Category Archives: Reviews

My thoughts on Television episodes and movies

The Rest of Harry Potter

About a month and a half ago, I did a Sunday Night Flicks about watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. It was fun to watch with the kids for the first time and to see how much they got into it. My oldest in particular really enjoyed it a lot. He enjoyed it so much, that over the next little while we were watching nothing but Harry Potter. He wanted to finish all of the films, and he wanted to do it as quickly as possible. The other kids enjoyed the first one, but they were not so quick to want to watch the rest. They had lost interest by the end of Sorcerer’s Stone, and when we suggested that we watch the next one the next day, they politely (insert sarcasm here) said, “No thank you.” Johnny didn’t mind. That meant he had the family room all to himself. Well, not really. He had the family room all to himself, plus me. Johnny doesn’t like to do anything alone, so there was no way he was going to watch these movies downstairs, all by himself. For my part, it meant I could sit down and watch 7 more 2 hour movies, and not feel guilty because I was bonding with my son.

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So, here’s the kicker: About two films into our Harry Potter adventure, it really wasn’t about sitting down to watch a film for a couple of hours. It really became about bonding with my son. Watching the films with him, I saw the excitement and magic I experienced when I first read the books. Johnny can’t just sit and watch something. He has to talk about what he is watching and he has to ask questions. He especially likes to ask questions about what is happening and what is going to happen. He can’t stand not knowing what is going to happen. About halfway through the 4th movie, he started asking me who was going to win, Harry or Voldemort. I chuckled each time and told him he would have to wait. He hated that answer. He wanted to know right now. I think he was genuinely concerned that Harry may not win, and I don’t think he wanted to watch it to the end if that was the case.

There is so much there that was just like me when I was a kid. Heck, it’s just like me now. I can’t stand not knowing what is going to happen. Sometimes, when I get a new book, it takes every bit of my will power to not look at the ending. I totally understand this is not the suggested course of action. I enjoy the book or movie much more if I don’t know what’s going to happen, but sometimes, it is just so hard to wait. I think a big reason why is because I am a happy ending kind of guy. I don’t like it when the hero loses or they die or whatever. I like good to conquer evil. That’s my preference. I don’t want to care about these characters just to have them lose or die in the end. I remember how I felt when I read The Lord of the Rings for the first time, and you get to the part where Frodo gets stung by Shilob, and Tolkien let’s you think he is dead. I almost threw the book down and stopped reading then and there. What was the point if the main character was going to die? Of course, he didn’t die. He lived, all the hobbits lived, and I was happy. I felt the same way when I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Harry died. I mean, he was really dead for a minute. He got better, though, and we got our happy ending after all. Watching Johnny stress about what was going to happen brought back all those memories, and it was pretty cool.

The other thing that was a lot of fun was watching Johnny just obsess about something. He is officially a Potterhead. He knows all the characters and the story and everything. After he was done watching the films, he begged us to take him out on Pottermore. I don’t know how he learned about it, probably from some YouTube video, but he wanted to go so bad. So we went out there, and he couldn’t wait to be sorted. Unfortunately, in his mind, he was sorted into Hufflepuff. He decided that only happened because he used his proper name, John, instead of his real name (in his mind), Johnny. He tried it again, this time trying to guess which answers would put him in Gryffindor. He was reasoning was pretty sound, like when the question was “What are you afraid of?,” he selected being alone, “because,” he said,”Harry, Ron, and Hermione were always together, so they must be afraid to be alone.” All this figuring on his part did lead him to a different result than the time before. It still wasn’t Gryffindor. Instead, he ended up in Ravenclaw, which makes sense, since he got there by trying to outsmart the test.

At the end of the day, I went into this experience as a big Harry Potter fan. I came out of it with a better appreciation for my son, and he for me. We got closer to each other than we were before. For me, I always enjoyed Harry Potter. I always liked the story, but I also felt like I was just a little too old to be obsessed with, and too much of a not teenage girl. The reality is, now, Harry potter will always be a little more meaningful for me because I got closer to my son. It will always be the first fandom we really shared with each other. Now, he we are, just waiting for our new Harry Potter Funko Pop characters to come from Amazon, and to see what Harry Potter related guests will be announced for the upcoming Salt Lake Comic Con, wands at the ready.

Sunday Night Flicks: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

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It’s summer time, which means the kids will not be going to bed as early as they normally would, which means it will be easier to get in some good Sunday Night Flicks. This last week we decided to start the eight film journey covering the adventures of Harry Potter and his friends. I have been wanting to share these stories with my kids for a long time, and my oldest finally showed a little bit of interest after playing the Harry Potter Lego games. We started where everyone should start such a journey; at the beginning.

It was pretty interesting to go back to the beginning of this saga. It had been quite a while since I had watched either of the first two Harry Potter films, and it was kind of strange to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione so young, and know what was lying ahead for them. The three of them seem wide-eyed through out this movie, like they are just as amazed and astonished by this wizarding as we were. In this film, and the next installment, Chris Columbus begins to bring to life the hidden magical world that David Yates would later perfect starting with Order of the Phoenix.

The Sorcerer’s Stone for me, is fun because we see Harry Potter come to life for the first time. These characters I had always imagined in my head were there, on the screen. I wasn’t sold on Daniel Radcliffe as Harry at first, but he grew into the role, and it would be hard to imagine anyone else in the role. Rupert Grint, on the other hand, was brilliant from the start, as was Emma Watson. I remember being somewhat disappointed with this film when I saw it for the first time, which was at home on DVD since it came out while I was spending two years in Germany. It is still probably my least favorite of all the films.

