Gunn's influence, Joel Kinnaman goes from simply being Mr. Exposition to the field commander of the team.
Probably because Flag and Harley are the only two members of the first team that survived the onslaught, and both are taken off the board for a large chunk of the movie. Maybe he isn't as annoying because he isn't as focused on and there isn't that soppy torn apart lover element with him and June...where is June by the way? No one cares.
I also found it interesting how the relationship between Flag and Waller in this movie was completely different to the first movie. He was no longer her manipulated army man, that was Peacemaker, here he is his own being who has more respect for the team I feel, and who I think got respect from the team this time around. Not only did Harley call him her friend but he was on the side which was morally the right side with Bloodsport and Ratcatcher 2 against Waller and Peacemaker who were all for keeping this corruption secret. Flag saw that Starro was killing children and that was was his cut off point.
That whole fight sequence with Peacemaker over trying to secure the drive containing information of the American corruption of Starro was probably the only time I have had any respect for Flag and it unfortunately came moments before his death.
I was rooting for Flag to win that fight and for actual justice to prevail but sadly at that point it did not.
As I mentioned in my non-spoiler review, there was one moment of gore in the movie when I had to look away, and that was when Peacemaker stabbed Flag in the chest with that metal and it pierced his heart and you see it...I had to look away because while visually it was arresting, it was just so gross.
I was really sad when Flag died, not just because it demonstrated how corruption can overpower justice but also because I really really hated Peacemaker at that point. But again, aside from that entire fight scene and the moments with the Maltese resistance woman I do not remember what he did in this movie.
King Shark:
Since seeing the animated Batman: Assault on Arkham movie which was the springboard for the original Suicide Squad being greenlit, I have wanted to see a live-action King Shark as part of Task Force X. While I appreciate finally seeing that and seeing how alike he is to the comics, The Flash TV series and the Harley Quinn animated series minus the vocabulary, it was definitely interesting to see.
Especially as the first Suicide Squad movie had Killer Croc, obviously the VFX budget may not stretch to both characters in one movie, I definitely preferred Killer Croc.
That's not to say King Shark was a bad character, Sylvester Stallone definitely portrayed him as a simpleton but he at least had some good lines and got a couple of laughs.
I did like the transition of trying to eat Ratcatcher 2 but then becoming friends with her. However, because of his simpleness I do feel that he makes friends easily which I thought led to his downfall near the end with with those weird rainbow jellies with razor teeth.
I'm not entirely sure how he survived other than having his really thick skin because there was so many times, similar to Black Widow where I definitely believed they would have died. The only different between Natasha and Nanue is Nanue has a shark physique.
Polka-Dot Man:
How many times now have we seen David Dastmalchian in a comic-book property? I'm talking The Dark Knight, Ant-Man, Gotham, The Flash, Batman: The Long Halloween and now here? Honestly I still don't know what to make of this character and there are many pros and cons to him.
I guess this is a matter of taste and how people feel about the actor, because the actor is very much in his element in this movie and if anyone was to tell me that Polka-Dot Man was going to be an intriguing character in this movie, I would not have believed you.
I thought that Polka-Dot Man's powerset was beautifully realised on screen, though I did think the different polka-dot colours would have done different things, but the fact it was effectively a skittle explosion was just visually stunning.
I did also enjoy how after his mother's experimentation turning him into a metahuman, the negative side-effects were that the polka-dots infected his body bringing him out in polka-dot hives which if he didn't expel would consume and kill him...that was rather powerful stuff and definitely a reason for being driven insane.
It's also a reason for why he hates his mother, but that portrayal of us seeing his mother as various different characters including Task Force X and Starro was extremely weird bordering on horrifying.
His death was sudden and somewhat sad, but he had his superhero moment and so he went out on a high which was good for him.
Amanda Waller:
Waller surprisingly had nothing to do in this movie, she was in at the start and the end but was missing for a huge portion of it, and when she was on-screen she did practically nothing.
Her directing the team at the start and going full Wall on Savant and almost casually listening to all her members dying, was very good and Viola Davis sold it well.
But then that ending, she went absolutely insane to the point where she was basically screeching having lost control of her subordinates and was about to nuke all four of her remaining team members...but then gets knocked out by one of her employees and doesn't get her revenge on that? Instead she just accepts it?
She's Amanda Waller, it's Viola Davis, in the last movie she is literally about ready to blow up everyone but is open to negotiation due to the team saving her but still isolates Boomerang for talking back to her, that is the bad bitch that the Wall should be...but here she is deemed a pushover.
Weasel:
This character is creepy, Weasel is creepy, there is nothing about this character that I would deem either funny or good or anything positive.
In fact I have one positive, he died...but that was taken away at the very end when it turns out he survived and he just ran off very creepily.
Honestly there were moments where Weasel's noises and movements reminded me of Scrat from Ice Age, but Scrat was at least funny and honestly cute.
