Category: 2019

Detective Pikachu

Length: 1Hr 45

Rating: PG

Release: 10th May 2019

About:

Ace detective Harry Goodman goes mysteriously missing, prompting his 21-year-old son, Tim, to find out what happened. Aiding in the investigation is Harry’s former Pokémon partner, wise-cracking, adorable super-sleuth Detective Pikachu. Finding that they are uniquely equipped to work together, as Tim is the only human who can talk with Pikachu, they join forces to unravel the tangled mystery.

Forethought

I’ve not seen a single episode of Pokemon. I once had a dream about owning a Pokemon, called squirtle. I looked it up, and it was real. As in it WAS the Pokemon called Squirtle. I’ve played Pokemon Go… until it updated and lost all my progress. Then I waited until the Jurassic World one was up and running!

So I pretty much into this with no knowledge of the franchise and just to hear Ryan Reynolds.

The Good

• The story was quite clever and was able to give us a world that embraced what came before and give the audience something unique.

• Jurassic Park alumni Justice Smith holds his own as the human protagonist in the film. While Tim perhaps doesn’t have the character development you’d expect, he really does charm and endear himself to the viewer. I’m hoping if we get a sequel, we get to see his confidence grow.

• Pikachu has the perfect voice with Reynolds. Not going to lie; I wanted more Deadpool in a cute outfit, but I’m happy he wasn’t completely PG’d. There were a few quips that will go over the little one’s heads and give the adults a giggle.

• Having a London/USA/Tokyo mashup city was a brilliant touch and they blended it all really well. The CGI was on point, although time will tell if it stands up to repeated viewing.

The Bad

• The casting of Chris Geere actually reveals more of the plot that it should have. It’s a shame because if they’d cast someone else, someone like Raffe Spall for example, I think the impact they were going for would have been achieved. As it stands, I saw the ‘twist’ a mile off.

• There’s slightly too much slight of hand and throwing the viewer off the ‘truth’. Which is fine if you don’t make it so obvious that’s what you’re doing.

The Ugly

• Kathryn Newton’s introduction as Lucy was appallingly clunky and does the actress, or the character, little justice. The visual set up of her being a femme fatale is awesome: and then she opens her mouth. I’ve seen the actress in other things and she’s good, so I’m not entirely sure how this made the cut.

Final Thoughts

It’s viewer newbie friendly, funny and with a lot of heart. It’s certainly worth a watch but dude to its ‘go big or go home’ approach, I’m not sure it’s going to give us another instalment.

Movie Review: Long Shot

Length: 2Hr 5

Rating: 15

Release: 3rd May 2019

About:

Fred Flarsky is a gifted and free-spirited journalist who has a knack for getting into trouble. Charlotte Field is one of the most influential women in the world — a smart, sophisticated and accomplished politician. When Fred unexpectedly runs into Charlotte, he soon realizes that she was his former baby sitter and childhood crush. When Charlotte decides to make a run for the presidency, she impulsively hires Fred as her speechwriter — much to the dismay of her trusted advisers.

The Good

• There was a good story underneath all the shit. In fact, the characters of Frank and Charlotte were really good.

• Charlize Theron was actually really good in this and she reminded me of Michelle Pfeiffer. Had this have transitioned from stoner rom-com to something more mature, Theron would have easily been able to carry it over.

• Ya man from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul does a brilliant job as mash up president of Trump, Brush and the fictional Barlett. When they started to describe POTUS as playing a president in TV, I so thought we were getting the West Wing alumni, Martin Sheen.

• Frank’s concern about helping Charlotte was on the mark and made a very powerful message about politics and media.

The Bad

• There’s something about Seth Rogan’s comedy that doesn’t sit well with me. It’s not a confident or sharp sort of humour which I think this film needs. It often comes across like he’s practicing a routine in his bedroom and knows that he’s shit. Too many of his lines just patter out and are almost lacking punch lines.