Watching it for the first time with my little ones changed my perspective a little bit. I got to experience the magic again but through my kids’ eyes. The only thing I could compare it with is when we took our kids to Disneyland for the first time. I had always loved Disneyland, but seeing them experience for the first time brought the magic to life in a whole new way. That’s kind of how this felt. My son was so excited about the movie, that he wanted us to immediately put in the second film. We are making him wait until at least next week.

Overall, this film was ok. As much as I enjoyed watching the kids enjoy this movie, I couldn’t get past how much I disliked this compared to the other movies. The child actors aren’t great right away, and their chemistry is good, but still awkward, not like it is by the end of the films. That makes sense, since by the eighth movie they had all grown up together. I guess for me it is like watching the first season of Seinfeld. You can tell it has a lot of potential, but it’s not there yet. However, the world the film is set in is fantastic and rich in detail.

The fun factor is what really counts here. The kids love this Harry Potter movie, and in a lot of ways, it feels like a kids’ movie, kind of like how the first book feels more like a children’s book. I had no problem with all of my kids sitting down to watch this movie, but I am not sure how I feel about some of the younger ones watching the films as they go on. They may have to head off to bed before we watch Order of the Phoenix.

I guess, in the end, watching this with my kids, I had a lot of mixed feelings. In some ways, it was still hard to get through this whole movie and to look past the acting in some cases, knowing it would get better. In other ways, it was a lot of fun to experience Harry’s first trip to Diagon Alley with my little ones. It was like they were there, in Diagon Alley, with Harry and Hagrid. Maybe that experience made me appreciate this film on a new level.

What about you? What did you think about this first installment of the Harry Potter films? Where does this one rank compared to the others? Let me know in the comments.

Avengers: Age of Ultron Spoiler Free Review

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Last night I had the opportunity to go see Avengers: Age of Ultron, an event that I have been leading up to on the blog over the last two months by reviewing each of the previous 10 Marvel films. Age of Ultron has been incredibly hyped and promoted, to the point that one would think there is now way it could live up to all of it. Well, after being it, I can say it did live up to the hype, at least in my opinion, for the most part. Today, I am going to attempt to review the movie without spoiling it for anyone who hasn’t seen it. To do this I am going to break this review into my 5 categories and talk about how it fared in each category without going into detail. Hopefully this works out okay for everyone.

Plot

If I had anything to nitpick about this movie, it would be the plot. Not because the story wasn’t entertaining, but because it seems like it followed a lot of the same plot lines as the first Avengers. In the film we see the same stages of team formation that we saw in the first film. We see some forming, then storming, norming and performing. Without going into detail, it seems like at one point in the film, the team is right back where they started in the first Avengers film, despite the fact that they have been working together for a couple of years now. That being said, I don’t know how else you could make a great super hero team movie without finding a way to tell this kind of story. That’s what makes sequels like this so hard. Like I said at the beginning of this section, that’s nitpicking. My brother and i noticed the similarities, but we were also thoroughly entertained. Obviously, while the overall plot may be similar deep down, on the surface it also feels very different because we have a different villain, so in the end it works just fine. Overall, for the plot, I would give this a 4 out 5 stars.

Dialogue

This is one area where the Avengers’ time together shines through. This cast obviously has some great chemistry, and you can tell on screen. There are some great one liners, and while tempting to share a few of them here, I am going to refrain. This has become a trademark of the MCU films, the witty back and forth and snappy dialogue. Age of Ultron is no exception. The main cast is great in their delivery and it is everything you would expect. Throwing in a master of wit, like James Spader, as the main antagonist, and it only helps your cause. He was incredible as Ulton. The way he delivered his lines was classic James Spader. His performance is a highlight of this film. Only die-hard fangirls will be sad that Loki is not involved in this film at all. No one else will miss the god of mischief because of James Spader’s performance. Overall, for the whole film, for dialogue, I would rank this 4.5 stars.

Character Development

I was assuming we would see a little bit of the conflict between Cap and Iron Man begin to emerge in this film, leading into Civil War.  There is a little bit of it there, and you begin to see how the two of them view the world differently and how they view their roles differently. The most interesting thing is that as you begin to see those differences that could lead to that conflict, you also see their friendship develop more as well. I think Civil War  is going to be a great film, and I can’t wait to see how they get to that point. As far as the other characters in this film, there is some great development throughout the team, but none of the characters grow as much as Hawkeye does. We see his character in a whole new light after this film. And that is all I am going to say about that. Overall character development gets 4.5 stars.

Acting

There was nothing that blew me away about the acting in this film. It was exactly what you expect from an MCU movie. It didn’t disappoint at all, but no one is going to win any awards for their performance. That’s fine. No one expects that from an action film. At the very least, like all MCU films, the acting is not so horrible that it ruins what could have been a decent film. Instead, it is a strong performance from everyone involved. RDJ and Chris Evans turn in some great work, and continue to establish themselves as the leading men of the MCU. Mark Ruffalo is a highlight as always, and I think James Spader was wonderful. Overall, the acting is a 4 out of 5 stars.

Entertainment Value

This one is easily a 5 out of 5 stars. When I went to the film, was I entertained? Absolutely! Whedon packs this film with almost nonstop action from start to finish. There is hardly a moment to catch your breath, and that’s what i want from a big, blockbuster picture like this one. The action does not disappoint, but the story never gets lost in the action either. The battles in this movie are some of the best ever put in a superhero movie. They take what we saw in Avengers  to the next level, and set a new standard. A lot of times these movies will have one or two smaller battles and then the really big one at the end. This one has way more, and each one makes sense and looks incredible. That mixed with the dialogue and humor and everything makes this category a 5 out of 5.