The funniest thing about Weasel was when the team didn't know what he was and Harley mistook him for a werewolf and Blackguard freaked out...it was the funniest thing and he was still creepy during it, made even creepier when Flag confirmed who he was and the fact he murdered numerous children...he's creepy.
I get he was portrayed by Sean Gunn, and I know Sean Gunn provides motion-capture and often has a role in his brother's movies, but much like Rocket in Guardians if I didn't know Sean was Weasel, I wouldn't care.
At least in the MCU, Sean both motion captures Rocket and portrays Kraglin so you get to see multiple layers to his acting, here he motion-captures Weasel and portrays what I'll call "Belle Reve Inmate #1" because he's the only inmate who isn't named that has lines.
Overall, not a good character, creepy as hell, never want to see him again.
Peacemaker:
Hate, hate, hate, hate, HATED this character. I have never cared for John Cena but considering he is one of those actors that transitioned from wrestling to acting I guessed I was not in the demographic of fans who are supposed to like him. I like Dwayne Johnson fine enough but John Cena and Dave Bautista are two actors that I just don't like, and for some reason James Gunn keeps hiring them.
Outside of that, Peacemaker is a terrible character. Anyone that says they like this character after seeing this movie needs therapy or a serious word with themselves because anyone who views this guy as a role model or a great guy, even a good guy, needs their head testing.
I have never understood or liked John Cena's acting, but I appreciate those who do. I cannot understand why or how Cena or his management thought this was a good role for him, this is a horrible role. Peacemaker is a horrible person. Not redeemable in any stretch of the imagination, not even likeable. I did not laugh once at his jokes, there is nothing about his character that I can say was good, his character not only makes some terrible decisions but if he honestly and truly believes what he was spouting in this movie he is not only deranged but he's a sociopath.
I did not overly care for Rick Flag but I was raging at the cinema when Peacemaker killed him, because again it was that element of corruption winning over justice and the big guy or school bully whaling on the little guy because, let's be real, compared to John Cena Joel Kinnaman isn't exactly well built.
But then he went on to Ratcatcher 2 and I was ready to throw anything I could get my hands on at the screen if he had actually killed her, I was so hoping that when Bloodsport fell down on that collapsed degree that he would eventually fall on top of Peacemaker, but to be fair that ending battle between the two of them was very satisfying.
See that's a positive I can say but it's not directed at Peacemaker. I felt every time I liked a scene with Peacemaker it was also with Bloodsport as they were effectively comparing their sizes by seeing who's the better killer.
It's made clear why they're both on the team, Waller wanted someone like Bloodsport who she could control, she can't control Bloodsport but she can control Peacemaker.
I don't understand why Peacemaker is getting his own series off the back off this. How does anyone watch this movie and think "Oh yes, Peacemaker is the character we need to see more of"? Give me a Ratcatcher series exploring the origins of father and daughter with Taika Watiti, give me a King Shark series, a Polka-Dot Man origin series, a series with any of those characters in the opening battle aside from Weasel to flesh them out more...any character realistically in this movie aside from Peacemaker is worthy of their own series...I'm done with Peacemaker, I don't want to see Peacemaker again because even if they can somehow make what he did in this movie non-canon because let's face it if anyone can DC can, but I don't see a future for this character at all and I've actually never felt that about a character in any comic-book property before.
Team 2:
Alright so aside from Captain Boomerang, Weasel, Harley and Flag, I'm just going to give a brief overview of the team on the beach at the start of the movie.
I did not actually know any of the remaining characters, I have an idea who Mongul is but he's from Young Justice and here she's Mongal...and all she did was die.
TDK (The Detachable Kid) had that great reveal line of yes that's his name and also the VFX of him actually detaching his arms was very impressive.
Javelin and Blackguard had the same presence for me, Javelin had that moment with bequeefing his javelin to Harley before dying and Blackguard had that funny scene on the plane with Weasel and then the reveal he was a double agent before literally getting his face blown off but neither left that great an impact.
As for Savant, I've pretty much said all there is about him, he killed a bird and got his head blown off for being a deserter which led to him being eaten by a bird. It's Michael Rooker, he's James Gunn's friend, i would maybe have liked to have seen him interact with Weasel for that synergy with the Guardians movies, but he was still good.
ARGUS:
As for ARGUS and I'm guessing this is ARGUS that was mission control for Task Force X, I was quite surprised by the fact it was pretty much a team of actors who all know James Gunn.
Jennifer Holland portrayed Emelia Harcourt and is currently dating James Gunn while Steve Agee I not only mistook for Nick Frost but also played the physician man as well as the physical form of King Shark.
If James Gunn comes back for another movie I would not complain about seeing them return again.