• While I laughed at the sex references, I know it’s what will stop me coming back to it for repeated viewings. Its slightly too immature and repetitive; it strips the film of any charm it might have had.

The Ugly

• The drug humour doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t like that some celebrities abuse the health system and degrade mental health issues. I don’t agree with people in positions of trust and power casually using illegal drugs and I certainly don’t find it funny when it’s made light of in films.

• I find it hard to buy Frank’s insistence of Charlotte having/needing a moral code… when he’s got a pocket full of drugs!

Final Thoughts

I don’t feel like I wasted two hours of my life, but I do feel like there was a better film to be made, if only Rogan did as many of the cast told him to throughout the movie and toned it down.

With a little more of what he gave in Zack and Miri or Green Hornet and less of The Interview and The Night Before this would have been a gem of movie.

Spoiler-filled Review of Avengers Endgame

As the title suggests, this review contains many a spoiler for Avengers Endgame

The Good

• The Nebula/ Stark relationship. Bloody hell, I never knew I needed that pairing. I loved that it showed how much both of them had grown. Tony shows a lot more patience than he did for Peter (sob) and Nebula is … well, the fact that she’s not killing him is amazing. His ‘you’ve won’, her joy at winning and her insisting he eats made my heart ache. There’s the added bonus of giving her a Beatles inspired nickname!

• Time travel!! So much good from this. The references, the Easter eggs. Basically, it’s this that gives Endgame the Bad Wolf feel. It’s not flawless by any means, but I’m not going to complain. Not in this section anyway. It allows the middle act to be a ‘greatest hits’ of the last decade.

• Captain America; swearing, fighting and passing the torch. Everything about the end of his story arc is awesome. It’s a fitting bow out and a kind way to ‘kill’ Steve Rogers.

• ‘Hail Hydra’ was the best Easter egg that gained a whoop from the audience and brought me more joy than the swears. Cap wielding Mjölnir is something fans have been waiting for since Age of Ultron’s post party worthiness test.

• Tony Stark has some brilliant moments in this film. His story literally couldn’t have been written, or acted, and better.

• The cameos are brilliant, the best being René Russo’s reprisal as Thor’s mother and John Slattery as Howard Stark. Anyone who has lost a parent will know how much they wish for moments both Stark and Thor get. They’re tender scenes, with the right balance of humour thrown in.

• Peter Parker and his beautiful and oh so god damn polite ways. In the middle of battle, he still finds time to introduce himself to Captain Marvel.

• ‘We’ve got her covered.’ It’s fair to say that this is still very much a ‘boy’s club’ film (on screen, our female characters are relatively isolated from each other), but there is one moment in which the film does give the audience a wonderful sisterhood. It gave me goosebumps and tears of joy. THESE. WOMEN. CAN.

The Bad

• Time travel. I’m still a little unsure about how it all works and why killing baby Thanos wouldn’t be the best plan. It’s timey whimey nonsense. If you don’t think about it too long, all is good.

• What happened to Goose?! Come on, he ATE one of those stones for safe keeping. He’s invested.

• While I loved the scene dealing with the soul stone and I wouldn’t have expected anything less, I don’t know what to make of Nat’s death. One, either it’s really shit because she’ll escape death when it comes to her solo outing. Or, as sources have informed me, we’re getting a movie that predates phases one and two; which is also shit (unless, at a push, it’s the infamous Budapest assignment), as she will never be in any danger. Plus, you’ve wrapped up the Thanos saga… don’t fuck about with the timeline. Leave it, move forward. The final thing I don’t get, it was a trade: soul for soul. Steve gave it back; quid pro quo dear Red Skull.

• It’s no one’s fault as I don’t think anyone would have predicted the juggernaut this franchise was going to be. Imagine if they had the foresight and was able to drop hints to some of the time travel and stone switches. It would have been glorious.

