Doctor Strange
Despite being plagued by a gun shy conformity to established
plot formula leaving it consistently in the territory of “almost great,” “Doctor
Strange” may play it safe but still knows what to bring to the table to make
the future Sorcerer Supreme of the MCU’s debut count.
Punctuated by subtlely impactful beats of character
interaction, glued together by Benedict Cumberbatch’s multifaceted performance
of a man selfishly seeking to restore his former glory only to accidentally
stumble across his true calling along the way and realizing how petty his life
was, and carried by the most unique visual execution of the entire universe
thus far, the film offers a previewing taste of a grand mythology that’s
surface has yet to even be scratched.
It may tell a familiar origin story but it still manages to
pack a punch in the areas of filmmaking that really count.
Ant-Man
After about 6½ years of alien invasions, cosmic phenomena,
robot uprisings, and geopolitical military conflict stretching across decades, the
quaint little tale of a man attempting a heist for the good of the world in
order to protect his daughter for whom he’d give anything to reconnect with
would almost feel like a step backward.
Fortunately, “Ant-Man” proves that bigger is not necessarily
better, relying on clever plotting,
sincerely lovable characters, genuine human stakes as opposed to grand
and epic sweeping ones, and cool unique visual gimmick to remind audiences that
not all heroes are going to be fighting for the well being of entire planets
and solar systems and that’s a great thing.
While the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” was a fun and
diverting little romp, its typical unite the rag tag crew to save the world
plot did little to actualize on the charismatic potential of its colorful cast
of characters and their talented leads portraying them. Despite bucking the
usual standards of story structure, “vol. 2” provides a more unique offering
attuned to the oddball makeup of the titular crew.
The bizarrely bisected nature of the plot may lend to an
illusion of very little happening on screen but the willingness to step back
from flashy action sequence to instead thoroughly explore the psychology and
emotional depth of the characters make all of the series’ little trademarks all
the more savorable. The comedy is funnier than ever, the dramatic moments are
almost unexpectedly powerful, and when the “vol. 2” is called up to the plate
to deliver on action, it knocks it out of the park.
And it’s still better than 2 of the last 3 “Star Wars”
releases.
Thor: Ragnarok
“Thor: The Dark World” may have dropped the ball on the
Shakespearean dramatics that the first movie established as a hallmark but the
creative vision of Taika Watiti managed to carve out a new identity for the God
of Thunder as a self-confident lighthearted cosmic adventurer that still
manages to bring his personal dramatic arc full circle.
Not many franchises can survive ostensibly torpedoing their own premise but “Ragnarok”
steps up to the plate like a deceptive salesman talking you into insurance
payments on that thing you didn’t intend to buy into until he opened his mouth.
The fun new locales and characters, funniest jokes of the
entire MCU, and finally nailing Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk and Banner home would have
all been major pluses but that it manages to do it without letting Thor lose an
ounce of his charm while becoming even more endearing in the process cements
this as one of the best franchise turnarounds ever executed.
Captain America: The First Avenger
If I could award this one top billing for the entire mega
franchise on the mere grounds of being the most delightful film of the entire
catalogue, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
The Star Spangled Man’s debut is a fun homage to the sincere
adventure and war films of the mid 20th century that gets the
absolute most out of its exceedingly talented cast and rallies against a
universal enemy to effectively sell a character that is unarguably patriotic
and faithful to the ideas of his beloved country without sinking into jingoism
that views its very existence with rose tinted glasses.
Even if everything about the “Captain America” series had
bombed moving forward however, it would still have left us with Chris Evans as
one of the single best pieces of casting and translation of a larger than life
comic book character onto the silver screen ever executed. The work he has put
into making Steve Rogers a clever, brave, and perceptive man willing to throw
away what little he has without a second thought for the welfare of others have
made him the modern cinematic Christopher Reeve Superman that we certainly aren’t
getting over at DC.
Black Panther
Not much else to say here that wasn’t covered in my review a
mere 2 months ago other than to say that the film has held up rather nicely.
“Black Panther” is still a unique blend of genres that
coalesce well into its equally own unique identity and while much of the themes
and metatextual circumstances within it and surrounding it are so timely as to
enhance the movie at this point in time, it also has a certain timelessness
that I can’t imagine won’t allow it to stay solidly entertaining for years to
come.