Overall I rate this movie 9/10, I cannot rank it higher than Cruella, because honestly I enjoyed the movies the same, but Cruella has a special place in my heart. But I did really really love this movie. The acting was fantastic, the music was fantastic, the cinematography is fantastic, I love most of the characters and like the majority of the rest, I will see this movie again, I just will say there's a couple of elements I can't forgive in the movie.
So that's my spoiler review for The Suicide Squad, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more DC Movie Reviews as well as other Movie Reviews and posts.
Disclaimer: James Gunn has stated in interviews that everything in this movie is a spoiler, for that reason this non-spoiler review will strive as much as it can not to go into spoiler territory and instead give a vague overview...so if you have not or cannot see the movie yet then don't read on until you do.
General Reaction:
Here's something I never thought I'd say, James Gunn's The Suicide Squad is the best DCEU movie to date and honestly rivals Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight for in terms of the DC movie I personally think is the best...I'm not even joking, it was just that good.
I was actually crying during the final third of this movie, not just because of how emotional the movie got, but they were welling up tears of joy and I could feel myself grinning most of the way through. I've never really taken note of how emotionally invested I have been during a movie but honestly throughout I was cheering, laughing, egging the characters on. I was as invested as I'm sure sports people are with watching sports.
On the subject of emotion I will say this, if you have favourite characters going into this movie, do not get attached because the body count in The Suicide Squad is so high, and not just with humans, that every time I knew I was liking a character I was then left very sad when they died until the start of that final third when I just stopped saying "I like this character...oh wait they're dead!".
As predicted, because it was reported, the first 30 minutes of the movie is about establishing our main cast and team while culling the huge ensemble cast that may as well have all been wearing red shirts...and some of these characters were great, I posted a minor #emoji review on twitter and one of those characters who were fridged early on is in that review because they were one of my favourites going in.
That's all about that I can really say without going into spoiler territory buy on the whole this cast of characters actually surpasses both the Guardians of the Galaxy movies and the first Suicide Squad for me.
Also, for me at least, it was a little confusing going into this movie wondering if this was a sequel to the 2016 Suicide Squad movie or a soft reboot or reimagining. Based on the fact some of the cast are the same and there are one or two references to previous movies, I'd say it's the same. My logic is, as long as Margot Robbie is Harley Quinn it's the same timeline from Suicide Squad to Birds of Prey and now this.
But yes this is a James Gunn movie, and in truth I have not really cared for James Gunn movies in the past outside of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, didn't really care for the first outside of it being a Marvel movie. But if he was allowed to go full Gunn with The Suicide Squad, I want more of this!
Because I don't really know Gunn's work outside of the superhero genre, I couldn't really tell if some of the notable similarities to the Guardians movies here were Gunnisms or Gunn-Superheroisms, but the music playing over the Warner Bros/DC intro reminded me of Guardians and pretty much anytime there was an old school song playing over a scene, but then surprisingly Gunn does right by his female characters in this movie.
Not just the Suicide Squad members either, there are minor civilians focused on at times in this movie and all three of them along with Amanda Waller have their moments to shine here...compare that to Guardians where the deadliest woman in the galaxy is outmatched by Mantis and it's definitely a step in the right direction for female representation.
But yes there are some Gunnisms I recognise that over here in the U.K. warrant the 15 rating which I think translates to an R-rating in the U.S, and the few but notable crude jokes that are Disneyfied in Guardians but are clearly there anyway.
Speaking of that 15/R-rating, I'm not sure how it works in other countries but in the U.K. with the rating slide that comes up it says "Contains XYZ" which is why it earns that specific rating. For this movie it was a 15 and one of the reasons why it was a 15 is because of gore...to which I just thought "Oh okay, so more heads exploding than the one we had in the first?"
No! There is that, but there is gore, I mean bloody, bloody, at one point having to look away because I may have thrown up otherwise gore! Without spoilers, I won't go say specifically the scene but I will say it involves a confrontation between the two All-Americans in the movie...that's all I'm saying.
Speaking of All-American, the latter half of this movie definitely goes into the corruption of America and it is somewhat political but doesn't bang you over the head with it like Black Widow did for example. It's a great commentary on American corruption and speaking as a Brit about a movie that 99% of the time takes place in, where I'm guessing is South America with Corto Maltease, I want more of this type of political commentary in superhero movies. The Captain America movies were that type of political thriller that honestly aspects of this movie was particularly towards the end.
In all, the action, the drama, the comedy (minus a couple of Gunnisms which I will actually allow) and the cinematography were on point in this movie. The cinematography and how they deal with some transitions between scenes and character interactions were honestly phenomenal, and I never thought I would say that about a James Gunn movie.
Cast:
I've said realistically all I can say about the cast without going into spoilers. James Gunn himself has said that everything in The Suicide Squad is a spoiler and honestly 98% of the movie is definitely spoiler territory. What you have seen in the trailers may feel like a large chunk of the movie, but it doesn't even scratch the surface.
