Someone has spliced Guardians of the Galaxy DNA into the Thor franchise. Where in previous movies there was some comic relief, the self-serious main man – well, main God – Thor usually was the clueless butt of the joke. In this movie, hanging out with sardonic Tony Stark and trickster Loki finally seems to have rubbed off on him and he has grown a sense of humor.… Read the rest
Logan is a pleasant surprise after the last X-Men related movie, the overblown and messy X-Men – Apocalpyse. Logan’s story is more intimate and small-scale. And really depressing. The dark and mature tone as well as the future setting – it takes place in 2029, although not much seems different apart from self-driving cars – set it far apart from the other movies in the X-Men franchise.… Read the rest
Can we all just agree that Magneto is beyond redemption? Sure, it’s all very ironic that someone who survived the Holocaust is now a big believer in “Übermenschen”. And admittedly, his main philosphical argument with Xavier is interesting. If an oppressed minority has enough power to seize control, should they do so?… Read the rest
Deadpool started out as a fairly generic mercenary in the Marvel comic book universe during the nineties. I am not sure at what point he picked up the moniker ‘the merc with a mouth’, but he ended up changing into a morally dubious smart-ass who was always looking out for number one.… Read the rest
Binge-watching used to be shameful, but nowadays it is something to boast about. And there is indeed something joyful about taking a whole day or weekend to dunk your mind fully into a hot pop culture phenomenon. The fact that these days more and more series are released a season at a time, with all episodes instantly available, feeds into this. … Read the rest
Joss Whedon’s career is one most nerds would envy. But it’s hard to envy him for having to make the logistical nightmare that is Avengers – Age of Ultron. The movie is part of an intricate web of Marvel movies and had to tie into previous flicks, while setting up future flicks and it could not ignore any of a multitude of characters.… Read the rest
Guardians of the Galaxy has just raised the stakes. Not so much for the next Avengers movie or for the other Marvel comic book movies it loosely ties into, but for the upcoming Star Wars sequels. This is how intergalactic high-adventure should be done.… Read the rest
With X-Men – Days of Future Past, director Bryan Singer makes a welcome return to the mutant universe. He had helmed the first two films but jumped ship on the third one, directing the morose Superman Returns instead. Brett Ratner took the helm for X-Men: Last Stand and almost sank the franchise with a rambling mess of a movie, which badly flubbed the classic Dark Phoenix storyline from the comics. … Read the rest
Like Superman, Captain America is a tricky character to make interesting. As conceived, they both stand for moral absolutes. In Cap’s case, for ‘truth, justice and the American Way’ though thankfully, that last part isn’t overly emphasized. The second (semi) solo movie handles Cap very well, throwing the ultimate Good Guy into a conspiracy thriller and making him have to doubt the morals of everyone around him.… Read the rest
The guy with the big hammer is back! He is still mostly the straight man in a story that mixes Shakespearian family drama with mythical mumbo-jumbo. Mind you, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and his Asgardian kin are not Gods, because that could cause all sorts of controversy among the believers of various ‘legit’ religions.… Read the rest
