The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Maybe if this film had been made and released two decades ago, before the entirety of the superhero splurge, I might have watched it thinking, wow, they really made something amazing here. But we cannot undo these things we’ve done, as someone once said, and the effect of having seen superhero group after superhero group after superhero group save the world again and again and again cannot be easily nullified. As it is, no amount of interesting conceptual design, or nostalgic kicks, or even just plain, good storytelling and performances, can get this work to break through against all that has come before it and lead the viewer to anything more than mild appreciation, to a diminished admiration that battles against a flattened sense of what a movie like this is supposed to be. It’s fine, really; all of the above mentioned elements are well done, and if you’d never seen another entry in the genre you’d probably rave about this one. But few of us out here are infants without prior experience, so the impact of this iteration is very much dulled. More standard than fantastic. 

Superman (2025)

Sometimes, it helps to be old. Just not this time. If you’ve been around a while, you’ve seen so many iterations of this character that you can’t expect anything particularly new in yet another outing for the Man of Steel. So going in, if you’re not a child, expectations for this flick are low. That actually works to this pic's advantage, as it means that, if nothing is really screwed up, the odds turn heavily in the movie’s favor. And that’s mostly how it works out here. There are enough fresh elements in this presentation—most notably, the expanded context of Supe's story, including some decent supporting work from some slightly off-brand heroes—that even the weariest viewer will get a few kicks out of these proceedings. The film does include a few missteps—today’s Lois is not quite all that, and there’s a notable bit of condescension in the depiction of the Kents as flyover yokels—but ultimately, the story gets back to the core of the title character’s appeal: his choice to be one of us, not one above us. That rap has played well for almost a century now and it never really gets old…even if those of us who have seen it all before keep putting on the years. Oh, yeah, and the dog is fun, too. 

Thunderbolts*

We’ve come a long way…um…babies? You have to be forgiven if, upon watching this installment of the MCU, you find yourself contemplating the Marvel movies of yesteryear and how invigorating they were, whereas this flick evokes, largely, little more than a “huh?” reaction. Oh, sure, there’s entertainment to be had here, including both a fair dose of humor and an appreciable overarching metaphor about overcoming abuse, in addition to the standard action tropes. But…the history does not disappear, and the influence of the past weighs heavily upon this “new” venture. The sense that this is little more than a photocopy of a degraded original—a vibe that is even acknowledged in the film itself, at least at the ending—is hard to get over. At least the cast of characters features a mostly likable group. Reservations aside, an honest assessment says that this movie is good enough to watch, and the studio seems determined to move forward with its plans, so maybe we can just keep an eye on things and see if something truly enjoyable develops down the line. Stranger things have happened, even within this very franchise. 

Venom: The Last Dance

It’s actually pretty good when it’s trying to be funny. When it’s trying to be a straight action flick...it’s fairly standard action fare. Conclusion: the whole story arc probably should have leaned much more heavily on the comedy all the way through, instead of in just patches. But then again, I suppose hybridization is the point of the series. And after all, if we’re feeling generous, there is a certain amount of pathos in Eddie and Venom's putative final go-round—if it really comes to that (I have suspicions). Nevertheless, it must be said, there’s never any particular sense of stakes in this story...or anywhere in the series, if we’re being honest and looking at the big picture. And indeed, one strength here is that the picture isn’t actually that big; the running time is just around an hour and a half (brevity has been a strength of this franchise offshoot from the start). So, all in all, this movie is the usual mixed bag, as were its predecessors—no work of genius, but a perfectly serviceable piece of entertainment. It won’t actually get inside you, but at least that means it won’t eat your brain, either. You take what you can get. 