The only thing I will say about who is main or focal and who isn't is, while this is very much an ensemble cast and no one character steals the show or takes centre stage like the first one did with Harley Quinn and Deadshot, here everyone has their time to shine as I said but I will say...look at the main movie posters, not the character ones but the actual promo movie ones, to know who are the focus characters in the movie...that's all I'll say.
But overall every actor is perfectly cast, both the returning cast and new cast. I did not know two thirds of these characters going into the movie. Basically if they weren't the ones who came over from the first Suicide Squad, or Thinker and King Shark, I didn't know who they were prior to this movie.
I also knew a little bit about Starro from Young Justice but I can pretty much guarantee that for what is a kid-friendly animated series, they would not have done what Gunn does with Starro in this movie because he/it/they is terrifying...nightmare fuel, honestly I was expecting to think this character was going to be laughable CGI that would be almost like Star-Lord v. Ronan dance-off in the first Guardians of the Galaxy in terms of stupidity which I hated, but this was, as I said, terrifying and you'll see why because it's genuinely nightmare fuel for me in those scenes.
Recommendation:
I am fully aware this movie is available in America...or will be...simultaneously in theaters and HBOMax. I cannot stress this enough, see The Suicide Squad in cinemas if you can. COVID safety aside there is no reason to not see this in cinemas if you are available to get there. The Suicide Squad demands to be seen on as big of a screen as possible.
I honestly can't say anything bad about the acting, the music, the action, the story, everything is so good. That's not me being biased because I would only be biased for certain characters and actors in this movie, but I'm a Marvel boy at heart.
In terms of my enjoyment and my emotional engagement with a movie, this is up there with X-Men: Days of Future Past and Cruella for me. I'm not going to say this is better than them because those two resonate personally with me whereas, having only seen this movie once, it is very much adrenaline fuelling me at the moment like first viewing Mad Max: Fury Road, which I also love, but it's up there as one of my favourite movies so far this year with Cruella.
That's all I can really say without spoilers, I know I have said a lot but at the same time I have waffled and tried not to delve too much into spoiler territory but that is why I put the disclaimer at the top of the review in case I do.
I am so fortunate I have given myself a mental week this week away from dissertation work to recentre myself after last week, because I will now have time to do a spoiler review as this is a movie that demands a spoiler review.
So that's my review for The Suicide Squad, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more DC Movie Reviews as well as other movie reviews and posts.
First of all it was such a joy to finally see the Marvel Studios logo reel finally back on the big screen fanfare and all.
This isn't the first movie I have seen since restrictions have lifted, that was Cruella, but because 1) I'm trying to be cautious of funds and staying safe during a pandemic as well as 2) Trying to complete an MA Dissertation, I'm limiting the number of movies I see. I still refuse to pay PVOD or Premier Access to see them at home because I do want to support cinemas but also I've seen every Marvel Movie since Iron Man 2 on the big screen and wanted to continue that tradition.
But honestly I was in two minds about how urgent it was for me to see Black Widow as soon as it came out, not only because it has been so long since this movie should have been released to actually released that if I really wanted to know about the movie I could just read spoilers online, but also because of the fact we know Black Widow Natasha is dead present day as of Endgame so is it necessary to see this movie to further immerse myself in the MCU? I'll get to that answer with my recommendation for the movie but honestly I think every Marvel Movie, and now TV series, is worth seeing as soon as you can.
It's interesting that friends of mine who saw that I had seen the movie were asking my opinion and recommendation for it, because again it's that hesitation of is really worth seeing or is there nothing new to it. I don't know if that will hurt the movie down the line but I also think there are other factors to also hinder this movie from succeeding as well as some others have.
But both as an MCU fan and just as a Black Widow fan in general who has loved Scarlett Johansson's performances in this role since her debut in Iron Man 2, it was so great to finally see her take centre stage in a genre appropriate setting to boot.
Black Widow is almost akin in genre to the Captain America movies, but while the Russo Brothers turned that trilogy into a political thriller, this is rooted in the spy genre and it is glorious from that perspective.
That being said, this is far from a perfect movie. I compare it to the Captain America movies because Black Widow is in that world of spy, war and espionage, but I guess because Natasha herself as a character isn't one of "the big ones" to quote Yelena, we'll get to Yelena, that maybe the scope of this movie is smaller because of it. Which is daft when you consider this movie still is a globetrotting adventure with both North America and Europe involved.
I am still waiting for the female-led action movie that perfectly balances it's female and male cast involvements. For me Atomic Blonde came close, and Black Widow as a character in the MCU has great involvement with male characters like Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Hulk and Nick Fury. However, with only a handful of male characters in this movie against the, I'll say it, army of female characters, the men do fall short and are either treated as throwaway supporting or forgettable.
