Tag Archives: MCU

Agatha All Along: Circle Sewn With Fate / Unlock Thy Hidden Gate – TV Review

Posted on by
1

TL;DR – It was time for Agatha to get the gang back together, that is, if she had ever had a gang before.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this film.

Teen looking out with a gag on.

Agatha All Along Review –

Well, I was not sure what to expect when I sat down to watch the first outing of Agatha All Along, but the first episode, Seekest Thou the Road, was kind of a blast. But that left me with some high expectations for the follow-up. Thankfully, with some clever cast compositions, I think this might have landed even better.

So, to set the scene, after Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) gets her memory back but not her mojo, she is hit with a realisation: she has less than a day to live. Some very powerful people are after her, and thanks to a snitch witch, they know where Agatha is and that she has lost her power. What do you do in a situation like this? Well, maybe it is time to get a temporary coven together, but then Agatha is not historically known for playing well with others. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

Continue reading →

Agatha All Along: Seekest Thou the Road – TV Review

Posted on by
4

TL;DR – This was a fascinatingly weird start to the series that hit the end of the episode with the gusto it needed to move forward.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this film.

Based on the Danish Series WandaVisdysen.

Agatha All Along Review –

I’ll be honest: I didn’t think we would ever come back to Westview with all the changes and realignments of the MCU in recent years. I loved the promise that WandaVision presented, even if I don’t think it stuck the ending. But in this world, it was clear that Kathryn Hahn was a real presence as Agatha, and when it was announced we were going back, I hoped we would get something as boisterous as it could be, and I think we might just get that.

So, to set the scene, Agnes (Kathryn Hahn) is a local detective in Westview and is arriving at a peculiar murder scene because a young lady from Eastern Europe has seemingly landed in a riverbed without disturbing a single leaf. This frustrates Agnes because there is something there, something she can’t quite put her finger on. But her life takes a turn when the Feds (Aubrey Plaza) arrive. Because no one wants the Feds snooping around your case because things tend to go wrong. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

Continue reading →

Echo: Season 1 – TV Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – There are clearly some rough edges where the production issues the show had shone through. But I do think it found its feet, and it could be the start of an interesting new direction for the MCU.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

End-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene in the final episode.

A magical portal.

Echo Review –

It is an odd time for the MCU; projects falling to launch and land in cinemas, and failed opportunities like Secret Invasion making no impact in the cultural landscape are everywhere. But there has been hope here and there, and Marvel making a gamble is better than Marvel playing it safe. In that case, let us see if they can bring something new to the table.   

So, to set the scene, Maya (Darnell Besaw) has never had a normal childhood, as her mother (Katarina Ziervogel) was killed. At the same time, she was young, and her father (Zahn McClarnon) took her to New York and eventually brought her into his world, the same world that killed him. A world run by Mr Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio). He was a powerful man, a man with connections, a man that Echo (Alaqua Cox) would eventually have to betray, but not before he turned her into a murderer. You can turn against Fisk, but the man has a long reach, even when he was the man who had your father murdered. [the first half of the first episode basically catches you up to the end of Hawkeye with some added context]. Now from here, we will be looking at the series as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

Continue reading →

Loki: Glorious Purpose & Full Season 2 – T.V. Review

Posted on by
6

TL;DR – They absolutely stick the landing in such a way that I might have a touch of hope that the MCU finally knows where it is going.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ subscription that viewed this show.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no End Credit Scene.

The whole team.

Loki Review –


We have reached the end of Loki’s second season, and I have to say that I am in a much better position with this show now than I was this time last season. The writers have condensed the width of the show, but by doing that, they have given it the depth it needed. But the question remains: can they stick the landing? And we will look at that and then the season as a whole in our review today. (Spoiler: the answer is yes)

So to set the scene, things are bad: the temporal loom has exploded, the TVA has been abandoned, and only Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Sylvie (Sophia di Martino) can remember their time there. But in Science/Fiction, Loki discovered how to control his time-slipping. It is not about how, it is about who, it is the driver who is to protect his friends that is the driving push behind is control. Loki is no longer the God of Mischief, a loner messing with people for japes. But what has he become? Well, that is a fascinating question. We will be looking at the episode and the series as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

Continue reading →

The Marvels – Movie Review

Posted on by
4

TL;DR – This was just a fun delight from start to finish.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene and an audio tag at the end.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Sing and dance.

The Marvels Review –

We are in an interesting time for the MCU. The once dominant cultural force in the cinematic landscape is now starting to find itself on rocky footing. It has struggled to find its voice in the post-Endgame world, with only Guardians 3 shining in the mix. It is in this space we get a film that stars two characters that we only introduced in the Disney+ series, and that might be a tall order to pass.

So to set the scene, Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) is enjoying spending time writing comics about her hero, Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), instead of doing her science homework, but little did she know that on a planet in space, Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) is digging up her other bangle. This fractures space-time, and as Captain Marvel and Captain Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) investigate just what happened, they all get zapped by the energy. This would be bad enough on any day, even less because now, whenever one uses their powers, they switch with each other.