• Did the stones come with a user manual?! Did it include some form of ‘clap on, clap off’ technology? How did they know a click of the finger would bring people back? How did Tony know his finger snap would dust all the bad guys? Why was it a finger snap and not Death-Starring the whole glove up the user’s arse?! (Come on, if it was Deadpool, you know that would have been a thing)

• There were a few instances in which the CGI just wasn’t up to its usual standard. While this is a spoiler review; I’m not going to pinpoint these as they are the sort of thing that you might not notice the first time unless it’s pointed out.

The Ugly

• Captain Marvel. I mean what the actual fuck?! You’ve set up one of the best female heroes in cinematic history and you reduce her to a plot device?! We need Tony back on Earth in the first third (firstly, do you really?!), we’ll use Captain Marvel to give the oxygen deprived ship a piggy back. You need the stones taken to the end field and all your players are tagged out; use Captain Marvel (side bar: this should have been Black Widow, the first female Avenger and nice symmetry to Infinity War).

• Captain Marvel doesn’t have an emotional stake in the proceedings because we don’t see her fight and the one person who called her to arms has zero interaction with her. ZERO! In fact, despite fans being informed that her namesake film is not required viewing to watch Endgame, I’m not sure people would make the connection between the Infinity War pager credit sequence and the Swiss Army knife of superheroes.

• Errrr, Fury and Agent Hill didn’t join fight? Neither has a line of dialogue! Nope! That is so many levels of wrong.

• What the FUCK happened to Loki?! He’s got the tesseract after Hulk’s hissy over the stairs is thwarted and snides off like the snake he is. But, and this is timey whimey again, Tony and Steve go further back and steal it, preventing Battle of New York from happening unaware of Bruce’s promise. When they’re returned, the battle still happens… so did Cap stop off and find Loki?!

• Hulk/Banner hybrid! What and why? There wasn’t a resolution to his Erect-o-Hulk dysfunction. I get that it’s about him finding a balance; but he’s been reduced to such a ridiculous caricature that I’d have rather had Howard the fucking Duck in his place. Everything that made him the best Banner/Hulk in Assemble has been fucked off in much the same way Luke tossed the sabre in Last Jedi.

Misc Question

• What the hell happened to Agent 13? Just because she was dropped as the Cap’s romantic interest doesn’t mean she couldn’t make an appearance, right?

Avengers: Endgame Spoiler free review

Length: 3hr 1
Rating: 12a
Release date: 25.4.2019
About: Adrift in space with no food or water, Tony Stark sends a message to Pepper Potts as his oxygen supply starts to dwindle. Meanwhile, the remaining Avengers — Thor, Black Widow, Captain America and Bruce Banner — must figure out a way to bring back their vanquished allies for an epic showdown with Thanos — the evil demigod who decimated the planet and the universe.
Trailer:

The Good

  • The first thing I’m sure people want to know is; does it do justice with the three hours? Yes, it does. It keeps a good pace and I’d say every minute is needed.
  • The characters are working more as a team as they ever have before. There’s a balance between all of the heroes and much like Infinity War, they boost each other, rather than fight for screen time.
  • It’s a clever plot that pulls together 10 years of MCU. It’s not ‘Bad Wolf’ smart, but its certainly Trash Panda ‘I need a…’ clever.
  • Nothing about Endgame is done to appease fans. There are nods, winks and Easter eggs but there’s no doubt in my mind, plot-wise, this is the Russo vision and there’s been no changes based on fan reaction.
  • Finally we have an Avenger’s crew that women can be proud of. The beauty of it is not that there’s a crew of bad-ass women looking out for each other, and the universe, but that it feels organic.

The Bad

  • There are some characters that don’t get the screen time they deserve or need. It’s hard to talk about without giving certain things away, but there are a few; old and new that needed something else.
  • I can’t help but think that Marvel/ Mouse House have deliberately made Bruce Banner/ Hulk shit so we’ll stop asking for a Mark Ruffalo stand alone. I do understand there needs to be a character arc over the ten year, three-phased saga, however he’s gone from character to caricature. Banner’s outcome aside, it’s fair to say Endgame does not do him justice.

