After a long year of waiting, 'Black Widow' finally has her own movie. But is this too little too late? After all, Marvel seemed to reach its peak with 'Endgame', add a nice epilogue with 'Far from Home', and it feels a bit like it's time to move on. Not to mention, the idea of a 'Black Widow' movie has been on Marvel fans minds since her first appearance in 'Iron Man 2'. Personally, I was actually fine with the film's timing due to a few things in the film, but I can also see the point when people claim it should have come right after 'Civil War' - which is incidentally when it takes place. That's not before we delve into the past, and the intro to the film is a slice of origin, taking us back to 1995. In Ohio, we meet a surrogate family, starting with two young girls, Natasha Romanov (Ever Anderson) and Yelena Belova (Violet McGraw) who are enjoying their lives, having fun etc. That is until super soldier father figure, Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) enters the scene to warn his Black Widow wife, Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz) that their time is short. The parental units take the girls on an "adventure" to escape the scene with some SHIELD intel successfully stolen. Arriving in Cuba, they rendezvous with their boss, General Dreykov (Ray Winstone) who then has Natasha and Yelena sent to the "Red Room" to be trained. The credits start, and the opening is actually pretty damn disturbing. As years pass, Romanoff eventually becomes an Avenger with a checkered history, as we all know, and we do get some answers as to what she did so wrong in her past. To add to that, the year is now 2016, and she is a fugitive on the run for violating the Sokovia Accords (see 'Civil War'). Meanwhile, Yelena stays a Black Widow, and discovers that the Red Room holds a pretty significant dark secret, while Shostakov is in a secluded Russian prison, and Vostokoff is living on a farm somewhere. Once discovering the Red Room's secret, Yelena attempts to coax Natasha to help in her own subtle way, which will ultimately mean helping other Widows and hopefully bringing down Dreykov and his Red Room antics. Meanwhile still, a villain known as the Taskmaster (uncredited) is sent onto the scene to retrieve something Natasha and Yelena are carrying. The idea for Taskmaster is really neat - he can simply mimic anything he sees. So for instance, watching a newsfeed of Captain America fighting allows him to use a shield as a weapon very efficiently. The thing is, if anyone has a problem with any part of the movie, it's probably going to be Taskmaster fans being wronged. From my perspective, I'm very unfamiliar with the character comic-wise, so didn't see a big problem with the character. But for fans? I can definitely seeing this being the equivalent of Deadpool showing up in 'Wolverine' looking like Baraka. All that aside, it's time to get down to my personal opinion on this. There was actually a lot I liked about it, but first let's mention the negatives. First, I find it a touch odd that they actually brought in a few horror elements to this with the opening credits. It's creepy enough, but soon you find out just what they did to these girls in the Red Room and it sounds like a living nightmare. To be fair, that is the point, but I wasn't sure I expected it to get that dark. I expected a bit more of a 'Dark Angel' scenario. But that's just being nit-picky on my part. Sometimes the action is a bit over the top for something you'd think would be more grounded, and going back to Taskmaster, I can see that being the biggest disappointment of the film. Like I said, however, I did like a lot about this. It's a solid girl power theme without being so in your face. I liked the introduction of some new characters, namely Yelena and Red Guardian. I thought that the performances were good, and despite some of the action being over the top, I enjoyed that it was a Marvel take on a bit more of a spy/espionage movie, which really hasn't been done yet. To me, this is Marvel's answer to the 'Mission: Impossible' films - very similar in style. In the end, I definitely liked it more than I disliked it, but I will admit that it's one of Marvel's lesser films. I might suggest continuing the wait and not feeding Disney that extra cash. POST-CREDIT SCENE: Set after Romanoff's death in 'Endgame', Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) shows Yuleena Belova her next target; Clint Barton, who she claims to be Natasha's killer. 3/5