Overall

This is a great addition to the MCU family. It will make a ton of money, and it earns every penny. Go see this film, although I’ll bet most of you already have. It is incredible and fun. I can’t wait to find a babysitter and take my wife, and then maybe take my oldest some time, because he’ll want to watch it, and then maybe I’ll have to find an excuse to see it a couple more times before it leaves theaters. Great film.

As a side note, we saw it in IMX- do that if you can- and one of the previews at the beginning was Dawn of Justice. It looked much better on the big screen, so it restored my hope that the movie is going to be ok.

Loved this movie. Those of you who have seen it, what did you think? Please try to avoid posting any spoilers on this review, to keep it spoiler free.

 

Revisiting the MCU: Guardians of the Galaxy

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Well, here we are. The final movie in the MCU before Avengers: Age of Ultron. This is our last stop in our trip through Marvel’s world, and just in time as Age of Ultron is opening in the U.S. on Friday. It has been a lot of fun to go back and re-watch each of the Marvel films, but few of them have been as much fun as this one. Guardians of the Galaxy was a real good time at the movies. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it the first time I saw it, and I continue to enjoy each time I see it again.

When I heard that Marvel was making a GOTG movie, I thought that they would finally have a flop on their hands. These characters are not like Captain America or Iron Man or Thor. They are not as well-known to the mainstream public, so I figured most people would not be interested in seeing a film about a bunch of characters they didn’t know anything about. Especially when one of those characters is a walking tree and another one is a talking raccoon. Then, when they announced Chris Pratt as the lead, I was sure this was going to be a disaster. This is the guy who played dorky Andy on Parks and Rec. No way could we take him seriously as an action star. Then they added Dave Bautista as Drax, and I figured that was the nail in the coffin. Other than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, most professional wrestlers who make the jump to acting fail miserably. Marvel had a good run, but this was the end. Not the end, the end, I mean, for sure they would bounce back, but this film was just going to be awful.

Then I saw the trailers for the movie, and I was almost ready to eat my words. Almost. I had also seen the trailer to Green Lantern and thought it looked pretty amazing. It wasn’t. There was still a chance that Guardians of the Galaxy  was going to be really bad. Then I saw the film, and it wasn’t really bad. It was pretty amazing. Marvel seemed to do everything right with this movie, and knocked another one out of the park. It was just surprisingly good in almost every way.

I think one of the most refreshing things about this movie was that I didn’t know the characters that well, so it was all really new to me. It felt fresh and different. I know Captain America, I know Spider-Man and I know Superman, so when those films come out, and it’s another origin story, or a well-known storyline, it’s still good, and fun to see it on the big screen, but it’s also predictable. GOTG was not as predictable. It was really outside of everything that Marvel had done up to this point, and opened up a much broader universe. Now we are getting some of the cosmic Marvel stuff. We have met Thanos before, but now we get to see more of the world he lives in. We meet the Guardians of the Galaxy, but we also meet the Kree and the Nova Corps, staples in the Marvel Cosmos. Hopefully, the success of this film will lead to a Nova stand alone film or maybe Adam Warlock. It would be cool to see some of these other cosmic characters start appearing.

Chris Pratt is absolutely an action star. When it was first announced that he would be playing Star Lord, I really didn’t get it. I really only knew him from Parks and Rec. He was incredible as Peter Quill. He was a modern-day Han Solo. I’m not saying he was as cool as Han Solo, but he came a lot closer than anyone else has lately. (Would Firefly be considered lately?) In fact, he was so successful as Quill, that it was rumored a few months back that he was being considered for the lead in a new Indiana Jones movie, i thought to myself, “Duh! Who else would they get?” What a difference one film can make.

The rest of the cast was great as well. I don’t know that Dave Bautista will have a long career in acting, but he was a great Drax. He was my wife’s favorite character. She really appreciated his grasp of concepts like metaphors and humor. His one liners were some of her favorites throughout the film. Bradley Cooper does some amazing voice work as Rocket. Women everywhere were probably confused that they would put Bradley in a role that kept him off camera, but it worked really well. Vin Diesel had one line. They gave him one line, three words to repeat over and over throughout the film. And he nailed it. Hey Disney and Marvel, any time you want to pay me millions to repeat three words over and over again, let me know. I am available.

This was such a classic example of catching lightning in a bottle. Everything just seemed to fall into place. Plus, Marvel was smart they had already well established their brand before this movie came out, so it didn’t matter that most people had never heard of it before. They went just because it was Marvel. This was the film that showed that Marvel could make a hit out of any of its properties. Marvel can really do no wrong.

Now that I have made it through all 10 MCU films leading up to Age of Ultron, there is nothing left for me to do but wait until Friday, when I will be seeing the new Avengers flick. It is going to be a long couple of days. Guardians of the Galaxy was a great way to end my trip back through the MCU. I really enjoyed this film quite a bit. What were your thoughts on this movie? Let me know in the comments.

Revisiting the MCU: Captain America The Winter Soldier

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Well, we are less than a week away from Age of Ultron opening in the United States, which means I should be getting close to the end of my trip back through the MCU. Today, it’s Captain America The Winter Soldier, and then there is just one more film left, Guardians of the Galaxy.  I really feel like the best have been saved for last. These last two films are two of my favorite films in the MCU. The Winter Soldier  is not just one of my favorite MCU films, but it might make my overall top ten of all time (which would make an interesting post…hmmm…). This movie has it all. Action, intrigue, comedy, story, really a little bit of everything. It is a solid storyline that stays true to the original source material, without being too married to it that it loses out on being a great film. This is a hard balance for movies to hit sometimes, but his one pulls it off.