Deadpool & Wolverine

Was this trip really necessary? I’m far from convinced that it was. I won’t say there isn’t any funny in here; there are some real laugh-out-loud moments along the way in this script. But then again, a lot of the story reads like it was copied and pasted from fan fiction posted on message boards. I wasn’t quite sure how and why the main characters were where and what they were at the start of things—I guess I really don’t live and breathe these flicks after all; score one for me—and it never got all that much clearer as things went on. Others may be satisfied with the Easter egg experience of seeing some obscure characters brought into the plot as cameo devices, but that only goes so far in my view. (Dafne Keen’s appearance worked best for me, as her character actually had some relevance to the last time we saw Hugh Jackman as Logan.) And, of course, the over the top violence is fun, for a while. Then it gets numbing, and your mind starts to drift onto other ideas—like, for instance, what is the point to all this besides making money? The answer may not surprise you. Alas, everyone’s favorite unkillable supersomething may live on again and again, until the profit margin grows small enough to invoke the powers that no franchise can resist: studio accountants. I guess that’s the real subtext of this thing. That certainly is the lasting takeaway of this movie. Let’s see how many wisecracks it takes to overcome that.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Did you know that the human body is home to a whole environment of bacteria and other organisms as a matter of its regular bio processes? I note this here to assure you, reader, that I enter into this review without any particular biases against symbiotic organisms that would affect my judgment of this film and its characters. So, there’s that in its favor. Also in the movie’s favor is a mildly funny script that keeps things moving while delivering just enough solid wisecracks—mostly in the voice of Venom the symbiotic alien—to push the proceedings up just high enough to merit a recommendation, if not a particular rave. Tom Hardy is fine as the much put-upon Eddie, Woody Harrelson performs solid if not spectacular work as the antagonist, while the women and minor supporting cast provide adequate effort in filling out the scenes. Mostly, this flick is about the gooey guys underneath, and the CGI star mostly makes the movie an entertaining experience, if a bit light on any feeling of real consequences. You do get the sense, though, that this story, even with its already jokey and unserious attitude, still missed a lot of opportunities to score some major points with even more outrageous humor and/or visuals. Still, it’s better than it might have been, especially as a sequel to a movie about a relatively minor character in the overarching universe. This one’s hardly a classic, but if you’re in the mood for a decent film with a relatively brief running time—at an hour and a half, it gets in and gets out before it ever has a chance to get tedious—this flick checks the boxes.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

There’s a reason you never hear a huckster holler “rotten fish!” Not even the most energetic and unethical salesman could sell anyone on a bucket of chum like this. Here’s a tip for your superhero movie: when the story’s villain makes his appearance, the audience should not be saying, “Wait, who is this guy?” It turns out, in this case, he’s some leftover character from the first Aquaman movie—one who apparently made so little impression that the viewer here has no idea who he is, why he does what he does, or even if he’s really a bad guy. And that’s one of the clearer aspects of this turd. This a movie that doesn’t know what it wants to be, on a grand scale. It suffers from sloppy storytelling throughout. The tone is inconsistent from one scene to the next: one moment it wants to be a buddy comedy, the next it’s a ponderously epic and ultra-serious drama, and then after that it’s all CGI-drenched action sequence—then lather, rinse, repeat. The whole piece is just a ridiculous mishmash of a film that has no guiding idea. Even in its best moments the script is clumsy and uninspired. And then, on top of all that, add in some really bad acting. Not even Jason Momoa's typically charismatic presence can redeem this fundamentally flawed exercise in brainless spectacle. Honestly, a student filmmaker with no particular knowledge of comic books could have made a better movie than this. Perhaps that hints at the real problem with these DC flicks: there’s too much focus on trying to be grandiose. A smaller story with a tighter, more human-scale focus might serve these characters better. Trying to make everything epic just leads to absurdity—and to these kinds of polluted waters. Stay out of this sea, for your own good.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Just as a point in every direction is no point at all, one must also ask: if everyone is Spider-Man, then isn’t that the same as nobody really is Spider-Man? Is there nothing truly distinctive to the character that asks for something specific in the persona? The above may seem contradictory, but the thread, if you will, that binds much of this work together is contradiction. When this story reaches its key inflection point, with proclamations about not changing the canon, a viewer of any intelligence must be thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding.” The entire point of this exercise, here and in its predecessor, is about changing the canon—a fact made more and more obvious with each expression of its overarching agenda. (You may fill in that blank yourself.) And then, internal to that, there’s a gigantic contradiction in the stated premise that Miles is the source of the problem, so to speak. (I don’t want to spoil anything, but you can ask yourself: if Miles is an anomaly as stated, then how can he ... that’s about all I can give you.) Thus, there are issues here that should leave even the Generation AA-types this movie was made for scratching their heads, if not specifically calling bullshit. However, a huge part of this series’ appeal is the films being visually overwhelming, and that’s the sort of thing that can shut down higher brain functions. (That, I’m implying, may be intentional.) Huge swathes of the animation remain frenetic, to the point that an observer must wonder if there haven’t been a few seizures as a result of watching this flick. There’s also the danger of confusion, as the plot is so ambitious in the stories it is trying to tell that it can be easy to lose track of where you are at any given moment. A further consequence of that narrative largesse: the movie is so focused on the home life of its multiple protagonists that the villain, typically a major part of any superhero story, disappears for long stretches. Meh, he’s not that compelling anyway. Given these issues, how can this movie succeed? Mostly, it’s because the main characters are so damn likable that the viewer cares what happens to them in the end, and will be most disappointed if things go ill for these people. Alas, there’s a cliffhanger, so we’ll just have to wait and see how it all turns out. Again, I’ll go along for the denouement; I just wish I didn’t have to wade through so many layers of muddle and agenda to get there.

