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Post by Martin Stett on Oct 20, 2020 1:15:06 GMT
Captain America: Civil War - Short version: I liked this quite a bit, despite some problems that I shall list below.
1. Wanda is a Sekovian who volunteered for superpower testing because she wanted to kill Tony Stark, right? That seems to have been completely forgotten here, and although I find her character to be one of the most intriguing in the movie, the lack of focus on her was disappointing. 2. Lang is trying to stay *OUT* of prison, and the first thing he does is get roped into helping Cap break the law? I enjoyed some parts of how he was used here, but the lack of focus on him is disappointing. 3. Several of the earlier fights look like they came out of Winter Soldier: Rapid-fire editing, close-up shaky cam obscuring the action, and choreography that looks like it would be pretty entertaining IF WE COULD SEE IT. 4. Zemo has some good points to him, but his master plan is to... show a tape of Bucky killing Tony's parents? Which is supposed to make Tony go nuts? Huh? 5. Since when does Cap know about somebody murdering the Starks? 6. Tony. Everything about Tony. His daddy issues are so melodramatic and losing his head over his parents dying makes him look like a twelve year old wrote this. His support of the Sekovia Accords happens because some random woman jumpstarts the plot by shoving the consequences of his actions down his throat. I'd be fine with these things if they were presented with any nuance, but he is always written as a cartoon that exists in a world of "good" and "bad" when this whole movie is nominally about shades of grey. 7. Steve is a plot device that punches things. Sure, he's been the same from The Avengers on, but his debut was so promising and the character has been so squandered. I don't understand why Steve Rogers cares so much about the Sekovia Accords. As a plot device, Captain America needs to rebel, fine. But his motivations are a mystery to me.
Those last two are big ones, because those two are the main characters... and I don't like them. Luckily, the rest of the movie makes up for them. Things that I like:
1. Let's get this out of the way: The big fight scene is AWESOME. This movie is an excuse for the big hero on hero showdown, and that showdown is hands down the best action sequence of the franchise. We want to see superpowers going rampant and that's what we get. The stars of the show are Spider-Man and Ant-Man, giving welcome levity to proceedings. Ant-Man is so much fun that I forgive the writers for ignoring his character arc from the last movie and just shoving him in here. 2. Black Panther, baby. Every part of this character works, and I dig that a new addition is given a real character arc and story - one that is far more interesting than the main plot. I'd have liked to see a lot more of him and less of Tony and Steve, but ah well. 3. Ross is back! Not exciting in itself, but does this mean that we'll stop ignoring the existence of The Incredible Hulk? Maybe bring back Banner's original girlfriend? Or Edward Norton? Kind of weird that Ross is here and Banner isn't, you'd think that would be good dramatic material. 4. Despite my complaint about parts of Wanda's past being ignored, the Wanda/Vision plot is just as good as T'Challa's. The two overpowered misfits of the team who still can't figure out how to fit in, being drawn apart by their two different visions of the future. It's fantastic stuff, although - ready the broken record! - I wish that it was given more focus. 5. Despite my complaint about Zemo's master plan, I want to say that Daniel Bruhl OWNED this role. His motivations are fine as well, although... *sigh* I wish that he was given more focus.
And that is what it all comes down to: There is too much here for a two and a half hour movie. If this was a six or seven hour series that gave everybody the focus they deserved, this would be a high watermark in superhero filmmaking. Give some focus to every one of the twelve core characters and *why* they are fighting for their side. Cap and Tony get focus, but... it all feels surface level, like a kid writing a fanfic. Steve and Tony fighting is a cool idea, but the motivations behind it are so shallow. But on the fringes are all of these cool characters, an expanded roster of people that I actually want to follow. Their parts are so good that I found myself excited, even through the weak points.