One of the best things about this movie is the continuing evolution of Captain America. In First Avenger,  we get his origin story see how he becomes a legend during World War II, and how he ends up in our modern-day. In Avengers,  we see that Cap has not fully adjusted to his role in this new world, in fact, by the end of Avengers, he has barely figured out what his role should be. He is still sticking out like a sore thumb in the modern world. We really see that adjustment in The Winter Soldier, as Captain America realizes how he can fit in, how he can make the world a better place. It’s not just joining in and blindly following orders. He realizes he can make SHIELD better, even if it means starting over like Peggy suggests. At the beginning of the film, Cap is somewhat content with the idea of Fury sending him on missions, and him completing those missions. He is bothered by the fact that Fury seems to keep secrets from him, like giving Black Widow a separate assignment on one of their missions, without telling Cap, but he is still somewhat on board. After everything really starts going down with SHIELD, IE Fury gets “killed,” Cap begins really questioning his role, and SHIELD’s role and how different is SHIELD than HYDRA? There begins to be a shift, as Cap begins to settle into his natural role as a leader. You can see this happening with Sam Wilson, The Falcon, who is simply there to follow Cap. The big scene where the full shift finally occurs is when Cap and Black Widow and Sam and Agent Hill are meeting with Fury (who is not really dead), and they are discussing what they are going to do to take HYDRA out. Fury wants to keep the three helicarriers, but just get rid of HYDRA. Cap says no, they are going to take them out, take out SHIELD as well as HYDRA. Fury protests, but Hill speaks up and is with Cap, and then Black Widow says she is too, and Sam says he only does what Cap does, only slower. Fury then says it looks like Captain America is calling the shots now. That’s the moment when Cap is in charge, where he takes his place as the leader in this new world, and not just a soldier.

The supporting cast in this movie are fantastic. In the middle of everything that is going on, we have the appearance of the Winter Soldier, who we find out is really Bucky with a metal arm. His memory has been wiped (numerous times it looks like), so he doesn’t remember Cap or his previous life during World War II. The role is played very well by Sebastian Stan. He doesn’t have a lot of lines, to make his character dark and mysterious, but that can sometimes be harder to play a role with no lines. He does it well, playing the part of not recognizing Cap, and wanting to kill him. He also plays the part well at the end of the movie when he saves Cap, and then goes off to find himself, as it were. He is supposedly locked into a contract for multiple future films, so I assume we will be seeing the Winter Soldier again.

The highlight of the film, however, is Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/The Falcon. He was fantastic from his first scene where Cap keeps lapping him as their jogging, to when he puts on the wings and becomes Falcon. Mackie has great timing throughout the film, and offers a lot of heart when Cap is trying to figure out his place in the world. In fact, he is the moral compass in the film, which is one of the most important roles of any sidekick, or partner as the case might be. I am hoping he is in Age of Ultron (that’s the rumor) and in Civil War, and in any number of future MCU films. He was just so good, I came out of the film thinking he was one of my favorite characters in the MCU now.

Overall, Captain America The Winter Soldier is one heck of a film. Marvel’s best to date, in my opinion. Age of Ultron  looks good, but it will be tough for it to top this movie. When I sat down to watch it earlier today, I was thinking that I remembered it being really good, but as I watched it again, I was surprised by how good it was. That’s the sign of a good movie, I think. If it surprises you with how good it is each time you watch it. It’s rare for me to give a movie 5 stars across the board, but this is a rare movie.

What did you all think of The Winter Soldier?  Did it live up to the hype? Is it one of the better MCU films, or are there others you would rank above it? Let me know in the comments.

New Who at 10: Blink

It seems like whenever there is a discussion about the best Doctor Who episodes, “Blink” always enters the discussion. It was no surprise then, as I asked for some favorite New Who episodes on Facebook, that multiple people mentioned “Blink.” After watching it again, I can really see why. Sometimes, when you really get into a fandom, you feel this pressure to not go with the popular choice when you pick your favorite episode. You rematch those super well-known episodes and try to find ways that they are overrated, because it’s just not cool to like what everyone else likes, and now that you’re a super-fan, you should be above that. That was kind of the attitude I had while watching Blink this time. I admit, that’s probably snooty of me, and I’m not proud of that. The point is, I totally failed. I watched this for probably the 10th time, and I love it just as much as I did when I watched it the first time. There is a reason why so many people recommend this for first time Doctor Who viewers.

“Blink is such a well written episode. If you get nit-picky enough, you could probably find holes in the story, because every story has holes, but if you refrain from that, the story flows well, and highlights some great, classic time travel material. The whole story is intriguing as we follow Sally Sparrow who is trying to figure out what is happening in the Western Drummonds, or the Scooby-Doo House, as Larry calls it. The mystery really begins with her discovering a message under the wrapping paper in the house. And it really gets interesting when the message is addressed to her personally. The whole thing is classic, as her friend, Kathy, gets sent back to 1920, where she lives out the rest of her life. Sally finds out about this when Kathy’s grandson shows up at this deserted house with a letter his grandma had given him some 20 years ago. The letter explains what happened to Kathy. It all seems really unbelievable for Sally. When she finally accepts it, she goes to meet Larry, Kathy’s brother, and he introduces her to the Easter eggs on 17 DVDs. Well, one Easter egg, which is the Doctor speaking one half of a conversation. She also meets a police officer who gets sent back to 1969, meets the Doctor, and contacts Sally again, right before he dies, and helps her realize what the 17 DVDs are. They are the only 17 DVDs Sally owns. She and Larry go back to the abandoned house, and re-watch the Easter egg, this time with Sally filling in the missing half of the conversation. Then they get attacked by the Angels, one of the greatest Doctor Who monsters ever. The get Sally and Larry down to the basement where the Angels have the phone box. Sally has the key, so they are able to get into the TARDIS, and send it on its way back to the Doctor, and when it disappears, it traps the 4 angels, as they are frozen looking at each other. A short while later, Sally realizes that the Doctor got all of this information directly from her. She realizes this when she sees him out on the street, and she delivers all of her notes to him.