Also, in keeping with MCU tradition, this movie will probably suffer due to its villain problem. Leading up to Avengers: Infinity War with the formal appearance of Thanos we started getting some great villains in the MCU, Hela, Vulture, Killmonger, Ghost, Ego even Dormammu. All of these were very interesting villains and compelling villains despite not lasting past one movie.
But there are two main villains in this movie and while both make themselves indispensable to this Black Widow's character development in the MCU, one of them is underdeveloped while the other is the early MCU trope of Man in Suit.
Taskmaster had great anticipation leading up to the character's debut in this movie, even going so far as to be the villain in the recent PS4 game...but I do strongly feel, as I have said to some that have asked, that the success or failure of this movie will rest on how people react to Taskmaster in this movie.
In terms of action sequences, the character is fantastic and every time there is a fight on screen Taskmaster is electric. But in terms of character development, it's almost like the creatives want us to be invested enough to wait for another appearance, but without giving us reason to be interested now why wait?
Speaking of character development, while this movie definitely focuses more on Natasha's personal dramas more-so than we have seen in past movies, the real highlights are when she is interacting with her "family" in this movie. Particularly her dynamic with Florence Pugh's Yelena. I believe their sisters and, despite the obvious fact that Natasha is dead, I genuinely want to see more of this dynamic.
But how does this movie fit in with the MCU dynamic? Are there connections, is it a must-see in timeline order?
I would say if you do chronologically binge the franchise then this does slot in rather well between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, to the point where the movie is nicely bookended to the point where you know which movie Natasha has just stepped out of and which movie she is about to step into, but outside of that there are no real MCU connections, it feels more like it's own thing.
It's not quite Doctor Strange level of disassociation from the larger universe, but it is somewhat Iron Man 3. I do feel this movie will draw a lot of comparisons to Iron Man 3 based on the movie's reveals, build-up and potential let down.
Cast:
I've spoken about the two main stars a couple of times already but Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh are the most exciting and fully-rounded aspects of this movie. ScarJo finally gets her time to shine as the leading lady and, despite Gal Gadot, Brie Larson and even Elizabeth Olsen have had their chances before the original female to do so, she still reminds us all why we wanted a Black Widow solo movie all those years ago.
Florence Pugh I have never seen in a project before, but the hype and anticipation of this character for this movie was fascinating to me and she did not disappoint. If Joel Fry's Jasper was the heart of Cruella, then Pugh's Yelena Belova is definitely the heart of this movie. She is very much the little sister to Natasha here but you never feel she's being carried. She's funny, she's current, she's cool and she can hold her own in an action sequence opposite ScarJo who has had multiple movies now to perfect her craft.
As for the parents of this movie, David Harbor and Rachel Weisz...I'll start with Harbor. Much like Pugh I have never seen him really in a performance, but I know about his following through Stranger Things and can't quite believe this is the same actor from that. He is such a goofball and with a character like Red Guardian, Harbor's performance instead comes across almost like satire rather than complex which I feel the character should have been.
Then with Rachel Weisz, I loved her in the first two Mummy movies and have seen her in projects since like The Favourite, but honestly here you could take both her and Harbor out and not really affect the story. They were not really needed and, despite both their characters in the comics being villains, nothing really sinister about them, or at least nothing that is truly developed.
Recommendation:
I mentioned this at the top of the review, but I would recommend seeing this movie at least once but twice to give it a fair shake. There are some great aspects about this movie particularly in the first two thirds of the movie, the final act is where the movie lets itself down and why maybe repeat viewing isn't going to be as heavy as other Marvel Movies, but there are positives to take away...largely with Florence Pugh's Yelena.
So that's my non-spoiler review of Black Widow, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Marvel Movie Reviews as well as other Movie Reviews and posts.
Spoiler Warning: I am posting this review the week following the release of the movie both in cinemas and on Disney+, so if you still haven’t yet seen the movie, don’t read on until you do.
Cruella:
As I said in my non-spoiler review, Emma Stone is fabulous in this role. It is by far and away the best role I have ever seen her in. Not only is she funny like we all know she is but she’s dramatic, she’s intense, she can be somewhat scary and she knows how to carry off a look.
As well as the big extravagant fashionista moments that we all know Cruella for, Emma Stone also really sells the quieter more dramatic moments, scenes that are just dialogue can usually be dull without anything going on, but those scenes here majorly with Estella talking to the Regents Park fountain as a representation of her mother, those scenes really work.
That’s not to say that there are no slow scenes in this movie, but Emma Stone is never involved in them, instead her child counterpart Tipper Seifert-Cleveland unfortunately is. Not only do I not really believe this child grows up into Emma Stone, but also something about her actions never said Cruella to me.
Even the scenes of Estella designing and collaborating on her fashion ideas with either the Baroness or Artie are still fantastic scenes.