This is definitely in the upper echelon of the MCU. 6/10, ranked 4th out of 13
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Post by countjohn on Oct 20, 2020 3:39:46 GMT
Civil War is when they really started to lose me. Pretty much all of your criticisms are spot on and some cool fight scenes are not enough to make up for it so I'm surprised you seemed to like it as much as you did. In particular they just really seem to have given up on real character motivations in their recent movies. The characters are just an excuses to push along their thin plots which are just an excuse for action sequences. It's a pity because there really was the potential to something good here with the interesting ideas in the premise, but all of that is discarded after the first half hour or so in favor of near constant fight scenes.
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Post by Martin Stett on Oct 20, 2020 3:52:13 GMT
Civil War is when they really started to lose me. Pretty much all of your criticisms are spot on and some cool fight scenes are not enough to make up for it so I'm surprised you seemed to like it as much as you did. In particular they just really seem to have given up on real character motivations in their recent movies. The characters are just an excuses to push along their thin plots which are just an excuse for action sequences. It's a pity because there really was the potential to something good here with the interesting ideas in the premise, but all of that is discarded after the first half hour or so in favor of near constant fight scenes. Despite this being a complete machine, the high points are so high that it balances out. T'Challa, Vision and Wanda all have great potential (that will probably never go anywhere), and the excitement that maybe something could be done with these characters makes it stand out more than previous movies. Although I'm gonna lower the score back to a 6. It's teetering on a razor's edge, so I'll just push it back to my original rating.
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Post by Martin Stett on Oct 23, 2020 0:21:17 GMT
Doctor House Strange - I didn't like this at all... my first time through. But this is actually pretty cool. Gregory House is an acerbic jerk, but this movie doesn't think that he's God's gift to fanboys in the way that Iron Man is now portrayed. I liked him and Cuddy's loving relationship, I liked his terror at losing everything. Those core components were so strong that they kept the formulaic elements - such as the incessant exposition - from bothering me. Foreman and Kutner are a bit boring as sidekicks, but whatever, this isn't their show. Michael Tritter is a very stereotypical bad guy villain, but eh he's fine, this isn't his show. This is about the Doctor and the Master and the Doctor's plucky female companion, and they're all a lot of fun and most importantly they feel just a little bit like normal people and not wisecracking movie people.
I'd be remiss not to mention the action sequences, which are... well, hopelessly confusing, but that's kind of the point? They were pretty. Sometimes they'd go on too long (that terrible mirror dimension showdown in NYC), but there were also fun scenes like the ER fight, and I was rarely annoyed. This movie at least tried to do something different in its action, and unlike Ant-Man it mostly succeeds. So yeah, I'm changing my mind. Here's to more pill popping goodness! 7/10, ranked 4th out of 14
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Post by Martin Stett on Oct 24, 2020 0:27:58 GMT
Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2 - Don't. Split. The. Party. The reason the first Guardians was so good was the interactions between the team. This movie forces them apart. Peter is off dealing with his daddy issues, Rocket is dealing with his jerkoff issues, Nebula is dealing with her inferiority complex, and they're all in different places and nothing fits together. Stick everyone on the planet together, find a different excuse to get Yandu onto Ego, and you've fixed your pacing problems.
Aaand I have some other negatives as well, so let's get them out of the way. I like this movie (to an extent) and don't want to be too harsh, but I can't go without mentioning Mantis. She's... kind of a racist stereotype. The demure servant with an exotic accent, in literal yellow face? Not a good look. I get that the characters' naivete drives a lot of the comedy, but the confluence of these traits makes me uncomfortable. While I'm on negatives, there is a lot more eye-roll worthy humor in this one. Did anybody find that Pac-Man gag funny? Taser Face is an awful joke that could have made me smile if presented differently... and if they didn't repeat it five thousand times.