That’s a rundown of the story, which is superbly done. This is Moffat at his best. It is during RTD’s time as show runner, but Moffat wrote the story, and it is easily one of his best. Everything just moves along at a great pace, not too fast, not too slow. It keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the episode, and I always find that I am surprised at how quickly we get to the end. The plot is solid, the actors do superb, and it would be hard for the story to be anymore entertaining.

Whenever I watch this episode, I always have the same thought. I would like to see more of Sally Sparrow. She was just such a great character. She was inquisitive and clever, which is why she stuck with the adventure until she had figured out what was going on. She would have made a great companion. She would have really done well traveling with the Doctor. Larry would have been great to have along as well. He was likable, and given time, he probably would have become lovable. In fact, when I watch it, I see a little bit of Amy and Rory in Sally and Larry, and I wonder if they somehow served as an inspiration for Amy and Rory. In any case, with a team up name like Sparrow and Nightingale, the two would have even done well as a spinoff. They could continue to operate their DVD store together, but on the side, they could be solving mysteries. I think it could have worked.

I also always wonder what adventure Martha and the Doctor were on at the end of the episode. The Doctor doesn’t carry weapons very often, so it would be interesting to see that story that involved him using a bow and arrow, and the things that Martha keeps mentioning are hatching. What were they? it would be interesting to see what they were and the whole story.

In any case, for those of you who recommend this for first time viewers, I would say, keep doing it. It is one of the best TV stories I have ever seen, Doctor Who or otherwise. It isn’t a traditional episode as the Doctor does not play a huge active role throughout the story, so from that aspect, I recommend people start with a few other episodes first, and then move on to this one. In anywise, it is hard to argue that this isn’t one of the better New Who episodes.

What did you think of “Blink”? Was it as good as everyone says, or is it overrated? Let me know in the comments. We always love to hear from you. We will continue looking at New Who at 10, as we watch the episode “The Girl in the Fireplace.”

Revisiting the MCU: Thor: The Dark World

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We are getting pretty close to the end of April, which means we are getting pretty close to Age of Ultron. I already have my ticket to see it on Friday evening in IMAX 3D. I’ll be going with my brother, J. Leonard Dietz, also known as The 90s Kid. I can’t wait to see it. This also means I need to wrap up my Revisiting the MCU series here pretty quickly. The good news is today I am reviewing Thor: The Dark World,  which means I only have a couple more left. In fact, this has been the stretch of films I have been waiting for while doing this project. Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Guardians of the Galaxy may just be my three favorite MCU films.

Thor: TDW is just a lot of fun. It was everything the first Thor film should have been. Full of action and great, massive battles, while maintaining its wit and charm. I loved it. The story was great, and it introduces us to another Thor bad guy not named Loki. The dark elves are a staple in the Thor comics, so it was great to see them on film. Male kith, the leader of the dark elves, was just masterfully played by Christopher Eccleston, even though I couldn’t help but hope he might sneak a “fantastic” in there somewhere. It was also fun to see the relationship between Thor and Loki continue to develop. It is a complex relationship, where Thor continuously tries to trust and forgive Loki, while Loki continues to give him every reason not to. Loki sitting on the throne of Asgard, I’m sure, will have something to do with Ragnarok coming.

We also get to see our favorite misfit band of scientists as they continue to study whatever it is that happens whenever the Rainbow Bridge connects to Earth. Dr. Selvig has apparently all but lost his mind, or more accurately, maybe he never got it all back after the New York incident. Jane is still looking for Thor, and is quite upset when she finds him, slapping him in the face twice! Not too upset, though, that she won’t let him take her back to his place. Of course, part of that has to do with the Aether being in her body, selecting her as its host. The Aether, course, is one of the Infinity gems or stones, or whatever, except it is neither a stone nor a gem. It’s a liquid. This is our first glimpse of one of the 6 Infinity stones not called the Tesseract. This is where we find out that Marvel’s powers that be are really taking us down a path leading to the Infinity War.

Overall, I felt like this film was well written, and well performed. The actors all did a great job, and the whole thing really came together. I feel like Thor’s character progresses, realizing that he doesn’t want to be king, instead he just wants to be with Jane, regardless of how short his time with her will be. We also see Loki continue to develop more and more into a man who is obsessed with gaining power any way he can get it. Loki will stop at nothing until he has a kingdom to rule over, and then he probably still won’t stop. The story of Thor is moving closer to Ragnarok. Odin, we assume, is dead. Fridge is dead. Loki is left in power, and Thor is busy fleeing to Earth to be with Jane. All of this will add up to trouble back in Asgard, and I have a feeling it will spill over into Midgard. Just call it a hunch.