The Marvels

A film that will live in infamy. Not that it really deserves that. Upon first release this movie was declared as the death knell for the MCU, with box office to match that characterization. Imagine, then, my surprise when I sat down to stream this piece and found it to be an eminently watchable action movie. It is hardly perfect, to be sure; the story suffers for being the latest installment in a now sprawling and over cooked fictional setting. It’s near impossible to remember exactly all that has gone before this point in the storylines: what events from earlier episodes are relevant to the current plot; where exactly are we in this timeline; who exactly all of these people are. Indeed, I’m not sure I ever even saw half the events and people that play influential roles in this story. (A few key elements seem to have been retroactively developed in order to fit this plot.) So complete comprehension of the greater storyline is a bit too much to ask of the viewer. Mostly, you just have to accept this thing at face value and enjoy what you can—and then, suddenly, the piece resolves into a fairly good time at the movies. The best revelation here? Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel  She is a delight, completely charming and fun to watch (as can be said for the members of Kamala’s on-screen family). Much of the the joy in these proceedings comes from her. Other highlights include Sam Jackson as Nick Fury—behaving more like his old self versus his presence in other recent outings—and some effective use of cats for both plot advancement and comic relief. There are downsides, too. An uneven tone that sometimes takes everything far too seriously (the movie is a lot better when it is more focused on having fun—though even there the film sometimes falls into the trap of getting too damn silly). And then there's also, frankly, a weak performance by putative star Brie Larson; it turns out Captain Carol could stand to lighten up a bit. So the movie is hardly a classic, but hey, what’s up with you that you’re expecting Oscar-bait from a superhero flick? The reaction seems less about the movie itself and more the product of overdeveloped expectations from hardcore Marvel fans (who might want to watch a grown-up movie once in a while in order to re-calibrate). If you preordered a ticket to see this in a theater, maybe you had cause to be disappointed (though really, in that case you deserved your chagrin). But if you watched this one by paying a fraction of that for a month of the streaming service, then I think you got a bargain. Not especially marvelous, but no real complaints here, either.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