I did really feel for her in the scene when Catherine who was believed to be her mother died, and she straight after met Jasper and Horace, those were really good scenes. But young Estella for me never quite worked.
When she did become Emma Stone however she hit the ground running. Not only did I really enjoy the heist movie angle that the three criminals were part of throughout, not just that opening montage, but also this movie did a great job at exploring how you can choose your family while escaping from the family you are born into.
Also on a side-note, Emma Stone went through so many fashions and so many wigs in this movie that I can only imagine the fun she and costuming had bringing these looks to life.
I also enjoyed how this movie took the time to show not only Estella trying to respect her dead mother’s wishes and be hardworking towards her dream, but that the movie was honest in that just because she managed to get her dream job, doesn’t mean it can’t be a nightmare/
Even with Horace pushing for there to be an angle with Jasper getting Estella the job, the insistence that there is no angle but rather it’s just Estella trying to live her best life was really well shown.
This of course starts to unravel when she loses it a little and decides to take matters into her own hands with that front window display, which by the way looked a lot better after she modified it, and caught the attention of the Baroness granting her a designer job.
But then it all goes to hell when Estella realises the Baroness has the necklace that was believed to be a family heirloom of her now dead mother and so the angle comes in for an epic heist in probably my favourite scene of the entire movie.
Not only have I rewatched the dress reveal scene over and over again in trailers and now own the Funko version of it...but seeing the entire scene play out just added so much more to it. I thought her line of “I’d like to remind you all that I’m doing this in heels” was immediately followed by another cane whack but in actuality it was Cruella throwing a key up to Horace on the balcony that she managed to swipe from a guard.
Then when she gets an audience with the Baroness and basically berates her by saying how she’s improved on her original dress and that while the Baroness is trying to patronise her about power Cruella honestly states that she doesn’t have it which is why she’s talking to her...all of these lines delivered by both Emma’s were fabulous.
Then when Cruella decides to remain Cruella in order to tear down the Baroness and hit her where it hurts, her fashion, because she keeps the persona of Cruella she decides to be copletely cold towards both Jasper and Horace...this is where a lot of male complaints have come in about the movie and honestly I agree.
However things then got a little rocky for me, Cruella finds out that the Baroness killed her mother, there’s then what should be an epic car chase but the movie at this point is so dark and so shaky that there is only one or two decent shots of Cruella’s iconic car which for me is a missed opportunity.
Yes Jasper and Horace are Cruella’s henchmen in the original story, however, because this movie has set up that the three of them are pretty much equals, and even that Jasper and Cruella seemingly have a romantic connection, it just felt like a completely forced plot detail to have her be so cold towards him especially.
In fact the only people she seems to be nice to as Cruella are Anita and Artie. She’s also nice to Horace at one point but maybe because Jasper challenged her she was cold towards him?
I did also grow to love the secret identity angle the movie went with between Estella and Cruella. A great line she has is “Cruella spent years in a box, now Estella can be the one who makes guest appearances”. Having her act as Estella once becoming Cruella you can tell was a visage, she knew what she was doing. Estella was sweet, nice and awkward. Cruella is ruthless and even when she was faking being Estella she still had that ruthlessness. From the little moments when she nudged that one colleague out the way, to how she kept thanking the Baroness despite knowing the Baroness hated that.
That aspect reminded me a lot of Mr. Gold in Once Upon a Time who had a loop hole in the curse during the first season of having Regina obey her whenever he said please, so when the cat got out the bag and she knew he was awake, his pleases became more of a weapon, just as Cruella’s thank yous became here.
I really enjoyed the fashionista moments in this movie, not just the black and white ball dress, but the regal dress, the garbage dress, the black dresses towards the end. Every fashion in this movie, not just for Cruella but specifically Cruella here, was on point and really spoke to the rise of the 70s punk rock movement.
Then there is the first of two decisive changes in this movie to the Dalmatians lore, both actually involving Dalmatians. The first is Cruella not making a fur coat out of the Baroness’ Dalmatians but still making it look like she did. Not only was the delivery of this fabulous, but I loved the fact that publicly Cruella never stated she didn’t actually kill the Dalmatians, but instead she kept them as pets. I think this brilliantly went well with the PR angle that Cruella was setting about for herself. People need to know that Cruella is a fashionista to be reckoned with and the fact she may or may not have killed dogs for fashion is going to make her go down in infamy.
I mentioned in my non-spoiler review thinking I’d know when the movie would end, this is after the fire at Cruella’s loft and what I believed to be her confronting the Baroness after where she states “I’m Cruella” was going to be the end...but no there’s a final act to the story.
So when Cruella came up with the plan to effectively have the Baroness kill Estella so that Cruella could truly be born, I thought that was genius as all the pieces fell into place. She’s the heir to the Baron who owns Hellman Hall and its assets, so when the Baroness goes to prison for Estella’s apparent murder, Cruella De Vil gets everything as Estella passed on her entire fortune to Cruella.