One of the best parts of watching Thor this last weekend has to do with this photo:

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This is my middle daughter, Lucy. And what I did not know prior to this screening of Thor: The Dark World, is that my two older girls, Eliza and Lucy, love Thor. I knew Thor was Eliza’s favorite, and when we said we were watching Thor after dinner, she got very excited about it, even a little red in the cheeks. My wife and I joked about it being her first crush, as much a 6-year-old can have a crush. We had no idea, though, that Lucy was so attached to Thor. When she saw what movie we were watching, she went into our toys and found a 12″ Thor figure that we have and brought it over and sat with me in my chair to watch the movie. She was pretty proud of herself and excited as she sat there with Thor in her hand and Thor on the screen. This photo was taken just after Eliza stole Thor from Lucy. She was devastated. As you can see, i am not exaggerating. It got to the point where we had to have the two of them taking turns with the figure so they wouldn’t fight, and even that didn’t work. It would appear that two of Chris Hemsworth’s biggest fans happen to live at my house, and they may be two of his youngest. As a fan of the comics and the superhero movies, part of me was pleased with their choice for a crush. As a father, I am nowhere near ready for this kind of behavior. This is why the grey in my beard has been increasing lately.

What did you think of Thor: The Dark World?  Did it live up to your expectations, or was it not one of your favorites? Let me know in the comments. We love to hear from you. Check back later this week as we revisit Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

 

Revisiting the MCU: Iron Man 3

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Here we are at the beginning of Phase 2, which is all leading up to the conclusion of Phase 2, which is Avengers: Age of Ultron. Iron Man 3 kicks off Phase2, which is fitting since Iron Man started Phase 1. There is definitely a feeling of anticipation for Iron Man 3. We have just seen Avengers, which was what Phase 1 was building toward, and now there is a feeling of “So…What happens now?” How are all of these characters different as a result of what happened in New York (what the Daredevil series refers to as “the incident”)? We get to see it first with Tony Stark, and we get to see a totally different Tony Stark. Apparently that trip through the worm hole messed him up pretty bad. Throughout the film we see him struggling with massive anxiety attacks anytime anyone mentions New York. We also get to see how the regulars are doing post- Avengers, like Pepper, Happy, and Rhodey.

We also get to see how Tony influenced the formation of AIM, a scientific terrorist group in the Marvel Universe. Basically, it was the result of his old lifestyle, which continues to come back and haunt him years after he has become Iron Man. Basically, Aldrich Killian approached Tony on New Year’s Eve in 1999 about getting in on the ground floor of his research. He does this by cornering Tony in an elevator while Stark is trying to get up to a girl’s room. Tony lies to Aldrich and tells him he is interested in the research and to meet him on the roof in a few minutes. Of course, Tony never shows, and Aldrich realizes this and is devastated. Now, 13 years later, he has continued his research, and is quite well off, and is back for more.

Tied in with all of this is The Mandarin. This was probably the most disappointing aspect of this film. He was basically a patsy. A front, a fraud. There never really was a “Mandarin.” Basically, this intimidating terrorist, The Mandarin, shows up on all the TV screens taking credit for a bombing. And then there are more bombings and he takes credit for those. In one of the attacks, Happy is caught in the explosion and ends up in the hospital. In that attack is when we learn that the “bombs” are actually human beings who are giving huge amounts of thermal energy in the explosions. We also learn that these people are tied to Killian and AIM, so we begin to think that AIM is working for the Mandarin.

Tony Stark being Tony Stark, he challenges the Mandarin after Happy got hurt. He calls the Mandarin out and even gives out his home address. The Mandarin replies by sending 3 helicopter equipped with missiles and machine guns and they basically destroy Tony’s Malibu house, and Tony is caught in the wreckage after saving Pepper and a scientist he had a one night stand with on the same New year’s he met Killian. Stark is presumed dead, but  he is really stuck in Tennessee (coordinates he had set prior to the attack, but was not able to fly to). He investigates a bombing that happened in the town prior to the Mandarin and he tries to repair his suit. He also meets a kid there who helps him out. The interactions between Tony and the kid are probably the best character interactions in the whole movie. They have great chemistry and play their parts very well. It was one of the highlights of the film.

Tony gets to where the Mandarin is broadcasting from, which happens to be Miami, and here we discover that the Mandarin is a fraud. He is really some actor hired to play the role. This really sucked. This was one of Iron Man’s greatest foes in the comics, and here they just make him a total joke. A lot of fans got pretty upset about it, and it is still hot topic today. In fact, Marvel released a one shot on Thor 2, just to explain that the real Mandarin is still out there, it wasn’t Killian or Trevor, but the real Mandarin is out there at the head of the 10 Rings. It will be interesting to see if the Mandarin ever shows up as a real villain in a later MCU film.

Overall, Iron Man 3 was pretty good. Not as good as the first Iron Man film, but better than Iron Man 2. We see the characters develop and grow as a result of what happened in New York. Tony is scared because he can’t lose Pepper, the on e thing in this world that means anything to him, that he can’t lose. I can see how it spins from here to the point where he is creating Ultron to protect the world, just to keep Pepper safe. His anxiety and fear grew throughout the film. He is able to control at one point when the kid tells him to just build something, but it will always be there, so I can see Ultron being the next step for him.

The Mandarin was a big disappointment, one of the biggest in the whole MCU. I hope someday they rectify it, beyond just a one shot special feature. I understand taking risks, but don’t just totally disrespect the source material either. I also hope that if the Iron Patriot shows up in Age of Ultron,  that he shows up as War Machine instead of Iron Patriot. War Machine is a way better name. I would imagine we will see more of Col. Rhodes in AoU and in Civil War, as he is being set up, I would imagine, to step in and become Iron Man in Tony’s place when RDJ is done playing the role.

