Tag Archives: Comic Book

The Marvel Cinematic Universe Movies Ranked from Best to Last

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When I was putting together my map of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (see here) as a way of ignoring the fact that Infinity War is coming this week and I’m not ready, I knew that at some point that I would have had to look at the MCU as a whole. There is always trepidation when looking at lists like this because first how do you actually nail down your top five and then not want to change it moments later. As well as this, these are deeply personal films for people and my list is not going to look anything like your list, maybe, maybe not.

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TV Review – Jessica Jones: Season 2

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TL;DR – Season Two has some moments of great introspection, and deals with some interesting themes like contrasting motherhood, but ultimately it feels like we’ve been here before.

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Jessica Jones

Review –

Motherhood, it is a concept that is woefully analysed in cinema, and yes you can easily point to numerous roles in film and TV where characters are mothers. However, very few really analysis the role, the ramifications, the drives in a really in-depth way. I open on this because if you could distil Season Two of Jessica Jones into one theme it would be the role of mothers and the legacy they leave. So today we are going to break down Season Two of Jessica Jones, looking at the things that did work and the things that didn’t.

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TV Review – Jessica Jones: AKA Start at the Bang

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TL;DR – This great if slow start to the season that sets everything into place for the battles to come

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

AKA Start at the Bang

Review –

All your life you have been the physically strongest person around, you can jump off buildings and not get a scratch, you bend metal if it was putty, you can punch someone across a room, but none of that protects you from the daemons that wake you in your sleep. This is the life of Jessica Jones, who depending on who you ask is a private eye, a vigilantly, a hero, a drunk or maybe a bit of all of them. With The Punisher (see review) being its own sort of side project, it is the first series of the Marvel/Netflix TV Universe to sort of deal with the aftermath of The Defenders (see review). With that in mind, today we are going to have a look at its opening episode to see how well it does setting up the rest of the season.

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Movie Review – Black Panther

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TL;DR – Wow, just wow, every part of this film comes together to make something people will be talking for years to come.

Score – 5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid and end credit sequence

Black Panther banner

Review –

I was expecting Black Panther to be good, all the Marvel films so far have been at least ok and this was tracking to be better than average. However, nothing prepared me for just how good the film was going to be, and also just how challenging it was going to be, it does not hold back, not one single bit. So today we will explore the world of Wakanda, the people, history, and locations. But before we do that, can I suggest if you have not seen the film to go do that right now, without reading on, you will be much better to go into Black Panther with as little pre-knowledge as possible, well other than it is really good.

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Movie Review – Justice League

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TL;DR – Is it as good as Wonder Woman, no not by a long shot, but it is also not the steaming mess like the last two films, so there has been some improvement here.

Score – 2.5 out of 5 stars

P.S. – There is a mid and end credit scene.

Justice League. Image Credit: Warner Bros.

Review –

Ok before we start I need to say that this is actually a very hard film to review because while it shouldn’t matter, you can’t avoid not looking into the issues this film had in pre-production. Firstly, you have the disastrous reaction to both Batman v Superman (see review) and Suicide Squad (see review) hitting after production had already started, and you can see the course correction that they tried to make here. But also during production Zach Snyder’s family suffered a great tragedy and he stepped aside which meant that the reshoots and final edit was completed by Joss Whedon. So it is hard to work out where to direct criticism, but also you don’t want to heap stuff on someone who has suffered greatly. So will all this groundwork I will try my best to be objective here but you can’t help but bring outside stuff into this.

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Movie Review – Thor: Ragnarok

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TL;DR – A visual extravaganza, Taika Waititi with the cast and crew gave their all to this film, and it amazing to watch.