The Ugly

  • There are so many ugly tear inducing moments. Bloody hell, it was like My Sister’s Keeper for me at some points (as in tears, not plot)
  • It has a very choppy start; like a stalling car. It does take what I feel is about 20 minutes to really get going. Some may argue that it mirrors Avengers Assemble opening, but when we’ve waited a year with baited breath, we really should hit the ground running. There’s at least one scene I would have pulled over from Endgame and had within the final moments of Infinity War. It wouldn’t have solved my biggest gripe, but it would have had me a little worried.
  • Its 3 hours. Believe me, it doesn’t feel like it. Not in the way that you feel every single minute of Civil War. It’s a clear-ish cut three act film with ONE epilogue and I walked away wanting more added, not less. So why am I putting this in my version of room 101?! Well, I was raised in awe of the cinema; toilet breaks were taken on pain of death. Three hours is a walk in the park for me when I can see it’s well made. However, the motherfucker in front of me who not only PAID, but UPGRADED made me feel time passing when he would check his phone EVERY THREE FUCKING MINUTES. Luckily, I wasn’t taking it; so I had words and the phone at least remained out of my eye line for the remainder of the movie. My worry is obvious; this was the first available screening of the first day. What’s it going to be like going forward?

Final Thoughts

I have some issues with Endgame, but that will have to wait until my spoiler-fueled rant. That aside, this is what the MCU has been working towards for ten years and its worthy of Stan Lee’s final cameo. I don’t think those involved with Iron Man’s origin even dreamed that a decade later, we’d have this epic. I think it will tick everyone’s boxes and the Russo brother’s have redeemed the ‘Avenger’ movies after Joss crashed and burned.
It’s a strong MCU film, its a strong piece of cinema and JJ is now undoubtedly shitting his pants.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments
Love Han x

Pet Sematary

The Good

I loved how it was set within King’s Maine universe and even Derry is referenced. It pleases the purists to have those little nods and I can’t deny, I get that little buzz for noticing the Easter Egg.

John Lithgow is a welcome addition to the cast, if not a little underused. He stands among some great comedians who are able to play the darker characters with as much conviction.

Befriending young Elle could have come across a little Operation Yewtree, especially knowing King’s writing. The film being able to stay away from even undertones of creep is remarkable. There’s also a wonderful meta nod to one of Lithgow’s previous roles which was quite good.

The rest of the cast give solid performances. Notably Jason Clarke’s decent into madness/ desperation reminded me why I enjoy films with him in.

The ending is refreshing. It’s not overly rewarding or satisfying in terms of a plot resolution, but it’s definitely different.

The Bad

It’s a remake of a horror. The problem with the genre today is that it relies too much on the fast and noisy shocks that, in some cases, border on elements of torture porn that became prominent with the release of Hostel. Yes, I jump. Yes, I close my eyes when the music alerts me to a ’jump’ that’s about to happen, but I’m not thinking about it once I leave the cinema. It doesn’t chill me to the bone like some horrors did.

The Ugly

It’s Horror is in the gore and that’s really not for me. There was just a little too much of it.

With this being a King adaptation there are some plot points that seem to come from the boon and are a little redundant; Rachel’s past and sensitivity to death feels like it should connect with the rest of the story, but it never does, it has not true resolution and I can’t help but wonder if the film would have benefited from discarding this thread.

The Perfect Date

The Good

Well Noah scores a Netflix hat-trick with this installment. He truly is the teen rom-com king that we really have been missing in the wake of super-hero saturation.

Just like Seirra Burges and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, he plays a lovable guy who loves without discrimination. What’s not to like about a guy who sees the beauty inside as well as out.

It follows similar tropes that 10 Things, She’s All That and even Pretty Woman that had us in our comfort zones back in the nineties and noughties. It’s your baggy tee and boy does it make you feel good.

