Spider-man: Homecoming

We all must leave home in order to discover ourselves but sometimes I'll return home is just what the doctor ordered. This is exactly what Spider-Man has done returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Spider-Man was one of the best parts of Captain America Civil War and his character is built on in magnificent ways throughout homecoming. His witty charm, his lovable ignorance, and his comic book nerd like innocence is a breath of fresh air to the Marvel franchises. The one and only downside to the film is Tony Stark's inclusion, which to be fair was much less than anticipated. This film reiterates the problem with Tony Stark's Iron Man in all Marvel movies. In all films before Civil War he has been the Maverick or The Lovable Rebel to The Avengers but ever since Civil War Marvel have been trying to shoehorn him into the Now Noble hero. Instead of making him completely Noble they try to flirt with the line of keeping him Rogue like but also authoritarian. This comes off terribly when he scolds Peter Parker for going off and doing things on his own and blaming him for when things go wrong on plans he does not tell Peter about. Luckily Spider-Man is able to carry most the film on his own with his comedic dialogue and his new guy in the chair John something or other. Refreshingly his love interest is neither Gwen Stacy or Mary Jane and can be given a fresh take on prepubescent crushes. There an awesome Easter egg to his other love interests near the end of the film leaving it open for Marvel to either take a big leap from the comics or walk it back in the next film. This film critic cannot wait for the next film with Spider-Man and that is coming from someone who has become disillusioned with the idea of Marvel's Universe. A- rating

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

The reputation of Marvel is living up to it's name. While Guardians 2 by no means is a bad film, it is definitely not the masterpiece it is being heralded as. The fun is still there bit some of the novelty has definitely worn off. The continued relationship beneath the surface between Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and Gamora (Zoe Saldana) is a bright spot, as is Baby Groot (Vin Diesel). The main problem with the film and is Rocket Raccoon or more specifically Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon. In the first film he played only a supporting character at best, a bit of comic relief. Now he is thrust into the for front, being the catalyst for most of issues between the team. Gone is his funny quips, instead replaced with a greatest hits from the previous film. Yondu (Michael Rooker) is the surprising MVP of the film as Yondu, showing us the hard back story of Peter and himself, bringing some welcome dramatic chops. Nebula (Karen Gillan) comes in a close second, again bringing the drama solidifying herself as hard character and emphasizing the change that has occurred in Gamora. It does get difficult to stomach however when the they she tries to drag dramatic emotions out of Zoe Saldana who has gone most of her career either avoiding them or doing them terribly.  Kurt Russell plays the planet personified Ego, and the name is definitely indicative of his personality. While the film tries to again remain it's own entity within the MCU, it is evident there are overt pushes to connect it so that the Guardians can be brought into the fold for Infinity War. And there in lies the problem with new Marvel films, they can no longer just be food films, they have to constantly connect to each other. Guardians manages it well but at times annoys with it's attempts to be subtle in it's connections. All in all the film is well done, not as good as the first but what sequel is? 3 stars out of 5

Avengers: Age Of Ultron

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Let me start this off with if you remove this movie from the marvel universe and simply look at it as an action movie it is a fun adventure that is a little rushed but all around good fun. When you insert it in to the Marvel machine and examine what was promised and the thought that should have gone into it, the film is an incredible disappointment. To start the movie off the Avengers are storming a hydra base attacking human hydra members. Form this scene, and subsequent scenes involving battles with robots, it is incredibly clear that the humans are CGI. I mean it’s horrifically obvious. The avengers look like they are fighting with ragdolls with what these hydra members looked like. Having this introduce the movie to the audience seems to be a huge let down when they are trying to hype you up with a quick reunion battle. The audience is then rushed through the creation of the main villain of the film in a sequence where he goes from nonexistence to the most evil thing the avengers have faced in a matter of 10 minutes. It is difficult for me to take a villain seriously when he is rushed into the film at lightning speed, given little development and chooses a stupid premise to destroy humans. James Spader does his absolute best to bring out the baddie in Ultron and does a spectacular job when he is talking. But when it comes to action, Ultron is about as menacing as a wet towel. There is never a point in the film where I felt there was a chance that the Avengers would lose. Another poor decision by Marvel is the portrayal of certain members of the team. Black Widow and the Hulk are shoehorned into a romance that has little to no build up going from 0 to lets run away together in 10 seconds. Tony Stark makes a monumental judgment error and creates Ultron, only to decide to make the exact same mistake again later in the film hoping for different results. As was pointed out to me by an online critique, Captain America gets more ribbing and flack for telling Tony to watch his language than Tony gets for creating supposedly the deadliest Artificial Intelligence ever. There are a few scenes that start to build the tension between Tony and Captain for Marvels next film, Captain America: Civil War, but by the end of the film everyone is lovey dovey. Age of Ultron was billed as a very dark film with a prominent theme being death. As it turns out there is actually very little death and the few that happen have little to no emotional impact due to the build of the characters. This has mostly been a nitpicking of a decent action film; my disappointment comes from the expectations from marvel and what appears to simply be a placeholder Avengers film, keeping the fans appeased until The Infinity War. 2 ½ stars out of 4. 