But hey, this movie still gets a lot right. When all of the Guardians are together, things crackle. The opening bits of stealing from the Sovereign are funny, the quiet parts with Quill and Gamora work well, the Groot gags made me laugh, Nebula is actually a real character this time and I like it a lot, and Yandu gets to be Mary Poppins. The music is also fun (though not as great as Volume 1). It's a good time, but as a sequel to the only real success story of this franchise, it feels perfunctory. 6/10, ranked 7th out of 15
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Post by Martin Stett on Oct 27, 2020 0:45:54 GMT
Spider-Man: Homecoming - Toombs, man. Best villain in the franchise. Simple motivations, simple plans, no plans to destroy the world. By playing him as a lowkey, normal guy with questionable ethics, they got a fantastic character. Kudos to Keaton as well, he nails the role. This also has some of the best CGI in the franchise, and the battles had actual choreography that I could follow.
So it pains me to say that this is very possibly the worst film in the entire damn franchise. Whenever Toombs or his cronies aren't on screen, THIS IS THE WORST. I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate everything.
Sexy Aunt May is the most sickening gag, and it keeps getting repeated. "Porn" is officially the cringiest line in the MCU. I spent the entire film screaming for Peter and all of his little fucker friends to die screaming. Michelle and Ned are hands down the most annoying characters in the MCU, and that is a remarkable feat. I couldn't stand the CONSTANT tie-ins to the Avengers, with everyone going "they're so cool" all the time and only the villain isn't fangasming over their worthless hides. If this is the world that the Avengers keep saving, I'm with Ultron: Destroy it all. Evolve into better lifeforms. Don't let us suffer through more of this.
I'm sure that the properly evolved characters like the Vulture will survive the end of the planet. He's resourceful. Then we could get movies about him, instead of the kid shooting jism out of his wrists. 3/10, ranked 15th out of 16 ENTIRELY because of the villain
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speeders
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Post by speeders on Oct 27, 2020 0:56:22 GMT
Spider-Man: Homecoming - Toombs, man. Best villain in the franchise. Simple motivations, simple plans, no plans to destroy the world. By playing him as a lowkey, normal guy with questionable ethics, they got a fantastic character. Kudos to Keaton as well, he nails the role. This also has some of the best CGI in the franchise, and the battles had actual choreography that I could follow. So it pains me to say that this is very possibly the worst film in the entire damn franchise. Whenever Toombs or his cronies aren't on screen, THIS IS THE WORST. I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate everything. Sexy Aunt May is the most sickening gag, and it keeps getting repeated. "Porn" is officially the cringiest line in the MCU. I spent the entire film screaming for Peter and all of his little fucker friends to die screaming. Michelle and Ned are hands down the most annoying characters in the MCU, and that is a remarkable feat. I couldn't stand the CONSTANT tie-ins to the Avengers, with everyone going "they're so cool" all the time and only the villain isn't fangasming over their worthless hides. If this is the world that the Avengers keep saving, I'm with Ultron: Destroy it all. Evolve into better lifeforms. Don't let us suffer through more of this. I'm sure that the properly evolved characters like the Vulture will survive the end of the planet. He's resourceful. Then we could get movies about him, instead of the kid shooting jism out of his wrists. 3/10, ranked 15th out of 16 ENTIRELY because of the villain Agreed about Vulture/Tooms and well Michelle, Ned and hot aunt May. I thought this was really overhyped but okay, which isn't saying a lot given how mediocre the MCU is. Have you seen Far From Heaven Home? I think that's way, way worse than this and quite possibly the worst MCU film.
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Post by cheesecake on Oct 27, 2020 1:00:30 GMT
Ant-Man is my favorite.
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Post by Martin Stett on Oct 27, 2020 1:10:08 GMT
Agreed about Vulture/Tooms and well Michelle, Ned and hot aunt May. I thought this was really overhyped but okay, which isn't saying a lot given how mediocre the MCU is. Have you seen Far From Heaven Home? I think that's way, way worse than this and quite possibly the worst MCU film. I wasn't watching another Spidey after this monstrosity. I just hate MCU humor so much, and this movie plays that humor hard. It worked in the first GotG, because the movie knew how to wink at the audience. Homecoming and Ant-Man grab you by the face and slam it into the ground. The Guardians doing a power walk to have one of them yawn in the background is funny. "I was looking at porn" is not, because it is the crassest, stupidest joke possible in that situation. Comedy works when it is believable for the world and characters that you have created. In this case, there are no characters, there are stick figures with the comedic talent of those people who write political cartoons in the newspapers. FFH probably won't have Vulture, so it will probably be slightly more pleasant than sticking my dick in boiling oil. Man, I wish we had a movie about Vulture...