Continue reading →

Werewolf by Night in Color – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – A delightful romp through times past, made with the techniques of today, Now in Color.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this film.

Marvel Studios logo in color.

Werewolf by Night in Color Review –

Last year, we reviewed Werewolf by Night, an experiment and, honestly, one of the best things that the MCU put out on Disney+ … and much to my despair, no one watched it. Well, they are taking a second crack at the project by presenting it “In Color”, so on this final day of the spooky season, it feels like the perfect time to jump back in and see if the colour has changed anything. To save you searching, we will begin with the review we wrote for it the first time out and then look to see if the “In Color” changed anything.     

So to set the scene, we open on a dark night in a mansion deep in the woods where Ulysses Bloodstone’s (Richard Dixon) funeral is about to take place. All across the globe, the hunters gathered because this was both a funeral and a hunt. Whoever of the death dealers wins the ceremonial hunt gets the coveted Bloodstone, a relic of immeasurable power. But one of the hunters may actually be the hunted? 

Continue reading →

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – Movie Review

Posted on by
7

TL;DR – There were sad tears, happy tears, and ugly cry tears, as Vol. 3 did one of the hardest things in cinema. It landed a hat trick.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid and post-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid to see this film

A Hero Walk.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Review –

I don’t think I have ever walked into a film with such trepidation. Honestly, the last couple of MCU films has left me with a pause. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was missing the madness. Thor: Love and Thunder is fun but shallow, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was messy, and I have no idea what happened with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. It was getting to the point where I would probably stop seeing them in cinemas. However, I love the previous films so much that I had to give it a go, and I am glad I did.

So to set the scene, as we saw in the Holiday Special, The Guardians have taken up residence on a rebuilt Knowhere. They may have a base of operations, but there is still a lingering pain from the events of Endgame, and it is not the first time they found Peter (Chris Pratt) passed out drunk. But after working together as a family to put him to bed, the quiet of Knowhere is shattered by a golden man as Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) takes the team apart before fleeing, wounded but not before hurting Rocket (Bradley Cooper). But when they go to heal him, they discover a kill switch on Rocket’s heart and must dive into his past to save him.

Continue reading →

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – Movie Review

Posted on by
8

TL;DR – While individual elements work, when you combine them with a story that feels kitbashed together from other/better narratives, you get a bit of a disappointment.     

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid to see this film

Kang shows his full power.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Review –

Sigh … okay, let’s do this. I feel before I go on that, somehow, I need to build a touch of credibility on the topic of Ant-Man. I don’t know why, but let’s just go with it. I unashamedly love Ant-Man, as well as, Ant-Man and the Wasp. The first Ant-Man was a perfect coda to Phase 2, a surprisingly fun romp through San Francisco and size. The second was a breath of fresh air in-between the dourness that was the two Avengers. I loved that we were getting a third, but something in the marketing campaign made me pause … I think I should have listened to that part of myself.

So to set the scene, after helping to save the world in Avengers Endgame, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) has tried to be a better father to Cassie (Kathryn Newton) who he has years of catching up to do, and a better boyfriend to Hope (Evangeline Lilly). All while writing a best-selling book. However, that ball of calm is crushed when Cassie is arrested at a protest, and her grandparents Hank (Michael Douglas) and Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) might have been supporting her more rebellious side. But it is Cassie’s work in trying to chart the Quantum Realm that brings everything unstuck. Because as they knock at the door of the realm, something knocks back and sucks them all in. Now it is time for Janet’s past to catch up to her in the future.

Continue reading →

Mapping Infinity: The Cartography of the MCU Phase 4 Update – Map-It

Posted on by
2

TL;DR – We continue our goal to map the Marvel Cinematic Universe by mapping everything up to the end of Phase 4

Mapping Infinity –

Well, I didn’t expect to be back here so soon. When we did our map update at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, I am not sure anyone knew just how quickly Phase 4 would be wrapped up. But with my odd need to be completionist with this Map and with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania out next week starting Phase 5, now was the time.

Continue reading →

She-Hulk Attorney at Law: The People vs. Emil Blonsky – TV Review

Posted on by
2

TL;DR – Three episodes in, and She-Hulk shows that Disney+ and Marvel have finally nailed what it is to be a Marvel TV Show.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this film.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene

The super-max prison.

She-Hulk Attorney at Law Review –

In the transition to MCU projects on Disney+, one of the big issues that have popped up in the past is that the stories may have been there, but fitting those stories into the TV format might not have been as successful. TV is a very different beast from a feature film, and you have felt that they have struggled to make that leap at times. However, after these first three episodes, I think we can be confident that they have nailed it with She-Hulk.   

So to set the scene, during Superhuman Law, Jen (Tatiana Maslany) struggled to find her place in the world after being fired by the DA’s office. However, she is given a new opportunity when she is offered a job by Holden Holliway (Steve Coulter) at the law firm GLK&H. the only issue is that her first client would be Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) or, as he is more commonly called, Abomination, the guy that once attacked her cousin Bruce (Mark Ruffalo). Knowing she had a strong case for parole, she took the job just moments before footage of Abomination having his cage match in Shang-Chi was leaked to the press. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

Continue reading →