What can I say that hasn’t been said already? How about this?: it’s OK. Not insanely great, as the lemming population would have you believe. Just a fairly well done animated superhero story. And even the “well done” part may be a stretch, given certain aspects. What objections do I have? For one, the lauded-to-the-skies animation style is visually appealing, at times, but also contains elements that annoy throughout the proceedings—specifically a certain effect the appears to be a 3D multi-color rendering effect that pops up around characters and other screen objects. This happens despite the fact that the DVD copy I watched did not specifically indicate it was a 3D version of the movie. Perhaps the dimensionality for screening is inherent in the animation, regardless of how you’re viewing it—but from this seat, the effect was annoying and distracting. The soundtrack of largely late-stage hip-hop songs is for the most part the sonic equivalent of chewing on aluminum foil. Those choices demonstrate that the movie was created to appeal, almost ruthlessly, to a young audience, and conversely to drive away those who aren’t fully on board with Generation AA’s sense of … whatever it is they believe about things. Ah, yes, and that brings us to the most prominent backlash this film faced upon its release: the replacement of the White Guy with someone not-so-pale, nor male, nor in certain case even human. That prevails in at least one universe, that is; it’s true that the flick takes some pains to let you know that, yes, there’s still a traditional Peter Parker—with a B. middle initial, to distinguish—swinging around somewhere out there. But the main focus here, the movie's raison d'etre, is in the sort of identity swap-out that has become common in recent times. My previously-stated position still holds, people: you don’t become one of the cool kids by simply taking over the cool kids’ schtick. It’s immensely more admirable to create your own something special (and it's probably more profitable, in many ways, than the takeover thing). It is hard to be someone who has watched several iterations of a character, over decades, and not be keenly aware of the subversion taking place before your eyes, unless you're as blind and ignorant of the past as your standard issue Gen AA type. The identitarian agenda inescapably drags down the honest assessment of any such work, regardless of the quality displayed therein. And for sure, this film does have its strong elements, particularly in excellent voice performances by several of the principals; this talented cast makes these characters appealing, regardless of your stance on the embedded politics of the production. I will watch the sequel, for sure; there’s enough entertainment value here to merit giving this crew that due. But I do wish we didn’t have to tread this same political ground again and again. It’s not a web I particularly enjoy being caught in.

The Flash

Hey, that was actually...fun. Who’d have thunk it? Unlike other entries in the DC paradigm, this one doesn’t take itself too seriously, delivers some actual laughs along with the requisite mayhem, and interjects just enough but not too much pathos to give the proceedings a sense of being meaningful without going overboard—this being a comic book movie, after all. Ezra Miller, he of the interesting off-hours amusements, keeps himself in check here just enough pull off playing the titular lead without letting his generation AA persona get overly annoying in the process. It’s close in certain moments, but the kid never entirely goes over the cliff. And he gets just enough help from his co-stars—particularly Michael Keaton, crusading once more—to deliver a story that is lively, enjoyable, and—for a franchise pic—surprisingly self-contained. The film is hardly flawless; the denouement seems to wrap up a bit too quickly and cleanly, and the absence of certain characters/actors looks like a case of special pleading. On the other hand, the story does deliver a rather clever doorway out of the franchise for certain other actors. Maybe, if these DC guys keep hammering away at it, they just might figure out the formula (especially since that other studio seems to be spinning its wheels at the moment). This entry appears to be a quick step in that direction; it remains to be seen if it can truly provide the crucial spark, the—dare we say it—key flash of ingenuity that will finally lift this cinematic project up into truly competitive heights. Either way, there’s enough here to make this one entry worth a look. Give it a bit of your time—and be quick about it.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

You can hardly go wrong telling a story with great characters. The strength of this series has always been its stable of astonishingly vibrant and memorable characters, from the original core set to the additions to the team in the second and now third installments--they have all been outsized, wildly entertaining and profoundly likable. That even applies to the computer generated personages, who really shine in this sequel. Rocket and his enhanced animal friends, in flashbacks to the past, bring such emotional depth and honesty to the story’s key points that their example opens up whole new vistas of consideration about how movie audiences can connect to characters, ideas and other facets of the movie-watching experience. Maybe even the dreaded AIs have something to offer the medium, something that those who grew up strictly on human-centric cinema would never have expected to be possible. Then again, maybe it’s all just a standard comic-book movie hoot and a half, with laughs and fun stuff and “did that look cool” sprinkled throughout a well-formed big-screen joy ride. You can just take it as the latter and leave all the deep thought stuff to others, if you like. This outing certainly serves up plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and a host of trademark flourishes that the franchise fans will expect to see. Yes, there is a certain amount of absurdity to the main storyline; if you think about it (not recommended), the whole thing doesn't make a lot of sense. But such concerns have quibbling written all over them. This is just plain movie fun, and if you don't get regular helpings of that, you're doing it wrong.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods