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Post by Martin Stett on Oct 27, 2020 1:13:08 GMT
Ant-Man is my favorite. That's fair. It isn't that the movie is absolutely terrible. It's that I hate it with a burning passion. Objectively, it isn't as horrifyingly stupid as The Avengers or Homecoming, but I subjectively found its humor cancerous. And unlike Homecoming, its villain wasn't awesome.
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Post by Mattsby on Oct 27, 2020 1:25:49 GMT
I really don't like Tom Holland's boring, profusely apologetic spiderman. Homecoming is a convenient senseless stakesless movie and wastes a bulk of its runtime hyping Avengers and getting their Downey Jr moneys worth. Far From Home I slightly prefer bc it's better and quicker as an actioner. But they're both just not for me. I don't even like Andrew Garfield's spiderman but still prefer him/those movies to Holland's.
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Post by cheesecake on Oct 27, 2020 1:28:16 GMT
Ant-Man is my favorite. That's fair. It isn't that the movie is absolutely terrible. It's that I hate it with a burning passion. Objectively, it isn't as horrifyingly stupid as The Avengers or Homecoming, but I subjectively found its humor cancerous. And unlike Homecoming, its villain wasn't awesome. I can't help but wonder what a final product from Wright would have looked like, but I found it amusing and it didn't take itself as seriously as all the others.
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Post by Martin Stett on Nov 1, 2020 0:35:49 GMT
Thor: Ragnarok - I have nothing positive to say, but I'm so drained by this crap that I can't muster up enough enthusiasm to bash it properly. This could have gone the route of finally confronting Odin's legacy as the worst person in the universe - seriously, every bad thing that happens in any of the Thor movies can be traced directly back to him - but goes for the easy out of ignoring that entirely. But fine, whatever... it's everything else that pisses me off. Thor is now completely out of character as a wisecracking hero in the vein of Iron Man or Spider-Man, Doctor Strange is completely out of character in the same vein (I liked Strange because the character was a serious human being!), Banner/Hulk are both turned into jokes and their debasement is painful to watch...
Okay, but that's just the characters being pissed on. Is the movie fun in its own right? Do you think that the word "anus" is so inherently funny that it needs to be repeated at least twice? Do you like jokes about Hulk's big green dick that amount to "haha, we acknowledged that he has a big penis!" Do you need every single gag spelled out for you in case you missed how riotously funny our hip new wisecracking version of Asgard is?
I didn't like either of the previous Thor movies because they were bland. This is worse: it is insulting. This is the same vein of feces that Homecoming, Avengers and Ant-Man have already mined, and I'm sick of it. Arguably the worst in the series. 3/10, ranked 16th out of 17
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Post by Pittsnogle_Goggins on Nov 1, 2020 0:57:28 GMT
Thor: Ragnarok - I have nothing positive to say, but I'm so drained by this crap that I can't muster up enough enthusiasm to bash it properly. This could have gone the route of finally confronting Odin's legacy as the worst person in the universe - seriously, every bad thing that happens in any of the Thor movies can be traced directly back to him - but goes for the easy out of ignoring that entirely. But fine, whatever... it's everything else that pisses me off. Thor is now completely out of character as a wisecracking hero in the vein of Iron Man or Spider-Man, Doctor Strange is completely out of character in the same vein (I liked Strange because the character was a serious human being!), Banner/Hulk are both turned into jokes and their debasement is painful to watch... Okay, but that's just the characters being pissed on. Is the movie fun in its own right? Do you think that the word "anus" is so inherently funny that it needs to be repeated at least twice? Do you like jokes about Hulk's big green dick that amount to "haha, we acknowledged that he has a big penis!" Do you need every single gag spelled out for you in case you missed how riotously funny our hip new wisecracking version of Asgard is? I didn't like either of the previous Thor movies because they were bland. This is worse: it is insulting. This is the same vein of feces that Homecoming, Avengers and Ant-Man have already mined, and I'm sick of it. Arguably the worst in the series. 3/10, ranked 16th out of 17 I know you’re not a MCU fan so I’ve been finding this thread pretty interesting. This is easily the most I’ve disagreed with you though. I just find this movie very enjoyable and a lot of fun.
