Luckily, despite some storytelling and technical shortcomings, the film is ultimately a flawed-yet-powerful look at international policy, racial politics, and familial obligations that hits the mark farrr more often than it misses...
Read moreGuardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2. Review
Writer/director James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy is indeed a stunning film. It is full of brilliant creative energy and spirit, but there is one specific reason it continues to stand out in audiences' minds and continues to be my favorite of the marvel universe films after three years… the characters. More than just falling in love with the Guardians of the Galaxy blockbuster, moviegoers and myself fell in love with the Guardians of the Galaxy team -- connecting with this group of loveable ridiculous misfits who manage to find each other and become a dysfunctional family. It's Gunn's perfect understanding of this that clearly helped mold Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which smartly scales down plot in favor of personality -- and while the sequel doesn't pack the full punch of the original, it's a wonderful, beautiful follow-up that is richly dense in detail and features a parade of thrilling and fun surprises...
Read moreDoctor Strange Review (spoiler free)
In a year that sees Disney sitting atop the box office charts with the four highest-grossing films worldwide of the year, with one more likely waiting in the wings (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), and with more than $4.7 billion in global receipts so far (with another likely $3.433 bigllllion to come), the studio’s next potential blockbuster franchise is just around the corner. Marvel’s Phase 3 kicked off this summer with the release of Captain America: Civil War, taking $1.15 billion at the box office, and now the MCU’s next entry arrives November 4th when Doctor Strange hits theaters. With a mix of popular superhero and fantasy elements plus the seemingly invincible Marvel branding...
Read moreCaptain America: Civil War Review (spoiler free)
Functioning as both a sequel to Captain America: The Winter Solider andThe Avengers: Age of Ultron, the film is the most comprehensive Marvel Cinematic Universe chapter to date, and while that put a great deal on the plate of writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the movie soars because the challenge is accepted and responded to in brilliant and entertaining fashion. Bringing together tremendous character dynamics; bold structure; an emotional narrative earned after years of story work; and spellbinding, fun action sequences, it’s everything a blockbuster should be.
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