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Well, here it is! Eleven long years in the making, this is the final chapter in the 'Infinity War' saga, all starting with 'Iron Man' back in 2008. The results are well-established. People are saying things like "best Marvel movie in the MCU" and "One of the greatest achievements in cinematic history" and "I laughed, I cried, I cheered". IMDb already has it as #5 on their 250 Top Rated Movies, sandwiched between 'The Dark Knight' and '12 Angry Men'. Rotten Tomatoes currently rates it with a whopping 96%, and it's set to be the #1 Box Office opening weekend of all time, only behind its predecessor. Needless to say, it's a massive hit! But is it REALLY that good? Of course we know that this covers the events that occur after "The Snap", which decimated half of the population of the universe. And honestly, if that's a spoiler for you, go away, you shouldn't be here. Anyway, this film largely covers how the remaining Avengers deal with their losses, deal with Thanos, and deal with trying to set everything right, and that's ALL I'm gonna say about that with the risk of entering spoiler territory at the drop of a hat. I'm happy to say that, at least speaking for myself, I can pretty much agree with what everyone else has to say about it. At best, it's probably the all time greatest superhero movie I've seen in my entire life, and I am not just kissing its ass. At worst, it's three hours of a lot of fun. This really is the coming together of all 21 of its predecessors, and it does it beautifully. Callback after callback is executed, and it wraps it all up in a nice, neat, little package. The performances are everything they need to be, with characters like Cap (Chris Evans) and Widow (Scarlett Johannsen) being the heart and soul of the movie while characters like Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) provide the comic relief and characters like Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) are given some great development on their respective characters. I'm telling you, every character serves a purpose here, and no one completely gets pushed to the background. The action sequences feel as if the sudio just said "You know all that money we made over the past 11 years? Let's make it into something awesome!" I feel like the climax of this film ends up being well worth the wait, and the way the film ends puts a nice, solid lid on the contents of the past decade. The action is also beautifully balanced with the drama and comedy alike. There really is something here for everyone, and my inner geek was thoroughly satisfied. Any criticism I actually have for this movie is what I would call a nitpick, and I just can't bring myself to do it because this still gave me more than I expected - an I expected a LOT. I laughed often, I teared up a few times, I even clapped and cheered along with the rest of the audience, sporting a massive smile on my face the whole time. For me, it's a damn near perfect execution of a superhero movie, even though even I can admit that it's not an all-around perfect film. But again, I just can't bring myself to start nitpicking. I had the most fun in the theater that I've had in a very long time with this, and the cheering audience really added to my experience. I will most definitely be seeing it again, and I can't wait to own this on blu-ray so I can watch it and rewatch it time and time again. This may very well be my new all-time favourite superhero movie - a bold statement, but seriously, watch it. It's a Marvel geek's dream come true! POST-CREDIT SEQUENCE: As the credits finish rolling, you can hear the sound of hammering metal. Presumably, this is a call-back to 'Iron Man', fashioning his first suit, symbolizing the beginning of this saga. 5/5 This was probably the movie I was looking forward to this year the most, and I'm happy to say it delivered on all fronts. It surprised me, it even downright shocked me at times, and as far as my predictions went, I can honestly say that I got maybe none or some of them perhaps wrong or right. HA, spoiler-free review, guys. So spoiler-free that even those who know what my predictions were aren't getting cut any slack. Just go see it, guys, it's so worth it. Basic spoiler-free plot, Thanos (Josh Brolin) is in search of the Inifinity Stones we've all come to know in our marathons of playing catch-up for this movie... Okay, so I'm speaking for myself, but I KNOW that still applies to some of you out there. Anyway, long story short, it's up to the Avengers to try to stop him from getting his hands on these stones, and practically everybody is there for this grand-scale event. Yes, some get more screen-time than others, but the balance was really well done from my perspective. One has to bear in mind that with a cast this huge, some characters are just gonna have to get pushed a bit into the background. That said, I have no complaints as to screen time for any character. In fact, there were actually a few pleasant surprises. Thanos, I have to say, is an interesting character. This is gonna sound super weird, but this is definitely one of Brolin's more dramatic and powerful roles. Thanos was a villain I really paid attention to, but at the same time routed against. He had an interesting point of view, but at the same time, you didn't like that point of view. In many ways, he's actually kinda scary. He has certainly gained my respect as one of the best on-screen comic book villains of