The junior league version of the DC universe gets another outing--and as with many a minor-leaguer, it follows up a great game with a few errors. The humor in this episode doesn’t come across quite as fresh or clever. The impact of a solid cast of characters, all back from the original, is diluted here, And the plot pulls some of its punches, enough to make the stakes less terrifying and more tepid. (Also, what gods? The trio of presumed Olympians is decidedly second-rate. I guess it would have required a Superman flick to get Zeus involved.) So is this one a bad movie? No, that’s a bit too harsh. You don’t have to feel ashamed if you spend a couple of hours with it. And, again, with minor-leaguers, most of the reason you  sign them up is for potential. There’s still some possibilities in this corner of the extended franchise--but the producers had better make sure the next entry is spot on, or audiences will be only too ready to designate this player for assignment to the cinematic version of retirement.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Never has a superhero action movie dealt so deeply in sadness, both real and fictional. The sense of loss is palpable throughout this story; indeed, it forms the core of the tale. And then, grafted onto that you have the demands of a relatively standard action movie. The result is something that is, for the most part, entertaining, though not entirely successful. Among other issues, this story has to contend with certain political necessities (the fraught nature of brown vs. brown battles) that shape how the whole plot ultimately plays out--and that fact somewhat tempers the ultimate output. It will be interesting to see, in the future, how ensuing installments overcome these issues. Time will probably heal the impact of the loss; the problem of political appearances will likely represent a thornier issue to resolve--though there are hints of how that will ultimately play out (i.e, they can avoid the problem of by having them team up to fight against evil Whitey). Bottom line: this is an acceptable, maybe even necessary, sequel that clears the deck in the face of unexpected tragedy and sets the stage for what may come in the future--so a full scale judgment must be withheld. Just call it good enough for now, and bide the time until the next, clean slate effort makes its appearance.

Shazam!

A real surprise. This flick appears at first glance to be a throwaway addition to Warner’s somewhat feeble attempts to build a DC cinematic universe. After all, it features what can best be described as a relatively minor character from the old pages--certainly so for those who are not comic heads from way back. But initial impressions can be deceiving. This movie actually stands as one of the better recent  efforts in the genre--even compared with that other studio’s output. The story here is presented with a lot of humor and charm, and--when you witness the interpersonal dynamics between Billy and his foster family--even a certain amount of beauty. The characters all around are well played and suit their roles in the story exceptionally well. You root for these people, and you care whether or not they triumph the end. Add all that in with some good action, good but not overwhelming special effects, and an excellent supporting role for my native town of Philadelphia, and it all comes together in an unexpectedly uplifting superhero film. Who’d have thunk it? The power word here is...PURR!

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Cameos, assemble! The eyeroll quotient is extremely high here, and a lot of the interest-generation in this outing comes from seeing who shows up where. For all the wizard flash in the title and feature scenes, this flick is at least as much Elizabeth Olsen's movie, which is a good thing, especially as her appearances in the Scarlet Witch outfit (both the official uniform and the Halloween costume) were the best parts of WandaVision. As for the overall story here? The whole thing ultimately plays out like a grandiose extra, final episode of the aforementioned TV series, and barely anything more than that. More and more, I see the superhero genre approaching its end-of-shelf-life--especially if all of the upcoming works are going to hit us again and again with the same characters, struggling for the same stakes, and leaving the viewer with the same sense that we’ve been here before. At least, if you’re a subscriber, you can say you didn’t directly pay for this one. Certainly, only a fool would buy a ticket for this franchise at this point. Let’s see the Mouse wizard its way out of that scenario.