Brooks’ ’girl friday’ is equally as recognisable; all the sassy of Kat Stratford, the snark and independence of Janis Ian and the vulnerability of Josie Gellar. Laura Marano plays Cecilia with charm and with, which makes you wonder why we don’t meet any of her friends.

The Bad

I LOVE Riverdale’s Camila Mendes, but she is wasted in this film. Her character is flat and it almost feels as if Shelby is so similar to Veronica Lodge in persona, background and aspirations that those watching will merge the two and assume she was something more than a cardboard cutout.

While on the topic of things wasted; I would have loved to have seen the Deuce Bigalow element expanded upon and see the dates he goes on. The few we do see are endearing to Brooks and it would round out his character a little more. Plus, it would open up the humour a little too.

The Ugly

The Yale plot was too easily discarded and didn’t mesh as well with Brooks’ character. Someone that driven wouldn’t give up so quickly really?! Nor would they be half assing their application. I needed to feel his motivation for him to be redeemable. As it stands, he’s a dick who treated people like dicks for no valid reason.

Final Thoughts

It’s the weakest of Noah’s three Netflix movies to date, but it’s an alright watch if you’re bored of watching 10 Things About You again.

Hellboy

Release: 11.4.2019

Rating: 15

Length: 2Hr 1

About: Based on the graphic novels by Mike Mignola, Hellboy, caught between the worlds of the supernatural and human, battles an ancient sorceress bent on revenge.

The Good

• Ian McShane stole the show for me. He’s long shed his humble Lovejoy roots, and he’s as much a staple in the American home now. He takes on the role of Hellboy’s adoptive father and plays it perfectly. There’s no apologises for the task he undertakes and he doesn’t handle Big Red with kid gloves.

• Harbour was essentially give a poisoned chalice. He had a big hand to fill and fans were never going to cut him a break. Add to this the tiny budget in comparison to Pearlman’s outing, it was always going to be a hard sell. Aside from a few times in which dialogue was mangled by Big Red’s prosthesis I’d say he did really well with the script he had to work with. I got What Harbour was trying to achieve with Red’s conflicted soul and it would have been perfect if the film gave that room to grow.

• I enjoyed the Arthurian legend coming into play and it was refreshing to see the film opening on a prologue about this. I’d have perhaps like to have seen this streamlined a little and even perhaps had Red’s arc focusing on him finding Excalibur.

• Course, it has to be a Scouser who helps bring about the apocalypse. It was awesome to hear current Line of Duty star Stephen Graham cursing his way through the film.

• I really liked the music. Not sure if they were quite reworkings, but they fit the film and I’d be happy to have the album.

• Thomas Haden Church was a wonderful addition as Lobster Johnson. I’m only sad we didn’t get to see more.

The Bad

• The accents of Daniel Dae Kim and Sasha Lane we’re so bad they bordered on offensive. Lane’s clashed with what we saw of her visually; nothing screamed that is was necessary for her to have the abomination RP that Lane insisted on having. Yes, I’m aware I’ve been spoiled with Joe Mazzello’s perfect iteration of John Deacon’s weirdly wonderful dialect (ironically, I was worried), but it came across lazy.

• Some of the plot and dialogue was at best clunky, but on the most part it was the biggest problem with the whole thing. It was lines like ‘if my face could talk…’ that gave a whole new meaning to cringe and the Osiris Club sub plot was a pointless exposition exercise that revealed its hand scenes earlier and removed any tension that may have been building.

• Another trailer and scene reveal misstep when it comes to Dae Kim’s Daimio. Obviously, for fans of the comic, it was known that Daimio is cursed to turn into a Jaguar at times of stress. However, the film tried to tease us with this and not outwardly reveal his condition until the final act. However, that proverbial and literal cat was out the bag and it really renders some storytelling pointless.

The Ugly

• The CGI was atrocious. I’ve seen my brother create scenes with his phone that were better than this. It was most obvious in scenes were Hellboy was facing off against some beastie or other and was very telling of the budget the film had.