all time. Now, one also has to understand that this is pretty much my introduction to Thanos, so as far as accuracy is concerned, I'm not sure how well they nailed it. All I know is I liked what I got from him enough to consider him well within my top 5 list of comic book movie villains. The one thing I will forewarn about is that it ends on what is probably the most suspenseful cliffhanger I've ever seen in a movie franchise. That's all I'll say on the subject, but I feel the need to address it because some people just can't stand that kind of thing, and this one is pretty huge. The fact that it does end on a cliffhanger, though, can't come as much of a surprise considering the next 'Avengers' movie is due next year, and this was always gonna be a two-parter. Anyway, personally speaking, I love a good cliffhanger. It warrants all sorts of discussion and predictions for what's to come, and it gets you more excited to see how things will unfold. For me, it this was an all around great roller coaster ride of fun, tension, drama, and a surprising amount of comedy encompassing it all. It was a fantastic experience, and it managed to deliver more than I expected. Like, way more. Now, that's just me, and perhaps opinions will differ, but for everything it was, I loved every minute of it! 5/5 POST-CREDIT SCENE: Nick Fury and Maria Hill are seen driving around New York, when accidents and destruction start happening around them. They both become victims of the Snap, but not before Fury gets a message out to who appears to be Captain Marvel Although this is slated basically as 'Captain America 3', one could totally see this as 'The Avengers 3' in that basically, everyone makes an appearance, save Hulk and Thor, and it does have quite a balance going on between Cap and Stark. In fact, it even got to the point where before this was released, the internet blew up with the whole "Team Cap or Team Stark?" question. Of course, most of us went with "Team Stark" for the sole reason that the one and only Spider-Man was actually making an appearance this time around, and he was on that side of things. 'Civil War' starts out with Stark being confronted by a woman who tells him that because of the Avengers, her son is now dead. This is something a lot of action hero films don't address incredibly well - the destruction they leave behind. And yes, before the DC fans jump down my throat, 'Batman v Superman' did it pretty well too. Anyway, Stark brings in Thadeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, now U.S. Secretary of State to discuss the "Sokovia Accords", which is essentially meant to keep our heroes in-check by the U.N., only bringing them in if absolutely necessary. And this is where it gets rather interesting. While Stark feels a tremendous guilt about what has happened, and more than willing to sign the Accords, Cap sees it as disruptive to their right to choose. For example, what if something bad is going down but it's not "important enough" for the Avengers to help. Cap's biggest personality trait IS that he wants to do what's right, no matter the cost. It gets to be this whole moral compass thing. On top of all of it, Bucky returns and is blamed for an attack in Vienna where the Accords are to be ratified. The attack kills King T'Chaka of Wakanda, and ends up bringing in T'Challa, his son, as the Black Panther, seeking revenge for his father's murder. With seemingly everyone after Bucky, Cap's old friend, he finds the need to protect him, knowing that whatever he's done in the past had everything to do with being brainwashed. Of course, this all leads up to one hell of an Avengers vs Avengers fight scene that features everyone who has been introduced so far. The idea behind the fight being "Team Stark" trying to bring "Team Cap" in safely and securely for going against the Accords, while "Team Cap" stands against it all, putting more trust in themselves than a government with a possible agenda. The Russo Brothers do a fantastic job here, not only in the sense of giving the audience what they wanna see, but working with such a large cast. It's sincerely no wonder why they were chosen to direct 'Infinity War', as they kinda managed to bump Joss Whedon off as THE ensemble cast directors. On top of everything, it's interesting to see a film in which you can see the positives and negatives regarding each side. As a superhero, would you trust your government to do the right thing at the right time? Could you just sit there and let others take care of something you could take care of much faster? or on the flip side, could you live with the guilt of knowing that in order to save a majority, some casualties may need to occur? It's the first time an MCU movie has come along with that sort of deep thinking attached to it, where one CAN see both sides of the argument quite clearly. This one is a personal favorite of the MCU for me because it triggers that kind of thinking. 