Overall, this is a good start to Phase 2, but it’s not my favorite movie in Phase 2. The next 3 are 3 of my favorite movies in the MCU, so I am really excited to get to them. Thor 2, Cap 2, and GOTG are just 3 really great movies, and as I watch each of these and they lead more and more into Age of Ultron, I am getting more and more anxious to see the film. I can’t believe we are only 2 weeks away. Can’t wait.

What about you? What did you think of Iron Man 3?  Let me know in the comments. I love to hear from you.

 

New Who at 10: The Parting of the Ways

The Parting of the Ways was the final episode of Eccleston’s time as the Doctor. This was the episode that wrapped up the whole Bad Wolf story line, and gave us our first glimpse of David Tenant as the Doctor. It was also an epic showdown between the Doctor and the Daleks, who just never seem to stay dead. This is also the origin of Jack’s not dying problem. Mainly, though, this was a pretty entertaining episode that I hadn’t watched in a while, so it was fun to revisit it.

The Daleks in this episode were a little strange as far as Daleks go. They were super religious, believing their creator Dalek was the god of the Daleks. This was a new wrinkle to the Daleks in general, and it was just kind of weird and added to their creepiness. The “god” Dalek was massive compared to the others and had a much deeper voice. He was clearly the big bad guy, and when he and the Doctor conversed, it was an attempt at the classic hero-villain dialogue. It wasn’t a great attempt, as the Doctor was clearly much more clever than the Dalek.

As the Doctor and Jack and Rose find themselves on the Dalek mothership, they gather as much information as they can from the Daleks before escaping back to Satellite 5, which will be the scene of the climactic Dalek-Doctor showdown. The Doctor sends Rose away, tricking her into getting in the TARDIS. While she is gone, we realize that the Doctor’s plan won’t just kill the Daleks, but all of the people on the satellite and on Earth. This sequence, for me, was much more powerful after seeing The Day of the Doctor. Connecting that story, of the War Doctor having to make the choice to destroy all of his people in order to destroy the Daleks, makes this sequence more powerful. The Doctor, in The Parting of the Ways, mentions that all of his people had died during the Time War, but they had taken the Daleks with them, or so they had thought. Now that they were back, it made the sacrifice not worth it. In his mind he is remembering that sacrifice, and how he is remembering it, he was the one who pulled the trigger. He was the one who made the sacrifice, that now, all of a sudden, wasn’t worth it. Then he finds himself in the same position. He must decide this time if he is willing to sacrifice earth in order to save the whole universe. Knowing his past, you would think this would be a harder decision, but he does what he feels like he has to. It was just kind of interesting to think about it in context with The Day of the Doctor.

While Rose is back on Earth, and her mom is trying to cheer her up with fish and chips, we get one of the most awkward exchanges between the two. It occurs when they are in the TARDIS and she starts going off about how Dad wouldn’t want her to give up and she knows because she met him. This whole conversation was just weird. What a weird time to bring it up, and why did it make her mom so angry? The way Rose is telling her, though, it’s like she is trying to make her mom angry, like she could finish the whole thing with a big raspberry. Whatever the conversation was, it works, because Jackie leaves and comes back with a giant tow truck to try to get the TARDIS open. Also while Rose is back on Earth, she realizes that her park is covered in the infamous “Bad Wolf” graffiti. This is the beginning of the answer to the Bad Wolf question, as she realizes it was a message she sent to herself.

I love it when she becomes the Bad Wolf after looking into the time vortex. It always reminded me of when Jean Grey becomes Phoenix. She is ultra powerful and has power to just split all the Daleks apart on the atomic level. She also has the power to bring Jack back to life. The Doctor realizes that this power is going to kill her, so he does what any responsible Time Lord would do. He kisses her, which allows him to soak in the time vortex and save Rose. Unfortunately, it doesn’t save him. It leads to his regeneration.

I love when he regenerates, because he does it in a way that only he could pull off. I love when he tells Rose that she was Fantastic, and then follows it up with “So was I.” He really was fantastic, and in this episode we really get to see all of it. We see him take charge of the situation and be in control, in a way only 9 would ever pull off. We see him have to make the tough decisions, and we see him do it all with his big dopey smile on his face the whole time. I have to admit, when I watched through these episodes the first time, I really was sad when he regenerated. I loved Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor, and would have loved to see one more season. I just think his Doctor was so confident and so cool. However, since there is only the one season, it does help me to appreciate his time a little bit more because it was so brief.

Overall, I enjoyed this episode. Not as good as The Empty Child, but it was still a lot of fun. I think the Doctor really shines in the episode and I feel like it wrapped up his time quite nicely. Rose and 9 had a good chemistry together, and I think I can stand to watch their time together more than I can stand her with 10. I think one thing I have enjoyed with Capaldi’s Doctor is that some of that confidence is back. It seemed like 10 and 11 didn’t have the same confidence, almost arrogance that 9 had, but 12 does, and I guess I’ve missed it.

What did you think of The Parting of the Ways? Did you enjoy? Is it one of your favorites from this season? let me know in the comments. You can also check out my review of The Empty Child here. Next Wednesday, we will be reviewing Blink, so come back next week to find out what I thought about this episode.