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Post by Martin Stett on Nov 1, 2020 2:22:17 GMT
Thor: Ragnarok - I have nothing positive to say, but I'm so drained by this crap that I can't muster up enough enthusiasm to bash it properly. This could have gone the route of finally confronting Odin's legacy as the worst person in the universe - seriously, every bad thing that happens in any of the Thor movies can be traced directly back to him - but goes for the easy out of ignoring that entirely. But fine, whatever... it's everything else that pisses me off. Thor is now completely out of character as a wisecracking hero in the vein of Iron Man or Spider-Man, Doctor Strange is completely out of character in the same vein (I liked Strange because the character was a serious human being!), Banner/Hulk are both turned into jokes and their debasement is painful to watch... Okay, but that's just the characters being pissed on. Is the movie fun in its own right? Do you think that the word "anus" is so inherently funny that it needs to be repeated at least twice? Do you like jokes about Hulk's big green dick that amount to "haha, we acknowledged that he has a big penis!" Do you need every single gag spelled out for you in case you missed how riotously funny our hip new wisecracking version of Asgard is? I didn't like either of the previous Thor movies because they were bland. This is worse: it is insulting. This is the same vein of feces that Homecoming, Avengers and Ant-Man have already mined, and I'm sick of it. Arguably the worst in the series. 3/10, ranked 16th out of 17 I know you’re not a MCU fan so I’ve been finding this thread pretty interesting. This is easily the most I’ve disagreed with you though. I just find this movie very enjoyable and a lot of fun. I'm getting fatigued, more than anything. GotG 2, Homecoming, Ragnarok: they're all the same. They're glitter and easy jokes and no pathos or character arcs. GotG 2 at least tried to do the whole daddy issues thing, but fractured its story too much and handled the dad stuff without subtlety. The result is that I liked the Guardians together, but Ego was a bit of a bore. Homecoming was a play on everybody in universe (except for the villain, who would be the hero of my MCU) loving the Avengers - which has been established is NOT the case, they are very controversial figures as shown in Age of Ultron and Civil War. Ragnarok is just ignoring any actual consequences to anything in favor of fanservice or jokes: Wouldn't it be funny if Hulk and Thor argued over who is stronger? Wouldn't it be funny if Banner disguised himself as Tony Stark and stripped himself of his dignity (STOP IGNORING THAT HE WAS A SERIOUS CHARACTER IN HIS FIRST OUTING)? Wouldn't it be funny if we just ignored the war crimes of Loki or Thor's refusal to lead or his relationship with Jane Foster or Odin being the worse person in the universe or... sorry, I got off track, I'm back to character assassination. It's just the same brand of "ha ha, you said X" humor that annoyed me about the last two MCU films, but it has the added indignity of not caring about previous character developments or story arcs or simple things like their core personalities. As for the lowbrow humor, it's subjective, but I feel that there is a metric for how much I personally enjoy the stuff: how many clever twists can you put on a lowbrow joke? Since I will never miss a chance to mention Down Periscope, let's use the fart joke from that as my case study: The Set Up - The good guy submarine is running silent to avoid being caught by the bad guy submarine. The fat slob cook Buckman is eating beans and lets out an atomic fart. Gag 1 - The sonar guy on the enemy ship jumps. He's asked what he heard, and in puzzlement he replies "It sounded like... an explosion." Result: It's a good enough laugh, what with the exaggerated sound effects that make will blow the speakers out of most TVs. Gag 2 - Everyone on the good guy sub begins smelling the fart. They can't make any noise or let the air out and go through silent charades of suffocation and gagging, stuffing tissues up their noises, and otherwise trying to survive without giving away their position. Result: I found this to be comic gold, giving all of the actors a chance to do some physical comedy and flail around as befits their individual characters. Furthermore, it is an entirely different play on the "he farted" joke - the first makes a joke of the loud noise, the second laughs at people trying to stifle their responses. Gag 3 - Later, when it seems like the joke has been forgotten, we get one last parting shot. As the enemy sub loses the scent (pun intended), the heroes are free to continue. The normally