Director: Cate Shortland Stars: Florence Pugh, Scarlett Johansson, Ever Anderson There are two prominently featured middle-aged white men in Cate Shortland's Black Widow and they nearly capsize the whole thing. I've been stuck on this since leaving the multiplex. For it's entire first act, this feels like a breath of fresh air for the Marvel … Continue reading Review: Black Widow
Director: Jon Watts Stars: Tom Holland, Jake Gyllenhaal, Zendaya Let's talk for a little bit about eyewear. In the DC universe, spectacles serve a very powerful function, and one might argue that without them Superman would be nothing. They are - incredulously - the key to his disguise. Without his specs, he would not be … Continue reading Review: Spider-Man – Far From Home
I’ve tried to make this as spoiler-free as possible. One paragraph talks – in the vaguest of terms – about non-specific character fates. I’ve placed the offending sentences within [ ] if you’d rather not take your chances. Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo Stars: Karen Gillen, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans Problem #1. You've made a 21-part … Continue reading Review: Avengers: Endgame
Directors: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck Stars: Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, Clark Gregg That the Marvel machine has taken 11 years and 20-ish films to get to a female-centric superhero movie is such a glaring and conspicuous oversight that Captain Marvel arrives with a hideously unenviable burden. It has to mean something. It has to be … Continue reading Review: Captain Marvel
Director: Peyton Reed Stars: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña Ant-Man And The Wasp doesn't feature any crossover characters from any other quadrant of the MCU. After the "everybody in!" maximalism of Avengers: Infinity War there's actually something nice about a pit-stop this insular. Peyton Reed's follow-up to his 2015 underdog is pleasingly small-scale, but it lands … Continue reading Review: Ant-Man And The Wasp
Director: David Leitch Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Zazie Beetz Maybe its simply Marvel fatigue (even if Deadpool is kinda tangential; not part of the 'MCU', whatever). Maybe its the lasting shadow of the two triumphs we've already received in this overstuffed year; the heavyweight Black Panther and the still-fresh Avengers: Infinity War. Or maybe it's that aggressive … Continue reading Review: Deadpool 2
I've tried to make this as spoiler-free as possible. One paragraph talks - in the vaguest of terms - about the end of the movie. I've placed it in [ ] if you'd rather not take your chances. Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Josh Brolin So here we are. 10 … Continue reading Review: Avengers: Infinity War
Director: Taika Waititi Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett Depending on how you land on Thor: Ragnarok, this is either where the lumbering Marvel Cinematic Universe really starts to unshackle itself from so much box-ticking, or the installment at which the franchise tips and, if not exactly jumps the shark, at least gets ready for … Continue reading Review: Thor: Ragnarok
Director: Jon Watts Stars: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr. There are, personally speaking, plenty of reasons why Spider-Man Homecoming has been the Marvel title I've been least interested in catching for quite a while. Chief among these, I suppose, is a sense of fatigue with a junior league superhero I've actually barely spent any … Continue reading Review: Spider-Man Homecoming
Having been picking up speed for the better part of a decade, Captain America: Civil War sees the Marvel Cinematic Universe break from a steady, accelerating jog into an outright sprint. This is the point at which the series assumes you've either been keeping up or you're going home. And it's certainly not going to wait … Continue reading Review: Captain America: Civil War