Then with Estella effectively dead Cruella is free to be herself free from any shackles of her former life or ties to people other than those she chooses to have.
Finally, with the Baroness locked up for a murder, Catherine gets some justice as her killer is finally in prison and her entire fashion line falls as a result allowing Cruella to rise as the fashion designer she is destined to be.
That ending scene with “Sympathy for the Devil” orchestrating over it, where Cruella enters the newly named Hell Hall with her gang, employees and dogs in tow, I absolutely adored. It was quiet, but powerful. It had so much potential stored up that it demands a sequel.
I just love Cruella De Vil as a character, always have, and now I simply have a new iteration of the character to love.
Baroness:
Emma Thompson has never looked more fantastic and the fact she effectively portrays a true Disney Villain here is refreshing to me and something I didn’t know I needed until seeing it.
Thompson has always been able to be a comedic actress to me, but not only here does she have that incredible Miranda Preistly cutting whit that every fashionista has, but also the Baroness is simply a monster.
From when she first walked into Liberty I knew I was going to like her, but then at her fashion studio when she nicks Estella and rather than showing the slightest modicum of sympathy simply requests fabric in that blood shade, and then verbally putting down those two businessmen with some very scathing commentary was simply fantastic.
To be clear, this isn’t a character to admire or aspire to be like, anyone who does really needs to take a look at themselves because the Baroness not only killed people, she states multiple people not just Catherine, but she ordered her newborn child dead, tried to then kill Cruella a further two times, and showed no empathetic qualities through any of this.
Honestly the only creatures she seems to care about is her three Dalmatians and even when they’re abducted by Jasper and Horace, there is no actual active searching on the Baroness’ part and rather just brooding.
The Baroness is definitely a brilliant example of those tough businesswoman, particularly in the 70s, but we have also seen this type of character before. Miranda Priestly, Wilhelmina Slater, the archetype of cold and calculating fashionista is not a new one here, but the way in which Emma Thompson portrays the Baroness is such a refreshing take that I am glad she doesn’t die at the end of the movie and lives to return another movie.
Honestly, my only issue with the Baroness, and the writing in part, was her finding out about Estella/Cruella and how...because it came out of nowhere but then seemingly went away.
You could argue that the Baroness figured out Estella was Cruella through observing Estella at work and putting the pieces together, however, she must have known that when Cruella first turned up at the black and white ball with her two-tone hair that she could be her daughter because who else is born with black and white hair?
But then, after Cruella tells the Baroness of their connection, she seems surprised. I can’t tell if that’s just her acting so she can get physically close to her to knock her off the cliff, or if she’s genuinely shocked...it just seemed a little clunky to me.
As much as I love Cruella, I also love the Baroness and as I say am thrilled she didn’t die.
Jasper and Horace:
Jasper and Horace in every single incarnation of the One Hundred and One Dalmatians story have simply been the comic relief goons, here however they had more substance to them and I honestly love them more because of it.
Joel Fry as Jasper not only proved himself as Cruella’s right-hand man if not equal partner in both crime and romance here, but unlike previous incarnations where Jasper states he has “the nob for the job”, here he actually proves to be the suave charismatic brains of the duo.
Paul Walter Hauser meanwhile as Horace, is also my favourite Horace just as Joel Fry is my favourite Jasper. Yes, Horace is still the comic relief here, but there’s more layers to him.
His budding friendship with Artie for a start, not only were they on the same level while working in the loft, but also Artie saving Horace at the ball at the end shows that the two do have a connection.
Also, Horace’s connection with Wink (who by the way like Buddy is adorable) is so sweet and so poignant that it reminded me so much of my relationship with my own dog. This is why I say I would most likely end up being Horace because not only do I have the brain power to pull of heists like Cruella or Jasper, but the fact Horace is so affectionate towards Wink just reminds me of how I am with my dog.
That prison escape as well, when the boys had gone to jail for Cruella’s apparent death at the hands of the Baroness and so Cruella has to break them out with the help of Wink and that garbage truck was brilliant.
I am quite stunned at the level of stupidity by the guards for not noticing two prisoners literally playing dress up with a dog walking beside them through the station but it worked so I’m not complaining.
I will say this about every character but there is not one scene with these two I would take out or replace.
Artie:
I loved every scene this character was in, Cruella is a scene stealer but it’s her movie so can she really steal scenes? The dogs are scene stealers but they’re dogs, Artie on the other hand is not only an original character, but a fabulous addition not only to Cruella’s gang but the lore in general.
In both live-action Dalmatian movies there was always a fashion man in Cruella’s association. The first movie was Mr. Skinner and the second movie was La Pelt. Artie seems to be more La Pelt but honestly he is also that guy who owns or works in a fashion store, he is so realistic and so refreshing in a Disney movie that I just wanted more.