professional captain gets on the speakers and he doesn't say anything about ending silent running or being clear. No, his first words to his whole crew upon successfully avoiding the enemy is to calmly say: "Someone find Buckman and launch him out a torpedo tube." Result: Once again, we're treated to a different play on the single idea of "a guy farts." This time, the captain joins in with what the whole crew is thinking and makes a joke about it, and I laughed because it was so unexpected to have Dodge (usually the stoic leader) let loose with a sense of humor. He does use that humor at other points, but it's been either in private or at his own expense - watching him join in the camaraderie was a blast.
I'm opposing this to "the Devil's Anus" which... is simply called the Devil's Anus. It could be funny the first time (although I was unamused, since crass jokes were already done to death). But then it's named again... and that's it. And then Bruce refers to it as "the Anus" as they're going through it, and... that's it. You're wasting a perfectly good joke, guys. Mix it up, give some history about it or something. Since I've touched on this already, I'm gonna mention my idea of a Thor trilogy. Keep in mind that I have no knowledge of the comics, only the movies. The idea is that each of Odin's three children rebels against their father, setting up a battle of ideologies. Part 1 could be Loki trying to fix his father's mistakes by being cruel where Dad was merciful - more or less the basic idea of the first movie, although it got sidetracked by Thor being a black hole of charisma. Part 2 could be Thor learning of his father's crimes towards the Dark Elves or some other enemy, and ultimately joining his father to stop them destroying the world, and then choosing to either abandon the throne because he can't abide the evils he must commit for the better good, or step away in open rebellion to his father for being a cruel monster. Part 3 could be Hela turning against Dad (probably killing him in the process) and just being awful, and Thor/Loki must stop her despite agreeing with her complaints against Odin's evil.
Three stories that could all play an arc that would actually mean something, if you had respect for the characters. But Thor was a bore that couldn't keep its character motivations straight, The Avengers shat on Loki and changed him to fit the narrative, Dark World was also a bore that was inconsequential, and Ragnarok acknowledges that it doesn't care and does its own thing... which is the same thing the MCU has been doing for the previous two entries.
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Post by Martin Stett on Nov 1, 2020 2:41:05 GMT
And while I'm at it, here's my personal team of heroes, although it's really just a rundown of the MCU characters I like:
Tooms/Vulture - Fights for his family. He does some bad things, but perhaps he could change from weapons dealer to hero a la Tony Stark, but without the massive, off-putting ego. Although he does try to kill Spidey a few times in Homecoming, the impression I got was that it was a business decision, and he keeps trying to warn Peter off of interfering in things he doesn't understand. Perhaps fighting (or killing) a kid could start character growth, showing the cost of his actions. Loki - Starts off by trying to honor his father's legacy by fixing his faults, and becomes a morally grey hero of the oppressed. Wanda/Scarlet Witch - Starts off as a horrible person, grows into the role of hero following something like her brother getting killed, and eventually joins a team of supers trying to make the world a better place. So basically, the same arc she already has. Doctor Strange - Same character that we've seen, growing from self-reliant man to somebody that learns to harness magic powers and care about other people in the process. Bruce Banner - The Norton incarnation, a hunted fugitive that is never accepted and is afraid of what could happen if the Hulk ever came out, but will show up to support the team in their times of need, either by scientific expertise or, if he absolutely must, smashing things. Happy Hogan - Not necessarily Happy as Stark's assistant, but somebody funny who could be "the guy in the chair" for the team. Just a normal guy that proves invaluable to the heroes. I choose Happy because Favreau is a good comedic actor and something of his sort would fit well here. Vision - Is born in the battle with Ultron and becomes the philosophical antithesis of Ultron's "humanity needs to be destroyed" mentality. Vision could argue that there is still good in humanity and that even some of the worst people could change for the better, using his team as evidence of this.