5/5 MID-CREDIT SCENE: In the aftermath of these events, Bucky chooses to freeze himself again until a cure for his brainwashing - which caused most of the trouble in this, is found. This loosely teases to 'Black Panther'. POST-CREDIT SCENE: Peter Parker, licking his wounds after the big fight, tests out a spider signal in his room, compliments of Tony Stark, loosely teasing 'Spider-Man: Homecoming'. Here's a title I tend to like a little bit more than most people, it would seem. It's not to say that the movie isn't without it's problems, but for the most part, I was entertained by it. Taking place, again, real-time on the timeline (circa summer, 2015), The Avengers open the movie with a mission their on to shut down Hydra once and for all. During the mission, Loki's stolen scepter is found and brought in to be examined. Within it, the fourth Infinity Stone - the Mind Stone. Stark sees a unique opportunity to create an A.I. that could protect the whole planet for whenever the next alien attack could occur. He would call it "Ultron". During the process of Ultron's (James Spader) creation, it backfires. Ultron becomes so intelligent, that he kinda sort goes full Magneto and decides the human race doesn't need to exist due to his sentience... or is that "full HAL"? Anyway, his primary target is the nation of Wakanda, the only place in the world where the precious metal vibranium (the stuf Cap's shield is made of) can be found. And of course, it's up to the Avengers to shut Ultron down. I suppose where it lacks is in that it's not an entirely original villain. I mean, I just compared him to two of the best. Also, I have to admit that I haven't been through the comic story this is based on, so all I really have is this movie to work with, not knowing how accurate/inaccurate the story may be. A lot of fans tend to see this one as "just okay", as in "not particularly bad, but it was no 2012 Avengers". I have to agree to that side of things at least a little bit, but again, I was still quite entertained by it It's action-packed, it brings all the heroes back together again, has a great sense of humor, and to be perfectly blunt and honest, I quite like Ultron (James Spader) as a villain. Although, I can see him being a little over the top for some. One could consider his character a guilty pleasure, I suppose. But he's just the kind of villain I enjoy. He has his plans for the world, he's highly intelligent, but above all, he's got personality. That perhaps sounds like a weird thing for an A.I. to have right off the bat, but the idea behind him is that he's super advanced and created using something not of this world. So, I dunno, for me it just works fine. We also get further introduced to Pietro and Wanda Maximoff (Aaron Taylor Johnson and Elisabeth Olsen, respectively), aka Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch (also respectively) as well as Vision (Paul Bettany), who is essentially J.A.R.V.I.S. uploaded to a synthetic body, again, using the infinity stone which, as we all know now, is that thing in his head. To say that it had as much of an impact as the first 'Avengers' movie would be a lie, though. Again, tis movie isn't without a few problems, not least of which is the unoriginal villain (who I still like, but even I have to admit to that) with unoriginal motives. I can understand why people don't tend to enjoy this particular chapter of the MCU. But what can I say? I just had a lot of fun with this. Kind of in the same way I had fun with 'Justice League'. It just hits that balance where, it might not be a great movie, but upon turning it off, I still feel satisfied and felt like I pretty much got what I came for. 4/5 MID-CREDIT SCENE: Thanos unlocks a vault containing the Infinity Gauntlet, puts it on his hand and says "I'll do it myself", hinting that he is now well after the Infinity Stones, and essentially teasing 'Infinity War'. Okay, so let me start this one off by saying this has little to nothing to do with the 'Infinity War' story either, in comparison to my criticism about 'Iron Man 3'. However, this does tie in very nicely with 'Agents of SHIELD' and lets us know what's going on with all of that since the events of 'The Avengers'. Timeline-wise, this apparently fits in two years after 'The Avengers' took place. Bringing things over to Washington, DC, Steve Rogers is now working for S.H.I.E.L.D. as Captain America, and doing what's right and just. In his spare time, he's catching up on things, and adjusting to modern society. During a hostage rescue mission on board a S.H.I.E.L.D ship, Rogers finds that Romanoff has her own mission; to get some computer data for his new boss, Nick Fury. Upon confronting Fury about this, he's told about Project Insight, which involves three Hellicarriers linked to spy satellites in order to prevent incoming threats. When Fury is unable to distinguish what Romanoff has brought him, he becomes suspicious, and is soon ambushed by someone known as The Winter Soldier. Soon enough, shit hits the fan. For starters, It is learned