Clearly he’s an LGBT character, anyone who is saying Disney has still failed because they didn’t go far enough with his LGBT nature...not every LGBT character needs a partner. Artie proves to be independent and very self-confident so maybe he doesn’t need a man to define him, also 1970s London, maybe he didn’t want to make that aspect of his life public at the time.
He and Anita have a very similar role in Cruella’s escapades. While Anita is basically Cruella’s PR person but not enough to put herself in the firing line too much, Artie is Cruella’s partner in fashion, but even when Cruella “dies”, Artie still has his shop and his job, so his life isn’t in the firing line as Jasper and Horace’s was.
Having said that, the fact that he was part of Cruella’s inner circle at the end of the movie was fantastic. I want more Artie, I want to peel back the layers of Artie just as we did with Horace and Jasper.
John McCrea is the breakout actor for me in this movie, Joel Fry and Paul Walter Hauser are also fantastic in their roles but they both have had careers prior to this, McCrea has Everyone’s Talking About Jamie but in terms of mainstream this is his breakout role.
Anita & Roger:
I really enjoyed what they did with Anita and Roger in this movie, it is a complete deviation from the source material save for the fact that Anita is Cruella’s childhood friend and Roger is a budding musician, but when you add in the fact that Anita is also a journalist and Roger was the Baroness’ lawyer both of whom know Estella but are yet to know each other, it becomes very interesting and you want to see more.
Also race-bending both of them was an interesting choice. It was a product of the time but both the original 1961 animated movie and even the 1996 live-action movie had no POC characters in the movies...or at least main characters.
So to make Anita black and Roger Iranian was both a refreshing choice and a good choice based on the actors they got to fill the roles.
Kirby Howell-Baptiste was good as Anita, I think she played the role rather well. Anita has always been a bit plain but this Anita kept my interest.
Kayvan Novak meanwhile, is the bloody Fonejacker…how did I not realise this? He didn’t make quite as big of an impact as Anita, but I enjoyed his interactions with the Baroness and Estella.
John the Valet:
Then as for Mark Strong, when I found out his role was the Baroness’ valet with his own agenda I thought he was going to be working against the Baroness from the inside, technically I was right as he effectively betrayed her when he didn’t kill the newborn Estella but instead handed her over to the maid Catherine.
I also liked how, until he made an active alliance with Cruella, that he was still there protecting her behind the scenes. Then when he did make his allegiances known to her and worked with her as part of her entourage to carry out that plan, he was his Mark Strongest.
I guess, even though he isn’t actually Alonzo, I mean his surname could be revealed to be Alonzo, but he is definitely in that role. But there is more of a father figure role with John than the whipping boy that Alonzo was.
Mid-Credits Scene:
This scene, above any other, blew my mind. It was such a deviation from the source material and raises so many questions with so many possible answers that again I am gagging for a sequel to answer them.
So, after an epic credits montage akin to a James Bond opening theme with Florence + the Machine’s “Call Me Cruella” playing over it, we get two different scenes showing Anita and Roger at their individuals homes. They both receive a present from Cruella containing a Dalmatian puppy, one called Pongo for Roger and one called Perdita for Anita.
These puppies were born to Genghis who is the only one of the three Dalmatians owned by the Baroness who I believe was actually named in this movie, and she was pregnant at the end of the movie...foreshadowing this scene.
The scene ends with Roger, now a musician, composing the iconic “Cruella De Vil” song as the shot pans out over Regents Park as a storm brews.
I loved this scene but it is completely taking the source material and shaking it up. Cruella is now the woman responsible for delivering Pongo and Perdita to their respective owners, in the original movie, Cruella was aware the Perdita was pregnant when we first meet her...so does that mean in the original movie Cruella bestowed the dogs onto them as well?
Also the “Cruella De Vil” song was composed during the original movie, so now that’s been created prior to those events, so what does this mean going forward?
The dogs are the reason Anita and Roger met, which by the end of this movie they still haven’t done, so is Cruella responsible for Anita and Roger meeting this time around? I mean she is the mutual acquaintance between the two and Roger does have a dislike for Cruella still in this version, but how would it work with the fact Anita helped create the legacy of Cruella here?
It’s all questions I need answers to, I want to continue in this story. We have how Cruella became Cruella, maybe the next movie could be Cruella getting the House of De Vil to the level of House of Baroness.
Overall I would give this movie a solid 9/10, this was a fabulous movie and I really really really loved it. There are a couple of scripting issues as I have mentioned so I can’t say this is a 10/10 movie, but the acting is spectacular, the fashion is phenomenal, the dogs are adorable and it is just such a spectacular movie. Honestly the best movie I’ve seen since Avengers: Endgame.
So that’s my spoiler review of Cruella, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Movie Reviews as well as other reviews and posts.