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

P.S. – There is a Mid and End Credit Scene

Thor: Ragnarok. Image Credit: Marvel/Disney

Review –

Wow, what an amazing end to a film trilogy, and one of the strongest so far for Marvel. I’ve always had a kind of indecisive feeling towards the Thor films so far. They have been a case of fantastic casting matched with just ok storylines. Now when you have Anthony Hopkins going gangbusters, then even a bad script will look good, but overall I just thought the Thor films were ok and nothing more. To be fair, I think it was a testament to the quality of Marvel’s films that while Thor might have been my least favourite Marvel films it was because they were only ok, not fantastic. However, I was honestly wondering with everyone doing their big Cinematic Universes now if superhero fatigue would set in given my relationship with the films so far, but nope this film was a riot from start to end and I highly recommend it. So today we will set the scene, and then have a look at all the factors that went into making the film work. However because of the nature of Thor Ragnarok and its story, we are going to hit spoilers much earlier than we would normally do, so to be on the safe side I am implementing a [SPOILER] warning from this point onwards.

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TV Review – The Defenders: Season 1

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TL;DR – a concise story, with strong action, and continues builds upon the world that has been created across the different boroughs of New York.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

The Defenders

Review –

After five seasons we have got there, the big team up in New York, as Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter), and the Iron Fist (Finn Jones) come together to battle The Hand. Now The Defenders was always planned out to happen, so in one respect it has had a smoother road to creation, but it has also been a rocky one at times.

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Movie Review – Spider-Man: Homecoming

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TL;DR – A brilliant relaunch of a much-loved character, which tells an origin story without telling an origin story

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

P.S. – There is a Mid and Post Credit scene.

Spider-Man Homecoming. Image Credit: Marvel/Disney/Sony.

Review –

So here we are with our first big standalone Spider-Man feature now that he is in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Before we go on, we should probably take a moment and talk about how amazing it is that we actually got Homecoming at all. Indeed a lot had to fall into place to make this work. I’ve not seen companies work like this, and as well as this since, well maybe since Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Props have to be given to both Sony and Marvel to being able to put aside their differences and making this work, because that would not have been an easy set of negotiations, but they have made the integration almost seamless. So let us begin as we swing into the world of high school proms, alien weapons, explosions, and award conversations about life changes when you become a teenager.

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Movie Review – Wonder Woman (2017)

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TL;DR – While not revolutionary per se, DC finally found a formula that works, and realised that there is no point moving a universe ahead if the individual movies don’t work.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

P.S. – There is NO mid/post credit sequence

Wonder Woman (2017). Image Credit: Warner Bros.

Review –

So if you have read my reviews for Suicide Squad or Batman v Superman you would probably know that unfortunately, I have not had the best time with the DC Expanded Universe so far. Now when it comes to DC v Marvel I have no skin in the game, I want both to succeed, and I only care about if the movie is good or not, and so far DC just has not made a compelling entry into this expanded universe of theirs. Well, that is until now. Is Wonder Woman a perfect film, no of course not, but it is logically structured, emotionally resonant, and filled with fascinating characters, which is a huge step in the right direction. Now as we go one we will keep this as spoiler free as possible, however, we do need to discuss the ending, but we will clearly mark them so that you can avoid them it if you want.

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Movie Review – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

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TL;DR – Volume 2 takes everything from the first film and elevates it with an interesting story, beautiful visuals, and some of the best humour in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but your mileage may vary depending on a couple of factors.

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

P.S. There are 5 mid/post credit scenes

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Image Credit: Marvel/Disney.

Review –

Back in 2014 Marvel undertook the biggest experiment yet in this whole expanded universe, it was an ensemble cast which they had not done outside of an Avengers film at that point, its main lead was still a mostly unknown Chris Pratt. Seriously when he was cast he was mostly known as that quirky dude on Parks and Rec, two of the main cast were CGI and one of those only said I am Groot and it was amazing. It was funny, but emotional at places and that opening still makes me tear up, and until Captain America Civil War came along it was my favourite film in the MCU, or maybe still is, I go back and forth a bit here. So it would not be a surprise to say that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 might be the film I was the most looking forward to in 2017. Now this as a reviewer is something you have to be careful with, you need to make sure your rose-tinted glasses are not blinding you to the flaws, or conversely that you don’t hype it up so much that it is a disappointment no matter how good it is. But I have just come from the cinemas and overall I really loved Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but I can also see areas that may put people off. So with this in mind let’s start the review.

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