Iron Man 3
Well aware this is going to be more than a little bit
polarizing and proceeding full speed ahead anyway.
“Iron Man 3” isn’t just a blast and a half from start to
finish but a damn fine piece of blockbuster filmmaking in general and the
perfect example of everything the solo movies for these heroes should aspire
to.
The narrative of Tony Stark coming to terms with his own
mortality when presented with proof that he is not the strongest force for good
on the face of the planet is one of the most intimate character arcs of the
entire MCU and goes a long way towards reminding the audience that no matter
how much of an asshole he is, unintentionally or otherwise, he’s still trying
to do the right thing and learning to take responsibility for his actions and
Robert Downey Jr. bring his absolute A game to the table in a story that builds
upon the setting’s meta narrative nearly flawlessly without letting the “Avengers”
stuff bog it down.
Its effective character study is further punctuated by its
ballsy reinterpretation of classic “Iron Man” villain, the Mandarin who is composited
with another minor villain to effectively create Tony Stark through a glass
darkly.
It not only makes more sense from a thematic standpoint but
even frames the character’s out of place nature and disgustingly outdated
ethnic context in a light that actually makes for a poignant commentary on
American perceptions of “the other” and its willingness to easily antagonize,
or did you think it was a coincidence that the Chinese villain was repurposed
into a Aghanistan based Middle Eastern terrorist with the same Chinese name to
be played by the British Ben Kingsley?
“Iron Man 3’s” only flaws are the stumbles that occur
whenever it admirably swings for the fences to hit more targets than it misses.
Yes this is my 4th favorite MCU film. No I am not
apologizing for it.
Six years ago I watched “The Avengers” in theaters with a
group of friends, awestruck at how it effortlessly accomplished the impossible by
establishing an interconnected cinematic universe that functioned as though
such a thing operating were a no brainer.
I left the theater that day knowing full well that what I
had just watched was going to change the film industry practically overnight
and over half a decade later I feel more vindicated in that opinion than ever
before, for better (Infinity War impending release) or worse (every failed
cinematic universe knock off).
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Objectively speaking, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”
is probably the single best made film of the entire franchise.
Like “Iron Man 3,” it carries itself with a staggering level
of confidence in the viability of its own premise, interpreting its science
fiction elements as speculative storytelling devices applied to the narrative
of a masterfully crafted spy film that enhances the larger “Avengers” narrative
without letting the individual film’s impact on the titular hero get muddled by
intercontinuity politics.
It’s topical statement on the nature of freedom and security
in the digital age still rings powerfully and its handling of redeveloping “Captain
America’s” entire central thesis and supporting cast while still selling a plot
filled to the brim with complexities still being unpacked to this very day are
nothing shy of utterly stupendous.
It’s easily the most sociologically relevant superhero movie
since “The Dark Knight” and is trumped by only a single film in the entire MCU
based on assessments that are entirely subjective.
While nearly every other studio was bust attempting to force
half-assed cinematic universes off the ground, “Captain America: Civil War” was
basically Marvel Studio’s running victory laps for a race they had already successfully
completed before competitors even managed to raise their first legs.
As Hollywood collectively tried to crack this franchise
formula by completely missing why Marvel movies work so well, “Civil War” was
completing a trilogy for a beloved lead character to widely lauded success, exercising
the brands of their other concurrently running critically acclaimed film
franchises, and even setting up 2 new franchises, one of which rebooting its
previous critically maligned iteration made by another company that was stingy
with the license.
And while all of that would have been incredible enough to
watch, the real home run delivered at the end of the day was that the movie
itself was great when you look past all of those flashy elements. For the first
time, the concept of superhero consequence is finally thoroughly explored
within the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the ensuing straight laced drama and conflict
regarding the nature and definition of accountability make the setting feel
more real than it ever has before.
As a lifelong fan of the superhero genre, “Captain America:
Civil War” is the superhero movie that I had been waiting to see my entire life
and not one bit of it disappointed. I can only hope the Russo brothers can pull
such a feat off again.
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