SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (2019)

Directed by Jon Watts

Written by Chris McKenna

Screenplay by  Erik Sommers

Starring Tom Holland, Jake Gyllenhaal, Samuel L. Jackson, Marisa Tomei , Jacob Balaton, Jon Favreau, Zendaya, and Cobie Smulders

Rated PG-13

 

 

Fair warning...this isn't a big write-up, but it gets a little bit spoilery with both this film and AVENGERS: ENDGAME so if you've somehow managed to avoid all the noise about that film and the previews for this film well, not sure I'd continue past the cut...

AVENGERS: ENDGAME

AVENGERS: ENDGAME (2019)

Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo

Screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely

Starring everyone, okay? Just...everyone....

Where to even start?

Well, first off and perhaps most importantly - NO SPOILERS HERE. I'm going to ramble on for a bit about the movie but if you want specifics as to what happens, you really should just go see it.

And, since there will be rambling, I'll go ahead and put a cut right about here:

The Forgotten DEADPOOL 2 Write-Up

Whoa.

Been even longer than the usual "man, it's been awhile" postings I usually do.

Wouldn't have been quite as long if I'd remembered to post this thing back when I initially wrote it.

It's a small thing, but at least it's actually still playing, at least in my little rinky-dink one-theater town. I guess people are still going to see it.

Anyways, here goes...

DEADPOOL 2 (2018)

Directed by David Leitch

Screenplay by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick & Ryan Reynolds

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison, Zazie Beetz, T.J. Miller, Brianna Hildebrand, Jack Kesy

 

Deadpool is back, and even more Deadpoolier, which is great for people who like that sort of thing. Since I enjoyed the first one, I was happy to plunk down and watch this one.

To really talk about how I feel about it, tho, I'm going to have to throw in some pretty

BIG

SPOILERS

so I'll hide them behind a cut and some pretty pictures...

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (2018)

Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo

Screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Josh Brolin, Chris Pratt and more but seriously I'm tired already....

No spoilers here, by the way.

Wow.

Remember THE AVENGERS? (And yes, I'm talking the 2012 Marvel movie, not the 1960s British spy series. If you're unfamiliar with that one I'd suggest fixing that problem as soon as possible.)

Remember wondering if they could bring a movie together that featured all three(!) of the main franchise leads, along with the other characters introduced along the way, into an entertaining film? Those were much more innocent times, weren't they?

Ten years and nineteen films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has brought us here - Thanos is finally "doing it himself" and going after the Infinity Stones that have been weaving their way thru most every MCU movie to date. Doing so will make him quite simply the most powerful being in existence and so it will take every other powerful being banding together to stop him.

Somehow, the original AVENGERS managed to give all the characters time to shine. Somehow, the Russo Brothers upped the ante with the massive CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR and it turns out that movie was just a warm-up. Nearly every named character in the MCU comes out for this one.

At this point, they're not even trying to make a movie that 'first-timers' can walk in to and follow with no issue. Maybe one line is given to *who* these people are and their relationship (if any) to the other characters they're on screen with because from the opening frame, this juggernaut of a film starts moving and only takes a breath during the final credits.

It is, basically, one long fight scene, spread across the universe as the disparate characters each have their own encounter with Thanos or his minions and find their way to each other before the final battle. Even so, they manage to pack some surprising emotional beats into the proceedings, grounding at least some of the conflicts on a more personal note than "saving the universe."

And more than maybe any other film in whole MCU series - because that's what it is, each film a chapter in a longer story - it will leave you wanting to see the next one and sooner rather than later.

Avoid spoilers and just go see it.

(and like I said, you can take a breath and maybe a bathroom break once the credits start because the only end-credits scene is allllll the way at the very end)

BLACK PANTHER

BLACK PANTHER (2018)

Directed by Ryan Coogler

Written by Ryan Coogler, Joe Robert Cole

Starring Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Letitia Wright, Andy Serkis, Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, Winston Duke

 

 

Particularly since it just came out this weekend, I'm not going to spoil anything here, beyond what's been shown in previews.

 

The latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has landed and it rocks. Black Panther, like most of the heroes getting their own MCU movies so far, was never one I read much of so I didn't have the burden of sitting there going "that's not like it is in the comics!" I mean, maybe it's exactly like it was in the comics - the point is I don't know either way.

 

What I do know is that I totally dug it. Much like GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and especially THOR: RAGNAROK, Ryan Coogler has made a movie that is definitely a "Marvel Movie" but with a spin that makes it stand out as its own thing.

 

Chadwick Boseman is T'Challa, the Black Panther, continuing from his appearance in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR. In that film, T'Challa's father, King T'Chaka is killed and as this one begins T'Challa officially takes up the mantle of King of Wakanda. Adding to his uncertainty that he's actually ready to lead Wakanda, he has to deal with the return of Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis totally digging not being hidden behind a layer of CGI like most of his bigger roles) who has been one of Wakanda's Most Wanted after stealing from them years ago. Klaue, in turn, brings Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger into the mix, who has his own reasons for giving T'Challa a hard time.

 

The whole cast is great. Great enough that browsing reviews I keep seeing different actors being giving the 'stole the show' award. Michael B. Jordan? Sure, he stole the show. Danai Gurira? Sure, she stole it, too. My personal show-stealing accusation goes to Letitia Wright as Shuri, the younger, somewhat irreverent younger sister to Boseman's much more serious T'Challa. Oh, and she's also a genius whose technical achievements could give Tony Stark some serious feelings of inadequacy. She does a great routine as 'Q,' helping T'Challa out in a casino-based fight-turned-car-chase that wouldn't be too out of place in a James Bond film.

If there was a flaw at all that I noticed, it's that 3D, especially post-converted 3D (as opposed to being shot in 3D in the first place) has trouble with fast fight scenes, giving them a distracting blur or double-image effect. It's still a gorgeous film and I'm happy to have seen it in 3D since all my subsequent home viewing will be in good ol' 2D.

Ten years and what...eighteen(?) movies in I shouldn't have to mention the importance of staying all the way thru the end credits for a Marvel Movie, but since I still people who bail as soon as the credits start to roll, consider it mentioned.

 

At its core, it's still a Marvel superhero movie, with increasingly larger and flashier (and more CGI'ed) action scenes that will easily satisfy any fan of these movies, but there's a heart there with the characters and their relationships and motivations that keep an important element of humanity grounding the arcade action.

 

 

Prevues of Coming Attractions

Well, work and various other annoying 'real life' distractions have conspired to throw me off my schedule yet again.

So here are previews for some of the upcoming movies I hope to see this year....

Prevues after the cut....

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING

 

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017)

Directed by Jon Watts

Written by Jonathan M. Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Christopher Ford, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers

Starring Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey, Jr., Jacob Balaton, Jon Favreau, Zendaya, and Laura Harrier

Rated PG-13

Okay, another quick, even more off-the-cuff than usual one here because this weekend...everything went wrong.

But a week or two ago I took in this movie for the second time so it's fresh enough to blather on about for a minute and I'm really challenging myself to make this a habit again.

On to the blathering....