Daredevil: A Review

I’ll admit it. I have spent a good part of the last couple of days hiding away in a dark room binge watching the new Daredevil series from Marvel and Netflix. I’m not too ashamed of that for a couple of reasons. One is that I have been feeling pretty ill over the last couple of days, and I haven’t really felt like moving at all. In fact, I have felt downright miserable, so having a new show to binge watch has been ok. I also felt like this was a pretty big deal, so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

Before I get into my actual review, I wanted to have a disclaimer here at the beginning. For the most part, I try to discuss and review content that is appropriate for most ages on this site. As a father, I am sensitive to what I watch and what I let my kids watch. That being said, Marvel’s new Daredevil series is absolutely not appropriate for all ages. It carries the TV-MA rating on Netflix, and that’s not by accident. I only bring that up because people who may not be familiar with the Daredevil comics, and are familiar with the Marvel movies up to this point may be in for a shock when they sit down to watch this series. The language in the series is not great, but it seems like they won’t cross the “F-Word” line, so that’s a bonus. However, any other word seems ok.  There is little to no sexual content in the series. I think there is one scene in the pilot where Karen is changing into one of Matt’s shirts and you get a side shot of a breast, but that’s really all, and it isn’t sexual, it’s more to demonstrate that he can’t see. What really earns the rating for the show is the violence. There is plenty of it, and lots of blood. Again, fans of the Daredevil comics will not be shocked by that, but fans of the MCU not familiar with the comics might be. I just want to send out that fair warning.

I was interested to see this show because it feels like this is Marvel’s first attempt at a costumed hero series since starting the whole MCU. Yes, they have Agents of SHIELD and Agent carter, but those series hardly involve costumed heroes. This is something I have struggled with concerning the MCU. I really enjoy what DC has done with Arrow and The Flash, and have been disappointed with Marvel’s offerings on the small screen. I was eager to see how this series would be.

I am not a huge Daredevil reader, but from what I know about the comics, this series seemed to stay pretty true to the source material. It was gritty and dirty and dark, and all of that seems to be what the comics are like. In a lot of ways, it didn’t feel like it belonged to the same Universe as Captain America, Thor, or Iron Man. In fact, there is little mention of the Avengers at all. They mention the incident that destroyed huge portions of the city, and there are a couple of random statements, but other than that, this series could stand alone from the rest of the MCU. You don’t have to be super familiar with the MCU to watch this series.

The story takes place primarily in a part of New York City known as Hell’s Kitchen. The name alone should tell you that this not a nice part of town, maybe it’s a little rough around the edges. Daredevil, or the “Man in the Mask” as he is called for most of the season, takes on the organized crime that tearing that part of the city up. This includes not pretty things like heroin distribution and human trafficking. The real down and dirty kind of stuff. It would appear, as of right now, that Daredevil is the only person trying to stop this stuff in his neighborhood, including the police and the press and everyone else who seems to have been bought out.

The Daredevil is Matt Murdock. He’s a blind lawyer by day, and crime fighting vigilante by night. He may be blind, but his other senses have all been heightened to the point that he can really “see” the world better than a person with vision. Helping him, at least on the lawyer side of things, is his best friend from college, Foggy Nelson. The casting for Foggy, I thought, was spot on. The character was well written, and really likable from the beginning. They make other allies along the way, including Karen Page, who we meet in the beginning as Foggy and Matt’s first client. They also bring in Ben Urich, an honest reporter who will never back down from telling the truth, as well as Claire, a nurse who finds and helps Matt after he has been beaten almost to death. These are pretty much the good guys.

On the other side, we have the Kingpin, Wilson Fisk as well as the Russians, the Japanese mafia, and the Chinese heroin distribution. These are all working under Fisk to bring forth his vision of a better New York City, starting with Hell’s Kitchen. Of course getting to that vision is going to involve drugs, human trafficking and racketeering, the usual building blocks for urban renewal. As Daredevil discovers more and more about what is really going on, he finds himself coming up against different parts of the organization throughout this first season.

We also meet Stick at one point. This is the blind martial arts expert that took Matt under his wing after Matt’s father died and taught him how to be a fighter. Stick hints at a bigger war that Matt is going to be a part of, but that is only hinted at in this season, and I am sure we will see more of it down the line.

That’s the basic premise of the series. Overall, I would say that it is true to its source material, and it seems well done. I had a few issues with some of the characters and some of the acting. There were times when I felt like Fisk was well-played by Vincent D’Onofrio, and there were times where it all just seemed so forced and unnatural. Similar could be said about Charlie Cox as Daredevil. He spends most of the first season in his black mask costume, which looks a lot like Christian Bale’s first costume when he meets with Gordon for the first time in Batman Begins. Sometimes, it sounds like that too. Cox seems to at times break into  a Batman voice when he interrogating his victims. You can almost hear the director telling him to tone it down, and finally just going with it.

The whole feel of the series is dark and ominous. Not a lot of sunshine or cheeriness. All of that is very true to the comics, so it could be a positive. For me, however, it was a big negative. It was hard to get through that many hours of heavy, dark story. That’s just not how I prefer my superheroes, but if you do like that then this series was great.

This was supposed to be the beginning of Marvel’s world building for the Defenders, but there was little to connect to the next series coming. It really felt like it was going to be completely stand alone and not attached to anything in the MCU, whether it’s the Avengers or the other titles to come. That’s just strange to me when talking about a Marvel title, because they al seem to be so linked most of the time. This one just wasn’t.

Overall, I think this show was good and well written, it’s just not for me. Too dark, too heavy. I feel like I need to get out and get in the sunshine for the next six hours to balance out what I have just watched. Just be warned that it might be better to take this series more as a one episode at a time kind of show, instead of a binge watch.