Spider-man: No Way Home

I honestly don't know what to say about this movie. I've never been as hyped up about the Tom Holland iteration of the Spidey story, so I suppose I should have appreciation for this flick's special-guest-star gimmick--and it is good to see the previous actors showing their version of the character, particularly Maguire's version, which really laid much of the groundwork for today's hero-film landscape (and doesn't get nearly as much credit as is deserved these days). So it goes. As for this particular work, again, it's mostly a matter of fan service, though it does benefit from the presence of some really good actors reprising their previous roles. On the other hand, the relationship between Holland and Cumberbatch never quite hits the right note. Guess it's a good thing that the latter disappears for about half the running time. That's the sort of thing we have here--an odd melange of good and bad, weird and decent and exasperating all at the same time. Sure, you can have fun with this movie, but the original film, twenty-some years ago, proved this story can be fun and high-quality at the same time. Who knows if this goes any further--it's the third lead outing for Holland, so likely done for him now--though the best bet would be to just let this thing leave off here and come back with a new iteration in about 15 years or so. Will that happen? No--the MCU is a stickier web than anything this kid can shoot. I guess it's just a matter of shrug the shoulders and accept it as it is. Oh well...

Spider-man: Far From Home

Well, it's all there. I can say that. The standard Marvel schtick, I mean. The hero, the girl--it's almost always that dyad--the sidekicks (generally comedic), the threat to the world--the whole world!--and then the orgy of violence that presumably resolves it all. By this point in the ever-threatened world's history, we've seen this routine over and over again. Appreciation comes, then, from finding pleasures in the minor details of content, rather than the overarching form. Here, you have some mild joys, but probably not enough of them to really make this a major score. Holland is an OK web-slinger, but he doesn't convey the same sense of being put upon unfairly as, say, Tobey Maguire did back in the day. He mostly just seems inept, right up until the point when he somehow manages to square things away. As for our villain, he's just a weasel, not really a Thanos-style superthreat. Honestly, this thing looks to be mostly played out; I'm not sure the next chapter really can have much in the way of story development, apart from raw entertainment value. The franchise may very well be caught in its own web--one from which it may not make an escape.

The Suicide Squad

This one is very slick and stylish. Also, it's funny and violent and gory. What it isn’t is riveting all the way through. The movie comes across more a series of set pieces and setups and punchlines rather than a fully-realized and well-told narrative. Director James Gunn--he's getting the lion's share of the credit for this flick, whatever it may be--pays a lot of attention to "don’t this look cool?" but not as much to "does any of this make much sense?" Viewed on its own terms, the film is entertaining to a point, funny to a point, and worth a watch, if you're the kind of viewer who likes this sort of thing. That there is the rub: is this your kind of movie, and are you this kind of movie's audience. It's a question that's more fraught than you might think. It's hard to deny, from a rational and (ironically) bloodless point of view, that a movie like this is, in certain respects the sign of a sick society. It’s too casually bloodstained and crude to be anything you’d consider quality entertainment. And if you’re someone who is entertained by this flick--and many will fall into that category, perhaps even me--then you should probably start asking some questions about yourself, if not the society as a whole. That's all a little bit deep for a movie that clearly does not aim to be deep itself, but sometimes the big questions arise from the minor matters. From a pure filmgoer's standpoint, this one is probably a near-miss--and if that dooms any potential sequels, maybe that's not a bad thing.

Green Lantern

A superhero movie that comes with an ironic undertone: beauty is equated with heroism and virtue, lack thereof not so much. No wonder Ryan Reynolds made more of an impact as the antihero Deadpool. The garish nature of that vibe makes it difficult to root for the people you're supposed to like, because you get a distinct impression that they wouldn't like you (unless you're one of them, of course). This story might have been strengthened if it had been more directly tied to an extended universe, a la later flicks in the genre, but there's little evidence of that sort of overarching thinking here. (Released in 2011, this may be the last superhero movie that was designed to be, at least somewhat, a standalone piece.) As it is, the film is mildly entertaining, but with too many stretches that are not engaging--and the climax is somewhat lame, if not downright dumb. We may be safe from seeing a sequel to this one, though a reboot is always threatened in this genre. I think this one effort is more than enough.