I like my team because they are mostly bad people, but with the capacity for good if you take them down that route. The MCU version of the good guys is seemingly "self-serving, stuck up muscle men constantly measuring their dicks."
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Post by Martin Stett on Nov 7, 2020 1:38:40 GMT
Black Panther
This movie is so dumb, and so po-faced that it can't even afford to be fun. Thank goodness for Claw, who chews the scenery like he's Andy Serkis. The real trouble is that this is a fantasy narrative, as opposed to a superhero one. That worked for GotG because it didn't give a crap, but BP is trying to be important. And BP is laughably bad at that. The central conflict is based around Killmonger becoming king because of the most ridiculous succession policy in recent memory. You just let this man become ruler of the most extensive and powerful armament on Earth because he won a fistfight? He's meant to be "sympathetic," but his reasoning literally comes down to "people that look like us" are in poor shape around the world. Maybe if he said something that would matter to Wakandans and could fire up things that matter to them, I'd buy the guy a little more. But he just has followers "because he's king." And also because Daniel Kaluuya is a terrible person for some reason?
Oh, speaking of Daniel Kaluuya... what is up with the whole "bad men vs. good women" thing at the end? It's insulting. It turns the sexes into a one-dimensional battle between good and evil, just as Killmonger paints the battle of races as good and evil... which the movie never tries to actually counter, it just hems and haws about the right way to battle injustice that is specifically painted as a racial issue. Because white people are bad. Men are bad. Straight people aren't bad because China will ban our movie. Do I sound bitter that Ross is referred to as a "colonizer" as an insult and the movie tacitly accepts it? If you want to make a comment on current American policy, you have to do more than that. As is, it's just whiteshaming. It's cheap and ugly and I hate that this movie never actually challenges the underlying thinking of Killmonger, just his radicalization into violence.
But aside from the idiocy and political ugliness, this has a trio of fun characters in Claw, Ross and Baku (is that his name or the name of his tribe?). I'd like a movie about the three of them going on adventures and slaying dragons or something, with Claw being insane, Baku being slightly less insane, and Ross trying to hold them away from killing too many peasants. These three alone kind of salvage the movie. It's still dull, but they bring energy that this crap doesn't deserve. 4/10, ranked 13th out of 18
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Post by Martin Stett on Nov 16, 2020 2:48:44 GMT
Avengers: Infinity War - (Edit: First time watch) I love that the moment Thanos snapped, the scene cuts to the weird afterlife place and my sister *immediately* said "oops, you just snapped yourself." Best moment of the movie. As for my thoughts on it... this is cynical blandness meant to sell part 2. Nothing else to say, really. A bunch of scenes thrown together to set up more scenes and further the plot that is meant to be all shocking, but winds up being rote. Thanos is a bore that they try to make "sympathetic" with a tragic backstory or something, but he is pitifully one-dimensional. The part where he kills Gamora is scored by this music that is turned to around 800% volume because the Russo brothers knew that this was a hackjob scene in a hackjob movie. I'm being negative. It isn't all that bad. Just... there. Cynical. The Marvel moneymaking machine at its most shameless. Typical moments of characters becoming idiots as the plot demands (Star Lord punching Thanos in the face, Hulk doing nothing to save the Asgardians) The snap is so stupid, a clear way to "shock" audiences without actually having to follow through on it. I don't know precisely how this will end, but I do know that a time machine is already built into your story. Thus, none of this means anything at all. Also, you killed all of the interesting characters. Wanda, Vision, the Guardians (save for Rocket & Nebula), Doctor Strange. You even killed Spider-Man, who has proved to be a fun supporting act when he isn't stuck anchoring a crap film. Whatever. I don't care. I don't like this movie, but it's such a nothingburger that it hardly leaves an impression. Everything will be reversed anyway. 