Iron Man 3

3 pipes out of 4

When you think that Jon Favreau has exhausted the broken Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Shane Black, director of the Lethal Weapon series, throws a curve and reinvents the character. Unlike Favreau who focused on Stark’s personal faults, Black looks at the effect of New York in the Avengers took on Tony. Instead of fighting alcoholism, Stark fights anxiety. Instead of overcoming egotism, Stark must come to terms to which Iron Man really is the man or the suit. The one drawback is that again Tony and Pepper Potts’ (Gwyneth Paltrow) relationship is heavily strained by Tony’s internal battle. This seems to happen in every Iron Man film and the only reprieve where we see a happy couple is in The Avengers. Granted in this case it helps the story heavily and unlike Iron Man 2 Pepper is much more understanding as is Stark. The overall theme of Iron Man 3, as you are introduced to it in the very beginning with a voice over flashback to 1999, is that you create your own demons whether you mean to or not. Guy Pearce plays a wormy head of a think tank looking for investors believing humans where meant to evolve far beyond what we currently are. Ben Kingsley gives an interesting take on the villain the Mandarin while Rebecca Hall, who you might recognize from The Town or her golden globe nominated role in Vicky Christina Barcelona, plays the jilted lover of tony Stark and a biologist specializing in regenerative technology. Don Cheadle reprises his role as Colonel James Rhodes who is getting kind of annoying how loyal he remains to an obviously corrupt government. There are a number of twists and turns that are completely unexpected, some being refreshing and some bearing slight disappointment but they keep you invested in the story along with the characters. The main highlight of the film is Stark’s interaction with a young boy who has been abandoned by his father similar to Tony. Their cynicism towards each other and continual bickering provides constant laughs. Going onto this film not much was expected but much was received thanks to an amazing revival of the franchise by Black. Due to Black’s masterful reinvention, there now can be true excitement for what will happen in Avengers 2 and green light an Iron Man 4. 

Thor

3 pipes out of 4

Anthony Hopkins is back everyone! He has returned from mediocre to downright terrible films like The Rite, The Wolfman and Beowulf to show us what he really can do. Now it is not an Oscar worthy part but still better than the before mentioned parts. We are also introduced to little known actor Chris Hemsworth who you may recognize as Kirk’s father in the Star Trek reboot. And he certainly puts on a show. The action is amazing as the story follows Thor (Chris Hemsworht), son of Odin (Anthony Hopkins) as he is banished from the mythical land of Asgard due to his deviant brother Loki who wants to take the thrown from his brother. He lands in New Mexico in front of scientists Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and Dr. Eric Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) along with their assistant Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings). While a romantic relationship develops between Thor and Jane, Darcy is there to lighten the mood with her young college student quirks. Like when they first meet Thor Jane wants Darcy to drive their van into a tornado to which she responds “I am not dying for 6 college credits”. The story continues as Loki tries to manipulate all those around him, even his father, in order to move up in the pecking order for the thrown. This is a film for both the women and the men for the women can drool at the sight of Hemsworth’s ripped body without a shirt and the men can appreciate a total BAMF. I can find very little wrong with Thor, the only thing being that there were Easter eggs throughout the film which hint at the other members of the Avengers and the new Avengers movie but they are not really explained. Other than that Thor was very well done for a comic movie, especially following Iron Man.