• What happened to the cats?! That was the one thing I loved about Pearlman’s version. It was such a beautiful visual. Plus… cats!

Final Thoughts

I was a decent watch, but much like the other outings; I’m not going to rush for a rewatch any time soon.

Wonder Park Review 2019

Release Date: 8.4.2019
Rating: PG
Length: 1hr 26
About: Wonder Park tells the story of a magnificent amusement park where the imagination of a wildly creative girl named June comes alive.

The Good

The animation and story is sound. It certain kept the two little ones I was with entertained.it makes very clear distinctions between the real world and the world of Wonder Land.

The characters are lovable and funny enough for both child and adult to engage with.

There’s a very clear STEM (or STEAM as its called now) focus and I could certainly see how empowering it could be for young girls.

The Bad

It takes a while to get into. For a film that’s premise is focused on the theme park, it certainly doesn’t feel like much screen time is spent there. Instead, it choses to focus more on the relationships out in the real world. It makes sense; the one impacts the other. However, it does impact how much I enjoyed the film.

The Ugly

It’s a little on the dark side for my liking. While I can only applaude the film’s attempt to address illness, depression and grief it was not the light hearted romp I was expecting for an Easter treat.

Shazam

Release date: 4.4.2019

Length: 2 hr 16

About: We all have a superhero inside of us — it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In 14-year-old Billy Batson’s case, all he needs to do is shout out one word to transform into the adult superhero Shazam. Still a kid at heart, Shazam revels in the new version of himself by doing what any other teen would do — have fun while testing out his newfound powers. But he’ll need to master them quickly before the evil Dr. Thaddeus Sivana can get his hands on Shazam’s magical abilities.

The Good

⁃ I really liked that it wasn’t a straight “Big with powers” as I was worried it would be. While I love Zachery Levi and he makes the perfect Shazam, I very quickly realised that Asher Angel was the scene stealer. By having the film alternate between the two actors, it gave a brilliant balance.

⁃ The message of family and finding a home is really quite charming. It felt sincere and it gave the film a realistic uplifting feel.

⁃ There’s some surprising casting that had me gasping in glee. I’m not going to say any more as it’s a little bit of a spoiler for anyone who, like me, hasn’t read the comics. (although, it is SLIGHTLY predictable)

⁃ There’s a beautiful little nod to Big!

⁃ It’s a good ‘origin’ movie with scope for sequels.

The Bad

⁃ Again, totally my bad but I’ve spent months imagining ZL as Shazam… and I didn’t get what I imagined. There’s an ego there that I wasn’t expecting and I didn’t buy that he was playing a suped-up 14 year old. I guess it was so hard to accept the douchbag persona as ZL is such a geektastic sweetheart in reality.

⁃ It felt a little disjointed and I was massively thrown off by the fact that we are presented with the back story of Mark Strong’s Dr Savana first.

⁃ I got the feeling it was trying to be DC’s answer to Deadpool, but it wasn’t given the age rating to allow for that scope so it kind of fell a little flat for me.

⁃ Mark Strong. I love Mark Strong. He seemed to be asleep at the wheel in this. Such a shame, because if he’d brought his A-game, the chemistry between him and Levi would have been electric.

The Ugly

⁃ Don’t worry guys, this is a massive personal problem and I do think it says more about me than the film. I really fell out of love with the film because of the fact that it was set at Christmas. The whole thing; even the prologue. I just felt like it brought me out of the film completely. It’s not a Christmas movie, but it is set at Christmas. So for me, I probably would have enjoyed it more if it had been given a Christmas release.

Overall, it was a flat superhero movie that is samwiched between Marvel’s most anticipated releases.

Have you seen Shazam? Let me know if you agree, disagree with my thoughts in the comments below.