that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been compromised from the inside out by non other than Cap's old rival Nazi branch, Hydra. But what's more than that, there's something about this Winter Soldier guy all too familiar to Cap. Of course, it wouldn't exactly be a spoiler at this point to reveal that he ends up being his old friend, Bucky, who survived a deadly fall in the first film due to whatever they did to him before he was found. Sorry if that's any kind of spoiler, but it's time to come out from under that rock. What's interesting here is that this, much like 'Iron Man 3' or 'Thor 2', also has quite a bit going on in it, and is admittedly pretty busy as well. However this just ends up being more memorable, and a bit easier to follow (speaking for myself) in the end. Primarily, this is just a matter of a couple of major things - S.H.I.E.L.D. gets taken over by Hydra after a big master plan, Cap, Black Widow, Fury and Hill all have to deal with it in their way. Although Hill isn't exactly a big part of it. And on top of that you have the Cap/Winter Soldier story. The rest of it can manage to take a back seat quite comfortably. For example introducing Falcon goes so smoothly, despite a bit of a lack of screen time, I still see the guy as a total badass. All he wants to do is help, and he throws himself right into the mix showing how courageous he is. May I say, an underrated character! This is one of my favorites of the entire Marvel saga. The whole idea of Hydra taking over makes for so much darkness, the relationship between Cap and Bucky, and giving Fury, Widow and Falcon some decent screen time and development, and some pretty breathtaking action sequences make this one just a cut above the rest. Once again, out of the Marvel trilogies that exist so far, 'Cap' is by far my favorite one. This film is where the Russo brothers came into play, who would also direct 'Civil War' and are helming 'Infinity War' plus the 'Avengers' film after that. In other words, they're the new Joss Whedon to this whole series. This movie proved that despite having a bunch of stuff to work with and making it all fit, it could still be done well. This is most likely why these guys have been chosen to helm 'Infinity War'. It was nice to see the MCU shaping up again, and we looked forward to that next 'Avengers' flick again. But the next film in line would introduce a whole new team of mostly unknown characters who very well could have fallen on their asses and failed. 5/5 MID-CREDIT SCENE: Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, (Thomas Kretschmann) is at a Hydra lab, proclaiming that the "age of miracles" has begun. Scientists can be seen examining what can be recognized as Loki's scepter. Meanwhile, two test subjects are shown caged up, one with super speed, and one with telekinetic ability. We recognize them as Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). This is a tease for who will be featured in 'Age of Ultron'. POST-CREDIT SCENE: Bucky is seen wandering a war museum display that highlights Steve Rogers as Captain America, and discovers who he really is. This was it! A movie that so many people thought would never come to fruition finally came to the big screen! At the time, this was completely unprecedented. One can argue this with me all they wish, but things like 'Fantastic Four', 'Ninja Turtles', 'Transformers', were all titles that involved already-formed teams. It's also really funny that no one seems to throw 'X-Men' in there when making this argument, but hey, whatever works. This was a bunch of solo superheroes coming together for the first time, which broke that barrier comic-to-film adaptations consistently have - they never crossed over, unlike solo comic books do all the time. This was finally noticed, and something new was created that featured Iron Man, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, and Thor, as well as cameo faves, Black Widow and Hawkeye. It had all sorts of potential to fail, but holy shit. Not only did it prove a movie of such a scale could exist, it proved that cinematic superheroes do NOT need to be totally grounded in reality, and you can STILL come up with great story while blending it with flashy special effects. If you're one of the two people in the world who hasn't seen it, the plot digs the Tesseract (from 'Cap 1') back up for SHIELD to study. Right off the bat, it turns out to function as a portal through space, and Loki turns up as public enemy number one, aiming to use the Tesseract to summon an alien army known as the Chutari to attack Earth, and allow him to rule it with an iron fist because he's still hurt about getting denied that Asgardian throne. Of course, such a threat is what "assembles" the Avengers - Earth's mightiest heroes, into action. Well, to be perfectly blunt and perhaps a bit of a bummer on the subject, this movie has bee talked about to death, and there's really nothing new I can add to the conversation. So this review