4/10, ranked 12th out of 19Edit: I also really hate that the movie never counters the mindset of Thanos outside of "he's wrong" and doesn't delve into his emotions whatsoever outside of superficial "I love Gamora" crap. He's kind of the weakest point of the story, and I didn't make that clear. If we had focused on him the whole time, maybe I could buy his genocidal delusions. But the sad little smile he has upon seeing his handiwork isn't enough. The Russos don't earn that moment of despair and self-loathing. I've seen movies that take their time to establish a villain's identity and then let them see the cost of their actions. Infinity War doesn't have any cost. Thanos loses nothing in the snap because he barely exists, and nobody is actually *dead* dead, they're just coming back later because of the stupid time machine. I'm souring on this movie the more I think about it. Ugh.
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Post by countjohn on Nov 16, 2020 5:18:00 GMT
I liked Black Panther better than a lot of the other ones just because I thought it worked as an action movie pretty well. I agree that the attempts at racial commentary are really shallow and it is not "important" by any stretch of the imagination.
This is probably one of my better known takes on here so you might already know this but I thought Infinity War was pure garbage. Almost all the runtime is boring green screen action scenes and Thanos might have the single dumbest motivation for an evil scheme I've ever seen in a movie. I have no idea why anyone liked this unless they just got sucked in by the hype. I think I have it as a 2 on Letterboxd but in hindsight I don't know why I didn't just give it a 1. I have nothing good to say about it.
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Nov 16, 2020 5:31:23 GMT
Don't care much for the MCU myself but these takes are just brutal
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Pasquale
Full Member
Posts: 539
Likes: 227
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Post by Pasquale on Nov 16, 2020 13:13:09 GMT
The moment Infinity War ended, I thought 'Why are you insulting me? piss off with that crap.'
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Post by Pittsnogle_Goggins on Nov 16, 2020 15:01:37 GMT
and nobody is actually *dead* dead, they're just coming back later because of the stupid time machine. While that’s mostly true I wouldn’t say it 100% applies to the pre-snap deaths.
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Post by Martin Stett on Nov 16, 2020 15:21:49 GMT
This is probably one of my better known takes on here so you might already know this but I thought Infinity War was pure garbage. Almost all the runtime is boring green screen action scenes and Thanos might have the single dumbest motivation for an evil scheme I've ever seen in a movie. I have no idea why anyone liked this unless they just got sucked in by the hype. I think I have it as a 2 on Letterboxd but in hindsight I don't know why I didn't just give it a 1. I have nothing good to say about it. What is your Letterboxd name? I don't see you in my follow list. I've tried to stay away from info about these movies so as not to be spoiled, so I never searched out any takes on it.
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Post by countjohn on Nov 16, 2020 20:39:27 GMT
This is probably one of my better known takes on here so you might already know this but I thought Infinity War was pure garbage. Almost all the runtime is boring green screen action scenes and Thanos might have the single dumbest motivation for an evil scheme I've ever seen in a movie. I have no idea why anyone liked this unless they just got sucked in by the hype. I think I have it as a 2 on Letterboxd but in hindsight I don't know why I didn't just give it a 1. I have nothing good to say about it. What is your Letterboxd name? I don't see you in my follow list. I've tried to stay away from info about these movies so as not to be spoiled, so I never searched out any takes on it. Just CountJohn.
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Post by Martin Stett on Nov 16, 2020 21:05:16 GMT
Don't care much for the MCU myself but these takes are just brutal Your avatar is pretty much what I'm doing through most of them now.
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