Love Han x

MARVELous Movie Review: Captain Marvel (2019)

“Well, Thanos is fucked.”
Anjie J Han/ Twitter

Release: 8 March 2019
Rating: 12
Length: 2Hr 5min
About: Captain Marvel is an extraterrestrial Kree warrior who finds herself caught in the middle of an intergalactic battle between her people and the Skrulls. Living on Earth in 1995, she keeps having recurring memories of another life as U.S. Air Force pilot Carol Danvers. With help from Nick Fury, Captain Marvel tries to uncover the secrets of her past while harnessing her special superpowers to end the war with the evil Skrulls.

The Good

  • Fury’s Benjamin Button trick. I don’t know how well it will hold up to repeated viewings, but I was very impressed with the CGI retro-aging of Samuel L Jackson. In fact, I loved Sam Jackson taking centre stage for an outing on the whole.
  • Brie Larson makes for a sound Captain Marvel and she works well with the script and story she’s given. Larson is able to balance the tone between conflict and humour really well. I’m looking forward to seeing what else she has to offer in the upcoming Endgame.
  • Ben Mendelsohn’s duel character of Talos and Keller.
    Mendelsohn has well established himself as a Hollywood ‘bad guy’ over the last few years. Without going into detail regarding his character’s impact on the plot, Mendelsohn seems to truly enjoy himself in the role. It was awesome to hear his native accent too.
  • The cat, Goose! Move over Groot, we’ve got a new cutie in the MCU. There’s the nice little nod to Top Gun with his naming and he gets added points for reducing Fury to baby talk.
  • 90s vibes; its good to see the 90s in cinematic form. From the costumes, settings and pop culture references its a comfortable setting that brings the fun. The best part is the use of music throughout the whole film. While still not on par with Guardians’ Awesome Mix, it gives it a good fight.

The Bad

  • Coulson’s Benjamin Button routine is not as flawless as Fury’s. Perhaps not as much money/time was spent on Clark Gregg’s youthful glow but it does stand out as a computer rendering.
  • Jude Law gives a good go as Veer’s mentor and he’d even be up in the category above if it wasn’t for the bloody trailers. Yet again, outsourcing the trailer production reveals plot points the film conceals from the audience. It throws off the intended story and takes away any shock factor the director intended.
  • 90s vibes- I feel old! When did the 90s become nostalgia?! I’m not ready to look back on the 90s as if it was 30 years ago. It was only last year we were freaking out about the Millenium Bug, and there’s nothing you can say that will change my mind.
  • Other than Coulson and Fury, it felt a little short on the Easter eggs. If a film is going to retcon an entire franchise, I’d like a little more connections; even just a nod to Stark Snr and Stark Industries would have been enough.

The Ugly

  • Another origin story. It’s old hat now and Spiderman has shown viewers that MCU is more than that. It feels too formulaic 10 years in and I’m really tired of the check-box approach to plotting.
  • The storytelling seemed clunky, messy and, at times, painfully slow- the first 40 minutes really needed a good editing. While I like its use of flashbacks, it felt a little bluff on a double bluff by the time Larson lands on Earth.
  • The comedy is as jarring as ever. This time it was a dick joke: do we really need Fury checking out the dead dudes junk and comparing sizes?! I laughed, don’t get me wrong. I laughed louder than anyone else, but it was hollow and cheap; leaving a bitter after taste.
  • As always, the film falls down when it comes to its villian/s. The motivation or even the origin of the ‘bad guys’ is rather unclear and is left somewhat unresolved; which doesn’t help this film fit within the MCU timeline as smoothly as we were assured it would.
  • The dedication- this being the first movie out since the great Lee’s passing, Marvel have something heartfelt for the franchise’s creator. It had me ugly crying

Final Thoughts

It’s not the amazing outing it could have been. While there’s things I know of Captain Marvel that could come into play when we come to sit down for Endgame in May, I’m not certain there was anything in this film that gave me hope that she’ll be the saviour audience’s say she’ll be.
What I will say, if a character is going to take the glory from any of the long standing Avengers, it better be that damn cat!

Have you seen it?
What did you think?
Let me know in the comments.

Love Han x