is gonna end up being a little short. To me, this is pretty much the epitome of a great, not so much "superhero film" but comic series adaptation. The way I see it, 'Thor' put his fist through that wall of "keeping it grounded", but 'The Avengers' demolished the wall clean through and said "it's time to make things actually look like a comic book". However, what this did leave me with this time around with my... I've lost count viewing is the feeling I had with this in the first place. We've got 'Infinity War' coming up, and it's cast is INSANE. As pumped as I am for it, I have to admit that I can't go into it all-systems-go. Here's hoping in doing that, that I'll get a similar experience to what I had with this and walk out 100% satisfied. What more can be said? This is an all-time favorite, and it's actually aged over the past few years quite nicely. It's a landmark though, so I guess that's bound to happen. But it's cool to know that all the movies from here on in would be great, right?... Right!? 5/5 MID-CREDIT SCENE: Failing the first attack on Earth, Thanos is notified, and teased to be a part of the upcoming Universe, and the 'Infinity War' storyline was coming. POST-CREDIT SCENE: Perhaps more famous that the mid-credit scene, The Avengers sit around eating shawarma in the aftermath of the Battle of New York. After 'Iron Man' and 'The Incredible Hulk' were ultimately successful, it was time to drive the point home that the Avengers was most definitely happening. Before we knew it, we had a few upcoming titles to look forward to, including 'Thor' (however the hell they were gonna pull that off) and 'Captain America: The First Avenger' to be released in 2011. However, 'Iron Man 2' would provide a decent "bookmark" for it all, almost two years after it's predecessor. As one might expect, however, 'Iron Man 2's main purpose seemed to be pretty much just that - the first grand-scale advertisement for 'The Avengers'. This comes as a side story to the film's central plot that brings in Nick Fury, Agent Coulson and introduces Black Widow, all working for S.H.I.E.L.D. But really, if you're looking for this movie's REAL story, it takes place about six months after Stark has announced to the world that he is, in fact, Iron Man. Wallowing in his own newfound glory and pride, he successfully uses the Iron Man suit to continue fighting for peace, and refuses to sell his designs to the government. However, Stark's dark secret shows the palladium core that powers the Iron Man suit is slowly poisoning his heart, and much of the film has to do with him trying to find a suitable substitute. Meanwhile, in Russia, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) creates an arc reactor very similar to Stark's. Discovering this information, rival weapons manufacturer, Hammer Tech, lead by Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), hires Vanko to create weaponry for him. However, Vanko has his own plans for revenge against Stark, and means to bring down the Iron Man. The motivation behind this involves Vanko's father once working with Howard Stark (Tony's father) on the original arc reactor. He tried to sell the plans, got caught in the act, got deported, became an alcoholic, and eventually getting arrested for selling nuclear secrets to Pakistan. All the while, the Stark family has been to blame for the Vanko's disgrace. Of course, ultimately, this leads to the villain Whiplash. 'Iron Man 2' makes for a decent stepping stone for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it doesn't come across as a hell of a lot more. In truth, this isn't as much of an Iron Man movie as it is a Tony Stark movie. That said, the climactic sequence taking place over the last half hour or so of the movie is well executed, and a lot of fun to watch as an action-packed scene. This is mostly due to the introduction of War Machine into the mix, and it completely contrasts the first hour and a half of the film which otherwise does drag a bit. This movie finds itself on the lower area of my list when it comes to the MCU. It's such a setup for the Avengers, and it even tries to tease us by telling us Stark might not be able to make it when we all know he will. It's a little bit pointless by the time 'Avengers' comes along, but I guess it's supposed to show us that his character needs to develop into someone more responsible. I dunno, it is what it is. What really started to make us think wasn't where Stark was gonna end up, though, at this point. News had come out for the upcoming 'Thor' and 'Captain America' movies. Speaking for myself, my biggest thought was how in the hell they were gonna execute 'Thor'. By the end of this movie, we knew it was coming, and it was bound to be pretty terrible... or was it? 3/5 POST-CREDIT SCENE: Coulson gets called to a job in New Mexico in the middle of the film. This scene shows us what he was called in for. A crater has been discovered in the middle of the desert with Thor's hammer in the middle of it. |