So here is the part where I lose a bunch of my internet cred by saying that I thought Black Panther was just okay. I know a lot of people have been throwing it all kinds of praise (and frankly, I don’t have a problem with that), but as a movie, it really doesn’t do much for me.
The problem, I think, is that it’s too well structured. I know that might sound like a strange criticism, but hear me out. Essentially, this movie does such a good job establishing the setting, the characters, and the foreshadowing, that by the time you get to the second half of the movie, nothing feels particularly surprising. With each new twist and turn, all I felt was “yeah, that makes sense.” It also doesn’t help that most of the action scenes felt just as perfunctory. While the stuff in Korea was kinda neat, everything else, from the epic war scenes to the air combat to the one-on-one fight between the hero and the villain, felt very standard and vanilla.
That’s not to say it’s entirely bland. The cast is very solid (It’s fun to actually see Andy Serkis playing the heck out of Klaue; sure, his motion-capture work is great, but he’s such a good actor on his own, as well!), and the world of Wakanda is very well realized. Unfortunately, everything else just felt like very standard (and at times, underwhelming) Marvel material.
Rating: C+
Thanos: The Movie, starring the Avengers! In reality, this movie is kind of a bizarre piece of work. While the Avengers remain the heroes, desperately trying to stop the mad titan from completing his quest, a lot of time is spent with the villain and his motivations and character arc.
When I first saw the film, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I felt like it had the Fellowship of the Ring or Empire Strikes Back problem of mostly being a set up for a future film. And while that is still true, upon rewatching it a few times, I do think it does stand on its own, and overall, is a pretty good experience.
A lot of that has to do with the Russo brothers picking up where they left off with Civil War. They are able to carefully balance such a large cast of characters, ensuring that they each get their moment to shine. It definitely feels more balanced than Age of Ultron did.
However, Ultron’s level of melodrama certainly remains. We do get a number of scenes where characters feel like they have to make “the hard choice” only to have Thanos stuff it back in their faces each time, resulting in an ever-growing heaviness for the characters and their emotions. The big difference is that we do get something of a payoff, when we see Thanos succeed.
In the end, it remains tragic and powerful, all while setting the stage for the epicness to come.
Rating: B+
After the heaviness that was Infinity War, it made sense to follow up with something lighter, and given that Ant-Man was such a great palate cleanser after Age of Ultron, it makes sense to follow up Thanos’ iconic snap with the return of Ant-Man.
This time, we do get more of the same fun banter as the first film, but the staging is pretty different. While the first film was more focused, building up to an epic heist, Ant-Man and the Wasp settles in for more of an urgent chase and find experience. As a result, we get a movie that’s much faster paced, as characters and MacGuffins are tossed to-and-fro in the midst of three groups, all with their own motivations.
Fortunately, the cast is having a lot of fun, and we do get a number of entertaining scenes and special effects. (Seriously, that scene where Scott Lang is channeling Janet Van Dyne has got to be one of the best performances Paul Rudd has done, if not the dang kookiest!). Overall, a very fun film that isn’t quite as good as the first, but still hangs on its own.
Rating: B+
Thrown in to quickly introduce another character before the big finale, we get yet another Marvel origin movie that ticks all the same boxes that the other one does, but gets to feel different because it’s a super-powered girl and set in the 90s.
I’m being a little sarcastic, here, though. It’s another alright movie, with a good cast, a decent story with a few twists, and some neat special effects. It’s just that, after seeing so many of these, it’s hard to feel like there’s really anything new or surprising about these beyond the details. Sure, Brie Larson looks great as Captain Marvel, and it’s fun to see a younger Nick Fury and Phil Coulson (though we didn’t get enough Coulson for my tastes), but beyond that, it feels hardly substantial.
Rating: C+
And it finally comes to an end. I won’t go too deep into spoilers, here, but it’s certainly safe to say that this is quite the stamp on the MCU. Things aren’t going to be the same after this one, though we expected as much.
I do have a few quibbles, the biggest one being the involvement of time travel to try and fix things. It’s likely just a personal thing, as it’s hard for me to like stories with time travel in them, as they tend to leave a lot of plot holes and inconsistencies around. Sure, the movie kind of addresses it in a cheeky way, but it still feels kind of cheap. Fortunately, the characters don’t try to do too much with it, and so things don’t get too messy.
However, it’s from this time-travel premise that we really do get a lot of other story threads addressed and resolved. This movie is probably the most fan-service driven of the series so far, and as a consequence, there really is a lot of great little moments as the characters jump all over and try to accomplish their daring task of setting things right again. And seeing it all come together for the epic finale is very satisfying.
In the end, we get a great conclusion to a great series of films that feels genuinely unprecedented, one that has left its impact on movie history that we’ll be feeling for quite a while. I do wish some characters hadn’t turned out the way they had, but I can’t deny the incredible sense of closure this movie provides.
Rating: B+
So there we have it: a mini-review of all 22 films in the MCU. I actually did rewatch all the films before watching Endgame. It was fun to do, especially for these articles, but I admit I'm done with Marvel for quite a while. And with Endgame's outcome, this turns out to be a pretty great stopping point. While I'll probably still watch some of their planned future films, I don't know if I'll be as dedicated to following the continuity has I have been for the past 11 years.
Still, I can't deny it's been a heckuva ride! After so many good films, these characters have really become special to me, in a way. It's nice to have closure, but I can't deny I'm going to miss them.
No comments:
Post a Comment